Zarvan Tumboli Leads Final Nine Players in Record-Setting WPT Prime Vietnam 2022 Main Event
May 29, 2022
Chip Leader Zarvan Tumboli
The final table for the first-ever WPT Prime Main Event in the 20th anniversary season of the World Poker Tour has been set. Out of a field of 777 entries, only nine players from three different countries remain in contention for the biggest slice of the VND 17,131,373,700 (∼ $738,020) prize pool at the Crown Poker Club in Ha Noi.
In its first ever appearance, the WPT Prime Vietnam 2022 Main Event set a new record for an open WPT Event in Asia and also surpassed the two largest WPTDeepStacks Vietnam editions by nearly 100 entries.
The brand new tour, which replaces the popular mid-stakes WPTDeepStacks format, may very well reign in a new chapter with a champion that already knows what it feels like to lift a WPT trophy. Back in October 2019, Ashish Munot topped a field of 630 entries at the Deltin Royale Poker Room in Panjim to win the WPTDeepStacks India Main Event. He has some work cut out to repeat the victory as he is the second shortest stack with 1,025,000 (21 big blinds).
Another player from India sits atop the leaderboard and that is Zarvan Tumboli, who will be sitting right next to Munot on the live-streamed final table on Monday, May 30, 2022. After spending most of the day near the top of the leaderboard, Tumboli pulled ahead of the pack during the final stages and bagged up 6,550,000.
Six players from Vietnam will aim to keep the trophy on home soil and the biggest stack among them belongs to Minh Quang Nguyen (3,870,000). Trung Van Nguyen (2,865,000) and Trung Nam Tran (2,795,000) are separated by just one big blind while South Korea’s Do Kwan Nam (2,365,000) is the only other non-Vietnamese player at the table.
Satellite winner Tuan Anh Tran (1,620,000) and Denis Pham (1,615,000) are separated by a single chip and the shortest stack belongs to Tien Van Pham, who grinded a severe short stack and survived several all-in showdowns to advance with 545,000.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Do Kwan Nam | South Korea | 2,365,000 | 47 |
| 2 | Minh Quang Nguyen | Vietnam | 3,870,000 | 77 |
| 3 | Denis Pham | Vietnam | 1,615,000 | 32 |
| 4 | Tien Van Pham | Vietnam | 545,000 | 11 |
| 5 | Tuan Anh Tran | Vietnam | 1,620,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Trung Nam Tran | Vietnam | 2,795,000 | 56 |
| 7 | Trung Van Nguyen | Vietnam | 2,865,000 | 57 |
| 8 | Zarvan Tumboli | India | 6,550,000 | 131 |
| 9 | Ashish Munot | India | 1,025,000 | 21 |
Ashish Munot
The action is set to resume at noon local time with 25:10 minutes left in level 24 at blinds of 25,000/50,000 and a big blind ante of 50,000. All levels will last 60 minutes each and the action of the final day will also be broadcasted on the WPT social media channels.
The nine contenders have locked up at least VND 300 million ($12,924) for their efforts while the top prize of VND 3.05 billion ($131,394) awaits for the eventual champion. Whoever that may be will also become the first-ever WPT Prime Main Event champion as well.
Payouts and WPT Player of the Year (POY) Points
| Place | Prize (in VND) | Prize (in USD) | POY Points |
| 1 | 3,050,000,000 ₫ | $131,394 | 800 |
| 2 | 2,025,000,000 ₫ | $87,237 | 600 |
| 3 | 1,500,000,000 ₫ | $64,620 | 500 |
| 4 | 1,115,000,000 ₫ | $48,034 | 400 |
| 5 | 840,000,000 ₫ | $36,187 | 300 |
| 6 | 640,000,000 ₫ | $27,571 | 250 |
| 7 | 490,000,000 ₫ | $21,109 | 200 |
| 8 | 380,873,700 ₫ | $16,408 | 150 |
| 9 | 300,000,000 ₫ | $12,924 | 125 |
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The penultimate tournament day started with 96 hopefuls out of 777 total entries remaining after each starting day had played down to burst each respective money bubble. Huu Dung Nguyen was the only one to successfully advance two times and received a min-cash on top of his 35th place finish.
Among the hopefuls were four former WPTDeepStacks Main Event winners, three of which earned their title on Vietnamese soil in Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi. The first of them to bow out was Dhaval Mudgal, who missed out on a pay jump and had to settle for 57th place. Soon after, Phinh Van Nguyen was eliminated in a three-way all-in and that left Munot and Frenchman Vincent Chauve to aim for further WPT glory.
Vincent Chauve
The end for Chauve came on the final three tables when his short stack went in with ace-seven and Minh Quang Nguyen looked him up with ace-trey. Instead of the flopped wheel draw, Nguyen paired his kicker to deal the final blow and Chauve’s run ended in 20th place. The final two tables were set soon after and that’s when the hot run of Tumboli started.
Among his victims during the final stages of the night were Viet The Nguyen and Dung Anh Dong, the latter of which committed his stack with kings for an overpair in a four-bet pot. Tumboli flopped a set of queens and set himself apart from the rest of the field. Only a few minutes later, the final table was set when Trung Van Pham was ousted by Trung Van Nguyen.
Other notable casualties throughout the day include Aditya Sushant, Kunal Patni, Junseok Oh, Terry Nguyen, the 2018 WPT Japan champion Shingo Endo, Lok Ching Li and Terry Nguyen.
Stay tuned for the conclusion of the record-breaking event right here in Ha Noi as the WPT.com live reporting team will be back for the final day on Sunday, May 30, 2022.
@WPT