The 2022 Poker Dream Vietnam Main Event with a price tag of VND 25,000,000 (~ $1,019) has come to a thrilling conclusion just as the clock struck midnight. Out of a field of 822 entries, Minh Anh Nguyen defeated Brandon Koh in heads-up to claim the biggest slice of the VND 17,940,150,000 (~ $722,083) prize pool much to the thunderous support by fellow Vietnamese on the rail.
Runner-up Koh was denied an incredible chip-and-a-chair comeback story after he saw his stack reduced to all but a single blind on the final two tables. Numerous double-ups later, Koh was in the driver’s seat for the heads-up with Nguyen, only to come up one spot short. For his efforts, the Malaysian took home a consolation prize of VND 2,055,000,000 (~$82,738) while the gold dragon trophy and top prize of VND 3,378,000,000 (~$136,004) remains on home soil.
The flagship tournament of the series attracted the biggest prize pool in a NLHE Main Event in the history of Vietnam, which was only toppled in prize money during the stop by the 92-entry strong field Super High Roller.
Well-known high-stakes player Winfred Yu finished in third place while Taiwan’s Zong Chi He was also among the notable finalists. Five players from Vietnam reached the nine-handed final table and it was Nguyen who was able to finish the job for the home crowd.
2022 Poker Dream Vietnam Main Event FInal Table Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in VND) | Prize (~in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minh Anh Nguyen | Vietnam | 3,378,000,000 | $136,004 |
| 2 | Brandon Koh | Malaysia | 2,055,000,000 | $82,738 |
| 3 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | 1,452,150,000 | $58,466 |
| 4 | Tien Minh Ngo | Vietnam | 1,093,400,000 | $44,022 |
| 5 | Manh Huu Nguyen | Vietnam | 862,000,000 | $34,706 |
| 6 | Zong Chi He | Taiwan | 646,700,000 | $26,037 |
| 7 | Dennis Ng | Hong Kong | 459,000,000 | $18,480 |
| 8 | Nam Hoang Nguyen | Vietnam | 318,400,000 | $12,819 |
| 9 | Dinh Tien Van | Vietnam | 251,600,000 | $10,130 |
The final day saw 19 players return to their seats in the Grand Hall at the luxury five-star Hoiana Resort & Golf near Hoi An. Among them was also David Erquiaga, who has been tearing up the Asian live poker scene in the current year with numerous deep runs. However, his bid for another major victory was cut short when he lost a flip to Dhaval Mudgal in the opening stages.
Hazel Chui was the last woman standing and entered the final day in the middle of the pack. Her stack was reduced to fumes when she ran pocket tens into pocket aces and she ultimately had to settle for 14th place. Mudgal was the next casualty after his early hot run cooled off rather quickly. In the meanwhile, Koh recovered from one single big blind on the feature table after a clash with Peter Sim to somehow stay in contention.
Manh Huu Nguyen then went on a card rush on the outer tables to eliminate Fu Bang Huang and Hojin Kim, entering the final table as the chip leader while Sim’s run ended prior to that. Three rapid eliminations reduced the field to the final six as Dinh Tien Van, Nam Hoang Nguyen, and Dennis Ng were all gone within fewer than 20 minutes. After that it became a cagey fight and Koh scored a crucial double through Nguyen.
Zong Chi He tangled with Koh on numerous occasions to eventually bow out to his arch nemesis of the final day. For Manh Huu Nguyen, a miserable run on the grand stage ended with a rather disappointing fifth place when his last two blinds and change vanished with pocket aces getting cracked.
Koh cemented his grip on the proceedings with the elimination of Tien Minh Ngo in fourth place and Yu tangled with Nguyen one time too many before Koh finished the job. An entertaining heads-up duel saw the lead change several times and Nguyen ultimately had the best of it after Koh changed gears and slow-played aces to get flushed away in second place.
That concludes a successful second stop of the new Poker Dream live poker series, which has its eyes firmly set on a bright future in the Asia-Pacific region with a diverse range of buy-ins for casuals and High Rollers alike.