Day 2 Chip Leader Nghiem Xuan Thieu

A total of 753 entries made up the four Day 1 flights with an additional 42 more entered just before Day 2 started for a final total of 795 Main Event registrants.

With three players qualifying twice—Taiwan's Hsuan-Cheng Lai, South Korea's Jeong Injae, and China's Ning Zhang—their bigger stacks were removed from play meaning a total of 331 hopefuls began the Day 2 leg.

Players competed to survive through ten 60-minute levels and advance to Day 3 of the APT Phu Quoc Main Event to earn a payout from the VND 25,000,000,000 (USD 1,000,000) guaranteed prize pool.

When the day came to a close, there were 50 players remaining. Each of them are guaranteed a payout of VND 87,500,000 (USD 3,345), but all eyes are on the grand prize of VND 4,710,000,000 (USD 185,430). that comes with a prestigious APT Golden Lion Main Event Trophy.

Sitting atop the chip leader throne with the largest stack at the end of the day was Nghiem Xuan Thieu of Vietnam with 1,703,000 chips. Fellow countryman Do Tien Vu occupied the seat next to him with 1,547,000 chips while China's Jinlong Hu filled the last podium seat with 1,523,000; Hu started Day 2 as the chip leader and still maintained the right course to land him among the top three.

Other notables to make it through include the Philippines' David Erquiaga who bagged a top ten stack of 1,154,000, and Australia's Dylan Foster who will be hoping to spin his 602,000 stack up in an attempt to make an eighth career APT final table.

Dylan Foster

Among those with top stacks to begin the day, but failed to advance to Day 3 were, Noparat Kongjai, Angunsri Suchart and Nevan Chang - who busted at the bubble at the same time as Cao Tran Ngoc.

The double-bubble Chang and Ngoc chopped the 119th place payout, gaining some consolation.

The remaining 118 players who made it to the payout circle still continued to compete until the 10-levels were done for the day with a field of 50 still in contention.

Day 3 resumes at the 11:00am local time (GMT+7) and will play down until a final table is formed or if ten 60-minute levels are concluded - whichever comes first.

Main Event Day 2 Top Ten Stacks

Thieu Nghiem Xuan

Tuong Tran Khac opened for 24,000, and Thieu Nghiem Xuan raised to 50,000 from the cutoff. Nang Quang Nguyen called, while Khac folded, setting up a heads-up battle.

The flop came down A 8 7 . Nang Nguyen checked and called Xuan's 100,000 bet.

On the turn, 5 , Nang Nguyen again checked, and Xuan fired 150,000, which Nguyen called.

The river brought the 5 . Nang Nguyen threw in a time bank card to think through his options before ultimately checking. Xuan then used a time bank card of his own, deep in thought, before betting 250,000.

Nang Nguyen stared him down for a long moment before reluctantly making the call.

Xuan revealed A A , showing a set on the flop that improved to a full house on the river. Frustrated, Nang Nguyen mucked his hand, clearly dismayed at how the hand had played out.

Lee Koangho

Action folded to the blinds with Hoang Hai Long making the min-raise of 25,000 with A J . Lee Koangho defended the big blind with A 2 .

Both players were presented a flop of A 3 A , and both flopped top trips.

Both players set their traps with a check to see a 7 turn. Long led with 20,000 and Koangho called to see a 2 on the river.

Koangho rivered a boat and raised the 50,000 bet of Long to 110,000. Long made the call and was frustrated to see the rivered full house of Koangho.

Pham Duy Anh

Lee Koangho made a min-raise under the gun and ended up calling the 187,000 shove of Pham Duy Anh from the small blind.

Lee Koangho: A Q

Pham Duy Anh K K

The flop came 2 A 2 to give Koangho top-pair. The turn Q and river 7 were bricks that destroyed the hopes of Anh and sent him to the rail.

Chun Liu

Mincong Chen opened from middle-position and Deepankur Gupta two seats over three-bet to 75,000. Chun Liu in the cut-off cold-calls and they went heads-up to the flop which came down Q J 7 .

Gupta bet 50,000 to which Liu responded with a raise to 120,000. Gupta called and the turn brought the A . Liu bet 120,000, and additionally to his raise, he added a whole bunch of trash-talk. Gupta was in a tough spot, he used multiple time banks before eventually folding. Liu let Gupta open his hand. It was revealed Liu had A A .

Do Vu

Do Vu opened from middle-position and got three-bet by Mingcong Chen next to him. Vu called and the players saw the flop consisting of 7 6 2 . Vu checked and Chen continued with a 60,000 bet, which Vu called.

The 7 went without any action, as both players checked. River came the 5 and Vu checked once more. Chen thought about it for a few seconds before announcing all-in, covering Vu's 400,000 chips. Without missing a heartbeat Vu called.

Do Vu 8 8

Mingcong Chen: T 9

Vu celebrated his hero call energetically. In the last level of the day he put himself in a great spot for tomorrow's Day 3.

The clock has been paused in the final 15 minutes, and the announcement of the last 7 hands signals the approaching end of APT Main Event Day 2.

Chanpanya Saifah

Dinh Tien Thanh raised to 25,000 under the gun with A 3 . Pham Duy Anh sitting to his direct left flat calls with J J , as does the big blind, Chanpanya Saifah with K J

The flop ran out 3 8 K .

Saifah checks, Thanh continuation bets 35,000 and both players call.

The turn 5 , saw all three check to see a 9 on the river.

Chanpanya Saifah fired 45,000 from the big blind, holding K J for top pair. Tanh got out of the way and Pham Duy Anh with J J made the call.

Anh's jacks were second best to Saifah's pair of kings, and the pot was shipped to Saifah.

Nang Quang Nguyen

On the turn, Nang Quang Nguyen bet 40,000 on a board showing 9 3 2 T . Gia Trung Nguyen raised to 105,000, and after some thought, Nang Nguyen made the call.

The river brought the Q , prompting Nang Nguyen to throw in a time bank card as he considered his options. Facing Gia Nguyen’s big stack, Nang knew a wrong move could be costly. Finally, he bet 185,000, and Gia Nguyen quickly called.

Both players sighed in relief as they tabled the same hand—Nang with K J and Gia with K J . They shared a lighthearted exchange as they waited for the dealer to split the pot.

Shi Bei of China and Pham Duy Anh are back at the featured table with a supporting cast that includes Hoang Hai Long of Vietnam , Koangho Lee of South Korea, Dinh Tien Thanh of Vietnam, Chanpaya Saifah of Thailand and Yixuan Dong of China - the only rose among the thorns.