Toan Nguyen Takes Down the �1,500 Progressive Bounty for �41,452 + �26,200
The Master Classics of Poker just crowned another champion in Holland Casino Amsterdam. Toan Nguyen took down the �1,500 Progressive Bounty for �41,452 plus an impressive �26,200 in bounties. The Dutchman beat the Israelian poker play Eyal Eshkar heads-up to take down the lion share of the prize pool.
Nguyen had an impressive year so far, winning tournaments in the Netherlands and Vietnam. This tournament victory, however, is Nguyen his biggest score to date. His previous biggest score came at the end of August in this year. He took down the �275 WSOP Circuit Cup over at the World Series of Poker International Circuit in Holland Casino Rotterdam. He took home the first-place prize of �27,012 and improved a lot on that score. The combined money won by Nguyen today is more than double that score, �67,652.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Nationality | Prize Money | Bounties |
| 1 | Toan Nguyen | Netherlands | �41,452 | �26,200 |
| 2 | Eyal Eshkar | Israel | �27,687 | �2,860 |
| 3 | Cem Degirmenci | Netherlands | �19,207 | �2,650 |
| 4 | Remy van der Nagel | Netherlands | �13,835 | �2,980 |
| 5 | Olvedo Heinze | Netherlands | �10,288 | �1,590 |
| 6 | Daan van Hoogmoed | Netherlands | �7,901 | �2,390 |
| 7 | Matias Knaapinen | Finland | �6,233 | �1,610 |
| 8 | Frank de Wolf | Netherlands | �5,021 | �1,490 |
| 9 | Daniyar Aubakirov | Kazakhstan | �4,108 | �5,230 |
Day 2 Action
Just 17 hopefuls made Day 2 out of the 181 that started the tournament yesterday. Daan van Hoogmoed started the day as chip leader and Joris Ruijs was the ultimate short stack of the tournament. Ruijs was also the first one to exit the tournament when he ran ace-six in the ace-ten of Danny van Zijp. Ruijs took home �2,370 plus �1,860 in bounties. Van Zijp ended up in 12th place himself banking �2,844 and a total of �3,840 in bounties. Others that started Day 2 but didn't make it to the final table include Paul Berende (15th - �2,370 + �1,150) and Kimmo Kurko (11th - �3,406 + �990). Boubekeur Benhalima busted out on the final table bubble of the tournament in 10th place and he had to settle for �3,406 + �2,240.
Final Table
Daniyar Aubikarov was the first player to exit the final table after he lost a big pot against the eventual runner-up, Eshkar. All the chips got in the middle when Aubikarov had bottom set with pocket sevens on the king-eight-seven-queen board. Eshkar was playing king-queen of clubs which gave him two pair and a flush draw to go with that. The river was a queen and Aubikarov was sent to the rail as the ninth-place finisher. Aubikarov started the day with the biggest bounty and he also entered the final table with the biggest bounty, worth �5,730. He was sent to the cashier to collect �4,108 while he already had collected �5,230 in bounties. Eshkar started the final table without any bounties and he immediately took the biggest one he could find.
The ever-smiling Frank de Wolf was the next player to hit the rail. De Wolf found himself with pocket aces and he got it in the middle on a jack-ten-queen flop with two clubs. His opponent was Remy van der Nagel with ten-eight of clubs. The turn was a blank but the river was another ten and Van der Nagel managed to hit trips on the river to eliminate De Wolf. The Dutchman collected �1,490 in bounties throughout the tournament and he added another �5,021 to that by finishing in eighth position.
It took a while for the next player to bust out of the tournament. Matias Knaapinen from Finland was the unlucky one to exit in seventh after he lost a flip against the eventual winner Nguyen. Knaapinen had pocket treys and Nguyen was playing ace-king suited. The flop was all safe for Knaapinen, but the king on the river left him with only two outs in the deck. The river was a queen and he didn't manage to win another plate here in Amsterdam for the Finnish players. He collected a decent �1.610 in bounties and added another �6,233 to that by finishing seventh. Nguyen started to heat up after this hand and no one was safe anymore for the bounty hunter.
Nguyen his next victim was start-of-day chip leader Van Hoogmoed. The flop read queen-king-ten and Nguyen continued his preflop aggression with a continuation-bet after Van Hoogmoed had checked to him. Van Hoogmoed raised all in and Nguyen called with king-seven. He made the right decision as he was up against the queen-seven of Van Hoogmoed and the jack turn and ten river didn't change Van Hoogmoed's fate. Van Hoogmoed cashed for �7,901 and he added another �2,390 in bounty earnings to that.
Olvedo Heinze was flying a bit under the radar since the moment the final table started, but he eventually pushed all in for his last ten big blinds and he was called by Nguyen. Heinze was playing king-ten offsuit and Nguyen had the lead with ace-seven suited. Nguyen immediately flopped an ace, but Heinze had a gutshot-straight draw as the flop also contained a jack. No queen on the turn or the river and Heinze busted out of the tournament in sixth place. Heinze took home �1,590 in bounties and won the first five-figure prize of the tournament when he collected �10,288 at the cashier.
Van der Nagel was one of the more aggressive players at the final table, but his run ended in fifth place against no other than, of course, Nguyen. The board read king-queen-five-trey and Van der Nagel was all-in and at risk with ace-king for top pair top kicker. Nguyen turned his two pair with queen-five and held on to the lead on the seven river card. Van der Nagel collected �13,835 plus an additional �2,980.
The third-place finisher of the tournament is Cem Degirmenci. He ended the day with a cash worth �19,207 and �2,650 in bounties. He went down against Nguyen as well in a coin flip. Degirmenci had ace-king suited and he needed to hit against the pocket jacks of Nguyen. The flop fell seven-seven-seven and Nguyen joked about not wanting another seven on the board. The turn was a deuce and the river was a ten and Degirmenci couldn't catch up. Nguyen his own bounty rose to �11,860 as he busted out his fifth player from the final table.
Nguyen entered the heads up with a small chip lead. Eshkar had about 1,400,000 in front of him and Nguyen was playing 2,200,000. The Israelian player couldn't catch Nguyen who had been busting out every player since they were seven handed. Eshkar himself went down on a king-queen-eight flop where both players had flopped two pair. Eshkar had queen-eight, but Nguyen was holding a better two pair with king-eight. The turn was a deuce and the river was a five and that marked the end of the tournament. Eshkar took home �27,687 and �2,860 in bounties, but the big winner of the tournament won the first-place prize of �41,452 and a very impressive �26,200 in bounties.
PokerNews will be present at the Master Classics of Poker in Holland Casino Amsterdam to report on the �4,250 Main Event. Day 1B will take place at 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday, November 27. The tournament will have Day 2 of the tournament on Wednesday, November 28 and Day 3 will be on Thursday, November 29. The tournament will conclude on Friday, November 30. Keep an eye on PokerNews to follow the Main Event at the Master Classics of Poker.