Eng Soon Ewe Triumphs in 2022 Poker Dream Vietnam Super High Roller (VND 5,230,000,000 / $213,993)
The second ever Super High Roller tournament of the new Asia-based Poker Dream live poker series has crowned a winner. In the early morning hours, Malaysia's Eng Soon Ewe came out on top of a 92-entry strong field and defeated Hong Kong's Devan Tang in a heads-up duel that lasted all but two hands.
With a buy-in of VND 230,000,000 ($9,900), it was the most expensive tournament of the schedule at the luxury five-star Hoiana Hotel complex near Hoi An on the Vietnamese coastline. The biggest slice of the VND 19,699,960,000 ($806,053) prize pool was shared between the top two finishers. Ewe took home VND 5,230,000,000 for his efforts while Tang had to settle for VND 3,634,000,000.
That both would end up to battle for the golden dragon trophy seemed unlikely as Ewe survived the money bubble on a nub while Tang saw his stack reduced to under three big blinds on the final table. Yet they overcame the established poker pros Hamish Crawshaw and Danny Tang, who had to settle in third and fourth place respectively.
Final Table Result 2022 Poker Dream Vietnam Super High Roller
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in VND) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eng Soon Ewe | Malaysia | VND 5,230,000,000 | $213,993 |
| 2 | Devan Tang | Hong Kong | VND 3,634,000,000 | $148,691 |
| 3 | Hamish Crawshaw | New Zealand | VND 2,403,000,000 | $98,322 |
| 4 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | VND 1,882,000,000 | $77,005 |
| 5 | Tzer Chiuan Lim | Malaysia | VND 1,516,000,000 | $62,029 |
| 6 | Dung Tien Pham | Vietnam | VND 1,182,000,000 | $48,363 |
| 7 | Wei Hsiang Yeu | Malaysia | VND 935,960,000 | $38,296 |
| 8 | Zhi Yi Ning | Malaysia | VND 729,000,000 | $29,828 |
| 9 | Eng Siang Ewe | Malaysia | VND 552,000,000 | $22,586 |
Ewe's brother Eng Siang Ewe also reached the final table albeit as the far shortest stack, having doubled his brother two times in quick succession leading up to the last redraw of the tournament. Wei Hsiang Yeu was among the notable finalists while well-known Triton High Roller participant Wai Leong Chan finished in tenth place.
Kartik Ved, Ferdinand Putra, and Chi-Jen "Justin" Chu all earned cash prizes and the last player to leave empty-handed was Lester Edoc, who couldn't get there with king-nine against Yeu's pocket aces.
The inaugural Poker Dream Super High Roller champion Chi Zhang bowed out on the final three tables and was one of many high-profile casualties of the day. Victor Chong, Paul Phua, Mike Takayama, Winfred Yu, Abhinav Iyer, Elton Tsang, Sung Joo Hyun, and Seung Mook Jung all came up short of a cash prize.
When the money bubble had been reached, it seemed destined for Danny Tang to win the trophy. With two massive pots he skyrocketed to the top spot after he first tripled up with aces full against two opponents with trips eights and then dispatched Nang Quang Nguyen in a set-over-set scenario.
However, Tang's lead faltered when Crawshaw assumed control only for Ewe to burst into the lead with five players remaining when he won a large flip with sixes against the ace-king of Tang. There was no miracle comeback for one Tang while the other, Devan Tang, was seemingly unbeatable in all-in showdowns and escaped numerous times against Crawshaw.
Once the two big names were gone and heads-up play was set, it took all but two hands for Ewe to finish the job. In a preflop coin flip, his ace-jack suited was up against pocket nines and both overcards appeared on the flop to seal the victory for the Malaysian.
While the Super High Roller has wrapped up, poker enthusiasts from near and far can look forward to a busy schedule for the remainder of the series on October 23. The VND 25,000,000 Main Event kicks off on Thursday, October 20, 2022 and comes with a massive VND 10,000,000,000 guarantee, the largest in the poker history of Vietnam.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back then to provide updates from the flagship tournament of the series.