Vietnamese Poker Talent on the Rise

With the recent Dinh Le’s recent victory at the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the Vietnamese talent in poker has once again come to light. Le was playing for Britain, where he has lived for the past 10 years, but is of Vietnamese decent. Other players who have gained respect in the poker field are Scotty Nguyen and Tuan Lam. Nguyen plays for the United States and won the WSOP in 1998. Lam was runner-up last year in the WSOP tournament.

Le has stated that he has a Vietnamese “poker vein” referring to the standard of performance he applies. "It's in our blood," he said, pointing to his right hand. He beat Zong Wei Tan of Singapore for the APPT win. This was the first international poker tournament for Asia and was held in Macau. He took home almost $225,000 in prize money and beat out 350 other players for the title. There was 30 pros playing in the tournament so this victory was not anticipated.

"The beautiful game of poker is that everybody has the chance to win it. We are not surprised at the result. It's common for this to happen," Sarne Lightman, a pro player who helped organize the event. Lam was taken out of the competition early so Le was the only Vietnamese player left. Nine players were at the final table and Le had the highest chip count. Other amateurs from other countries were at the final table along with pros Joe Hachem and Liz Lieu. Because of the win Le will now move on the Grand final this December.