Did Trung Quan Nguyen make the bluff of the year without knowing it?
The Vietnamese player Trung Quan Nguyen managed to bluff the Indian player Ritwik Khanna off the best hand in the Asian Poker Tour event in Taipei.
Some bluffs are meant to be, while others come along when you least expect them. The latter was definitely the case yesterday on the Asian Poker Tour, as the final table of the APT Taipei High Roller event played out. With just two players remaining—Vietnamese player Trung Quan Nguyen and India’s Ritwik Khanna—the latter led the way before a dramatic hand saw mayhem erupt on the rail.
The Asian Poker Tour set new records in South Korea last summer and this APT Taipei High Roller event was well populated too, with 211 entries, each costing $3,750, amounting to a prize pool of over a million dollars. By the time Nguyen and Khanna met in the heads-up battle, a deal had been agreed, with the chop seeing each player take home just over $168,000. The trophy was still on the line, however, and both men wanted it badly.
With Khanna leading the heads-up clash at the time, his K♡6♡ connected with the Q♡Q♢6♢ flop by pairing the six. By contrast, Nguyen’s K♠5♣ was pure fresh air. Khanna slow-played his two pair, checking to Nguyen, who bet one big blind. Khanna raised it to 1,800,000 and Nguyen made a surprising call.
The bravest of bluffs... or the dumbest?
The turn of a 6♣ gave Khanna a full house, and his check saw Nguyen bet out 1,500,000 this time. Khanna’s raise to 4,000,000 saw Nguyen make either a snap-call or an all-in. While there was some confusion about the matter, the Vietnamese player jumped up out of his seat and punched the air in the direction of his rail, suggesting that he had the goods—i.e. a queen for a bigger full house—and was hoping the move would be ruled an all-in.
The play was ruled a call, and on the river, an inconsequential 3♠, Nguyen instantly moved all-in. Khanna, believing the hype, made a quick fold and was shown the worst possible news as Nguyen turned over just king-high. A visibly stunned Khanna slid his cards face down into the muck.
Drama in the @AsianPokerTour high roller as Nguyen Trung Quan has a controversy on the turn as he appears to go all in but the bet isn't counted, then his opponent check folds a full house on the river to his instant all in 🤣🤣 maybe the play of the year pic.twitter.com/HXw9NJOPvy
— Poker Life (@PokerLifeOnX) May 6, 2026
The Asian poker market is growing with each passing year, as evidenced by the money given away in the CoinMasters Asian Edition last November, where one player earned a $100,000 poker career package designed to launch them as a professional in the game. As recently as this year, Tom Dwan gave an exclusive interview to Poker Strategy revealing some of the secrets of the Macau cash game scene. Now there’s this possible bluff of 2026. Was it one of the most inspired bluffs made this year or an act of absolute madness on behalf of Trung Quan Nguyen? Only he knows.
In the end, Ritwik Khanna won’t lose any sleep over it. He recovered to win the tournament and lift the latest APT trophy.
