Crown Poker Club Hanoi

The Hanoi club whose World Poker Tour series was cancelled days before it started — and what that tells you about playing live poker in Vietnam.

In May 2024 Crown Poker Club was days from opening one of the largest live series Vietnam had seen: WPT Vietnam Passport to the World Championship, 14 to 27 May, 63 trophy events, more than two million US dollars in guarantees and ten seats to the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas.

It did not happen. The club announced the cancellation on social media, saying the series was called off for technical reasons and with the best intentions for the players, and apologised for the inconvenience.

What the Vietnamese press reported

According to a report in Dan Tri, the chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, Tran Sy Thanh, ordered the cancellation after the city's Department of Culture and Information and the police examined the series' paperwork, which was said to lack the approvals the department required. Authorities were instructed to deal firmly with those involved if evidence of disguised gambling emerged.

The pattern it belongs to

This was the third major international series scrapped in Hanoi in six months. The Asian Poker Tour cut its APT Hanoi Billions short in December 2023 over allegations that it breached local gambling law, and an Asian Poker Festival at the Royal Poker Club was cancelled in April 2024 in similar circumstances.

Earlier complaints

In March 2024 players questioned a ten per cent charge Crown applied to winnings above ten million dong. Reporting at the time said no such tax existed and that the fee covered the club's own costs.

Current status

Unconfirmed. We have not verified whether the club still operates or deals poker, so treat this page as history and a caution rather than a venue guide. This page is general information, not legal advice.