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The World Poker Tour (WPT) Cambodia is currently underway at NagaWorld Phnom Penh, and hitting the felts yesterday was the series showstopper – $1,100 buy-in Main Event $250K GTD. They were high expectations from the event, and the turnout didn’t disappoint. There were a total of 188 (165 unique and 23 re-entries) that signed up to play, and with two more starting flights lined up, the event looks well on track to ride past its advertised guarantee!
After 15 levels, each 40-minute long, only 34 players could find bags for Day 2. Leading the way was China’s Jingjing Ke, who ended her day with a towering stack of 486,000.
Team India came out in massive numbers with as many as 13 players registering. End of play, only three Indians were successful in bagging a stack for Day 2 with PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved (218,000) carrying forward the most massive stack among the trio. Raju Jaruplavath (125,000) and former WPT Vietnam Champion Dhaval Mudgal (69,000) were the two other players advancing.
Ved has been very active on the live felts this year with numerable scores at international stops like the WPT Barcelona, EPT Sochi, and WSOP. He also posted scores at the IPC Main Event and the BPT Main Event. At the ongoing series, Ved was last seen playing the $1,100 Main Event Warm-Up but was unable to translate his efforts into a deep run. He advanced with an above average stack of 218,000 that happens to be the eighth-biggest stack among the Day 1A survivors.
Also making it through to Day 2 was Raju Jaruplavath, who had opened his scorecard at the stop with a ninth-place finish in the Kickoff event. He will begin Day 2 with 125,000.
Rounding out the trio of Indian qualifiers was the former WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal. Coming off another smashing run at the APT Vietnam, where he posted two scores, including a third-place finish at the Championships Event, Mudgal is one player on a run of a lifetime. The musician-turned-pro had a swingy day on the felts yesterday and was looming among the shorter stacks for the most part. However, a late double-up saw him bagging a 2X starting stack of 69,000 for Day 2.
Among the other top stacks of the day were Didrik Mantor (392,000) and Kuang Hung Lee (355,000) with Indian-origin player from Singapore Arravind Udaykumar (312,000) advancing with the fourth-biggest stack.
Over at the $5,300 WPT Cambodia Super High Rollers, Day 2 resumed with 17 survivors. India’s Abhinav Iyer had brought a short stack to the day and was unable to spin a magical turnaround. While Iyer busted short of the money, it was Denmark’s Piet Pape who eventually came out on top to win $83,006.
Thailand’s Douglas Edward Whitehead ($400 NLH Freezeout for $8,853) and Malaysia’s Choon Tong Siow (WPT Cambodia High Stakes Challenge for $74,052) were the other two champions of the day.
It’s going to be another hectic day today with Day 1B of the Main Event slated to begin at 1 PM (local time). Also on the tap are the $2,200 WPT Cambodia HR Single Day (1 Re-entry) and the $550 PLO (1 Re-entry).
The opening flight of the WPT Cambodia $1,100 Main Event $250K GTD attracted 188 runners yesterday. After an entire day’s play, only 34 players could find bags for Day 2 with China`s Jingjing Ke (486,000) topping the survivors’ list.
A total of 13 Indian pros had entered Day 1A of the Main Event, but at the end of the day, only three could secure their berths for Day 2.
Leading the pack is PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved. Ved had entered the action in Level 5, but soon lost a big chunk of his stack to Bin Muhei. Around 25 minutes later, he collected a massive pot from Yan Cui after making a hero call. With the board open , Ved bet pot (6,000) from the big blind and Cui 3-bet from early position. Ved tank-called exposing Cui’s attempt to bluff with . Ved’s held up and he spun up to 75,000. By Level 10, Ved was among the top stacks in the field with 210,000. He eventually closed out his day with a very decent 218,000 stack that happens to be the eighth-biggest stack advancing from the flight.
The two other Indian survivors on Day 1A were Raju Jaruplavath (125,000) and Dhaval Mudgal (69,000). Mudgal had a tough day on the felts and was first reported in the live coverage in Level 16, where he was struggling with a short stack of 17,000. Mudgal soon spiked a double-up to improve his position. A swingy day saw Mudgal hover around the shorter stacks for the most part. He survived through to Day 2 after a late surge on the back of a double-up in the last level of play helped him bag 69,000 in chips.
The 10 remaining Indians, namely, Ankit Ahuja, Gaurav Sood, Abhinav Iyer, Meherzad Munsaf, Paawan Bansal, Romit Advani, Ravi Shankar Metlapalli, Madhav Gupta, Ashish Munot and Pradeep Nudurumati fell out through the day`s play.
The event permits players one re-entry per flight, so we can expect many Indians to make another attempt at Day 1B that kicks off at 1 PM (local time) today.
China’s Jingjing Ke (486,000), Norway’s Didrik Andreas Mantor (392,000) with Taiwan’s Kuang-Hung Lee (355,000) round out the top three stacks of the day. Singapore-based Indian-origin player Arravind Udaykumar (312,000) carried forward the fourth-largest stack of the day.
Ming Hong Teoh (154,000), Leo Worthington-Leese (151,000), Thomas Ward (116,000), Julien Rouxel (72,000), Andre Lettau (45,000), and Natalie Teh (38,000) were among the other notables making it forward.
Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1A
The two-day $5,300 buy-in WPT attracted 54 entries that included 44 unique players. Only the final 17 advanced to Day 2, and this included India’s Abhinav Iyer. Iyer had begun Day 2 with a below-average stack of 14 big blinds and was unable to improve his position.
Only the final seven players earned a cut from the $261,900 prize pool. Racing ahead of the rest, Denmark’s Piet Pape defeated UK’s Gabriel Dominic Carter heads-up to clinch the title along with the top prize of $83,006.
Final Table Results (USD)
The $400 buy-in NLH Freezeout drew 98 players, collecting $34,222 in prize money. Only the top 13 finishers returned richer and taking home the most significant slice was Thailand’s Douglas Edward Whitehead. Whitehead defeated Australia’s Vivian Zen Duncan heads-up to pocket the top prize of $8,853.
Among the other ITM finishers were notables like Keun Saeng Park (8th for $1,181), Edward Pastoll (9th for $1,044), and Oliver Helm (11th for $941).
Final Table Results (USD)
The stop saw an added event, the $10,000 buy-in WPT Cambodia High Stakes Challenge play out on November 21. A total of 15 players jumped into the action, generating a $141,862 prize pool.
In the end, it was two Malaysian pros Choon Tong Siow and Fook Kiong Chong aka Victor Chong battling over the top prize. Siow eventually dominated the latter and relegated him to a second-place finish, bagging the winner’s cheque worth $74,052 for himself.
Final Table Results (USD)
Images & Content Courtesy: WPT and SoMuchPoker
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