The PokerStars LIVE Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Cambodia 2025 is running full steam at the luxurious NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh. Slated to run from May 2 to 13, the prestigious live poker series features 68 events and a massive prize pool of $1.5 million, including a $1 million guarantee for the Main Event. Just six days in, and Team India has already made its presence felt—winning three spadie trophies and scoring over 12 final table finishes. After a strong showing at the recent APT Taipei, where Nishant Kumar finished 5th in the Main Event for a career-best ₹1.15 Crores, Indian poker pros are now making waves in Cambodia.
Team India’s Impressive Run At APPT Cambodia 2025 Continues!
Kicking off things for Team India was Arun Godiyal, who took down Event #3: $300 Knockout Turbo. India continued its momentum with Ajay Abrol winning the country its second trophy in Event #12: $300 Shot Clock. Currently in the spotlight is none other than Nikesh Chawla, who emerged victorious in Event #35 High Roller Turbo, claiming $17,634 and the third trophy for Team India. Here is a quick recap of Indian victories:
Nikesh Chawla Clinches Second High Roller Title In Cambodia
India’s rising poker star Nikesh Chawla, who made waves earlier this year with a career-defining $58,080 win in the WPT Cambodia High Roller, is back into the spotlight with another stellar performance. Chawla conquered a strong field of 26 entries in Event #35: High Roller Turbo, defeating Korea’s Nayeon Cho in heads-up to claim the turbo title and $17,634.
Notably, this was Chawla’s second live title in Cambodia this year and his sixth live cash in 2025. This boosts his live earnings to over $100,000—a remarkable feat for someone who started his live journey just a year ago.
APPT Cambodia 2025 Event #35: $2,000 High Roller Turbo Payouts
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Nikesh Vijay Chawla | India | $17,634 |
| 2 | Nayeon Cho | Korea | $11,369 |
| 3 | Xiaosheng Zheng | China | $7,541 |
| 4 | Hongru Zhang | China | $5,453 |
| 5 | Artem Vezhenkov | Russia | $4,408 |
Ajay Abrol Wins APPT Cambodia Shot Clock—Beating His Own Wife Heads-Up!
Before Chawla’s impressive victory, it was Singapore-based Indian Ajay Abrol,who made India proud by besting a field of 73 entries in Event #12: $300 Shot Clock and pocketing $5,222 from a prize pool of $17,413. In a memorable twist, Ajay faced his wife Anju Abrol heads-up, who could not go all the way, eventually finishing runner-up and pocketing a cool $3,396.
Ajay also came close to winning the title in the series’ Event #22: $250 6-Handed Turbo where he finally finished runner-up out of 100 entries for a $3,673 payday. Ajay eventually lost the title to China’s Kexin Gu, who walked away with a cool $5,689 for his first-place finish in the tournament.
With over six live cashes in 2025 alone, including three from this festival, Ajay Abrol’s career live earnings have now soared to nearly $35k, with deep finishes across tournaments in Macau, Las Vegas, and Manila.
APPT Cambodia2025 Event #12: $300 Shot Clock Payouts
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Ajay Abrol | India | $5,222 |
| 2 | Anju Abrol | India | $3,396 |
| 3 | Roongliang Chan | Malaysia | $2,412 |
| 4 | Yutaro Tsugaru | Japan | $1,855 |
| 5 | Adrien Kosowski | France | $1,428 |
| 6 | Hyunkyou Park | — | $1,097 |
| 7 | Yoshifumi Takahashi | Japan | $845 |
| 8 | Ryu Matsumoto | Japan | $653 |
| 9 | Chang Hyeon Kim | Korea | $505 |
Arun Godiyal Kickstarts Team India’s APPT Cambodia Run With a Turbo Victory
Kicking off things for Team India was Arun Godiyal, who claimed his first spadie win last November and continued his momentum at the APPT Cambodia 2024 with a victory in Event #3: $300 Knockout Turbo. He bested a field of 55 entries to claim his second PokerStars trophy and $2,789. France’s Jean Philipp Testa collected the runner-up prize of $1,846.
Godiyal did not stop there and followed that up with a third-place finish in Event #14: $300 Win The Button – Hyper Turbo for $1,248. With these two deep runs, his total winnings from the series stood at $4,037.
APPT Cambodia 2025 Event #3: $300 Knockout Turbo Payouts
| # | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Arun Kishore Godiyal | India [IND] | $2,789 |
| 2 | Jean Philipp Testa | France [FRA] | $1,846 |
| 3 | Whye Wee Kim | Singapore [SGP] | $1,245 |
| 4 | Nattawon Chunhphan | Thailand [THA] | $944 |
| 5 | Kazuki Koyama | Japan [JPN] | $730 |
| 6 | Chenzhong Tao | China [CHN] | $579 |
| 7 | Noriyuki Kikuchi | Japan [JPN] | $451 |
Team India’s Final Table Scores From APPT Cambodia 2025
Team India has proved its mettle at the international felts time and again and they are crushing the APPT Cambodia 2025 felts – three titles, 13 final table finishes and over 20 cashes. What a performance by Indian players!
| Finish | Name | Event Name | Prize |
| 1 | Nikesh Vijay Chawla | Event #35: High Roller Turbo | $17,634 |
| 1 | Arun Godiyal | Event #3: Knockout Turbo [$100 Bounty] | $2,789 |
| 5 | Ajay Abrol | Event #5: SuperStack ($300) | $2,320 |
| 3 | Amit Kaushik | Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) | $2,426 |
| 4 | Romit Advani | Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) | $1,867 |
| 7 | Kakarania Umang | Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) | $913 |
| 9 | Nikesh Vijay Chawla | Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) | $584 |
| 1 | Ajay Abrol | Event #12: Shot Clock ($300) | $5,222 |
| 2 | Anju Abrol | Event #12: Shot Clock ($300) | $3,396 |
| 3 | Arun Kishore Godiyal | Event #14: Win The Button – Hyper Turbo ($300) | $1,248 |
| 2 | Ajay Abrol | Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) | $3,673 |
| 4 | Romit Advani | Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) | $2,018 |
| 7 | Anju Abrol | Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) | $1,033 |
APPT Cambodia 2025 Main Event Gets Underway
The WPT Cambodia is already through a half-way mark. With just five more days remaining for the series to wrap up, all eyes are now on the main event, which kicks off today and runs all the way until May 13. Featuring four starting flights between May 8-12, the tournament boasts a massive $1 million in guaranteed prize and will see many Indians in participation.
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates, highlights and results from the ongoing APPT Cambodia 2025!
series.Source: SMP and APPT Cambodia and Asia-Pacific Poker Tour
