The first World Poker Tour series of 2025, WPT Cambodia Championship is running full steam at the NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh. The series kicked off on February 6 and will be running all the way to February 24. The festival features several marquee events, including the WPT Prime Cambodia with a buy-in of $1,100 and a $750,000 guarantee, which has found a champion in Canada’s Alexander Puchalski.
The WPT Prime Cambodia Championship ran from February 14 to 18 and a record-breaking field of 1,484 entries across three flights, surpassing the previous record of 1,050 and generating a prize pool of USD 1,429,080, which was finally shared by the top 186 players. In the end, Canadian Alexander Puchalski emerged as the champion after a gruelling heads-up with Khorshad Sagor to take home $233,680 and a seat worth $10,400 to the WPT World Championship in December.
2025 WPT Prime Cambodia Final Day Recap
The final day of the tournament saw 13 players return to battle it out for the title. Vyacheslan Shin started the day as the shortest stack. Although Shin managed a double up, he soon exited in 13th place for $14,600. He was followed by Wonho Lee and Peter Kiem, both falling to Patrik Demus and earning $18,200. The final table was reached after the elimination of Nariman Yaghmai who exited in 10th place for $22,900.
The final table saw Portuguese player Manuel Carvalho start as a chip leader with a stack of 9,750,000. With each player assured at least $22,900, Chinese player Xiao Liu, who began with a stack of just 1,000,000, became the first casualty at the final table. He was followed by Tom Maguire (8th for $29,200), who ran into Yita Choong’s aces. Early chip leader Manuel Carvalho fell in 7th place for$37,500 after losing key hands.
By the time the field whittled down to six players, Puchalski had taken the lead but he lost a big pot to Jobin’s kings. Yuan Yu (6th for $48,800) busted next. He was followed by Yita Choong whose run ended in fifth place for$63,000. Sagor then eliminated Yannick Jobin in fourth ($82,700), and Patrik Demus in third ($111,200), setting up a heads-up with Puchalski.
The final duel was intense and lasted nearly four hours, with both players trading the chip lead. Sagor survived multiple times but ultimately fell when Puchalski’s Ac 2c won it against his Qh 8c on an ace-high board. Puchalski eventually secured him the title after nearly 12 hours of play.
Team India Performance
A total of 186 players were paid out in the WPT Prime Cambodia, including several Indians. Leading the Indian cashes in the tournament was Rajesh Goyal who secured a 34th place for $5,700. He was followed by Amit Kaushik (38th for $5,700), Arun Sriram (39th for $5,700), Abhishek Paul (50th for $4,200), Rahul Melwani (70th for $3,200), Ankit Jain (88th for $2,600), and Vishal Ojha who fell in 92nd place for $2,400.
Other Indians to cash in this tournament were Sumit Sapra (112th for $2,200), Abhijith Cheruku (119th for $2,200), Ankit Wadhawan (120th for $2,200), Harsh Bubna (121st for $2,100), Anil Adiani (138th for $2,100), WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (139th for $2,000), Pradeep Nudurumati (143rd for $2,000), Apoorva Goel (150th for $2,000), Asish Ghosh (152nd for $2,000), Sreekanth Narayanan (171st for $2,000) & Sanampuri Somasekhar (173rd place for $2,000).
2025 WPT Prime Cambodia Final Table Payouts
1 – Alexander Puchalski – $233,680
2 – Khorshad Sagor – $150,000
3 – Patrik Demus – $111,200
4 – Yannick Jobin – $82,700
5 – Yita Choong – $63,000
6 – Yuan Yu – $48,800
7 -Manuel Carvalho – $37,500
8 – Tom Maguire – $29,200
9 – Xiao Liu – $22,900
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Source: WPT & SoMuchPoker
Image Credit: WPT
