Starting on January 17, Season XXII of the World Poker Tour (WPT) is running full steam with several events already crowning their winners. Among the initial highlights is the WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up, a USD 800 buy-in tournament featuring a guaranteed prize pool of USD 150,000. The event garnered significant attention, drawing in 489 entries across three starting flights and generating USD 341,518 to more than double its guarantee. Out of 489 entries, only 103 progressed to Day 2, led by India’s poker sensation Amit Kaushik who bagged a massive 822,000 stack.
Kaushik is the sole player entering Day 2 with over 100 bb. Close behind him is another Indian Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla (658,000 – 82 bb). Both Kaushik and Shukla qualified for Day 2 through Day 1B flight. Rounding out the top five stacks are Russia’s Dmitrii Ippolitov (650,000 – 81 bb), Day 1 A Chip leader New Zealand’s Samuel David Adams (537,000 – 67 bb), and Australia’s John Edward Perry (504,000 -63 bb).
Kaushik, recognized for his exceptional talent, has several prestigious live titles under his belt. He secured his first WPT title just last year in May when he won the WPT Prime Vietnam 8-Max Main Event Warm Up Event for VN₫ 1,006,000,000. This was followed by a USOP Da Nang 2023 Turbo Event victory in November. Kuashik, who is also a champion of the 2022 DPT Bounty and APT Summer Festival Hanoi – VSOP Deep Stack Hyper Turbo, is poised as a strong contender to ship yet another WPT Warm Up title and will be looking to deliver a top-notch performance when he returns for Day 2 play today.
Notably, this tournament holds a particular importance for India, with four more Indians advancing to Day 2. The other four Indians include the Day 1A qualifiers in Raja Sekhar Puttamsetty (215,000 – 27 bb) and WSOP online bracelet event winner Aayush Arya (138,000 – 17 bb) as well as Vikaash Shah (233,000 – 29 bb) and Chakshu Deep Raina (69,000 – 9 bb), who progressed from the Day 1C flight.
Kicking off on January 18, the WPT Cambodia Championship: Event #3 Warm Up drew 123 entries on Day 1A and by the end of 15 rounds, only 23 survived with New Zealand’s Samuel Adams bagging the largest stack of 537,000. The subsequent two flights were held on January 19. The first of the two, Day 1B, saw a total of 217 entries. Only 40 players advanced with India’s Amit Kaushik (822,000) and Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla (658,000) bagging the top two stacks. The final flight, Day 1C, attracted 149 entries and ended with South Africa’s Marc Anthony Joseph (403,000) leading the 40 survivors.
WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up Top 10 Stacks For Day 2
| Rank | Player | Stack | BB |
| 1 | Amit Kaushik | 8,22,000 | 103 |
| 2 | Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla | 6,58,000 | 82 |
| 3 | Dmitrii Ippolitov | 6,50,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Samuel David Adams | 5,37,000 | 67 |
| 5 | John Edward Perry | 5,04,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Tian Hao Zheng | 5,00,000 | 63 |
| 7 | Koen Breed | 4,72,000 | 59 |
| 8 | Rayhaan Adam | 4,71,000 | 59 |
| 9 | Hun Tae Choi | 4,66,000 | 58 |
| 10 | Adrien Franck Berger | 4,35,000 | 54 |
Day 2 of Event #3 Warm Up is slated to run on January 20 with cards flying at 11:30 am, featuring opening blinds of 4K-8K ante 8K. The average stack stands at 237,378 (29 bb).
Seven players have already clinched titles at the ongoing WPT Cambodia series.
Event #1: NagaWorld Superstack
Korea’s Seongho Cho took down the series opener the $400 buy-in Event #1: NagaWorld Superstack, after defeating 206 competitors (158 unique) to earn a top prize of $17,780. Japan’s Haruto Murata placed runner-up, earning $12,341, while India’s Asish Kumar Ghosh finished 25th for $540.
Event #2: Superstack Turbo
The $200 buy-in Event #2: Superstack Turbo saw China’s Cheng Zhang outlast a field of 98 players (83 unique) to win $4,098. Korea’s Hawon Song placed runner-up for $4,097, courtesy heads-up deal.
#4: Single Day Megastack High Roller
The $2,200 buy-in Event #4: Single Day Megastack High Roller 30 Sec was taken down by Luke Oliver John Keay from the USA, who overcame the 74-entry field (59 unique) to win a grand prize of $42,320. Malaysia’s Win Meng Tan ended up as the runner-up and walked away with $28,220.
Event #5: Freezeout
Vietnam’s Thi Xuan Ha Tran clinched the title in the $230 buy-in Event #5: Freezeout, outlasting 87 entries to win $5,505. Jayvon Carreon from the Philippines secured the second spot, earning $3,329.
Event #6: Deepstack Turbo
The $550 buy-in Event #6: Deepstack Turbo saw Australia’s Sean Ragozzini outlast the 55-entry field (45 unique) to clinch $9,869 in top prize. Hwang Wei Choong from Malaysia placed runner-up, pocketing $5,869. India’s Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla placed with a prize of $1,601.
Event #7: PLO
The $550 buy-in Event #7: PLO was championed by Steve Ferry from the UK. He topped a field of 121 entries to win $7,448, following an even heads-up deal with Korea’s Hyungtaek Jo ( 2nd for $7,447).
Event #8: Hyper Turbo
Finally, the $230 buy-in Event #8: Hyper Turbo 15 Sec saw Japan’s Ayato Shibata outlast a field of 65 players to win $3,469 after a heads-up deal. Sean Joon Hou Tan finished second for $3,468.
ALSO CHECK:WPT CAMBODIA 2024 SCHEDULE IS OUT!
Image Credits: SMP and WPT
