It’s not just at the WSOP 2024 in Las Vegas where India has secured two bracelet victories; Indian players are shining on international felts worldwide. Currently in the spotlight is the young talent Karan Sitlani. The online MTT crusher dominated the final table of the WPT Cambodia 8 Max Survivor Bounty at NagaWorld Integrated Resorts, clinching his maiden live title, that too on his first poker trip outside of India. Along with the WPT glory, Sitlani earned a handsome payout of USD 29,830 and $10,500 in bounties. His victory also earned him a seat worth USD 1,100 to the WPT World Prime Championship in Las Vegas this December.
Sitlan is a formidable force on the virtual felts with an impressive 146 online titles and more than INR 3.5 cores in online winnings to his name. After his massive success in online poker, he transitioned to the live poker arena in 2019 and has been doing amazingly well since then. According to the Hendon Mob, he scored his first live cash in September 2019 when he finished 12th in the IPC Headhunter in Goa.
Prior to this victory, he was seen grinding at the Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) May 2024 edition in Goa. Here, Sitlani scored two deep finishes, which included a 4th -place finish for INR 5,92,876 in the DPT Mini High Roller and an 18th-place finish in the DPT High Roller for INR 2,59,312.
On his way to the victory, he overcame a competitive field 439 entries (across three flights) and bested one of the hottest running Asia circuit pros and his fellow Indian player Amit Kaushik in the heads-up. Kaushik took home $30,460 ( after heads-up deal), plus $10,500 in bounties.
WPT Cambodia 8 Max Survivor Bounty Quick Recap
On the final day, Karan Sitlani was in the middle of the pack but gradually grew his chip stack and climbed to second chip position to enter the final table after busting Mingcheng Zhang in 10th place. He eventually took the chip lead after doubling up against Amit Kaushik.
Sitlani took a commanding position after sending out Woojin Kim in 4th place ($10,604). On that hand, Sitlani with 9♣︎9♥︎ put Kim with A♣︎10♣︎ in an all-in position. Kim called, only to be disappointed by the board cards. After the hand, Sitlani boosted 63% of total chips in play.
Later, Park Se Han moved all-in pre-flop with A♦5♣︎, and Kaushik called it with A♣︎7♦. The board ran out K♣︎3♠︎10♠︎A♠︎6♣︎, and Kaushik won the hand to enter the heads-up against Sitlani.
While Sitlani had a commanding lead against Kaushik, he quickly lost his lead. Sitlani fought back and won back his chips after a double-up. On that hand, Sitlani with pocket kings called Kaushik’s all-in. Sitlani’s pocket kings stood out against Kaushik’s A♥︎4♣︎.
Both the players eventually reached a deal on the prize pool and the WPT World Championship Seat. Kaushik ended up securing a prize money of $30,460 (₹24.97lakh), with the $10,500 in bounty prizes. Sitlani took $29,830, $10,500 in bounties and the WPT World Championship seat.
The $800 buy-in 8 Max Survivor Bounty event generated a massive prize pool of $174,998 and a Bounty pool of $130,500. Only the top 56 players took a share of the prize pool. For each elimination, the player received a bounty prize of $1,500. Both Sitlani and his fellow countryman Kaushik secured 7 bounties each, adding $10,500 to their winnings.
This was the 10th event of the ongoing series, which ran from July 15-17. A total of 56 players returning to the final day, hoping for a pay jump. Among the returning players were many Indians, including Nikesh Chawla (53rd place – $839), Jatin Sablani (52nd place – $839), Siddharth Karia (46th place – $839), Vikaash Shah (37th place – $953), Pradeep Nudurumati (36th place – $953), Rajasekhar Puttamsetty (31st place – $1,157), Harshdev Jhirmiria (28th place – $1,157), Malik Gagandeep (20th place – $1,675), and Amit Kaushik (2nd place – $24,457).
WPT Cambodia 8 Max Survivor Bounty Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout (USD) | Bounties |
| 1 | Karan Mahesh Sitlani | $29,830 | $10,500 |
| 2 | Amit Kaushik | $30,460 | $10,500 |
| 3 | Se Han Park | $15,731 | |
| 4 | Woojin Kim | $10,604 | $13,500 |
| 5 | Junzhong Loo | $8,151 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Dan Erik Sebastian Larsson | $6,770 | $3,000 |
| 7 | Trung Ha Nguyen | $5,670 | $3,000 |
| 8 | Xinglong Huang | $4,576 | $4,500 |
| 9 | Santiago Soriano Ramos | $3,487 | $4,500 |
India’s Somashekar Nahadeva Wins WPT Cambodia Event 7: Bounty
This marked India’s second bounty title in the ongoing series. Prior to this win, Indian player Somashekar Nahadeva overcame a field of 180 entries to take down Event #7: $350 Bounty on 14 July, 2024 for his second WPT title.
The top 23 players were paid out in that event out of the total USD 54,126 prizepool, with the lion’s share going to the eventual champion Somashekar who took home $8,136 after a heads-up deal with compatriot Gagandeep Malik, who walked away with $7,500 for his remarkable showing.
Payouts for WPT Cambodia Event 7: Bounty (Bounty Prizes Not Included)
| Place | Player | Payout In USD |
| 1 | Somashekar Nahadeva | $8,136 |
| 2 | Gagandeep Singh Malik | $7,500 |
| 3 | Patrick James Standen | $3,703 |
| 4 | Alain Van Dinh | $2,252 |
| 5 | Jun-Ren Chen | $1,739 |
| 6 | Mark Wayne Williams Jr | $1,441 |
| 7 | Shimpei Tominaga | $1,228 |
| 8 | I-Sheng Chen | $1,080 |
| 9 | Santiago Soriano Ramos | $936 |
| 10 | Khrongphat Kongprasert | $795 |
| 11 | Karan Mahesh Sitlani | $795 |
| 12 | Xinglong Huang | $795 |
| 13 | Pyeonggyu Jin | $668 |
| 14 | Veeramate Laoraoviroj | $668 |
| 15 | Jin Xiong Lee | $668 |
| 16 | Jungil Seo | $560 |
| 17 | Matuphoom Pangsrivinij | $560 |
| 18 | Yi Chuen Hung | $560 |
| 19 | Tsz Fung Wong | $452 |
| 20 | Andrew Helfman | $452 |
| 21 | Kil Soo Kim | $452 |
| 22 | Kin Hong Jason Wong | $343 |
| 23 | Song Hau Pham | $343 |
The WPT Cambodia—Passport to the World Championship features a total of 41 events with buy-ins ranging from $200 to $5000. The series running at NagaWorld Integrated Resorts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia kicked off on July 12 and will conclude on July 23. Team India has made a significant impact so far, with over 17 final table finishes and two titles already.
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates from the ongoing WPT Cambodia series.
Imge Credit: WPT & SMP
