Team India left an indelible mark, showcasing their skills and tenacity across various prestigious tournaments at the recently- concluded WPT Cambodia hosted from January 17 to 30 at NagaWorld Integrated Resort, Phnom Penh. Indian challengers consistently made their presence felt, securing more than 40 cashes, over 17 final table finishes and two title victories. While Amit Kaushik’s fifth-place finish in the inaugural WPT Cambodia Championship was the talk of the town, Aayush Arya and Shivam Shukla grabbed headlines for scoring significant victories for India.
In the series, the rising star and WSOP bracelet winner Aayush Arya was the first to win a trophy for India. The DPT High Roller champion shipped the $550 buy-in Event #18: Deepstack 20/15/10/5 for $9,152 (INR 7.61 Lakhs) amidst the resounding celebrations of Ram Mandir’s consecration in Ayodhya on January 22. Following in his footstep was Shivam Shukla who shipped Event #30: PLO Hyper Turbo on Republic Day, securing his first live tournament title and a $3,455 (INR 2.87 Lakhs) cash prize.
While Arya and Shukla brought pride to India by clinching title victories, it was Amit Kaushik who stole the spotlight with his remarkable fifth-place finish in the inaugural WPT Cambodia Championship, earning $118,906 ( INR 98.88 Lakhs), his career best and the highest payout by an Indian in this WPT Cambodia event. This was Amit’s fifth cash finish in the series and his second final-table, taking his earnings from the series to a staggering $134,891 and reinforcing his status as a rising Indian star.
Running from January 25 to 29, the $3500 buy-in WPT Cambodia Championship event was the biggest draw of the WPT Cambodia 2024 series. The event registered a record 760 entries across its two starting flights, resulting in an unprecedented prize pool of $ 2,432,760. This prestigious event stood out as the biggest event of the WPT Cambodia 2024 edition, both in terms of prize pool and turnout.
The crowning glory of this monumental event belonged to Germany’s Konstantin Held, who emerged as the victor. Held not only secured a career-best score of $361,310 but also earned a coveted seat at the season-ending WPT World Championship. To add to his accolades, he also etched his name on the coveted WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup, solidifying his position as the biggest winner of the recently-concluded series. The prestigious WPT Cambodia Championship truly displayed the epitome of poker excellence and the thrilling heights that the 2024 WPT Cambodia edition reached.
Let us take a quick look at the notable moments and highlights from WPT Cambodia 2024, focusing on winners, prize pools, turnouts, and noteworthy cash finishes by Team India. The following list specifically includes events in which Indian players either clinched victories or earned cash prizes.
Event 1: NagaWorld Superstack
Date: January 17 to 18, 2024
Buy in: USD 400
Entries: 207 (158 unique)
Prize pool: USD 72,284
ITM: 26 places
Winner – Seongho Cho from Korea – 1st for $17,780
Runner-up – Haruto Murata from Japan – 2nd for $12,341
Asish Kumar Ghosh from India – 25th for $540
Event 3: WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up
Date: January 18 to 21, 2024
Buy in: USD 800
Guarantee: USD 150,000
Entries: 489 (289 unique)
Prize pool: USD 341,518
ITM: 62 places
Winner – Jonald Obana Garcia from Philippines – 1st for $55,989
Runner-up – Marc Anthony Joseph South Africa – 2nd for $54,000
Amit Kaushik from India – 12th for $5,092
Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla from India –27th for $2,107
Raja Sekhar Puttamsetty from India – 35th for $1,848)
Aayush Arya from India – 46th for $1,653)
Event 6: Deepstack Turbo
Date: January 18, 2024
Buy in: USD 550
Entries: 55 (45 unique)
Prize pool: USD 26,675
ITM: 7 places
Winner – Sean Ragozzini from Australia – 1st for $9,869
Runner-up – Hwang Wei Choong from Malaysia – 2nd for $5,869
Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla from India – 6th for $1,601
Event 9: Mystery Bounty
Date: January 20-22, 2024
Buy in: USD 800
Guarantee: USD 200,000
Entries: 532 (295 unique)
Prize pool: USD 371,549
ITM: 68 players
Winner – Andrej Desset from Slovakia – 1st for $67,506
Runner-up – Jason Tyler Kapoor from USA – 2nd for $35,251
Dhaval Mudgal India – 19th for $2,765
Shivam Shukla India – 63rd for $855
Event 12: Deepstack Turbo Big Bounty
Date: January 20, 2024
Buy in: USD 550
Entries: 154 (118 unique)
Prize pool: USD 74,690
ITM: 20 places
Winner : Seongho Cho from Korea – 1st for $9,725
Runner-up: Xiao Yi Loo from Singapore – 2nd for $6,310
Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla from India – 6th for $1,448
Chakshu Deep Raina from India – 7th for $1,258
Event 13: Freezeout
Date: January 21, 2024
Buy in: USD 230
Players: 107
Prize pool: USD 20,758
ITM: 14 places
Winner: Chi Wai Will Kwok from Hong Kong -1st for $3,697*
Runner-up: Shravan Kumar Singh India 2nd for $4,489*
Event 15: 8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty
Date: January 22 to 24, 2024
Buy in: USD 1,100
Guarantee: USD 150,000
Entries: 429 (215 unique)
Prize pool: USD 244,530
Bounty pool: USD 171,600
ITM: 54 players
Winner: Hyeonsik Yun from Korea – 1st for $50,418
Runner-up for Marc Joseph from South Africa = 2nd for $32,478
Amit Kaushik from India – 48th for $1,257
Event 16: Megastack
Buy in: USD 300
Entries: 189 (152 unique)
Prize pool: USD 49,499
ITM: 24 places
Winner : Abhishek Goyal from Australia – 1st for $12,543
Runner-up Dmitrii Gnusaev from Russia – 2nd for $8,556
Ramprasad Arunagiri from India – 10th for $1,084
Event 18: Deepstack 20/15/10/5
Date: January 22, 2024
Buy in: USD 550
Entries:51 (46 unique)
Prize pool: USD 24,735
ITM: 7 places
Winner: Aayush Arya from India – 1st for $9,152
Runner-up: Qiuyao Dong from China – 2nd for $5,442
Asish Kumar Ghosh from India – 5th for $1,855
Event 19: Superstack Freezeout
Buy in: USD 230
Players: 149
Prize pool: USD 28,906
ITM: 19 places
Winner – Zachary David Seymour from USA -1st for $7,977
Runner – up – Yuhang Chen from China – 2nd for $5,059
Jatin Sablani from India – 4th for $1,807
Chakshu Deep Raina India – 8th for $903
Event 20: Megastack Action Clock
Date: January 24, 2024
Buy in: USD 400
Entries: 277 (238 unique)
Prize pool: USD 79,268
ITM: 29 places
Winner: Marc Rivera from Philippines – 1st for $18,679
Jonas Stubjer Huttel from Denmark – 3rd for $13,117
Amit Kaushik from India – 3rd for $8,125
Shravan Kumar Singh from India – 10th for $1,631
Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla from India -23rd for $733
Event 26: Deepstack Freezeout
Date: January 25, 2024
Buy in: USD 400
Players: 99
Prize poo: USD 34,571
ITM: 13 places
Winner: Justin Geronimo from Philippines – 1st for $8,513*
Runner-up: Victor Fook Kiong Chong from Malaysia – 2nd for $8,513*
Abhishek Dalmia from India – 13th for $864
Event 29: Superstack Turbo
Date: January 26, 2024
Buy in: USD 550
Entries: 89 (80 unique)
Prize pool: USD 43,165
ITM: 12 places
Winner: Robert Andrew Sherwood from UK – 1st for $13,694
Runner-up: Amir Abbas from New Zealand – 2nd for $8,201
Amit Kaushik from India – 8th for $1,511
Maulik Bharatkumar Shukla from India – 9th for $1,370
Event 30: PLO Hyper Turbo
Date: January 26, 2024
Buy in: USD 200
Entries: 55
Prize pool: USD 9,336
ITM: 7 places
Winner: Shivam Shukla from India – 1st for $3,455
Runner-up: Aike Ing from Myanmar – 2nd for $2,054
Event 33: Mini Championship Freezeout
Date: January 27 to 28, 2024
Buy in: USD 1,100
Players: 146
Prize pool: USD 141,620
ITM: 19 places
Winner: Yita Choong from Australia -1st for $39,096
Runner-up: Krit Skulgunbundit from Thailand – 2nd for $24,784
Binit Saraf from India – 12th for $3,399
Event 34: Mini High Roller
Date: January 27 to 28, 2024
Buy in: USD 2,200
Entries: 166 (147 unique)
Prize pool: USD 322,040
ITM: 22 places
Winner: Tianyuan Tang from China – 1st for $77,023
Runner-up: Abhijith Cheruku from India – 2nd for $51,197
Aditya Agarwal from India – 6th for $15,464
Event 36: Bounty
Buy in: USD 800
Entries: 112 (89 unique)
Prize pool: USD 50,221
Bounty pool: USD 28,000
ITM: 14 places
Winner: Adrien Berger from France – 1st for $14,740
Hwang Hyunsub from Korea – 2nd for $9,416
Vikaash Shah from India – 14th for $1,180
Event 38: Superstack Turbo Freezeout
Date: January 28, 2024
Buy in: USD 300
Players: 137
Prize pool: USD 35,880
ITM: 18 places
Winner: Jie Wu from China – 1st for $10,030
Runner-up: Assim Oualhadj from Belgium – 2nd for $6,315
Kaushal Vasa from India – 5th for $1,758
Shravan Kumar Singh from India -6th for $1,471
Dhaval Mudgal from India – 9th for $1,003
Pratik Modi from India – 11th for $879
Event 40: Micro Championship
Date: January 30, 2024
Buy in: USD 300
Entries: 124 (99 unique)
Prize pool: USD 32,476
ITM: 16 places
Winner: Jacson Feng from Singapore – 1st for $9,417
Runner-up: Justin Geronimo from Philippines – 2nd for $5,846
Nudurumati Pradeep from India – 6th for $1,396
Abhijith Cheruku from India – 15th for $723
Keep following PokerproNews for the highlights and updates from the world’s prestigious live and online events.
Image Credit: WPT & SMP
