Main Event

After 13 heads up hands, Taiwan’s Chao Ting Cheng defeated Filipino Junnie Pamplona in dramatic fashion. Pamplona had a full house, Cheng had quads. What a great way to end this exciting tournament! Cheng earned an ICM deal payout of US$ 94,448 and the coveted PokerStars Shard trophy.

*Heads up deal

100,000 ante

80,000 ante

Jimmy Torres has been slowly losing chips and eventually lost it all to Junnie Pamplona in a big hand. Torres shoves 1,695,000 from utg, button Eric Tsai calls, big blind Pamplona tank-shoves to push out Tsai who says he had pocket Jacks.

Pamplona K♥ K♣ Torres 8♣ 7♣

The board runs 9♦ 2♠ Q♦ 9♥ Q♣ . Torres is out in 4th place.

80,000 ante

From utg Eric Tsai raises to 160,000, button Chao Ting Cheng and big blind Jimmy Torres call. On the flop 7♣ K♣ 8♦ , it is checked to Cheng who bets 250,000 which is enough to take it down.

60,000 ante

From cutoff, Eric Tsai raises to 125,000, button Chao Ting Cheng calls, the flop runs 2♠ T♠ 6♦ . Tsai c-bets 350,000, Cheng calls. On the turn 7♣ both check it to bring the river 3♣ . Tsai leads out 725,000, Cheng folds.

60,000 ante

From utg Eric Tsai raises to 125,000, button Chao Ting Cheng calls. On the flop and turn A♠ A♥ 6♣ K♠ , Cheng check-calls 60,000 and 180,000. Both players check the river 5♣ , Cheng wins it with J♣ J♦ over Tsai’s Q♥ 6♣ .

60,000 ante

Small blind Jimmy Torres raises to 155,000, big blind Eric Tsai defends, the flop runs 8♦ K♥ 6♥ . Torres c-bets 125,000, Tsai raises to 380,000, Torres folds.

A couple of hands after, Torres raises from utg, button Tsai calls, small blind Chao Ting Cheng three-bets to 450,000, initial raiser Torres folds, Tsai calls. No bets land on the flop Q♦ 9♠ 3♥ , but on the turn 8♥ , Cheng checks, Tsai bets 275,000, Chao calls. On the turn 9♣ , both check again. Chao has A♠ J♣ , Tsai ships it with 6♥ 6♦ .

60,000 ante

Remaining players of the Main Event have reached their first break of the day. Here are the chip counts.

40,000 ante

After a total three uncalled shoves since the final table started, Hua Wei Lin was finally put to the test with Eric Tsai making the call. Lin has K♥ T♥ , Tsai with 6♠ 6♥ , it’s a flip. With the board running 9♣ Q♣ A♠ 7♣ 3♥ , Lin was eliminated in 7th place.

40,000 ante

With 240,000 in the pot, big blind Jimmy Torres and utg Eric check the flop 5♥ 6♣ 8♥ . On the turn T♣ , Torres fires 150,000, Tsai calls. On the river Q♥ , Torres checks, Tsai leads out 275,000, Torres calls then mucks to Tsai’s A♦ T♥ second pair. 

30,000 ante

From utg+1, Curtis Lim opens for 60,000, big blind Eric Tsai calls, the flop runs 3♥ 3♠ 5♠ . Tsai check-raises from 55,000 to 165,000, Lim calls. Both players check the turn 4♦ and river Q♦ . Tsai opens K♣ 5♥ two pair, Lim mucks.

Next hand, Tsai picks up a small pot. Hua Wei Lin raises to 80,000 from the button, Tsai shoves from the small blind. Lin folds. 

30,000 ante

And they’re off! The hunt for the APPT Cambodia Main Event title has kicked off! Everyone is guaranteed a minimum US$ 10,908 but all eyes will be on the PokerStars Shard Trophy and US$ 120,300 top prize.

25,000 ante

Kien Tat Heng raises to 60,000, Eric Tsai three-bets to 175,000, no callers.

20,000 ante

Andy Li Xue Yan goes bust with T♥ T♦ outdrawn by K♠ Q♣ on a board of 6♣ 2♣ 4♦ A♣ T♣ . Tsai completes a flush.

116,000 ante

Hao Tien is all in for 28,000 and finds two callers, Eric Tsai and Bo Jin. With the board running 5♥ A♦ 3♦ , and no side pot bets, Hao has Q♦ T♥ , Tsai with K♣ J♥ , Jin mucks.

16,000 ante

Ilia Miashikev raises to 35,000, Eric Tsai three-bets to 125,000, Miashikev four-bets to 350,000 leaving himself 25,000 behind. Tsai shoves, Miashikev tosses in the rest and opens T♠ T♥ . He is dominated both by chips and hand by Tsai with pocket Q♣ Q♥ . Despite calling out for some help, none arrives on the board for Miashikev to bust in 22nd place.

16,000 ante

Yuhan Liu raises, Eric Tsai three-bets, Liu shoves with J♥ J♣ , Tsai calls, and it’s a flip. With the board running A♠ 3♣ K♥ A♥ 3♦ , Liu is eliminated.

12,000 ante

Short stacked Hal Rotholz all in with K♥ T♣ and runs into big stacked Eric Tsai’s A♠ K♦ . With the board running 8♦ 8♣ 7♠ 5♥ K♣ ,the bigger kicker plays.

10,000 ante

All in preflop, at risk player Sebastian Mueller with 8♥ 8♣ , Eric Tsai with A♦ Q♠ , the board runs 4♠ A♠ 2♣ K♠ 4♦ to end Mueller’s run.

10,000 ante

6000 ante

All in preflop, Thomas Carlin with K♣ K♥ , Eric Tsai attempts to rail with A♣ T♠ , the board runs A♠ 5♥ 2♦ 7♣ 8♠ .

After twelve hours of play, the APPT Cambodia Main Event Final 9 players was formed! Filipino Junnie Pamplona bagged the largest stack with Taiwan’s Eric Tsai and Colombia’s Jimmy Torres close behind. The finalists return at 1pm on Monday, May 15, 2023 and will chase down the coveted title, trophy, and six figure US$ 120,300 payout. Somuchpoker will bring you the blow-by-blow action via Live Updates.

From under the gun, Eric Tsai raises to 65,000, big blind Kien Tat Heng defends to bring a flop 6♥ 7♦ 2♠ . Kien leads out 60,000, Tsai calls. On the turn 4♠ Tsai calls a 125,000 bet, then on the river 2♦ , same action, Kien fires a 250,000 bet, Tsai calls. Kien has A♠ 5♠ , Tsai ships it with K♠ 6♠ pair.

2,500 ante

Short stacked Hyunkyou Park is all in with Q♦ Q♣ and Eric Tsai gives him a sweat with A♠ T♣ . The board favors Park 2♠ Q♥ 9♦ 5♥ 4♥ for a double up.