NAGAWORLD Kickoff ($500)

First ever PokerStars spadie for Hong Kong’s Cheuk Wai Wong after clinching the 2025 APPT Cambodia NagaWorld Kickoff! Along with the coveted trophy, Wong earned a cool ICM deal payout of $13,879.

The NagaWorld Kickoff attracted 206 across two flights, each one contributing $500 to swell the pot to $86,171. Entering the final day were 31 players, all guaranteed a cut. Overnight chip leader Wong brought in mountain of chips into a stacked table that included Cheng Zhang, Van Tien Dinh, Avneesh Munjal, and PokerStars regular Christian Cloutier.

While Wong weathered the heavy action, it was the opposite for Cloutier, who got rivered twice in near back to back hands to send his stack plunging and eventually out in 10th place.

Once the final 9 was set, Wong entered the lineup sitting third in chips. When the field thinned, he was seen shoving multiple times, and in a pivotal hand against Adam Lydford, luck shined with A♣ T♠ flush cracking J♣ J♥ on a board of K♠ 4♠ 6♠ 8♣ 7♠ .

At five handed, Wong's stack dropped to as low as 13 bb then bounced back after eliminating Lydford in 4th place. A three-way ICM deal was then struck and Wong proceeded to clean out Van Xuan Nguyen in 3rd place. With his larger stack, another deal was reached. Wong was instantly crowned champion for his larger stack.

Congratulations to the champion!

After Van Xuan Nguyen was eliminated, Cheuk Wai Wong and Anh Tuan Ho struck another deal. With Wong sitting on the bigger stack, he was automatically crowned the champion and was awarded the PS spadie. For runner up Anh, he was awarded the APPT Main Event ticket worth $,1750.

After the three-way deal, Van Xuan Nguyen went all in with Q♥ 2♣ and fell to Cheuk Wai Wong's A♥ K♥ on a board of T♣ 2♠ A♣ 9♦ 7♣ .

After Adam Lydford's fall, the fina three players agreed on an ICM deal with the Main Event ticket and PS trophy left to play for. Listed below are the guaranteed payouts.

Cheuk Wai Wong - $13,879

Anh Tuan Ho - $13,642

Van Xuan Nguyen - $10,185

End of the road for Cheng Zhang who three-bet all in holding K♦ J♦ and just under a million in chips. Action was back on the initial raiser Anh Tuan Ho who wasn't going anywhere with T♣ T♠ . When the board ran A♥ Q♣ 9♦ 7♠ 8♦ , Zhang missed completely to finish in 5th place.

Cheuk Wai Wong wins back to back hands with the first one just an uncalled raise. The next was much larger, defending on the big blind by calling a 120,000 raise from cutoff Anh Tuan Ho. At the flop 4♦ A♠ K♠ , Anh continued for 100,000, Wong put the heat on with a 300,000 raise, Anh called. On the turn Q♣ , Wong wasted no time counting and shoved 745,000, Anh surrendered his hand for a well deserved pot for Wong.

Cheng Zhang picked up a couple of pots to rise back to a million. First hand, he raised 120,000 and chip leader Anh Tuan Ho defended his big blind. At the flop 2♦ 5♠ K♣ , Zhang slid out 60,000 that Anh called. Another 200,000 bet on the turn 5♣ by Zhang was rejected by Anh.

On the next winning hand, Zhang defended his big blind by calling Van Xuan Nguyen's 125,000 raise then went aggro on the flop. Nguyen bet 90,000, Zhang check-raised 325,000, Nguyen folded.

With action now moving faster, Cheuk Wai Wong watched his stack drain out by losing his blinds. Back on the big blind again, he shoved his last 620,000 on top of Van Xuan Nguyen's 150,000 raise and won the pot.

Van Xuan Nguyen raises 125,000 from utg then folds to Anh Tuan Ho's 300,000 raise. Nguyen shows A♥ before folding.

Another pot for the leader Anh who three-bet again to 250,000. Initial raiser Cheuk Wai Wong called then folded to the 150,000 c-bet at the flop 4♠ 8♥ 5♣ .

After a very long six-handed match, the field is now one less player as Dinh Van Tien bows out. From the small blind, Adam Lydford pushed K♠ 3♠ and Dinh risked with A♣ 4♦ . The board favored the lesser hand, improving it to top pair that held through the runout 9♠ 9♦ K♥ 7♥ 2♣ .

Small blind Anh Tuan Ho and big blind Cheng Zhang call a 100,000 raise from Adam Lydford then all three check the flop 5♦ 8♠ 6♠ . With another small spade on the turn 3♠ , small blind Anh test-bets 200,000 and it's good to claim the pot.

Dinh Van Tien raises 100,000 and gets to see a flop with the blinds tossing in the call. Dinh continues fro 150,000 on a board of 2♣ 7♣ A♦ and only small blind Van Xuan Nguyen wants to see the turn which comes Q♦ . Liking what he sees, Nguyen leads out 165,000 and Dinh calls. With the river 5♦ , both check it then Nguyen wins with A♠ 5♠ .

Adam Lydford acted out of turn not once but three times causing the TD to rule three-hand penalty. That meant he would miss out on a big blind. Unhappy with the decision, Lydford stormed out of the tournament area.

Down to 250,000 (6 bb), Dinh Van Tien found a spot to send it all in and got called by big blind Van Xuan Nguyen. Dinh showed T♦ T♣ , Nguyen with J♦ 9♦ , the board ran K♥ T♦ 3♥ J♠ 6♠ .

Two hands after, DVT shoved again and Nguyen called again. It was a flip with DVT ahead 9♥ 9♠ against Nguyen's A♦ Q♦ . The board ran out KsKd 8♣ 5♥ 8♥ and DVT shipped another.

The "win all showdowns" player Van Xuan Nguyen picked up a couple of pots and this time there all the chips didn't go in. The first hand was up against Anh Tuan Ho who raised 60,000 then called Nguyen's 150,000 three-bet. When the flop landed Q♠ 2♦ T♦ , Nguyen's 100,000 c-bet was called again by Anh to head to the turn Q♦ . Another barrel from Nguyen for 200,000 this time and it was good enough to rake in the pot.

Immediately following that hand, Nguyen raised 70,000 preflop and won the blinds and ante.

A little bit more action was seen in this hand with Anh Tuan Ho raising 60,000 then went hunting at the flop with caller Cheuk Wai Wong on the big blind. Wong led out 60,000 then folded to Anh's 150,000 raise.

Not much action in the new level with many uncalled preflop raises. A flop was seen when Van Xuan Nguyen called Cheuk Wai Wong's min-raise then folded on the c-bet on a flop K♠ 2♦ 5♥ .

Dinh Van Tien went head to head against Van Xuan Nguyen, both highly aggressive at this six handed table. Dinh raised 50,000 on Nguyen's big blind who defended. At the flop 3♠ 9♦ J♠ , Nguyen check-called a 150,000 continuation bet from Dinh to see the turn 3♥ pair the board. Dinh fired 135,000, this time Nguyen check-raised all in and after a time-bank, Dinh let Nguyen have the pot, saving his last 7 bb.

Next hand Dinh shoves 175,000 and Cheng Zhang isolates. Dinh opens A♥ 5♠ , Zhang is ahead with A♣ Q♣ . The poker gods saved Dinh on a board A♦ 3♦ 5♥ 2♥ 9♠ to sit back down and collect a double up.

With the board running 2♥ 9♥ 5♦ 5♠ 2♣ , the aces hold for another double up to Nguyen.

Hoseong Ha got pummeled into 7th placing losing back to back hands. The first was the costliest against Adam Lydford who kicked it off with a 50,000 raise. Ha defended his big blind then both checked the flop 5♥ J♠ J♥ .

When the turn came T♥ , Lydford bet a light 50,000 that Ha check-called to complete the board 3♥ . Another check from Ha prompted a bet of 110,000 from Lydford. Ha answered with a jam for 1,060,000 then crashed right into Lydford's A♥ A♣ flush after the call was made. Ha had K♦ 5♦ bluff.

The next hand, Dinh Van Tien shoved 295,000, Ha joined for 70,000 then lost the flip with 7♥ 7♦ against Dinh's A♠ Q♥ on a board A♣ 9♣ A♥ 2♣ 5♥ .

Cheng Zhang opened from under the gun for 55,000 and Chu An Lin three-bet all in for his last 190,000. Zhang called and showed A♣ J♠ while Lin was ahead with A♥ Q♥ . Unfortunately for Lin, a jack showed up on the board 7♣ 4♠ J♥ 4♥ T♥ to end his run in 8th place.

After the board ran 7♦ A♣ 7♥ K♥ 8♠ , Jang plunged to 15,000. Three hands later, Jang tossed it in with J♠ T♠ and was flipping against caller Adam Lydford's 2♣ 2♦ . But with no help on the board 4♦ A♥ 6♣ 3♠ 5♣ , he exited in 9th place.

Van Xuan Nguyen moves nearly all in with a raise of 215,000 leaving just 5000 behind. No one took the challenge to win the blinds and ante. Nguyen showed his A♣ K♣ .

Cheng Zhang claimed the first pot of the final table to join the millionaires. He opened 50,000 from cutoff and the blinds defended. At the flop 2♣ J♥ 6♥ , small blind Cheuk Wing Wong decided to lead out 50,000, big blind Hoseong Ha calls, then Zhang pumped it up to 300,000. No one dared and Zhang dragged in the win.

The Final Table of the NagaWorld Kickoff is set! One of the nine remaining players will be the first big winner of the festival and collect the $18,203 top prize along with the big spadie on display.

After suffering two bad runouts, Christian Cloutier takes a stand with A♥ J♣ only to run inot Anh Tuan Ho's A♠ Q♦ . The board ends his title bid after it completed 8♠ 8♥ 6♣ Q♥ 3♣ .

Christian Cloutier has T♥ T♠ and raises to 32,000. Big blind Van Xuan Nguyen calls with J♥ 7♠ and both see a flop 5♠ 6♥ 7♦ . Nguyen checks, Cloutier shoves, Nguyen tank-calls.

Looking bleak for Nguyen with the turn 4♣ but luck finds the river with J♦ showing up and Nguyen celebrates his nth double up as Cloutier gets rivered again.

Anh Tuan Ho is at it again, raising 32,000 from the button, small blind calls and they head to the flop 5♥ 2♠ 7♣ . Anh continues for 22,000 to win the pot easy.

Action folds to the button Jongbea Jang who raises 35,000 but is denied the blinds by folding to big blind Hoseong Ha's 215,000 reraise.

Banking on momentum, Anh Tuan Ho three-bet Van Xuan Nguyen's cutoff raise of 35,000 making it 126,000 to continue. At the flop A♣ 5♥ 2♠ , Anh fired 50,000, Nguyen opted out. Anh showed A♠ A♦ .

Anh Tuan Ho opened from utg with A♥ J♦ and big blind Christian Cloutier defended his chips with J♥ 7♠ . When the flop fanned out 6♦ 7♦ J♠ , Cloutier trapped with two pair, Anh c-bet his top pair for 27,000, then Cloutier sprung into a shove. Despite being well covered, Anh called his 322,000 stack and saw the bad news.

No change came on the turn 8♣ but when the river landed A♦ , Anh celebrated his luck as Cloutier paid up.

Before the chips all went in, Hoseong Ha opened from utg+1 for 32,000 and found two players to toss in the call - button Adam Lydford and big blind Salih Kaya. At the flop 7♥ 5♠ 4♠ it is checked to Lydford who bets 50,000. Kaya tanks then shoves 206,000. This was enough to push out Ha while Lydford gave it a short ponder then called.

Both players have strong draws with Kaya's pair ahead. The turn 3♥ gave Lydford the straight but not Kaya still had outs. The river 5♥ wasn't one of them to send Kaya out and ship in a monster pot.

Another cooler on the felt with Edgar Antezana all in for 280,000 showing K♥ K♠ only to run smack into Cheng Zhang's A♥ A♣ . When the flop ran 4♠ A♦ K♣ , the players erupted in shock that quickly died down on the turn 7♦ and river 8♥ .

Just before the table broke, Xinhong Chen paid a costly double up to Van Xuan Nguyen to bring his stack down to just 12,000. Moved to a new table, he went all in with A♠ 8♦ and got called by the blinds who both checked down the board A♥ 7♥ 8♣ Q♥ 2♠ . Chen's had won for a triple up.

Two hands after, Chen was on the big blind and got raised to 26,000 by Jongbea Jang. Chen defended leaving 10,000 behind which he pushed on the flop with 6♠ 7♠ flush draw but missed at the runout to fall to overcards.

Catching the action only as Jongbea Jang is shipping it and Oleksandr Humeiuk headed out. While Humeuik's hand had already been mucked, Jang showed a straight to boost his stack to a healthy 50 bigs.

The turn 7♠ and river 5♠ keep Nguyen ahead to collect a double up.

Gavin Flynn was passing by the media table and we got a short story on how he plunged into 19th place. He lost a chunk of chips in a missed flush draw then jammed with Jack-Four with 20 bigs and was surprised to be called by Cloutier with Ace-Seven. The ace held to bring the field down to 18 players.

PokerStars regular Joseph Magnotti was coolered into 23rd place with pocket Queens running into Edgar Antezana's pocket Kings and Adam Lydford attempting to double bust with Ace-Queen. Antezana's cowboys held for the scoop.

Gavin Flynn eliminated Jinseong Park and now has 382,000.

Catching the action as Stephen Rosenthal is getting paid. He doubled up off Chu An Lin with pocket Queens staying ahead of Ace-Jack.

Van Xuan Nguyen has been very active causing his stack to swing. Another winning hand saw him on the button call Salih Kaya's 18,000 raise. At the flop 5♦ Q♣ 6♦ , Kaya's 13,000 continuation bet was met with a 32,000 raise from Nguyen which was good to win the pot.

Stephen Rosenthal opened for 18,000 with T♥ T♠ on hand then calls Van Xuan Nguyen's last 58,000 shove. Nguyen flips over Q♥ T♣ . The flop 9♥ J♥ T♦ improves Rosenthal to a set while Nguyen is given hope with an open-ended that connects on the turn 8♥ . With the river 6♠ , Nguyen breathed a big sigh of relief for surviving.

No escape for Pham Bao who looked down at A♠ K♠ on the button and gave it a customary 13,000 raise. Big blind Adam Lydford also was dealt a monster Q♠ Q♥ and defended with a 32,000 three-bet. Action back on Pham show four-bets 82,000, Lydford jams with a covering stack and Pham can't resist with premium in the hole.

At showdown, it's a classic flip. The board runs out J♦ 5♠ 2♦ Q♦ 8♠ . Pham misses and goes bust in 28th place.

Jinlin Shi added several big blinds to his ammunition by starting off the hand with a 12,000 raise that's called by Christian Cloutier and Cheuk Wai Wong. The three-way quickly ended on the flop A♣ 4♦ 7♠ with Shin's 28,000 bet uncalled.

With no action before him, small blind Avneesh Munjal raises 15,000 only to be pounded back with a jam of 115,000 from big blind Cheng Zhang. Munjal can afford it but let's go of his hand instead.

Oleksandr Humeiuk opens from under the gun for 12,000 and big blind Xiangshun Li won't let him by without a challenge. After the call, the flop runs K♥ 8♣ 7♠ where Humeiuk bets 8000 that Li calls again. However on the turn J♠ , Humeiuk's heavier 17,000 but is rejected by Li.

Chen is ahead and only needs to dodge one overcard. With the board running 7♠ T♣ 2♥ A♠ 6♥ , he does just that for a double up.

Table 7 was expected to be an action-heavy felt and sure enough, the starting hand already saw a big pot that opened with a 12,000 raise from David Koy. Several spots down at cutoff, Dinh Van Tien (DVT) and small blind Christian Cloutier called.

Three-way to the flop 2♠ K♣ 4♣ , brought another 14,000 from Koy, DVT raised is up to 36,000, Cloutier got out of the hand while Koy paid to see the turn T♣ . Checked to DVT, he fired 41,000 and it was enough to claim the pot.

Within seconds of the starting buzzer, Salih Kaya was dealt K♠ K♦ and Hyungtaek Jo liked his K♥ J♥ . Jo liked his chances and found a shove that sent him quickly packing up on a jack-high board.

The 2025 APPT Cambodia resumes today, Saturday, May 3, with the final day of the NagaWorld Kickoff event. Taking place at the world class NagaWorld Integrated Resorts in the capital city of Phnom Penh, only 31 players remain out of the 206 that came out for an early chance at the PokerStars big spadie.

The players are now in a more comfortable position as each one is guaranteed a piece of the US$ 87,921 prize pool. At the minimum is a payout of US$ 741 and at the max is a sweet bankroll of US$ 18,203.

Bringing in today's biggest stack is Flight A leader Cheuk Wai Wong with 646,000 (107 bb) which is a far lead from his closest challenger Salih Kaya with 394,000 (65 bb).

Wong is tabled with some of the toughest sluggers in the field, PokerStars regular Christian Cloutier (50 bb), Van Tien Dinh (54 bb), Avneesh Munjal (52 bb), David Koy (19 bb), and Cheng Zhang (15 bb). It will definitely be a table to keep a close eye on.

Other notables in field are Aladin Reskallah (33 bb), Hyungtaek Jo (20 bb), and Van Xuan Nguyen (20 bb), all three players sharing the felt with second-ranked Kaya. Based on Nguyen's performance at Flight B, you can expect plenty of chips go flying as the tests his opponents at every step.

Cards start flying at 11:30am. Blinds roll back to Level 17: 3000-6000 ante 6000. Somuchpoker is onsite to bring you the action until the champion is crowned.

Live updates begin at 11:30am on Saturday, May 3... stay tuned!