MAIN EVENT ($1,320)

Today's Won Poker Cup III Main Event festivities showcased a fierce battle on the felt, with only 52 players returning from a 415-entry field. After just under seven hours of intense play, the field was trimmed to its final nine contenders, with Khayal Abbasov stacking an undeniable lead.

Abbasov delivered a crushing performance throughout Day 2 and finished as the overwhelming chip leader with 4,105,000 (102 BB), nearly a third of the total chips in play. His pivotal moment came just before the final break, when he vaulted into the lead following a failed bluff attempt by Tomas Dedinas. From that point on, Abbasov maintained full control, applying pressure on his opponents, all the while steadily growing his stack.

Sitting a distant second is Vietnam's Viet An Nguyen with 1,720,000 (43 BB), trailed closely by Armenia's Mikayel Balabekyan with 1,660,000 (41 BB). Not to be overlooked is Australia's Armon Van Wijk, who settled for a runner-up finish in last year's inaugural run, now back for redemption with a comfortable 1,270,000 (32 BB) stack.

All nine final tablists have locked up a minimum payout of $11,500, with the $116,500 top prize just a few more steps away. Play will resume tomorrow, May 21st, noon sharp, where the newest Won Poker Cup champion will be crowned in the Final Day showdown.

Won Poker Cup III Main Event

Date/s: May 17-21, 2025

Buy-in: USD 1,320

Guarantee: USD 600,000

Entries: 415

Prize pool: USD 600,000

ITM: 52 places

Facing an utg open from chip leader Khayal Abbasov, Jeorge Lagatuz decided to take the aggressive route and shove his entire 925,000 from the small blind. Unfortunately for him, Abbasov was ready to pounce with a premium pair, putting the Filipino at risk.

Board 7♥ 9♣ 6♠ 4♥ 4♦ offered Lagatuz no salvation, leaving him to exit as the final table bubble while Abbasov further extended his lead.

Ronald Haverkamp stuffed his last 320,000 (8 BB) on the button and was looked up by Ngoc Thai Huynh right on the big blind.

Huynh with a better pair, kept Haverkamp behind all the way through board 3♣ 4♥ 5♦ 9♦ T♣ , cutting the counts by one.

Jeorge Lagatuz defended his big blind against chip leader Khayal Abbasov's cutoff open, and faced a 90,000 cbet from the aggressor on flop 9♦ 2♣ 3♣ . Lagatuz responded with a check raise to 400,000, pushing Abbasov out of the pot after giving it some consideration.

Chip leader Khayal Abbasov has been running up a storm and swung more chips after a blind vs blind clash against Bien Mai left the latter empty-handed.

Abbasov open raised all-in on the small blind with 9♣ 7♦ and picked up a pair on board K♥ 3♣ T♣ 7♠ A♦ , enough to dust Mai's 4♦ 4♣ and scoop up his last 8 big blinds.

Seung Duk Yang flicked in his last 4 big blinds and saw both Ronald Haverkamp and Viet An Nguyen complete on the blinds. Action on board 6♦ 3♦ K♦ 6♠ 9♠ was checked all the way down to the river, where Haverkamp's and Nguyen's ace-high were revealed for a split pot while Yang bound for the exit.

Danny Huynh, left with 11 big blinds, decided to take the spot once action folded to him on the hijack. Ronald Haverkamp two seats down the line rose to the challenge, and swiftly delivered the bust with top pair on board 6♥ Q♠ K♣ 4♥ 3♠ .

Folded down to the button, Jeorge Lagatuz open raised all-in and saw Tomas Dedinas risk his tournament life - 250,000 with 7♦ 7♠ on the small blind. Unfortunately for the day chip leader, Lagatuz had a better 8♠ 8♣ and easily ended his Main Event run across board 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ 5♣ T♠ .

Down to less than 4 big blinds, Gennadii Belousov pushed all-in utg, followed by a 250,000 raise from Hoang Anh Nguyen a seat after. Abhijith Cheruku on the small blind reshoved for 530,000 more, and Nguyen put in the final call for a three way showdown.

Both Belousov's and Nguyen's ace-high were no match to Cheruku's premium pair across board 3♠ 7♣ 7♥ 9♣ T♦ , leaving the Indian runner to rake it all in.

Running thin, Chang Fan committed his last 45,000 on the big blind with Q♣ 6♠ and was up against small blind Mikayel Balabekyan's 9♣ 8♥ . Board T♠ 9♦ 6♦ 7♠ 3♠ landed Balabekyan a straight, eliminating Chang just short of making the final two tables.

Adrian Brion open ripped 405,000 from early position and saw Hoang Nam Nguyen call off his lesser stack on the big blind.

Running a flip, Nguyen missed board 9♣ 9♥ Q♠ 6♥ 8♠ entirely, finishing his run in 18th place.

Viet An Nguyen opened 40,000 on the button, called by Tomas Dedinas on the small blind. Ronald Haverkamp a seat after, squeezed all-in for 275,000, and got a call from Dedinas for a showdown.

Haverkamp ahead, was in no sweat as the board 4♣ A♥ K♠ 6♦ K♥ instantly came ace-high.

Action folded down to Michael Smith on the button, pushing him to jam for his last 224,000. Ngoc Thai Huynh took the spot from the big blind and was up for a flip for a 30 BB pot.

Smith had high hopes of a double up as the board came 5♥ 2♠ A♥ A♦ , but succumbed to his fate as the river 8♠ turned the tables.

Short stacked Jian Lin defended his big blind against Armon Van Wijk's 40,000 button open, and flicked in his last 15,000 with top pair K♦ Q♥ on flop 2♥ Q♠ J♥ . A small price to pay for Van Wijk, the Australian put one the one big blind bet with A♦ 4♠ , and found the tides turn in his favor as the runout A♣ 5♦ awarded him the win.

Viet An Nguyen led the action with an open on the cutoff, joined by Tomas Dedinas right next to him.

On flop 9♠ 5♠ 8♠ , Dedinas called a 32,000 cbet and decided to bet 30,000 on turn 7♠ , checked to him. Nguyen however, bumped it up to 80,000 and followed with another 225,000 on river J♥ . Dedinas decided he was beat by the final bet and open folded T♠ . Nguyen returned the favor, also revealing one card, the 8♥ .

Gennadii Belousov min opened 32,000 and slipped just 63,000 more following a shove from Mr. Fendy two seats after.

Belousov a huge favorite, had no issues securing the pot on board 3♣ T♠ J♣ 8♣ K♠ .

John Matsuda fell victim to the worst cooler in the deck, having happily committed his last 190,000 (16 BB) against Khayal Abbasov, only to suffer a cruel elimination.

No help arrived on board Q♠ 2♦ 4♦ 7♥ 4♥ , keeping Abbasov's rockets well ahead.

Lewis Cowell stuffed his last 117,000 from the big blind against Kyle Bao Diep's cutoff open and saw the latter complete.

All aces on the table was seen as board ran 7♦ A♦ 2♥ 2♣ 4♠ , leaving Cowell drawing dead in a flash.

A dream spot landed right on Tomas Dedinas' lap after his utg open with A♠ A♣ was met with a three bet from Dmitry Nemirovsky on the big blind. Dedinas raised the stakes further to 200,000 and snapped his opponent's all-in for 530,000 more.

Nemirovsky with A♦ K♦ , had his hopes crushed after the cards were turned, knocking him out of his seat as the board rolled 3♥ J♥ 8♣ 8♦ T♠ .

Viet An Nguyen kicked off the action with an utg open and quickly called Heng Kai Perng's 186,000 all-in from the big blind.

A coinflip situation, both players connected with flop K♠ J♠ T♦ , with Perng's nut straight holding through turn 2♣ and river 4♦ for the double.

Shankui Li pushed his last 150,000 on the button and was looked up by Ngoc Thai Huynh right on the big blind.

Board 4♣ K♠ J♦ K♣ 2♥ this time, fell in favor of the overcards, eliminating Li in the process.

Action folded down to the blinds, where Chang Fan Te min opened and called off his roughly 30 big blind stack against Pham Duy Khanh Nguyen's jam right behind.

A crucial flip with over 750,000 in the middle, Chang was glad to see his pocket pair hold up on board 3♦ 4♥ 2♥ T♣ 9♦ . Nguyen survived the damage but is crippled down to five big blinds.

Sergey Kharitonov pushed his last 13 big blinds in the middle from utg. Khayal Abbasov on the button, reshoved to isolate, pushing everyone else out of the way.

Kharitonov in rough shape, failed to improve on board Q♥ 8♥ Q♦ 8♣ 2♠ , busting him out in quick fashion.

Ku Ghee Peow opened utg and was quickly met with a 60,000 raise from seatmate Jeorge Lagatuz. Peow decided to pad the pot further to 122,000 and was priced in to call after Lagatuz moved all-in for 217,000 total.

Lagatuz well ahead, smooth sailed to victory on board T♠ 7♦ K♣ 4♣ 8♦ , pocketing the big boost at the expense of Peow.

Pham Ngoc Tuan slammed 101,000 from on the small blind and saw hijack raiser Mr. Fendy rise to the challenge.

Tuan in trouble, found no help on board 4♠ T♣ J♦ 6♠ Q♣ , cutting his run short.

Danny Huynh open jammed 69,000 utg+1 and was called by two players behind - Lewis Cowell and Khayal Abbasov.

On flop 6♠ 7♣ 7♥ , Cowell check called a 50,000 bet from Abbasov for a side pot. Action slowed down on both turn 5♥ and river 7♦ , shortly revealing Huynh's full house for the triple up. Abbasov on the other hand, raked in the side pot, cutting his losses significantly.

Action folded down to the blinds, where Khayal Abbasov went ahead and open ripped. Shi Jin Lin called off his entire 110,000 (18 BB) behind, and found himself in great shape for a double up once the cards were turned.

Board K♥ A♠ 9♠ 2♠ 2♣ however, ran three spades, giving Abbasov a flush to knock Shi out.

Santiago Ramos defended his big blind against Bien Mai's 22,000 hijack open, and check called the rest of his short stack on flop 7♦ 6♠ J♦ with a combo draw 8♦ 4♦ . Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Mai had him dominated with A♦ T♦ , and easily delivered the bust as the board completed Q♣ Q♠ .

Main Event Day 2 action begins, good luck to all the players!

It all boils down to today, where even small decisions begin to matter as only 52 players out of the 415-entry field head back to the scene, all vying for a coveted spot at the Won Poker Cup III Main Event final table. Having survived the Day 1 rounds, each contender is now guaranteed a share of the $600,000 prize pool with min cash listed at $3,050. All eyes however, are on the $116,500 top prize, the prestigious Won Main Event trophy and not to forget the exclusive W Ring, up for grabs.

Lithuania's Tomas Dedinas currently leads the charge, having topped last night's Day 1D session with a commanding 913,000 (152 BB) stack, followed by Bien Mai with 746,000 (124 BB) and Ronald Haverkamp with 614,000 (102 BB), to sum up the top three counts.

Action begins at 11:30 AM, due to play down to the final nine. Stay locked in as SMP brings you real-time updates, key hands, and chip counts straight from the tournament floor!

Won Poker Cup III Main Event

Date/s: May 17-21, 2025

Buy-in: USD 1,320

Guarantee: USD 600,000

Entries: 415

Prize pool: USD 600,000

ITM: 52 places

Day 1A: 70 entries, 9 qualified

Day 1B: 89 entries, 11 qualified

Day 1C: 155 entries, 19 qualified

Day 1D Turbo: 101 entries, 13 qualified

Day 2: Tuesday, May 20

Day 3/ Final: Wednesday, May 21