WPT Cambodia Passport to World Championship ($1,300)

Day 1A is done and dusted with 22 players out of 175 entries advancing to Day 2. Three players are very close in chips Takuya Shimabukuro (642,000), Sha Chengchun (611,000), and securing the top spot was Viet Nam's Van Dan Nguyen with 644,000.

Stay tuned for the recap.

The final hand of the day is the elimination of Haisheng Qiu. Pushing all in with Q♦ J♥ , William Lius calls with A♦ K♦ . The board runs 4♥ 3♥ 8♦ 5♥ T♣ .

Haisheng Qiu opens 19,000 from cutoff and big blind Sha Chengchun defends, the flop runs J♥ 9♣ K♥ . Sha checks, Qiu bets 27,000, Sha shoves, Qiu calls.

On a board that completed 2♣ J♦ K♠ T♠ 2♣ and 64,000 already brewed, William Lius bets 50,000, Van Dan Nguyen raises 150,000, Lius calls and shows Q♠ 8♣ flush. Nguyen has him beat with J♣ J♥ full house.

Pham Bao and William Lius build a pot of 34,500 preflop and see the cards run 6♥ 3♥ 7♥ . Bao bets 10,500, Lius check-raises 25,000, Bao calls and the dealer felts the turn J♠ . Both players check it. The river 4♠ Lius bets 35,000 Bao shoves, Lius folds and shows 7♦ 2♦ , Bao shows J♥ .

The Championship has entered the last level of play.

Hijack Chi Ling Tsang raises 8500, cutoff William Lius calls, button Howard Appledorf three-bets 55,000, Tsang folds and Lius goes to the flop Q♠ 3♥ 4♠ . Lius leads out 50,000 which is enough to win the pot.

Tsang dodges the overcards for a massive double up as Ramos says "easy come easy go" as he pays up.

Santiago Ramos and Will Lius stare down a flop 6♠ 7♣ 6♥ and 48,000 in the pot. Aggressor Liu from the big blind continues for 33,000, Ramos calls, the turn comes 5♥ . Lius shoves and Ramos snap-calls.

Jayden Zalac opens from the button then calls small blind Dich Khanh Nguyen's 26,000 re-raise. At the flop 4♠ T♦ 6♣ , Zalac bets 18,000, Nguyen check-raises 38,000, Zalac calls. The turn 6♦ is checked again by Nguyen, Zalac jams and wins it with no further challenge.

Howard Appledorf opens and big blind Santiago Ramos defends the big blind. At the flop 2♣ 4♦ T♦ , Ramos check-calls 15,000. Both players check the turn 7♣ . On the river 7♥ , Ramos leads out 19,000, Appledorf folds, Ramos shows J♦ 3♦ bluff and is happy for it to go through.

Van Dan Nguyen pushes his last 25,500 out front and finds no callers. On the next hand, Nguyen is all in again and doubles up through big stacked Anh Bui Le with A♠ A♥ over 9♦ 9♥ .

Following that win, Nguyen could be heard across the room as he lands another full boost this time with Q♦ Q♣ set on the river against David Chiv's 8♣ 8♠ that improved to a set on the flop. The board completed 6♥ 2♣ 8♥ 9♥ Q♥ .

Catching the action by the turn 5♦ 6♠ 7♦ 9♣ with 32,500 in the pot, Andrei Budykin bets 10,000, big stacked Oleg Titov check-raises all in, Budykin snap-calls and shows 9♥ 8♥ . Titov flips over the failed bluff A♦ 4♣ and with the river 9♦ , Budykin doubles up.

Alex Lee opens and finds two caller to the flop J♦ 9♥ 4♥ . Lee c-bets 8500, Max Deveson calls, big blind folds. The turn 4♣ sees 26,000 from Lee and wins the pot uncontested.

Tilting from the loss against Howard Appledorf, Jungsup Yun goes all in and falls to William Lius.

Hand opens with Jungsup Yun limping in then calls button player Howard Appledorf's raise. At the flop 7♠ 3♣ T♦ , Appledorf bets over pot, Yun still calls. With the pot now at 98,500, the turn 9♣ , Yun checks, Appledorf goes all in, the dealer hears "check" from Appledorf and partially reveals the river J♠ when Appledorf says "You know I am all in?" Yun quickly announces "call" and shows T♣ 8♣ straight. Appledorf has A♠ T♠ top pair.

The TD was called to decide on whether the river card stands seeing that it was shown before Yun announced his action. With Yun sitting next to the dealer, the decision was to reshuffle the J♠ back in the deck, action was still on Yun. After tanking Yun called. The river A♦ was a double up for Appledorf.

Santiago Ramos opens from mid-position and finds two callers. At the flop 7♥ 7♣ 6♥ , check-check to the button Howard Appledorf who bets 25,000, big blind shoves, Ramos calls, Appledorf tank-folds and says he had Ace-Ten.

The turn 5♦ and river 4♠ are no help to Adam to bust out.

With a pot of 45,000 brewed and a flop showing 5♥ Q♠ A♠ , small blind Howard Appledorf shoves 115,500 sending Jungsup Yun tanking. Yun folds after a minute or so and ask for one card. Appledorf show his A♥ .

Ilya Firstov is sporting one of the biggest stacks at the moment after raking in a big pot by exposing Xinglong Huang's bluff. With the board completing 2♥ 3♦ 6♠ 2♠ 9♦ and a big pot in the middle, Huang bets 22,500, Firstov flats, Jungsup Yun folds.

Jatin Sablani opens foro 4000 and is joined by two callers to the flop J♣ 3♣ A♥ . Everyone checks and the dealer flips the turn 6♥ . Sablani checks, Junjian Yu bets 6000, button Takuya Shimabukuro raises 19,000, Sablani folds and Yu flats. The river 7♠ is checked again. Yu rakes in the pot with A♠ K♠ .

Thong Su Le has picked up another pile of chips, this time by cleaning out Alex Lee with Ace-Queen dominating Ace-Nine throughout the entire board.

Raised pot sees a flop 2♦ J♣ 7♠ , middle position Thong Su Le calls cutoff Goken Okawa's c-bet. On the turn K♥ , check again by Le, Okawa slides out 25,000, Le tank-shoves and Okawa calls before the count.

The river K♠ further improves Le to double up with a full house.

With 14,000 in the pot and a flop 5♣ J♥ 2♣ laid out, Jungsup Yun bets 10,000, Rayhaan Adam re-raises 20,000, Yun calls. Both players check the turn 6♠ then on the river 5♠ , Adam slides out 40,000, Yun tank-calls then mucks to 6♦ 6♥ full house.

With a pot of 26,400 before them and a board 3♠ 4♦ J♥ K♣ , Jaeki Choi bets 18,500, William Luis raises to 58,500, Choi tanks for a few minutes and reluctantly lays it down.

Ichiyo Niwa opens for 3000 and heads to the flop Q♥ 3♥ A♦ with two callers. Niwa c-bets for 3300 and only Xinglong Huang gives him some action. On the turn J♥ , Niwa checks, Huang bets 10,000, Niwa calls. On the river 6♠ , check again from Niwa, Huang sends out 33,000, Niwa folds.

Though dominated, Shimabukuro spikes the lucky two-outer to double up.

Buu Nghia Le opens, button Soon Lee Toh three-bets 6500, small blind Chengchun Sha four-bets 15,500, only Toh continues to the flop K♥ 9♣ 5♣ . Sha check-calls Toh's 12,000 bet then both check the turn J♥ and river J♠ .\

Anh Tuan Bui min-raises from utg+2 and finds two callers for a flop T♠ 5♣ 4♠ . Anh continues for 4500, cutoff Oleg Titov calls, big blind Adrien Tantaro check-raises 16,000, Anh calls, Titov folds. The turn K♣ sees Anh quickly announce all in and well covers Tantaro who check-folds.

Curtin Jian bumps it up to 1600 and finds two callers to the flop Q♠ 8♥ 8♠ . Jian c-bets 1700, finds a caller, then big blind player check-raises 6000. Jian answers with a 16,700 three-bet, caller folds, big blind jams.

Curtis Jian A♠ K♠

Big blind player 8♣ 6♠

The turn T♠ awards Jian the nut flush, and with no pair on the river 7♦ , Jian ships it while railing one in the process.

Jinlong Hu opens for 2000, cutoff Rui Wang three-bets 400, big blind calls, Hu four-bets 15,000, Wang jams, big blind gets out of the way and Hu makes the call with less behind.

Quan Qiu opens 1600, button Rui Wang calls, big blind Buu Nghia Le three-bets 7,000, Qiu folds, Wang calls again. At the flop K♣ Q♠ 4♦ , Le continues for 15,000, Wang gives it up.

Three players build a 12,600 pot and see a flop 6♥ 2♦ 6♣ . Button players Hong Quan Nguyen bets 10,000, small blind Somashekar Nahadeva calls and Stephen Anthony Eli folds. No bets on the turn 9♣ and river 4♦ .

From utg+1 Guillem Segarra opens then bets 2000 on the flop Q♣ 4♣ K♥ with two players in the hand. Small blind folds, big blind Lei Zhang check-raises 7300, Segarra three-bets 16,000, Zhang shoves and Segarra snaps it off with less behind.

The turn J♥ improves Segarra but still behind until the river spikes A♠ for a winning straight. Zhang can't believe it.

Pot of 8600 brewed by the turn K♠ K♦ 3♣ 6♦ with button Boon Wong betting 2500. Small blind Howard Appledorf check-raises 8700, Wong re-raises 20,000, Appledorf isn't going anywhere and calls. The river 6♠ , Appledorf checks again, Wong sends out 12,000 only to be met with a shove. Wong quickly folds.

On a board T♣ 3♦ K♥ J♥ and 10,700 in the pot, WPT Cambodia Warm Up champion Cliton Taliwanth check-calls 10,000 bet by Le Ngoc Minh. They head to the river 5♠ . Both check. Taliwanth shows A♦ J♣ , Minh mucks.

Utg+2 Jonas Ferrut three-bets 6000 and initial raiser Stephen Anthony Eli flats for a flop J♦ T♣ 3♣ . Both check to the turn 3♥ , Ferrut bets 4000 that's called. The river 9♥ , another 15,000 by Ferrut that's called. He reveals 9♣ 9♠ set and wins the pot.

Four players build a pot of 5300 then utg Dang Hung Duong bets 2700 on the flop J♥ 6♣ T♣ . Two players call then all check the turn 9♥ . On the river 5♠ , Travis Endersby leads out 16,000, no callers.

Adrien Berger stares down the board 7♣ Q♠ K♥ 2♠ 4♦ and a pot of 35,300 with Pang Jung Dixon Seng all in for 27,000. Berger tanks then ask Seng if he has pocket Kings. No reaction from Seng and Berger tanks a bit more before finally folding.

Jungsup Yun opens 1200, finds one caller, big blind Izzat Bananyarli three-bets 4000, only Yun calls and they see a flop 3♣ 4♠ 9♠ . Bananyarli bets 6000, Yun calls. On the turn 7♦ , Bananyarli shoves and a quick call from Yun

The river K♦ is not a spade for a double up to Bananyarli.

Trung Quan Nguyen opens 1200, Jungsup Yun calls, button Kieth McIntosh three-bets 4500, both players call then they all check the flop J♥ 5♣ J♣ . On the turn 8♣ , Nguyen c-bets 10,000, Yun raises 20,000, McIntosh tank-calls, Nguyen opts to fold. The river 4♣ Yun goes all in and covers McIntosh who tanks and eventually calls.

Heavy preflop action starts with utg+1 Igor Makarenko raising 800, finds a caller, button Vinni Pilling three-bets 3900, small blind Mingcheng Zhang four-bets 8800, Makarenko gets out of the way, Pilling folds and shows T♠ 6♣ while asking Zhang if he saw his cards.

Melvin Wei Zong Ng enjoys a rush that sent his stack soaring over three times starting stack. First hand he doubles up through Thomas Scheld. Hand open with Xinglong Huang raising 900, five players call. On the flop 4♦ 5♠ 7♥ , action folds to Ng on the button, he bets 2500, big blind Scheld shoves, only Ng calls and has less chips.

Two hands after, another takedown by Ng with pocket Tens over a player's pocket Eights.

Cutoff Masaya Nakagawa opens 1,000 then calls Hieu Ngo's 3000 three-bet. Ngo continues for 200 on the flop 8♣ Q♥ 8♥ , Nakagawa check-calls. On the turn J♥ , Nakagawa leads out 10,000 and gets the call. The river K♠ , Nakagawa shoves 17,500, Ngo tank-calls and pays up.

Thomas Scheld opens from under the gun and finds two customers. When the board completes 2♣ J♥ 8♦ 3♣ K♦ Scheld fires 1600, 5100, and 7500, only Jeongyeol Yu calls it down then mucks to Scheld's A♣ K♣ .

Jungsup Yun has been on attack mode since the start and finally gets it all out front in this hand. Utg Boon Leong Lawrence Wong limps, Yun raises 1400, three players call which includes Wong. All check the flop A♠ 7♣ 8♥ then Wong bets 5000 on the turn 6♦ . Yun goes all in for his last 10,000, only Wong calls.

Yun gets up to leave thinking Wong has two pair then realizes and sits back down when the river comes 7♦ .

Ladies Event winner Pannasa Prempluem takes a seat and immediately enters to defend her big blind. At the flop 7♣ 5♥ 2♣ , Prempluem calls Frederick Farrington's 800 bet then folds to the 2,100 bet on the turn 5♠ .

Frederick Farrington opens from cutoff and gets two players to join to the flop 9♥ 7♦ K♦ . All check to the turn Q♣ . Big blind Patrik Selin bets 1,000, no takers. Selin flashes Q♥ Q♦ as he rakes in the pot.

Catching the action on a board 8♣ 7♥ 6♦ 8♦ 2♥ with a mountain of chips in the pot, big blind Savada Son bets 20,000 that sends Daniel O'Leary tanking then makes the right call.

Four-bet preflop action by Dmitry Nemirovsky finally sees a flop 6♦ 4♦ A♣ after Jungsup Yun calls. Nemirovsky continues for 3,500 and cutoff Yun calls. The turn J♣ is checked then Nemirovsky sends out 10,700 on the river 8♣ , Yu gives up his hand.

Catching the action on a flop 4♥ T♥ 8♣ with 4,500 already weighing down the middle, more chips went flying. button Jungsup Yun bets 2500 and mid-position Mingcheng Zhang check-calls to the turn Q♥ to which both check. On the river A♣ , check-check again. Zhang has the straight, Yun mucks.

Cards in the air for Day 1A!

After six days of pre-games, the main attraction of the World Poker Tour Cambodia Passport To The World Championship - WPT Cambodia Championship opens today, July 18, 2024 at NagaWorld in Phnom Penh.

In partnership with Connaissance Management Limited, the headliner features a $500,000 guarantee and the winner will not only take home a substantial cash prize but also the coveted WPT World Championship package valued at $12,230. This includes the $10,400 seat and seven nights of accommodation in Las Vegas for the brand's biggest year-ending live poker event of the year. The second and third place finishers will also earn a seat to the WPT World Prime Championship valued at $1,100.

A total of three starting days kicks off the Championship with players receiving a 40,000 stack equivalent to 200 times the opening blinds. The first nine levels will see blinds increase every 40 minutes with registration closing at the start of Level 10 at approximately 6pm local time. Once reg closes, the blinds increase every 60 minutes for the duration of the tournament. All Day 1 flight play a total of 14 levels. Re-entries are allowed and multiple stacks however only the largest stack advances while the extra will be removed from play and earns the minimum payout.

The WPT Action Clock will be introduce starting Day 2, giving players 30 seconds to make their decisions. Each player will initially receive 4 time-bank chips, with each chip providing an additional 30 seconds. When the field narrows down to 24 players, an additional 4 time-bank chips will be distributed to each remaining player. Upon reaching the final table, players will receive another 4 time-bank chips.

Date/s: July 18 – 22, 2024

Buy-in: USD 1,300

Guarantee: USD 500,000

Day 1A: Thursday, July 18, 2024

Day 1B: Friday, July 19, 2024

Day 1C: Saturday, July 20, 2024

Day 2: Sunday, July 21, 2024

Day 3: Monday, July 22, 2024

Cards in the air at 11:30am daily. Somuchpoker is on-site to bring you live updates on the action from start to finish.