8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty to ITM ($1,000)

The WPT Cambodia 2025 festival delivered high-stakes action and thrilling moments with the 8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty event standing out as one of the most exciting tournaments. Featuring a bounty structure, the tournament attracted 482 entries across three Day 1 flights, with 61 players advancing to Day 2.

In the end, it was Hongru Zhang of China who emerged victorious, securing the title and a payout of US$ 46,188, along with six bounties collected throughout the event. Runner-up Manuel Carvalho of Portugal played an outstanding game as well to earn US$ 31,442 and seven bounties. Slashing the most number of players was Yongjia "Gary" Lin with a total of nine collected until he was downed in 5th place.

Champion Zhang, shared some insights after the event:

How does it feel to win this event?

I’m very happy. I feel lucky. It’s been a year and a half since my last win.

Your last victory was in August 2023, also in an 8-Max event. Why do you excel in this format?

I play a lot of online poker, and most online tables are 8-Max. So, I’m very comfortable with this structure.

How did you adjust knowing that each knockout was worth $2,000?

On Day 1, I had a chance to knock out two players for $4,000 in bounties, but I folded. It turned out to be the right decision. On Day 2, I started with a short stack, dropping to 150,000-200,000 chips, but I stayed patient and made a comeback.

What was your strategy at the final table?

Honestly, I think I was just very lucky. I haven’t run well in the last two years, but this final table felt like a turning point for me.

At the start of heads-up play, you asked for an ICM deal, but Manuel declined. Why did you make the request?

Manuel is a strong player. I had 11 million chips, and he had 7 million. I thought an ICM chop would be a fair deal.

What was your heads-up strategy?

Just playing my game. I had strong hands, and Manuel tried to bluff me multiple times, but I called correctly.

The WPT Cambodia 2025 - 8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty featured three intense starting flights for a total of 482 entries. The prize pool reached US$ 230,813, with 61 players qualifying for Day 2.

For a majority of the final table, Abhishek Paul was the player to catch until Manuel Carvalho landed a double up that sent him skyrocketing to over 40% of the chips in play with four players remaining. After Hongru Zhang eliminated Paul in 4th place, he gained momentum, successfully grinding to amass a big lead. When Carvalho eliminated Tuan Hung Nguyen in 3rd place, the Portuguese still could not penetrate Zhang's big stack to eventually settle for 2nd place. On a side note, moments before entering the final flight of this event, Carvalho finished 2nd at the Super High Roller Warm-Up.

8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty

Dates: February 11-13, 2025

Buy-in: $1,000

Total Entries: 482

Total Prize Pool: $230,813

Manuel Carvalho called a 300,000 preflop raise by Hongru Zhang. The flop gave A♦ A♣ Q♦ . The players checked for the turn 5♥ . Zhang bet 1,000,000 following Carvalho's check. Carvalho called to see the river K♥ . Carvalho checks while Zhang bets all-in . After some thought Carvalho calls all-in with 2,525,000 . In the showdown, Zhang had A♠ J♣ while Carvalho held K♦ 5♦ . Zhang trips Aces knocked out Carvalho.

Manuel Carvalho raised 350,000 preflop and Hognru Zhang called for the flop, 8♣ K♠ 6♥ . Following a check, Carvalho placed a bet of 550,000 causing Zhang to call to see the turn, T♠ . The players checked to see the river, 6♣ . Carvalho places a bet of 1,400,000 following a check by Zhang. Zhang called into showdown with K♥ 2♠ while Carvalho held J♠ 9♥ . Zhang takes the pot with a pair of Kings.

Hongru Zhang raised 300,000 preflop and Manuel Carvalho three-bet 1,200,000. Zhang responds with a four-bet of 2,800,000 causing Carvalho to snap-fold.

Manuel Carvalho raised 250,000 preflop and Hongru Zhang called. The flop gave K♠ 5♠ 9♠ . Both players checked to see the turn 3♥ . Carvalho bet 300,000 following a check from Zhang. Zhang folds in response, backing off from the pot.

Hongru Zhang raised 250,000 preflop and Manuel Carvalho called to see the flop, K♣ 4♣ 3♣ . Carvalho checked while Hongru Zhang bet 250,000. Carvalho folded leaving the pot to Zhang.

The 8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty Event just reached heads-up with Manuel Carvalho and Hongru Zhang remaining on the felt. Manuel Carvalho has a total of 7,825,000 chips while Hongru Zhang had 11,400,000 chips. The game reached the peak of intensity as both players compete to be crowned champion.

Manuel Carvalho raised 250,000 preflop and Tuan Hung Nguyen called. The flop brought 5♣ J♣ T♠ . Carvalho bet 150,000 following a check by Hung Nguyen. Hung Nguyen raised 700,000 and Carvalho hit back with an all-in three-bet holding A♠ A♥ . Hung Nguyen called all-in with J♦ 7♦ in hand. The turn and the river ran Q♠ and 3♦ . Carvalho's pocket rockets knock out Tuan Hung Nguyen.

Manuel Carvalho called Tuan Hung

Nguyen's preflop raise of 250,000. The flop brought 8♣ 6♦ 4♠ . The players checked down the board to see the turn J♠ and river A♥ . Another round of checked lead to the showdown. Carvalho showed K♦ 4♥ while Nguyen mucked.

Hongru Zhang raised 250,000 preflop and Manuel Carvalho called. The flop showed 9♠ 5♣ 2♣ . Both players checked down the board to see the turn J♣ and the river 8♠ . Carvalho bet 325,000 and Zhang raised 1,200,000. Carvalho folded giving the pot to Zhang.

Hongru Zhang raised 250,000 pre-flop and Manuel Carvalho called. The flop showed T♦ 7♣ K♠ . Carvalho checked and Zhang bet 175,000. Carvalho folded leaving Zhang the pot.

Tuan Hung Nguyen called Manuel Carvalho's preflop raise of 250,000 and the flop brought, K♦ 9♥ 9♣ . Hung Nguyen checked post-flop while Carvalho bet 125,000. Hung Nguyen hit back with 409,000. Carvalho called to see the turn, T♥ . Hung Nguyen bet all-in 1,150,000 post-turn and Carvalho folded.

Hongru Zhang on the big-blind checks to see the flop after Manuel Carvalho on the small-blind calls. The flop brought A♣ 3♥ 4♠ . The players check down to turn, 5♠ . Zhang bet 350,000 and Carvalho called tosee the river, 4♥ . Zhang made a bet of 1,000,000 and Carvalho called. Zhang showed K♦ 2♠ while Carvalho mucked.

Tuan Hung Nguyen raised 250,000 preflop and Manuel Carvalho three-bet 550,000. Hung Nguyen folded giving the pot to Carvalho.

Hongru Zhang raised 250,000 preflop and Manuel Carvalho called. The flop brought J♥ 3♦ 6♣ . Zhang bets 125,000 after Carvalho checked. Carvalho folded handing leaving the pot for Zhang.

Manuel Carvalho raised 250,000 preflop and Tuan Hung Nguyen called. The flop showed, A♠ K♠ 5♣ . Hung Nguyen checked and Carvalho made a bet of 200,000 causing Hung Nguyen to fold.

Manuel Carvalho raised 250,000 preflop and Tuan Hung Nguyen called. The flop brought A♥ 8♦ 7♥ . Hung Nguyen checked letting Carvalho bet 250,000. Hung Nguyen folded leaving the pot to Carvalho.

Manuel Carvalho raised 400,000 preflop to be called by Hongru Zhang. The flop showed K♥ 6♥ 8♦ . Carvalho made a bet of 300,000 and Zhang called to see the turn, 2♦ . Carvalho bet again with 800,000 and Zhang called yet again to see the river, A♦ . Both players checked to showdown. Carvalho had 8♣ 5♠ while Zhang had K♠ J♦ forming the higher pair.

Tuan Hung Nguyen raised 200,000 preflop and Manuel Carvalho called. The flop brought 9♣ 7♠ 4♠ . Carvalho pushes further with a bet of 250,000 causing Hung Nguyen to fold.

Hongru Zhang raised 200,000 and Tuan Hung Nguyen responded by going all-in with 1,310,000 and Manuel Carvalho called. Zhang hit back with an all-in raise of 3,590,000 causing Carvalho to fold. Zhang with 8♠ 8♣ and Hung Nguyen with A♥ 3♥ enter showdown. The board, T♥ 5♦ 5♣ 3♣ A♠ gave Hung Nguyen the pot.

Manuel Carvalho raised 200,000 preflop and Tuan Hung Nguyen called. The flop brought J♠ 2♥ 2♣ . Carvalho made a bet of 100,000 following Hung Nguyen's check. Hung Nguyen folded giving the pot to Carvalho.

Tuan Hung Nguyen on the small blind calls Manuel Carvalho on the big-blind. Carvalho raises 350,000 causing Hung Nguyen to fold.

Manuel Carvalho raised 200,000 preflop and Hongru Zhang hit back with all-in of 1,620,000. Tuan Hung Nguyen called while Carvalho folded. Zhang held K♣ J♥ while Hung NGuyen held 8♥ 8♦ in the showdown. The board ran, 7♥ Q♦ 4♦ J♦ 3♥ giving Zhang the pot.

Manuel Carvalho called Abhishek Paul's preflop raise of 200,000 and the flop showed, 4♥ T♥ Q♣ . The players checked down to see the turn and river, 8♦ 6♠ respectively. Carvalho made a bet of 550,000 on the river causing Paul to fold.

Tuang Hung Nguyen on small-blind called Manuel Carvalho on big-blind. Carvalho checked. The flop gave A♠ 2♣ Q♦ . Hung NGuyen made a bet of 100,000 and Carvalho called to see the turn, J♠ . Hung Nguyen checked while Carvalho bet 300,000 causing Hung Nguyen to fold.

Hongru Zhang placed 510,000 into the pot to call Manuel Carvalho's 1,000,000 three-bet following Tuan Hung Nguyen's preflop raise of 300,000. Hung Nguyen folds leaving Zhang and Carvalho to go into showdown. Carvalho had Q♦ 8♦ while Zhang held A♠ 9♦ . The board ran, A♣ 6♥ 4♠ T♦ A♦ , giving Zhang trips Aces.

Manuel Carvalho raised 200,000 pre-flop and Yongjia Lin raised to 1,500,000. Carvalho pushed all-in in response and Lin called all-in with 2,000,000. The showdown saw Carvalho holding K♣ Q♦ while Lin had 3♣ 3♠ . The board, 5♠ 8♦ T♦ 5♥ K♠ favored Carvalho knocking out Lin.

Manuel Carvalho once again faces off with Abhishek Paul, this time calling Paul's 160,000 preflop raise. The flop brought 2♠ 6♠ 8♦ . Carvalho checked after the flop allowing Paul some room to bet 250,000 . Carvalho called to see the turn, 7♣ . Carvalho made a bet of 250,000 and Paul raised to 500,000. Carvalho responded by going all-in with 3,630,000 and Paul called into showdown. Paul had A♣ 8♥ while Carvalho had 4♦ 5♦ . The river gave Q♥ giving carvalho a straight.

Manuel Carvalho called Abhishek Paul's preflop raise of 200,000 and the flop brought J♥ A♠ 7♦ . Carvalho checked while Paul made a bet of 200,000. Carvalho called to see the turn, 8♦ . The players checked to see the river, 7♥ . On the River, Carvalho placed a bet of 400,000 dialing up the pressure on Paul. Paul folds leaving the pot for Carvalho.

Shmuel Bechor comitted the entire stack of 210,000 preflop holding A♠ 2♠ and Manuel Carvalho responded with a three-bet of 350,000 holding K♥ 4♥ . The board 3♥ 7♥ 3♦ Q♥ 2♦ handed Carvalho a flush knocking out Bechor.

Tuan Hung Nguyen three-bet 300,000 following Manuel Carvalho's preflop raise of 100,000. Carvalho called to see the flop, 3♣ 6♠ 8♥ . Hung Nguyen checked and Carvalho made a bet of 200,000. Hung Nguyen called to see the turn, 7♥ . The players checked down to see the river, Q♥ . The players checked down again to showdown. Hung Nguyen showed K♦ Q♣ while Carvalho mucked.

Tuan Hung Nguyen and Abhishek Paul called Manuel Carvalho's preflop raise of 80,000. The flop brought, A♣ 4♦ 9♣ . Tuan Hung Nguyen saw Carvalho bet another 80,000 and called, while Paul raised to 255,000. Carvalho called and Hung Nguyen took the opportunity to three bet all in, 635,000. Paul joined all-in while Carvalho folded. Hung Nguyen held 9♦ 9♥ while Paul held A♥ 4♥ . The turn and the river gave T♦ 2♥ giving Hung Nguyen a set of nines.

Jeremy Jehanne raised all-in preflop with 355,000 and Manuel Carvalho called. Jehanne held A♠ J♦ and Carvalho had A♣ 9♥ . The board, 7♣ 5♣ 3♦ 7♥ 3♥ left the players to split the pot.

Manuel Carvalho raised 65,000 to have Abhishek Paul call. The flop brought 6♠ 4♣ 4♥ . Carvalho bets another 60,000 following Paul's check. Paul called and the turn brings Q♠ . Carvalho vets an additional 300,000 following Paul's check again. Paul folds leaving the pot to Carvalho.

Manuel Carvalho called Tom Maguire's 65,000 preflop raise. The flop brought 4♣ 7♠ J♦ . Carvalho checked and called Maguire's bet of 55,000. The turn showed 9♠ . Maguire made a bet of 150,000 after Carvalho checked. Carvalho raised to 410,000 and Maguire called to see the river, 5♠ . Carvalho places a huge bet of 800,000 and after some thought Maguire backs off the pot.

Thi Hue Dang under the gun raised 267,000 preflop. Manuel Carvalho, and Tom Maguire call. Quan Qiu was forced to go all in with 261,000 to see the flop while holding K♠ Q♥ . The flop brought, 5♠ 4♠ 4♣ . Hue Dang places the remainder of his chip , 5,000 into the pot in an all-in bet while holding 9♣ 9♥ . Carvalho and Maguire call to see the turn, Q♠ . Carvalho checks, and Maguire bets 250,000 causing the opponent to fold. Maguire revealed his hand A♣ Q♦ and the players saw the river, 3♥ . Maguire's queenpair with Ace-kicker outkicked Qiu;s hand and dominated Hue Dang's pocket nines. Hue Dang was eliminated at the 19th position while Quan Qiu went out in the 20th position.

Manuel Carvalho raised 130,000 following Thi Hue Dang's preflop raise of 50,000. Armon Van Wijk raised the stakes even higher with a whopping 350,000, preflop. Hue Dang folds while Carvalho goes all-in. Van Wijk goes all-in with 400,000 . Carvalho had A♦ A♥ and Van Wijk hadQs Q♣ in the showdown. The board, 9♦ 8♠ 5♣ 2♦ 4♦ allowed Carvalho's pocket rockets to knock out Van Wijk at the 21st position.

Tom Maguire raised 46,000 preflop and saw Manuel Carvalho raise to 210,000. Maguire called to see the flop, 5♣ T♣ A♥ . Carvalho bet another 200,000 pressuring Maguire but Maguire called to see the turn, J♣ . On the turn Maguire made a bet of 350,000 following Carvalho's check. Carvalho called to seethe river, 8♦ . Carvalho checked on the river, and Maguire took the opportunity to make a massive bet of 850,000 causing Carvalho to fold.

Manuel Carvalho called Kristof Mato's 40,000 preflop raise and the flop is seen, 5♦ T♦ T♠ . Carvalho checked first and then called Mato's bet of 30,000. The turn brought, K♥ . Both players check to see the river, J♣ . Carvalho bet 180,000 and Mato called. The showdown had Mato holding Q♦ 9♦ giving him a straight, however Carvalho held A♣ Q♣ , giving him a higher straight.

Manuel Carvalho in high-jack calls Najeem Ajez's 70,000 preflop raise while Philip Joyce in one position away from under the gun as well as the cur-off both fold. The flop gave, K♠ J♥ 7♣ . Carvalho check-raises 135,000 after Ajez bets another 50,000. Succumbing to the pressure Ajez folds.

On a board showing 7♦ 8♣ 6♦ 3♦ Q♦ and 218,000 already in the middle, Manuel Carvalho pumps in 75,000 more, Philip Joyce charges back with a 170,000 raise, and after two time banks used, Carvalho surrenders his hand.

8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty US$ 200K guarantee in WPT Cambodia saw a grand total of 482 entries. The bustling turnout increased the prize pool to US$ 227,513. Day 2 of the 8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty kicks off at 11:30, local time today, February 13, 2025. 61 players have secured their spot and will be battling it out to be crowned champion. While the top prize is a hefty US$ 46,188, the hunters will be gunning to scalp heads with each bounty earning US$ 2K.

Leading the battle with a chip count of 970,000 is Ankit Wadhawan of India from the Day 1A flight. He had a winning streak in the last hour of the play. Wadhawan sets the bar high with a staggering 970,000 chip count. Wadhawan has already secured three bounty tokens. Wadhawan’s biggest boost of the day came after delivering Karan Sitlani's bubble elimination with pocket kings. 17 survivors from Day 1A out of a total of 136 entries moved on to Day2

Coming in second in chips is Portugal's Manuel Carvalho, who is the chip leader of Day 1C. Carvalho had back-to-back pots go to him towards the bubble time, giving him a comfortable lead towards the end of Day1C. In third and fourth rank of the pecking order are Jordy Vleugels of Germany with 593,000 chips and Yannis Liperis of Cyprus with 586,000 chips. 20 survivors from Day1C out of a total of 154 entries moved on to Day2.

China’s Xin Tang ranked fifth in the overall order with 573,000 chips from Day1B. Tang took the lead after delivering Marc Joseph’s bubble elimination. Three other runners of Day 1B come close having surpassed the 500,000 mark. Ukraine’s Yakiv Syzghanov coming in at a close second with 573,000, China’s Xiaosheng Zheng with 528,000 and David Copeland of Australia with 527,000. 24 survivors from Day1B out of a total of 192 entries moved on to Day 2. Other players to keep an eye on include Amit Kaushik (493,000), Kyle Bao Diep (316,000), Martin Sedlak (147,000), and Ilya Firstov (91,000).

8 Max Survivor 2K Bounty

Date/s: February 11-13, 2025

Buy-in: $1,000

Prize pool: $230,813

Day 1A: 136 entries, 17 qualified

Day 1B: 192 entries, 24 qualified

Day 1C: 154 entries, 20 qualified

Day 2: 61 players

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