Championship Warm Up ($600)

The first of three flights for opening highlight, Championship Warm Up, has wrapped up with only 27 players out of the 154-entry field surviving the first fifteen levels of play. Action capped with Finland's Tero Laurila stacking atop the leaderboard with a towering 930,000 (155 BB) stack, setting the bar for the remaining heats.

Laurila was eliminated just before registration closed, and wasted no time in jumping back in the fray for another shot at Day 2. His decision paid off immensely as he surged to the top late in the day, having knocked out both NagaWorld SuperStack champion Johan Lees, and Aleksei Zhukov one after the other. Laurila’s aggressive play set him up with a commanding lead, leaving quite a distance with second in the running Sho Shiroma's 530,000 (88 BB). Rounding up the top three counts is Ireland's Tom Maguire, who caught a last minute double up to end with 520,000 (87 BB).

All Day 1A survivors have a day to rest before they make their way back to the scene on Sunday, February 9th. Two more flights are geared to run this Saturday, finalizing the cast for Day 2's battle. Stay tuned for updates as SMP brings you all the latest directly off the floor!

Championship Warm Up

Date/s: February 7-10, 2025

Buy-in: USD 600

Guarantee: USD 150,000

Day 1A: 154 entries, 27 qualified

Day 1B: Saturday, February 8

Day 1C: Saturday, February 8

Day 2: Sunday, February 9

Day 3/ Final: Monday, February 10

A blind vs blind battle built a pot of 41,000 in the middle across board T♦ 6♣ 7♥ Q♣ . Pkkar Kyaw checked to Eric Wasylenko behind, who bet 30,000. Kyaw made the call, but eventually gave it up after Wasylenko demanded for the rest on river 6♦ .

With a pot of 38,000 in the middle across board 7♠ J♥ 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ , Tero Laurila led out 40,000 from the big blind, and was met with two all-ins behind - Tom Maguire (214,500) and Thi Kim (386,500). Laurila opted out, leaving the two to showdown.

Maguire revealed king high flush K♣ 7♣ , crushing Thi Kim's nut straight 9♥ 8♥ for a last minute double up.

The tournament clock has been paused, ringing the last five hands before the flight wraps up. Only 27 players remain in their seats, all in hopes to advance to Sunday's Day 2 battle.

Nikesh Chawla opened on the cutoff and snap called for his entire 127,000 after Nishant Kumar moved all-in from the big blind.

Chawla ahead, was instantly crushed as Kumar landed two pair on board K♣ T♣ Q♠ 3♥ 5♣ to end his run.

Maxime Gobron opened utg+1 and saw Eric Wasylenko on the big blind, shove for 151,500. Gobron took the spot and found himself in rough shape against Wasylenko's better pair.

No help arrived on board 2♥ K♥ A♦ Q♥ 6♠ , costing Gobron half his stack.

Keisuke Tajiri firstly opened 15,000 utg+1 yet folded after Tero Laurila fired a three bet from the big blind.

On the next deal, Tajiri min opened utg and saw Laurila come along from the small blind onto flop 8♥ 2♦ A♦ . Tajiri continued for 12,000, check called by the chip leader. Both checked turn 2♠ through to river 3♥ , where Laurila led 10,000. Tajiri shot out a raise to 40,000, but again surrendered after Laurila clapped back for 200,000 more.

Laurila showed 7♥ as he raked in another boost.

Haile Kuo pushed his last nine big blinds in the middle and was looked up by David Murphy right behind.

Kuo in trouble, bound for the exit as board K♣ 9♣ 6♦ Q♥ 8♦ failed to save him from his demise.

An all-in preflop situation saw Aleksei Zhukov risk his last 20 big blinds with king-ten against chip leader Tero Laurila's ace-king.

Dominated, Zhukov found no help on the runout, sending him to the rails just as the day is about to close.

A preflop back and forth landed Johan Lees's entire 139,000 in the middle up against initial raiser Tero Laurila.

Laurila a huge favorite to win, easily did so on board 9♣ 3♥ 7♦ 7♥ J♥ , earning him the pot to take the overall lead.

Thi Kim opened 10,000 utg and was called by Keisuke Tajiri on the button, along with the small blind.

On flop 7♠ 8♥ 4♣ , Kim continued for 15,000, raised Tajiri to 45,000. Both opponents slipped the fold, shipping Tajiri the pot.

With a pot of 70,000 in the middle across board 6♠ K♦ 2♣ 9♠ 5♣ , Joseph Lane made an attempt for it with a bet of 20,000. Leo Soma stopped him in his tracks with a shove, and shot up to 60 big blinds after picking up the boost.

With a pot of 72,500 spread out across board K♥ T♥ 7♦ 8♥ 8♠ , Nguyen Thi Bao An was spotted firing a final bet of 20,000. Edgar Antezana called behind, only to muck as Nguyen revealed boat T♦ T♠ .

Nikesh Chawla opened 10,000 on the hijack, and called 17,000 more following a raise from Maxime Gobron right behind.

Action on flop A♥ K♥ 3♥ checked round to turn 3♠ , where Gobron bet 16,000. Chawla check raised to 50,000, yet surrendered shortly after Gobron responded with an all-in.

Edgar Antezana opened utg and called a 22,000 three bet from Dhaval Mudgal a seat after.

On flop Q♣ 4♣ Q♦ , Antezana check called an 11,500 cbet from his opponent, and headed to turn 5♥ . Mudgal checked this one back, yet launched a 39,000 bet on river 2♥ following another check from Antezana. Antezana gave up the fight and tossed his hand back in the deck.

Patrik Demus fired a three bet against an utg open and saw David Murphy push all-in from the small blind. Initial raiser opted out, leaving Demus to call off for his 86,500 stack.

Demus ahead, landed a slam dunk win through board K♦ Q♥ 2♠ K♥ 8♣ for the full double up.

Facing a late position open and a call, Ziad Zebib squeezed all-in on the big blind for 108,000, and saw Tero Laurila on the button rise to the challenge.

Flipping for his tournament life, Zebib exited shortly after board T♣ 4♣ 5♣ 8♦ A♦ landed his opponent a set to take him out.

Andres Fajardo open shoved 25,500 on the cutoff, called behind by Sho Shiroma. Petteri Miettinen on the small blind, reshoved for a bigger 102,000, and saw Shiroma put in the final call for a three way showdown.

Board K♠ 9♠ 7♥ 8♣ 2♠ landed in favor of Shiroma, giving him top pair to send both opponents packing.

A pot of 50,000 was seen in the middle across board T♠ 2♣ K♠ 7♣ . Aladin Reskallah went for a bet of 17,500 and faced a raise to 35,000 from Ronald Haverkamp on the button. Reskallah completed, yet failed to get to showdown after Haverkamp barreled all-in.

Haverkamp showed backdoor flush K♣ Q♣ as he raked in the pot.

Patrik Demus opened utg+1 and called a 22,000 button three bet from David Murphy.

On flop 6♠ 3♣ J♠ , Demus check called another 27,000, revealing turn K♠ . Both checked it through to river 7♠ , where Murphy sent out a final 29,000. Demus snap called with the second nuts Q♠ T♣ , only to run into Murphy's nutted A♠ A♥ .

Wallace Yuen opened utg and called a 17,000 three bet from David Murphy on the hijack.

On flop 6♥ 4♥ 2♥ , Yuen immediately gave it up after Murphy continued for another 20,000.

With 26,000 in the middle spread out across board J♦ 8♥ Q♥ T♣ , Nguyen Thi Bao An fired a bet of 15,000, and faced a check jam from Francois Leclerc for 76,000 total.

Nguyen called off with the nut straight A♠ K♦ , and sent Leclerc's K♣ 9♥ towards the muck after river Q♠ offered no chops.

Thomas Scheld opened on the button and called a 21,000 three bet from Nguyen Thi Bao An on the small blind.

Nguyen continued for 15,000 on flop 2♣ 9♦ K♦ , yet quickly surrendered as Scheld asked for 20,000 more.

Nguyen Thi Bao An defended his big blind against Andres Fajardo's early open, and check called two streets - 4,500 and 17,500, on board 7♥ 3♥ Q♥ 8♣ .

On river T♦ , Fajardo decided to slow down and check it back, revealing Nguyen's top pair K♦ Q♠ for the pot.

Tom Maguire opened 6,000 on the small blind, called behind by Patrik Demus.

Action on board 8♥ 9♣ 4♣ 7♣ 2♦ was checked all the way down to the river, where Maguire led 11,000. Demus raised to 36,000, and called for his remaining 68,000 after Maguire came back with an all-in.

Maguire tabled a pair of eights K♠ 8♠ , crushed against Demus' queen high flush Q♣ 5♣ .

An all-in preflop situation saw Haile Kuo risk his entire 48,000 against utg raiser David Murphy.

In for a flip, Kuo dodged a potential elimination, having spiked a set on board A♦ 2♠ Q♠ 8♥ T♥ to survive through.

With 37,000 in the middle across board A♦ 6♥ T♠ 9♠ , Marc Joseph led out a bet of 17,000 from the small blind, followed by an all-in on river 5♠ . Aleksei Zhukov called him down with two pair A♣ 9♣ and locked in the win as Joseph revealed A♥ Q♠ .

Vying for a pot of 30,000 across board 7♥ 4♥ 6♠ 5♠ , Johan Lees led out a bet of 13,000 from the big blind and was called by Jiaofang Duan behind. Lees finished the aggression with a bet of 17,000 on river K♥ , and saw Duan pay the price, only to muck as Lees showed flush Q♥ J♥ .

Petteri Miettinen opened 8,000 on the small blind and was called behind by Wallace Yuen.

On flop T♦ 9♣ 6♥ , Miettinen checked to Yuen, and called a 6,500 bet from his opponent. Yuen didn't stop there as he continued for another 19,000 on turn 4♣ , enough to convince Miettinen to lay it down.

Xinping Liao opened utg and called a 16,000 three bet from Hoang Duy Nguyen on the button.

On board 7♦ J♣ 5♠ T♣ , Nguyen continued for another 16,000, followed by an all-in for 101,500. Liao snap called for the rest with two pair J♠ T♦ , crushing Nguyen's Q♦ Q♠ all the way through river 8♠ to knock him out.

Tero Laurila opened 5,000 utg, and was called by Khayal Abbasov behind, along with Aladin Reskallah on the big blind.

On flop 6♠ J♠ 8♠ , Laurila continued for 6,000, to which both made the call, moving onto turn 5♦ . Action checked to Abbasov, pushing him to fire 23,000.

Neither opponent found a reason to continue, shipping Abbasov the pot.

A burly pot of 68,000 was centered around board 3♣ A♥ T♠ 6♦ A♣ when action was caught on Andres Fajardo firing a final bet of 38,000. Paul De Thomasson took a minute before putting in the call, only to muck as Fajardo revealed trip aces A♦ J♣ .

The first of three flights for opening highlight, Championship Warm Up, is officially closed for registration with a total of 154 entries recorded across nine initial levels. Only 89 players remain seated in battle, with the day geared to wrap up by the end of Level 15.

Two more flights are set to play down tomorrow, February 8th, the later one running faster paced 20 minute blind levels.

Championship Warm Up

Date/s: February 7-10, 2025

Buy-in: USD 600

Guarantee: USD 150,000

Starting stack: 50,000

Day 1A: 154 entries

Day 1B: Saturday, February 8

Day 1C: Saturday, February 8

Day 2: Sunday, February 9

Day 3/ Final: Monday, February 10

A button vs blind battle brewed a pot of 36,500 across board 6♣ 3♠ 2♣ 4♦ . Francois Leclerc led 16,000, and was called by Deepankur Gupta behind. Both checked down river 9♣ , revealing Leclerc's flush K♣ T♣ for the win.

A pot of 37,200 was spread out across board 8♦ 7♦ Q♥ J♠ T♥ . Paul De Thomasson fired a bet of 16,000 and was sent deep in the tank after Tom Maguire moved all-in. De Thomasson found the fold, opting to save his 70 big blinds behind.

A pot of 12,000 was centered around flop A♥ Q♦ 8♣ when action was caught on Satac Turker with a bet of 5,300. Khayal Abbasov called behind, and faced another raise to 14,000 from Paul De Thomasson on the big blind.

Only Abbasov stuck around to see turn 7♥ , where he faced another 26,000 bet from his opponent. Abbasov paid the price once more, but eventually let it go after De Thomasson finished with an all-in on river 5♣ .

With a pot of 34,300 built around board 3♠ 6♣ 2♥ 8♠ , Tom Maguire went for a bet of 15,000, and was check called by Takahiro Seki onto river A♣ . Seki this time, took initiative and led all-in for 16,100, only to be snap called by his opponent with a set 3♦ 3♣ . Seki's overpair 9♥ 9♣ bound for the muck, sending him out of the Day 1A running.

Tero Laurila fired a 16,600 three bet against Aladin Reskallah's cutoff open and saw the latter defend.

On board K♣ K♥ 7♥ T♦ 9♣ , Laurila triple barreled - 6,000, 7,000, and a final all-in for 38,000, with Reskallah calling him down on all streets.

Laurila showed Q♥ Q♠ , crushed against Reskallah's full house K♦ T♥ for his elimination.

Kyle Bao Diep limped in on the hijack and saw three more limpers follow behind. Keisuke Tajiri on the big blind, put in a raise to 10,000, leaving only Bao Diep to continue onto flop J♠ 7♠ Q♣ .

Tajiri led 8,000, and merited a call once more from his opponent. Both checked down turn T♦ and river T♠ , revealing Tajiri's two pair K♠ Q♦ for the win.

Marc Joseph opened 2,400 and was called behind by Thi Kim. On flop 4♦ 3♥ K♠ , Kim called a 2,500 continuation bet, and arrived at showdown shortly after no more bets went in on either turn 8♦ or river 4♥ .

Kim showed A♣ Q♣ , good enough to claim the pot.

Following an open and a call, Kohki Iwata lodged a three bet to 12,500 on the cutoff, and saw initial raiser Keisuke Tajiri come back with an all-in. Both opponents surrendered, shipping Tajiri the dead money in the middle.

Nikesh Chawla opened utg and called Youngju Han's shove behind for 29,100.

Flipping for his tournament life, Han failed to find a pair on board 9♣ T♦ 6♣ J♦ 5♣ , sending him to the rails while Chawla piled in the boost.

With 16,300 in the middle on board 8♥ Q♠ J♥ 7♦ , Vinh Manh Chau made a go for it with a bet of 5,000. Aladin Reskallah on the big blind, pulled a check raise to 11,000, and followed with a final 23,500 on river A♠ .

Chau called him down and won the pot by default after Reskallah failed to show.

A preflop back and forth saw Peter Kiem risk his entire 48,600 stack right into Lei Zhang's monster pair.

No hope for Kiem arrived on board 7♥ 9♥ 3♣ 2♠ K♣ , busting him out in the process.

Facing an early open and a call, player on the button squeezed to 8,000, and saw initial raiser Haile Kuo complete. On flop A♥ K♣ 2♥ , Kuo snap folded just as his opponent continued for 6,000.

A three way raised pot saw action on flop 2♠ J♥ A♣ check to Aladin Reskallah, prompting him to bet 2,000. Tero Laurila on the big blind, check raised to 6,500, and went on to lead 5,000 on turn 2♦ . Reskallah called behind, and snap called for his remaining 32,800 on river K♥ after Laurila moved all-in.

Laurila showed two pair A♦ T♦ , no match against Reskallah's quad deuces 2♥ 2♣ .

Vying for a pot of 24,000 across flop J♥ Q♦ 7♦ , Keith Armstrong led out a bet of 16,000 off the big blind, and saw Shi Shiroma behind raise all-in. Armstrong gave it a thought, yet eventually found the fold, shipping Shiroma the boost to crack the six-digit mark.

An all-in situation saw Daniel Colin commit his entire 77,500 preflop, only to find himself dominated against Wallace Yuen.

Board 9♦ 7♦ 3♦ 5♠ 7♣ ran dry for both, leaving Yuen's ace-king high good for the takedown.

Daniel Charlton opened 2,000, called behind by Jehyeon Yang along with the big blind.

Action on flop T♠ 2♦ 5♥ was checked round to turn 6♣ , where Charlton bet 4,500. Yang snap called behind, but surrendered after Charlton gunned for a final 15,500 on river 7♦ .

Patrik Selin opened utg+1 and went on to fourbet jam his entire 26,400 against Sho Shiroma's raise behind. Shiroma happily obliged, putting Selin at risk.

In search of an ace, Selin immediately found one on board A♥ J♣ 9♥ 4♣ 9♦ , keeping him in the Championship Warm Up games.

Nuno Correia defended his big blind against Tero Laurila's 2,000 cutoff open, and went on to check call 1,500 on flop 7♥ 9♣ Q♠ . On turn 8♠ , Laurila barreled another 4,500, forcing Correia out of the action entirely.

With 5,800 in the middle on flop 9♠ 8♥ 3♥ , Pham Bao continued for 1,700, and was met with a raise to 5,300 from Paul De Thomasson behind. Bao responded with an all-in for 17,900, snap called by his opponent with two pair.

Pham Bao A♥ T♦

Paul De Thomasson 9♥ 8♦

Pham in rough shape, found no help on runout 6♠ K♣ , busting him out entirely.

Elvijs Kuceruks defended his big blind against Haile Kuo's 1,600 utg open, and check called 4,500 on flop 5♥ 7♣ T♣ . On turn 4♦ , Kuceruks gave up the fight after Kuo went for another 4,500.

A preflop back and forth saw Nguyen Thi Bao An respond with an all-in for 21,300, called by Joshua Gebissa on the small blind.

In for a flip, Nguyen's pocket pair held through on board 4♦ 9♠ Q♦ 4♠ J♠ , keeping her in the Day 1A running.

With 20,000 in the pot on board 8♣ 6♣ K♠ 6♠ , Xinping Liao led out a bet of 6,000 utg, and was met with a raise to 25,000 from Tero Laurila behind. Liao surrendered the battle, shipping Laurila the boost.

Khorshad Sagor sent out a 6,100 three bet against a late position open, and saw Maurice Jeevanji cold call behind. Initial raiser went out of the way, dealing flop 4♠ 9♠ 6♥ . Sagor led for 5,700 and Jeevanji chose not to continue.

Ankit Wadhawan opened 1,800 utg+1 and found three callers behind onto flop Q♦ Q♣ 2♥ . Wadhawan continued for 2,000, and saw only Marc Joseph stick around to turn K♦ . Wadhawan this time, checked to his opponent, prompting Joseph to bet 3,500. Wadhawan made the call and got to showdown after river 6♦ was checked through.

Wadhawan showed T♥ T♠ and collected the pot.

Preflop action brewed a pot of 15,400 in the middle between David Copeland and Ziad Zebib on the big blind.

On board J♣ 8♦ 4♦ 2♠ , Zebib double barreled and saw Copeland commit his last 16,000 by the turn with a pair of eights A♠ 8♥ . Zebib a huge favorite with K♠ K♣ , delivered the bust shortly after river 6♣ ran safe for his cowboys.

Lei Zhang opened 1,300 on the cutoff and was joined by Pkkar Kyaw on the small blind.

On flop 4♦ 8♥ K♣ , Kyaw check called a 1,600 continuation bet, revealing turn 4♠ . Both checked it through to river T♦ , where Kyaw led 3,500. Zhang quickly gave it up and threw in the fold.

A button vs blind battle built a pot of 16,000 in the middle right on flop 7♥ 7♠ 5♥ . Tero Laurila led out 5,000, called behind by Xinping Liao.

On turn 2♥ , Laurila gunned for another 13,000, followed by a final all-in on river 9♣ for 38,000. Liao called the first two streets, but let it go as Laurila pulled the trigger.

With a pot of 52,000 centered across board 7♠ K♠ J♦ 3♣ , three way action saw Kabir Tandon led all-in for 17,200. Joseph Lane called behind, putting his opponent at risk.

Kabir Tandon A♦ Q♦

Joseph Lane Q♠ J♠

Tandon drawing slim, headed out shortly after river 8♠ further improved Lane to a flush to take it down.

Thomas Scheld squeezed fourbet jam preflop and saw Kaifan Wang call off for his entire 49,700.

Running a flip, Wang failed to pair up his overcards on board 8♦ 4♠ 4♦ 2♥ 4♥ , sending him out early across the flight

A few hands later, Francois Leclerc sent out a three bet to 4,500 against an utg open, and saw player on the button cold call. Thomas Scheld on the small blind made it 17,000 to go, and picked up the pot uncontested.

With 6,800 in the middle on flop J♥ 9♥ 8♦ , three way action saw Kyle Bao Diep fire a bet of 3,500. Khorshad Sagor raised to 10,100 behind, and was called by both Youngju Han and Bao Diep onto turn 2♥ . Checked to Sagor, he shoved his remaining 17,300, and was tank called by Han for a showdown.

Khorshad Sagor 6♥ 5♥

Youngju Han T♥ 9♠

Drawing only to a fourth heart, Han found none on river J♣ , leaving Sagor to rake the 143 big blind pot with his flush.

Action was caught on Danilo Fernandez Jr. firing a bet of 12,000 on board 3♦ 3♥ K♠ 2♠ in hopes to take down the 22,600 in the middle. Paul Jacques De Thomasson tank called, and arrived at showdown shortly after his opponent checked back river 7♥ .

De Thomasson showed T♥ T♣ and Fernandez mucked, shipping his opponent the pot.

A pot of 14,600 was centered around board K♦ 5♦ 9♥ 2♣ 5♠ , action was checked to Daijiro Fukuoka on the button, prompting him to bet a final 8,800. Jin Liang Ong paid the price, only to muck as Fukuoka showed a boat 2♦ 2♥ .

With 14,000 in the middle across board 7♦ 6♦ 8♥ K♥ , Xinping Liao sent out a hefty bet of 12,500, and saw Patrik Demus check call from the big blind. Both checked down river 4♥ , revealing Liao's 9♦ 9♠ , good against Demus' 9♥ 8♠ for the pot.

Preflop action brewed a pot of 6,500 between Jin Liang Ong and Lei Zhang.

On flop K♦ 2♦ Q♥ , Ong led for 3,500, and called 5,000 more following a raise from his opponent. Turn 3♦ saw Ong check call another 16,000, peeling river 3♣ . Zhang decided to slow down and check it back, and muck as Ong flipped over two pair A♠ K♠ .

Facing a late position open and a call, Kohki Iwata bumped it up to 4,000 on the big blind, and saw only Pkkar Kyaw complete.

On board A♥ A♦ 4♠ 2♠ , Iwata double barreled - 2,500 and 11,000, leaving Kyaw to give it up by the turn.

Hwang Wei Choong sent out a 2,800 three bet on the small blind and saw initial raiser David Murphy defend.

Action on flop A♠ 6♠ 7♦ was checked through to turn T♥ , where Choong continued for 1,000. Murphy raised to 7000 more, building up the pot as Choong made the call.

River Q♣ however, welcomed no more bets, revealing Choong's K♥ K♠ for the win.

Player utg+1 opened to 800, raised by Kabir Tandon a seat after to 3,200. Marc Joseph behind, pushed all-in, and picked up the dead money unchallenged.

With a pot of 25,400 centered around flop A♣ K♣ 6♣ , three way action saw player on the big blind lead out a bet of 5,000. Keith Armstrong behind made the call, followed by a check jam for 25,400 from Amir Abbas. Big blind opted out, leaving only Armstrong with a call for showdown.

Amir Abbas 8♣ 7♣

Keith Armstrong Q♣ J♣

Armstrong with the nut flush, sent Abbas quickly packing just as the runout completed 7♠ K♠ .

Nicholas Mentis opened 800 on the cutoff, called by Hunter Stevens on the button, along with the big blind.

On flop 2♠ T♦ 3♥ , Mentis continued for 1,500. Only Stevens made the call, and arrived at showdown for cheap after no more bets went in on either turn 7♦ or river 9♥ .

Mentis revealed a pair of threes A♣ 3♦ , and shipped the win.

Vying for a pot of 6,600 in the middle across board 2♣ 4♣ 8♥ 8♣ , Daijiro Fukuoka sent out a bet of 3,500, and called a raise to 9,000 from Jingyi Wang behind.

Fukuoka paid a final 10,000 on river 9♠ , only to muck as Wang revealed trip eights A♣ 8♦ for the pot.