Championship Warm Up ($600)

The WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up wrapped up Day 2 at NagaWorld in Phnom Penh with the field trimmed from 113 players down to just eight finalists.

Sitting at the top of that lineup is Robert Sherwood with a stack of 4,275,000 (57 bb). Sherwood was chip leader for a large portion of the day then dropped down with 12 players left. He reclaimed the lead on a double up off Thomas Eychenne with A♦ Q♦ over K♠ T♠ just before they called it a day.

Sherwood is closely trailed by Ilya Firstov with 3,850,000 (51 bb) and rounding out the top three is Ali Hassan with 3,800,000 (51 bb). While the leaders have an edge over the rest, it is still anyone's game with the shortest sitting on a healthy 31 bb.

The remaining players are now guaranteed a minimum $7,122 payout while awaiting the champion is a hefty $52,383 along with a seat to WPT Prime worth $1,100.

The Championship Warm Up opened Day 2 with 113 players out of the 527 entries returning to action. Two levels in, the bubble round arrived with 67 players remaining. In a gutsy showdown, Pham Tien Dung's aggression was finally challenged by Ireland's Frank Lillis, calling a preflop shove by risking 30 bigs holding Ace-King. It paid off with a big double. Immediate following the win, Lillis delivered the bubble to the ailing Jingyi Wang with 8♠ 3♠ flush dusting A♥ J♠ . Lillis went on to finish in 47th place while Pham fared better in 34th place.

The players raced down for a spot at the final table. India's decorated Ankit Ahuja seesawed throughout the day and was grounded in 23rd place. Fellow countryman Dhaval Mudgal finished notches higher in 12th place. For Vietnam, Mai Bien also saw his stack swing and emptied out in 16th place. Their final hope was Thanh Ha Duong who just missed the unofficial final table in 10th place. The day ended shortly after the fall of Shane Pearce in 9th place.

Somuchpoker returns tomorrow for the final dash to the title. Stick with us for all of the action.

The aim for Day 2 was to play down to the official WPT final table of six players however with ten hours of play, the game was stopped at the final 8. Action resumes at 11:30 tomorrow, February 10, 2025.

Day 3 blinds resume at Level 26: 50,000-75,000 ante 75,000 with 46:24 remaining in the clock.

Here are the finalists:

Though Duong was ahead, it instantly changed on the flop with a higher pair for Firstov that maintained it to the end. Duong finished in 10th place.

Dhaval Mudgal sends his last 875,000 out front when dealt K♠ J♠ . However, this was not enough to steal the pot with initial raiser Hassan Sey believing in his A♠ T♦ .

With the board coming down 8♥ Q♥ 5♥ 6♥ 6♠ , neither have a heart on hand for Sey's ace-high to stand and rail Mudgal in 12th place.

Ilya Firstov defended his big blind then put in a strong check-raise of 325,000 on the flop 7♣ T♥ 3♠ . Robert Sherwood gave it some thought then relinquished his bet without any further challenge.

On a board A♥ Q♥ 2♦ 4♦ J♠ and 560,000 already weighing down the middle, more chips go in with Amir Abbas betting 450,000 and Ilya Firstov calling. Firstov then mucks to J♣ J♦ .

Robert Sherwood continues to battle for chips and there to challenge him is Martin Sedlak. The first hand between them sees Sherwood raisin 120,000 from hijack, Sedlak called from cutoff, and they both check it to the turn A♠ 7♠ Q♠ 4♣ .

No more checking for Sherwood with a bet of 125,000 sent out front. Sedlak calls to take it to the river 5♠ . Again Sherwood pressures with a bet of 350,000, Sedlak tanks then decides to give up his stake on the pot.

On the next meeting, Sedlak opens from under the gun and Sherwood defends the big blind . Both again check it to the turn J♣ J♠ 2♣ 7♥ . Sherwood jumps out for 150,000 and Sedlak calls to go to the river 2♥ . Sherwood continues the barrage for 500,000, like previous, Sedlak tank but this time he calls. Sherwood flips open 9♠ 9♦ , Sedlak has him beat with A♣ A♦ .

Robert Sherwood is on a downward spin having lost another pot, this time to Thomas Eychenne. During the hand, Sherwood raised preflop then both checked it to the turn 6♠ 6♣ A♠ 5♠ . Eychenne bet 125,000 then bet another 190,000 on the river 3♦ . Sherwood called both then mucked to the 7♣ 6♥ trips.

The board was quite a doozy as it ran K♥ T♣ Q♠ for a set to Hassan. With the turn A♦ , Zhang took the lead with a straight. Then another suckout on the river K♣ for a full house to Hassan to burn Zhang into 13th place.

Another short stack evades the rail with Lei Zhang scooping up a double up off Hassan Sey. Banking on his last 370,000 with K♠ J♥ , Zhang was behind Sey's A♥ T♣ until a king showed up on a board K♣ 6♣ 4♦ 4♠ 2♥ .

With no hits on the board for Sey, Mudgal's small pocket held for a double up.

Robert Sherwood pressured raiser Ilya Firstov with a 425,000 three-bet and Firstov obliged. On the flop K♦ Q♠ 6♠ , Sherwood continued for 150,000, Firstov called then both checked the turn 6♦ . On the river A♦ Sherwood returned with an 800,000 bet, Firstov tank-called then quickly mucked to Sherwood's K♥ K♠ .

Dhaval Mudgal has dropped into the danger zone with just 8 bb after another losing hand. On a board showing 3♥ 4♠ T♣ A♥ 9♦ and 950,000 in the pot, Hassan Sey bet 750,000 and Mudgal called but not before tanking. Sey flipped over A♣ J♠ and Mudgal mucked.

Four players in for 100,000 preflop check it to the turn A♠ 7♦ K♦ 3♥ . Big blind Mateusz Stanielewicz takes a stab for 150,000 to lose one player, cutoff Thanh Ha Duong raises 425,000, then small blind Ali Hassan tank-shoves. Hassan claims the pot with no one willing to take the risk.

Patrik Demus looked down at J♠ J♣ and pushed his last 690,000 to send the action back to open raiser Thomas Eychenne. With A♣ K♥ on hand, Eychenne instantly called.

When the board came down 6♣ Q♣ 3♣ T♣ Eychenne turned the nut flush to oust Demus into 14th place.

Mateusz Stanielewicz continues to fight for chips and secures a pot against Thanh Ha Duong. After Duong defended on the big blind by calling the 120,000 raise, Stanielewicz fired again at the flop 7♠ J♣ 9♥ for 125,000. Stil Duong called and the turn was A♥ . Once more, Stanielewicz dug into his stack and tossed in 200,000, this time Duong let him have it uncontested.

Ali Hassan is on the move at the start of the new level. Having just won a pot, he picked up another without a showdown. From cutoff, he opened 100,000, button Marius Stanielewicz three-bet 300,000, Hassan took it to the limit with a four-bet all in and pushed Stanielewicz out of the pot.

Cutoff player Thomas Eychenne raised then went down the streets with caller Ilya Firstov on the big blind. When the dealer spread K♦ J♣ 2♣ , Firstov Eychenne c-bet 40,000 and got a check-call from Firstov. Both players checked on the turn A♣ for a free river T♣ . Firstov jumped out with a bet of 215,000, Eychenne tanked then called for Firstov to show his T♠ 9♥ bluff. Eychenne took it down with a Q♦ J♥ straight.

With the board going Sherwood's way, Bien was eliminated in 16th place.

Facing a raise from Ali Hassan of 90,000, Hassan Sey defended on the big blind with a three-bet to 320,000. Ali called. At the flop 2♥ T♦ J♠ , Sey tanked then bet 250,000, Ali snap-folded.

Patrik Demus opens and finds a caller then big blind Mai Bien three-bets 435,000 which is enough to rake in the pot.

Fabian Rolli with just one big blind went all in with A♣ K♣ , Tero Laurila at small blind shoved to isolate and showed J♠ T♠ . With the board running J♥ A♠ 7♠ 9♥ 6♦ , Rolli doubled up to 4 bb.

Following the double up, Rolli shoved again and Hassan Sey called defending his big blind. When they showed, Sey was ahead Q♠ J♦ over 8♣ 7♦ until the cards felted T♦ T♣ 9♥ 7♥ 2♦ for a winning pair to Rolli.

Ilya Firstov initiates the action with a raise of 80,000, small blind Hassan Sey calls it. At the flop J♦ 3♣ 6♣ , Firstov continues for 60,000 and Sey calls again. On the turn Q♥ , Firstov fires another bet of 240,000, and this time the aggression pays off with a fold from Sey.

On a board showing 5♠ 3♦ 9♦ A♦ T♠ and a hefty 960,000 pot brewed, Amir Abbas bets 150,000. Robert Sherwood calls then mucks to Abbas's A♣ 3♠ two pair.

With the turn 9♥ , Mudgal landed the nut flush, Kudzmanas was drawing dead.

Three players in a raised pot see a flop land A♣ 8♣ Q♦ . Action is checked to the preflop raiser Jiazhi Zhong who continues for 70,000. Thomas Eychenne calls it while big blind Tom Maguire check-raises 300,000. This was enough to induce a fold from Zhong but not from Eychenne who calls to see the turn 9♠ . Maguire checks his option again, Eychenne fires 220,000 sending Maguire into the tank. After the call is made, both check the river 8♥ .

Maguire shows K♣ Q♥ pair, Eychenne scoops up the pot with J♠ T♠ straight.

After Ilya Firstov opened 60,000 from hijack, big stacked Tero Laurila called then fired down the streets for 75,000 and 200,000. Firstov check-called and they headed to the river K♥ 9♥ 2♥ K♦ T♦ . Continuing the aggression, Laurila bet 450,000, Firstov tanked then shoved covering Laurila who snap-folded.

Ali Hassan opened from under the gun and was joined by three callers. They all checked to the turn T♣ 6♣ 2♦ 2♣ . Small blind Mateusz Stanielewicz test bet 100,000 and picked up the pot that easy.

Thanh Ha Duong raised 60,000, hijack Dhaval Mudgal three-bet 150,0000, after the rest folded, Duong tanked then four-bet 350,000. Mudgal tossed his hand in the muck.

After losing a showdown that sent his stack down to 12 bb, Ankit Ahuja went all in holding pocket Jacks and raced down the streets against caller Ali Hassan with Ace-Ten. The board looked good for Ahuja until an ace found the river to finish him off.

Clarence Ho was down to just over 10 bb when he shoved from hijack holding A♣ K♣ , several spots over big stacked Ankit Ahuja gave him a sweat with K♥ Q♠ . The board ran out 9♠ 8♠ 2♥ 5♠ 3♣ earning Oh a double up.

Chudapal was behind throughout with a smaller pair as Demus further improved with a set on the river.

Following a cutoff raise, button player Hassan Sey three-bets 150,000, small blind Jiazhi Zhong four-bets 380,000, cutoff folds, then Sey five-bet jams well covering Zhong's stack. Zhong tanks then ten seconds before time runs out, he gives up his hand.

Thomas Eychenne kicks off the hand with a 50,000 raise from hijack, next to him on cutoff Dhaval Mudgal three-bets 150,000. After the rest fold, Eychenne drives it further to 310,000, Mudgal tanks then decides to give up his hand.

On a board showing A♦ 7♦ 3♠ 8♠ and 340,000 in the pot, Tom Eady announced all in and Thomas Eychenne snap-called while showing his set 7♠ 7♥ . Eady had a draw with T♦ 9♦ that failed to connect on the river 2♥ .

With the turn K♠ and river 8♥ , the ace held for Chudapal to ship a double up.

From the button Thanh Ha Duong three-bets to 140,000 and initial raiser Robert Sherwood calls to take the battle post flop 4♦ 4♥ T♦ . Thanh continues for 85,000, Sherwood check-calls. On the turn A♥ , Duong fires 170,000 again, this time Sherwood gives it up.

Right out of the deck, Burns pairs up on the window which holds to the end for a double up.

From the small blind, Johan Lees three-bet all in for his last 505,000 sending the action back to under the gun raiser Tero Laurila who snap-called with A♠ A♦ . Lees had T♥ T♠ .

With the board running Q♣ 7♣ 3♦ 7♦ 9♥ , Lees did not improve to get the boot.

Sey was ahead throughout to lighten the field by sending Shiroma to the rails.

With Lees spiking the higher pair on the flop, and trips on the turn, with the river no help to Laurila, Lees survived the flip.

Simas Karaliunas defends from the button with a re-raise of 120,000 and after the blinds fold, he gets called by initial raiser Jiahin Zhong from hijack. When the board runs out 9♣ 5♠ 5♥ 5♦ , Karaliunas fires 120,000 and 220,000, Zhong check-calls both to head to the river J♣ . Another check from Zhong, Karaliunas tanks then shoves his last 330,000, Zhong snap called.

Karaliunas had to show his K♥ 4♥ bluff and packed up to go when Zhong turned over 9♦ 9♠ full house.