Championship Warm Up ($600)

Robert Sherwood opened 800,000 utg, leaving himself with 75,000 behind. Amir Abbas called on the button, followed by a squeeze from Ilya Firstov. Both short stacks called off their remaining chips and found themselves in a three way pocket pair showdown.

Sherwood and Abbas dominated, bound for the exit as Firstov's hooks held all through board Q♣ Q♥ 9♣ A♦ 5♣ to deliver the double elimination.

Amir Abbas opened on the hijack and was joined by Ilya Firstov behind, along with Robert Sherwood on the big blind.

Abbas continued for 125,000 on flop A♣ 7♦ 4♦ , called by Firstov onto turn 8♣ . Abbas checked, and folded after Firstov gunned 500,000.

Mateusz Stanielewicz opened utg, and was called by Amir Abbas on the button along with Ilya Firstov on the big blind.

Action on board A♠ Q♥ 8♦ K♣ 9♥ was checked all the way down to the river, where Firstov made a 450,000 attempt. Stanielewicz called with two pair Q♠ 9♠ , exposing Firstov's bluff 5♠ 3♠ at showdown.

Ali Hassan opened 200,000 on the hijack, called behind by Amir Abbas on the button.

On flop 6♥ 5♠ 4♠ , Hassan check folded after Abbas pushed for his remaining 1,575,000.

Mateusz Stanielewicz defended his big blind against Amir Abbas' cutoff open, and headed to flop 9♦ 6♥ 7♥ . Both checked it through to turn A♠ , where Stanielewicz led for 150,000. Abbas called behind and revealed river A♥ . Stanielewicz checked to Abbas, pushing his opponent to fire 400,000.

Stanielewicz called to showdown and won the pot with trip aces A♣ 3♣ after Abbas revealed bluff K♣ T♦ .

Ali Hassan opened on the hijack and called a 450,000 three bet from Amir Abbas on the button.

On flop J♣ 2♣ 8♥ , Hassan check called a 200,000 bet from Abbas and headed to turn 5♥ . Both checked it through to river Q♦ , where Hassan led for 750,000. Abbas open folded A♠ K♦ , shipping his opponent the win.

Ali Hassan opened utg, called by Amir Abbas on the hijack along with Robert Sherwood on the big blind.

All three checked flop 9♦ 8♠ 6♠ through to turn Q♦ . Checked once more to Abbas, he bet 225,000. Sherwood continued to river T♣ , but missed to arrive at showdown after Abbas gunned for a final 350,000.

Amir Abbas opened on the button and called a 525,000 three bet from Hassan Sey on the small blind.

Sey continued for 300,000 on flop A♣ K♣ 5♠ , called once more by Abbas behind. On turn Q♦ , Sey was quick to give it up after Abbas lodged a 600,000 bet.

The WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up games is due to crown its champion today with its 527-entry field whittled to the final eight. While initially set to narrow down to six, all remaining players agreed to wrap up yesterday's Day 2 following ten levels of play.

Leading the charge for the lion's share of the $274,943 prize pool is UK's Robert Sherwood with 4,275,000 (57 BB), having claimed a last minute double up right as the day closed. Trailing just six big blinds behind are both Ali Hassan and Ilya Firstov, to round up the top three counts.

A ton of play however, is left on the table with all the remaining contenders stacking above the 30 big blind mark. Still anyone's game, each runner has a fighting chance to claim the $52,383 top prize along with a seat to WPT Prime worth $1,100, all while guaranteed $7,122 in winnings as they return to the felt for the final battle.

Play resumes at 11:30 local time, with 46 minutes left on the clock at Level 26: 50,000 / 75,000 ante 75,000. 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

Entries: 527

Prize pool: USD 274,943

ITM: 66 places

Final 8 Chip Counts

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:

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♦ .

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.

Amir Abbas looks down at A♦ A♠ and respects it with a 30,000 raise, down the orbit hijack calls, then big blind Khayal Abbasov is dealt K♥ K♣ and sends in a three-bet of 125,000. Action back on Abbas who announces all in for 336,000 which is enough to get a fold from hijack while Khayal calls with a larger stack.

When the cards are flipped, it's off to the board T♥ 8♣ 3♠ 9♦ 3♦ . No bad beat arrives for a double up to Abbas while Khayal drops to 7 bb.

Tuan Hung Nguyen kicks off the hand with a min-raise from hijack and big blind Amir Abbas defends. After both players pass on the all-club flop 5♣ 4♣ 9♣ another club comes on the turn 7♣ . No more checking for Abbas with a 50,000 bet that Nguyen calls. Abbas then checks the river K♠ , Nguyen tests the waters with a bet of 95,000, Abbas decides to hold on to his chips and fold.

Facing a raise from button Amir Abbas, small blind Lei Zhang three-bets 55,000, and after big blind folds, Abbas four-bets all in covering Zhang who calls for his tournament life.

Lei Zhang T♥ T♦

Amir Abbas A♠ Q♥

Zhang lands a set on the flop J♦ 9♦ T♣ however is not out of the woods with Abbas holding an open-ended. The turn 2♠ and river 4♠ were not the outs Abbas needed for a full double up to Zhang.