Championship Warm Up ($600)

Hassen Sey fired a 1,555,000 three bet against an early open, leaving himself with one big blind behind. Ilya Firstov reshoved, and Sey flicked in the rest for a pocket pair showdown.

Sey in rough shape, found no help on board 8♠ 6♦ 5♦ Q♦ 2♥ , cutting his run in 7th place finish.

Hassan Sey opened on the cutoff and called Ilya Firstov's shove behind for 1,450,000 (11 BB).

Dominated, Sey forked over half his stack as board 9♦ 2♣ T♥ 2♦ K♠ kept Firstov ahead all the way.

Hassan Sey opened utg+1 and tank called Mateusz Stanielewicz' jam for 2,625,000 (21 BB).

A crucial flip, Stanielewicz managed to keep ahead all the way through board 6♠ 4♠ 2♠ T♦ Q♠ , shipping a full double up his way with a flush.

Mateusz Stanielewicz defended his big blind against Hassan Sey's button open, and faced a 200,000 continuation bet on flop 2♠ 3♠ K♥ . Stanielewicz responded with an all-in and left Sey unable to continue.

Hassan Sey opened utg and was met with a 550,000 three bet from Robert Sherwood on the cutoff. Sey tank four bet jammed his entire 3,175,000 (32 BB), called by Sherwood with overcards for a flip.

Sey's ladies held on board 3♦ 9♥ 3♥ 6♠ 8♥ , keeping him in the running with a much bigger stack.

Hassan Sey opened 150,000 utg, called by Ali Hassan on the button.

Action on flop K♣ 4♥ 5♥ was checked round to turn 5♦ , where Sey led 175,000. Ali made the call, revealing river Q♥ . Sey checked to Ali, pushing him to go for a final 375,000. Sey gave it some thought, but opted to save his chips and toss his hand in the muck.

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.

Hassan Sey defended his big blind against Ali Hassan's open, and check called a 250,000 bet on flop Q♦ 4♣ 4♠ . Both checked turn 8♠ through to river T♥ , where Sey led a final 350,000. Ali failed to get to showdown, earning Sey the boost.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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