WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship (3 PACKAGE)

The opening flight of the highly anticipated WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship at UOB LIVE, Emsphere in the heart of Bangkok, drew a staggering turnout right off the bat, with 525 entries recorded across nine levels of registration.

After twenty fast-paced levels of action and a dramatic bubble burst, only 66 players remained, each secured a place in Day 2 and a share of the THB 37,000,000 (~USD 1.1 million) guaranteed travel fund pool.

China’s Dongchen He emerged as the initial chip leader, setting the bar high for the upcoming flights at 1,029,000 (51 BB). His late surge came at the expense of early chip leader Yanpeng Song, who saw his stack diminish late in the day. Right behind him is Taiwan’s Wei Jen Wang, who closed the flight in style by delivering the bubble knockout to seal a bag worth 1,015,000 (51 BB), good for second in rank.

With several more starting flights to come including two more flights set to complete tomorrow, the race for Thailand’s first ever WPT title is heating up extremely fast. Stay tuned as SMP brings you live updates, key hands, and all the big moments straight from the tournament floor!

WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship

Date/s: August 1-5, 2025

Buy-in: Travel Package 3 valued at THB 37,000 (~USD 1,100)

Guarantee: THB 37 million (~USD 1.1 million) travel fund

Day 1A: 525 entries, 66 qualified

Day 1B: Saturday, August 2

Day 1C: Sunday, August 3

Day 1D: Sunday, August 3

Day 2: Monday, August 4

Day 3/ Final: Tuesday, August 5

Fresh off a win, Wei Jen Wang found himself back in the action at bubble time after calling a hijack open from Gang Liu and setting up a tense clash.

The flop landed 5♦ J♠ Q♦ , and Liu wasted no time ripping his remaining 155,000 into the middle. Wang snap called, putting his opponent at risk of being the stone cold bubble.

Liu J♥ J♣

Wang T♣ 9♣

/As a crowd gathered around the table, Wang exclaimed, "Everyone shout eight!", hoping to complete his straight. The turn K♥ did just that, giving Wang one of his outs, with the river T♠ locking it up for the Taiwanese contender.

With Liu’s elimination, Day 1A officially came to a close, with 66 players advancing to Day 2 and securing a piece of the THB 37,000,000 guaranteed pot.

Facing an open and a call, Phyo Oakar moved all in from the small blind for 85,000, putting himself at risk as the money bubble loomed. The shove was met with a quick reshove from original raiser Ashkenazi Amit, while the button caller folded to preserve his stack.

Amit was well ahead and cruised to victory on board 3♠ Q♠ Q♣ 9♦ 8♥ , easily eliminating Oakar and bringing the field one step closer to the money.

With over 100,000 in the pot, action was caught on the turn 2♠ 5♣ K♣ Q♣ with early 1A chip leader Yanpeng Song committing his last 245,000 with top pair flush draw A♣ K♠ against Dongchen He. He was ahead with two pair K♦ Q♥ , and bagged the win as river J♥ bricked out for his compatriot.

He jumps to the lead as the money bubble at 66 players quickly approaches.

A cooler situation landed on Table 33 with Dragomir Lechev in with the best hand in the deck for his last 113,000. Shaoji Wang significantly behind, however, caught a lucky runout on board 7♦ 6♠ 5♣ K♣ 2♠ , quickly sending his Bulgarian opponent to the rail.

Doron Tzur in the big blind, made a gamble with Jx 9x , risking his last 155,000 with an open ended straight draw on flop Q♠ T♥ 7♦ . Chuan Chen Tsang quickly looked him up with pocket kings, cutting two outs from Tzur’s potential path to survival.

But fate favored the gamble. The turn brought the K♦ , completing Tzur’s straight, and the 6♣ river kept him in front, locking up the double and keeping his Day 2 hopes alive.

Yi Zen Tan opened in mid position and was met with a 50,000 three bet from Cheng Xu a seat after. Tan responded with an all-in for his entire 275,000, putting the pressure back on Xu. Xu deliberated for a moment, but eventually waived the white flag, conceding the pot to his opponent.

Folded down to Tong Tan on the button, he open raised all-in and saw Yi Cheih Hsieh call off her 82,000 stack in the small blind.

Board 3♠ J♠ 4♥ T♦ 6♠ ran dry for both, leaving Hsieh's ace-queen high good for the takedown.

With over 50,000 already in the pot, the rest of the chips went flying on a flop of 7♣ 4♦ 6♦ , as Phet Pannoi moved all in for his last 85,000 holding top pair A♥ 7♥ . But he was in rough shape against Shaoji Wang, who had flopped two pair with 6♠ 4♣ from the big blind.

Pannoi needed help, and he found it quickly as the runout came 5♦ 5♠ , counterfeiting Wang’s two pair and giving Pannoi the better hand to stay alive and avoid elimination.

Another preflop showdown saw Zheren Chen push his 117,000 stack following an utg shove from Vincent Salaun. The rest of the table stepped aside, leaving the two to run the cards.

Running a coinflip, Salaun's overcards quickly landed the advantage on board Q♣ 8♥ 3♦ 7♣ 3♣ , knocking one off the counts.

A blind vs blind battle between Yuval Khaimzon and Gang Liu within the first few minutes of the day saw Khaimzon put his tournament life on the line, risking his 11 BB stack in search of an early double up.

While significantly ahead, Khaimzon instead crashed out early after Liu landed runner runner trip kings on board 4♥ 9♣ K♣ Q♦ K♠ to ship the boost.

WPT Championship Day 1A action resumes! Each player begins the session with four time bank extensions, adding some breathing room to the fast-paced structure. Play will conclude once the field reaches 66 players, officially locking up a share of the THB 37,000,000 (~USD 1.1 million) guaranteed pot.

Following fifteen fast-paced levels, Day 1A of the WPT Championship has been put on pause, deemed to resume play tomorrow at 6:00 PM. Only 119 players out of the 525-entry field survived the initial carnage, all still remaining in contention for a Day 2 seat. The rest of the Championship flights will adhere to a turbo structure of 20 minute levels in accordance with local regulations, which permit only six hours of play per day from Monday to Saturday.

Tomorrow's action will conclude once only 66 players remain, each secured a share of the THB 37,000,000 (~USD 1.1M) guaranteed pot.

Currently, stacking atop the field is Yanpeng Song with 679,000 (113 BB) after scooping up a massive three way by the last hour. Other notables advancing through include Chenxiang Miao (418,000), Frederik Farrington (334,000), Lili Tang (261,000), and Chenxu Zhang (176,000).

WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship

Date/s: August 1-5, 2025

Buy-in: Travel Package 3 valued at THB 37,000 (~USD 1,100)

Guarantee: THB 37,000,000 (~USD 1.1M) travel fund

Day 1A: 525 entries, 119 remaining

Day 1A-2: Saturday, August 2

Day 1B: Saturday, August 2

Day 1C: Sunday, August 3

Day 1D: Sunday, August 3

Day 2: Monday, August 4

Day 3/ Final: Tuesday, August 5

Another three way all-in hit the felt, and once again it was Yanpeng Song in the driver’s seat, covering both Jindain Saharat (128,000) and Heng Kang (55,000). With the chance to deliver another double knockout, Song was eyeing a second major pot and possibly the chip lead as the cards went on their backs.

Board K♠ 4♦ 2♦ J♣ 7♠ however, kept Kang ahead, scoring him the much needed boost, while Song shipped the side pot to cover his losses.

Hao Zhang opened utg and went on to four bet jam against Miki Mori Amable's raise behind. Amable made the final call for his tournament life, risking his last 127,000.

A coinflip situation, Zhang instantly spiked a set on board Q♥ T♦ 9♥ 2♠ 8♠ , more than enough to bust Amable out of the running.

Level 15 marks the final stretch of play for Day 1A of the WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship, with players now just minutes away from bagging and tagging.

Once the level wraps, action will be paused to resume tomorrow at 6:00 PM, where the remaining contenders will return to play down to the money, leaving only the top 12.5% of the field at 66 players onto Day 2.

Myron Pereira opened on the button and took a big risk, having called Wei Jen Wang's 158,000 shove from the big blind for a majority of his stack.

Wang a huge favorite to win, locked in the massive double as board 5♥ 2♦ 7♠ 7♦ 4♥ ran safe for his ladies. Pereira survived the damage but is crippled down to four big blinds.

A massive three way all-in preflop confrontation unfolded with Yanpeng Song having both opponents covered — Min Aung Khaing (196,000) and Guyue Wang (43,000), putting two players at risk in one shot.

Two aces down, a third one managed to roll on flop A♠ 3♦ 7♣ , keeping both Wang and Khaing with the advantage. The turn J♠ and river T♠ however, flipped the script entirely, shipping the hefty pot towards Song for his runner runner two pair.

Nguyen Duc Cuong opened 29,000 for over half his stack, and called off his remaining 20,000 behind after Adrien Tantaro called for the rest.

Crushed against the best hand in the deck, Nguyen had his hopes up as the board landed K♥ Q♠ 4♣ J♠ , but ultimately bricked out river 6♦ to seal his fate.

With an early open and a call ahead, Peilong Pan shot out a 40,000 raise on the hijack and was met with a cold four bet jam from Frederik Farrington on the button for a hefty 152,000. Action folded back to Pan, who gave it much thought, only to arrive at a fold, eventually conceding the pot to Farrington.

Up against an open and a call, Adrien Tantaro shoved all-in for 40,000 on the button and was challenged by initial raiser Jiahong Chen.

A 50-50 spot, Tantaro quickly spiked an ace on board J♣ A♠ 8♥ J♥ 5♥ , shipping him the win while Chen's stack gets cut in half.

A back and forth exchange between Nicolas Ragot and Yue Bao saw the latter make the final call for his 40,000 stack.

While Bao was hugely ahead, Ragot was in luck to find two tens on board T♦ 6♣ 2♠ T♥ Q♦ , landing him quads to send his opponent out of the running.

Yash Punjawat opened 5,000 mid position and called off his 44,500 behind after Gregory Winyard in the big blind, gunned for the rest.

In for a race, Punjawat kept his lead all the way through board J♦ 4♠ 9♥ 3♦ A♦ , with the river sealing him the win with top pair.

Cheng En Tsai opened 5,000 utg, and saw Tsung Ting Lai right behind bump it up to 15,000. Yuanxin He a seat after cold called, circling back to Tsai who pushed for 44,000 total. Lai reshoved for a much bigger 160,000, forcing out He after giving it some thought.

A cooler situation, Tsai easily bagged the win as his rockets cruised through board Q♠ 8♦ 7♠ 7♦ 4♥ for the double up.

Eunwoo Sim pushed 43,500 against an early open and was followed with another shove from Rihua Zhang in the small blind. No other takers joined the fun, leaving the two to table the cards.

A pocket pair battle, Zhang's tens held firm across board 6♣ 6♦ Q♣ 2♠ 2♥ , cutting Sim's Day 1A run short.

Suwichak Bunma defended his button open and called a 17,000 three bet from Yuan Zhang in the big blind. On flop K♣ 2♣ 9♥ , Zhang gunned for the rest, and Bunma laid his remaining 18,000 on the table.

Zhang K♥ J♥

Bunma A♦ J♣

Bunma in rough shape, secured a second life as the runout 4♣ 7♣ landed him a runner runner flush to steal the win.

Minqi Yu opened 5,000 in the cutoff and happily shelled out just 20,000 more following a shove from Shusen Liu right behind.

Liu crushed against the cowboys, packed up quickly as board T♦ 8♥ 9♥ 9♠ 7♦ kept him behind from start to finish.

Jiangqiu Li flatted an early open, and was met with a 30,000 three bet from Taewoo Kim on the button. While the initial raiser stepped aside, Li moved over the top for just 7,000 more, and Kim put him to the test.

Kim ahead with pocket nines, easily delivered the bust as board J♣ J♠ 4♥ 8♠ T♠ steered clear of any bad beats.

A smashing turnout marked the start of the WPT Prime Thailand Exhibition Championship at UOB LIVE, Emsphere, as the opening flight officially got underway. A total of 525 entries were tallied across the nine levels of registration, a strong statement of interest for Thailand’s most anticipated poker event to date.

Play is set to conclude once the money bubble bursts or by 12:00 midnight, whichever comes first, with only the remaining survivors locking in a Day 2 seat in this historic race to the crown.

Weizi Yang raised all-in for 16,500 in early position and was looked up by Chung Chong in the small blind.

Yang ahead with a pocket pair, held through across board 6♠ 3♥ Q♥ 2♣ 4♦ , keeping him in contention for a Day 2 seat.

Youngseok Baek limped on the small blind, and called off Eng Keat Ng's 18,500 shove right behind.

Gunning for an ace, Baek found none on board T♦ 2♣ 7♠ J♦ J♠ , shipping Ng the much needed double with his ladies.

Following a preflop back and forth between Pau Sanroma and Jiangqiu Li, both stacks landed in the middle shortly, Sanroma at risk for his entire 33,800.

Li running behind, caught up quickly on board J♠ J♥ T♦ 3♣ 3♠ , knocking out Sanroma off of today's Day 1A charge.

Ivan Doroshin risked his entire 27,300 against Matheiu Coulon's early open, and saw the latter step up to the plate, putting him at risk.

Coulon dominated, missed to pull a miracle on board T♥ 9♠ 4♣ 8♦ 2♣ , shaving a small chunk off his towering pile as Doroshin cleared the double.

Yao Yao pushed his last 13,000 in the middle, and was challenged by Xiang Fang down the line with a pocket pair, tabling a flip.

Board T♥ K♦ T♦ 8♣ 4♥ failed to pair up Yao Yao's overcards, sending him to the rail in today's Day 1A games.