APPT Cambodia 2022: Seongmin Lee lifts first PS shard trophy; Clement Van Driessche, Hassaan Arif, Yu Qi Zhao win trophies

The first ever PokerStars shard trophy of APPT Cambodia 2022 has been captured with Korea’s Seongmin Lee minted at the APPT National. Lee overcame India’s Rajeev Kanjani at heads up to rein in the coveted title and the $30,133 top prize. You can read up on his road to victory via the Live Updates.

The inaugural Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cambodia 2022 schedule saw the NagaWorld Phnom Penh Grand Ballroom light up on November 6 for the second of the festival’s highlight events, the $800 APPT National Single Re-Entry, featuring a $100K guarantee. Over three starting heats it drew 204 entries to generate a larger $142,474 pot with 31 players earning a piece. The money flowed at Day 2 and the final table took place on Wednesday, November 9.

Winner race to victory

The final table opened with Vietnam’s Le Ngoc Khanh bringing in the largest stack which he hoped to turn into a career second APPT title having won one of the turboo events at the 2018 Manila leg. Not to be however with Khanh’s stack taking a hit at six-handed against second chip leader Seongmin Lee. On a board , Lee raise-shoved Khanh’s massive pot bet holding a set of Jacks on the river and Khanh was unable to resist calling with two-pair. This big scoop switched them up which Lee carried into heads up.

For runner up RajeeV Kanjani, his rise began at five-handed when he railed the hard hitting Nam Hyung Kim with pocket Kings standing firm against Ace-Two suited. After Lee eliminated the next two, it was heads up with both contenders – Lee and Kanjani – very deep. Lee was ahead 132 BB to Kanjani’s 72 BB.

During the two hour heads up battle, it was Kanjani raking in most of the small pots until pocket Aces earned him a big one to take the lead. Lee continued to drop until his top pair Nine held against Kanjani’s open ended that missed to double up and regain control. Kanjani charged back and earned a double up but on his next push, it was all over. On a board , Lee three-bet shoved with top pair, Kanjani snap-called with , and once again Kanjani missed his draw with the turn and river .

Buy in: $800

Guarantee: $100,000

Entries: 204 (126 unique, 78 re-entries)

Prize pool: $142,474

ITM: 31 places

Final table payouts

APPT NATIONAL – Full payouts

CLEMENT VAN DRIESSCHE overcomes a huge deficit at the High Roller

Also returning for its final stretch was the $3K High Roller Single Re-Entry with the field down to the bubble round of 7 remaining. At the bottom was New Zealand’s Hamish Crawshaw with 8 BB while France’s Leo Soma sat comfortable up top with his massive arsenal. Crawshaw’s hopes of cashing quickly vanished on the opening round, he was later followed by Gary Thompson who claimed the first payout.

Down to four-handed, France’s Jean Robert Autran began his ascent, railing Soma with pocket Tens improving to a set on the river to defeat King-Jack, top pair King on the flop. From there, Autran held on to his commanding stack to face fellow countryman Clement Van Driessche at heads up. Fairly close in chips, the pair struck a payout deal then played on for the coveted trophy.

Autran was first to cause major damage, sending Van Driessche down to an ailing stack. However, despite Autran’s efforts, he lost the next four showdowns for Van Driessche to take the lead. The largest of the double ups saw both players all in on a Queen-high flop with Autran behind Van Driessche‘s . The turn and river were no help to Autran to quickly bring about the final hand, Autran all in with , Van Driessche holding , the board ran for trips Jacks. Van Driessche lifted the PokerStar golden spade trophy and a payout deal of $32,201. Autran walked away pocketing $30,913.

Buy in: $3,000

Entries: 41

Prize pool: $109,765

ITM: 6 places

Payouts

*Heads up deal

HASSAAN ARIF takes down the $800 NLH Tubo Freezeout

Pakistan’s Hassaan Arif outshined at the $800 NLH Turbo Freezeout to claim his first ever live win, the PokerStars spade trophy, and a cool $9,022 in winnings. By the time the final table was formed, Arif was already backed by a huge lead and eventually went head to head against the highly decorated pro Florencio Campomanes whom he proceeded to dominate.

Leading up to the victory, Arif claimed a large portion of Campomanes‘ stack with Jack-Five two pair. Campomanes battled back with Ace-Eight offsuit awarding him two pair of his own to beat pocket Threes. Despite the loss, Arif came right back and grinded down Campomanes who risked it all with that missed the board to fall to Arif’s.

Buy in: $800

Entries: 38

Prize pool: $26,539

ITM: 6 places

Payouts

YU QI ZHAO wins the NLH Knockout; Dale Townsend picks up 11 bounties

The last event to complete was the $500 NLH Knockout [$100/Bounty] with USA’s Yu Qi Zhao outlasting the 97 entry field. He lifted his first ever PokerStars spade trophy and pocketed $8,049 plus $1,000 in bounty rewards.

The race to the trophy sped up after the fall of Yasuhiro Tano in 4th place. The final three players opted to adjust the payouts, bumping up the third place cash. After the deal, Akshay Kapoor was disappointed to see his lose to Yu Qi Zhao’s with four clubs on the board. Heads up was also quick with Dale Townsend all in holding defeated by Zhao’s with a final board . Despite Townsend missing the win, he still walked away proud with the highest of 11 bounties won for a payout of $6,722.

As for the champion Zhao, he was ecstatic over his victory having flown all the way from the states to attend the festival. He also cashed at the APPT National in 30th place for $1,254.

Buy in: $500

Entries: 97

Prize pool: $32,641

Bounty pool: $9,700

ITM: 9 places

Payouts (bounties not included)

*Three way deal

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker for all the action as we bring you updates from start to finish.

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Event Photos

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