WPT Prime Cambodia: Main Event draws 1,011 total entries, 128 into Day 2; Rolands Norietis bags NLH 2-Day, closes in on Kiale Matthews in POF race
As always, the largest Main Event draw happened on the final starting day. WPT Prime Cambodia Season XXI witnessed a roaring 482 entries for Day 1C, to drive the total attendance to 1,011 and the prize pool to US$ 980,670.
Approaching the 13 hour mark, it was bubble time. Taiwan’s Nevan Yu-Chung Chang shipped a huge double up with 
full house on a board 
to beat 
missed draw. Shoves were on the turn. Chang closed the day second best with 650,000 in chips.
Two hands after, the bubble burst on Hong Kong’s Dennis Ng whose 
missed all his outs against Vinh Hai Huynh‘s 
on a board 
. Shoves were seen preflop.
Day 1C bagged up at ITM of 61 players. At the helm was USA’s Joshua Zimmerman with 789,000, equivalent to a massive 99 bb. This earned him third rank in the overall Day 2 chip counts.Among those that missed were WPT champions David Erquiaga, Zarvan Tumboli, and Marc Inizan.
Head to the WPT website for the Live Updates.
Day 1C – Top 10 in chips
1 | Joshua Zimmerman | USA | 789,000 |
2 | Nevan Chang | Taiwan | 650,000 |
3 | Matthieu Lamagnere | France | 550,000 |
4 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | 533,000 |
5 | Yunsheng Sun | China | 460,000 |
6 | Vinh Hai Huynh | Vietnam | 438,000 |
7 | Michael Haddad | Australia | 425,000 |
8 | Harsh Bubna | India | 407,000 |
9 | Seongsu Kong | Korea | 388,000 |
10 | Shue King Ng | Malaysia | 387,000 |
Main Event numbers
Buy in: US$ 1,100
Guarantee: US$ 500,000
Entries: 1,011
Prize pool: US$ 980,670
ITM: 128 players
The 128 Day 1 survivors return on Sunday, March 19 at 1pm, each one is guaranteed a piece of the pot. The minimum payout is US$ 800 while the top prize is US$ 173,130 which includes a WPT World Championship entry worth $10,400 at Wynn Las Vegas. WPT value adds airfare + accommodation. Runner up will also bank six figures of US$ 108,540.
Top 9 payouts / POF points
1 | $173,130 | 800 |
2 | $108,540 | 600 |
3 | $80,150 | 500 |
4 | $59,820 | 400 |
5 | $45,120 | 300 |
6 | $34,400 | 250 |
7 | $26,510 | 200 |
8 | $20,660 | 150 |
9 | $16,280 | 125 |
Day 2 will be a long race as they play down to the final 9 players. The blinds start at Level 16: 4K-8K, 8K ante with 20 minutes left in the clock. Once that completes, next level onwards increase every 60 minutes. Leading in the pack are India’s Arun Sriram with 111 bb andVitalii Borodin with 109 bb, both players bagging big at Day 1B.
Day 2 – top 10 in chips
Rank | Player | Stack | BB |
1 | Arun Sriram | 888,000 | 111 |
2 | Vitalii Borodin | 870,000 | 109 |
3 | Joshua Zimmerman | 789,000 | 99 |
4 | Dongyun Jo | 752,000 | 94 |
5 | Koen Breed | 731,000 | 91 |
6 | Nevan Chang | 650,000 | 81 |
7 | Gabriel Carter | 600,000 | 75 |
8 | Benjamin Mun | 578,000 | 72 |
9 | Frank Lillis | 563,000 | 70 |
10 | Matthieu Lamagnere | 550,000 | 69 |
Roland Norietis wins NLH 2-Day, zooms to POF second rank
Entering Day 2 as chip leader, Latvia’s Roland Norietis went on to capture the coveted NLH 2-Day title to add 400 points his name in the Player of the Festival race. This sent him catapulting from 8th rank to 2nd rank and is now just 175 points away from race leader Kiale Matthews.
The 2-day NLH event drew 155 entries to generate a prize pool of US$ 54,126. With 20 paid, Kittipong Charoenvijitchai delivered the bubble by cracking Shardul Parthasarathi’s pocket Aces. The event then played until Marcus Tan fell in 10th place to Norietis form the final table.
Day 2 opened with Norietis as chip leader with 50 bb and India’s Somashekar KM in second rank with 30 bb. Both players stayed ahead of the pack and met at heads up about even in chips.
A couple of failed bluffs caused a dip in Norietis’ stack which he made up with {ad]
flush beating 
on a board 
. Several hands later, Somashekhar scored a big one holding 
flush on a board 
to send Norietis back down again to 17 bb. This brought about the first heads up all in with Norietis called by Somashekhar with . The board ran 
for a double up to Norietis.
At par was brief with another failed bluff by Norietis. Next all in, Somashekhar pushed with 
, Norietis called with , the board improved Norietis to a full house for his second double up. With the pair back to even, they struck a deal to split the remaining money down the middle and play for the trophy.
Somashekhar took the early lead to send Norietis plunging to once again see the Latvian go all in. For the third time, Norietis doubled up. His pocket Sixes dodged overcards. From there, Norietis grinded down Somashekhar and shipped it with 
beating 
on a blank board.
Buy in: US$ 400
Entries: 155
Prize pool: US$ 54,126
ITM: 20 places
*Heads up deal
1 | Rolands Norietis | Latvia | $11,991* |
2 | Somashekar KM | India | $11,991* |
3 | Anton Widjaya | Indonesia | $5,561 |
4 | Sunwook Baek | Korea | $3,383 |
5 | Matthew Henry Bevin | Australia | $2,612 |
6 | Jasven Saigal | India | $2,165 |
7 | Yong Kwee Chua | Singapore | $1,881 |
8 | Kittipong Charoenvijitchai | Thailand | $1,689 |
9 | Harsh Bubna | India | $1,455 |
10 | Marcus Tan | Singapore | $1,272 |
11 | Jun Mitani | Japan | $1,272 |
12 | Yu-Chung Chang | Taiwan | $1,272 |
13 | Eric Chan | Malaysia | $1,096 |
14 | Gunisha Sinha | India | $1,096 |
15 | Keng Yong Tan | Singapore | $1,096 |
16 | Martin Kanaker | Sweden | $926 |
17 | Tatsuya Yamaguchi | Japan | $926 |
18 | Peng Zheng | China | $926 |
19 | Sven McDermott | Ireland | $758 |
20 | Rahul Marwaha | India | $758 |
Player of the Festival update
The Player of the Festival race is heating up! After eighteen completed events, Kiale Matthews still holds the top spot however Rolands Norietis is not far behind. Norietis shipped the NLH 2-Day event to catapult from 8th rank to 2nd rank.
Still plenty of events to conquer and earn points including the Main Event which is underway. The player with the most points at the end of the festival will win a WPT Passport worth $5,000 to any WPT Main Tour of Season XXI.
1 | Kiale Matthews | 1100 |
2 | Rolands Norietis | 925 |
3 | Micheal Oneill | 675 |
4 | Richard Marquez | 650 |
5 | Joshua Mccully | 650 |
6 | Deep Raina | 575 |
7 | Chien-Chih Weng | 550 |
8 | Duc Thanh Nguyen | 525 |
9 | Anton Widjaya | 525 |
10 | Bien Mai | 500 |
11 | Lun Loon | 475 |
12 | Tyler Suansrakaew | 450 |
13 | Fung Kong | 450 |
14 | Vikaash Shah | 425 |
15 | Jasven Saigal | 425 |
16 | Huyen Duc Luu | 400 |
Season XXI WPT Prime Cambodia
WPT Prime Cambodia, in partnership withConnaissance Management, runs from March 9 to 21 atNagaWorld Integrated Resortsin Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A total of 30 tournaments are scheduled and US$ 1 Million in guarantees. To date, eighteen players have walked away victorious. Only 12 trophies left including the coveted Main Event title.
WPT Prime Cambodia – Player Guide
Breakdown of WPT Prime Cambodia schedule
WPT Prime Cambodia – Festival Payouts
WPT Prime Cambodia – Main Event Chip Counts
For added enjoyment, there are ample cash games running daily and theCash Game Bonanza.
Reminders:
NO TAX on winnings
Event photos can be found in theSomuchpoker Facebook pageand inSomuchpoker IG page.
Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you updates of WPT Prime Cambodia from start to finish
About the Editor
The SMP Editor covers international poker and iGaming for SoMuchPoker, providing news, tournament coverage, and industry insights. With a focus on accuracy, clarity, and relevance, the editor helps readers stay informed about developments across the global poker community.
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