Alexander Puchalski Wins Record-Breaking WPT Prime Cambodia For $233,680

The first World Poker Tour stop of 2025 – WPT Cambodia Championship – has been producing very solid attendance figures throughout the first half of the festival and reached new heights when the WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Championship drew 1,484 entries, obliterating the previous record of 1,050 at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in capital city Phnom Penh. Three starting flights generated a prize pool of USD 1,429,080, which was split among the top 186 finishers.

Alexander Puchalski Wins WPT Prime Championship After Grueling Heads Up Match

In partnership with Connaissance Management Group, The WPT Prime Cambodia Championship lit up the Grand Ballroom from February 14 to 18 with three entry flights at the header. Two days later, when the last hand was dealt, a familiar face had accumulated all of the chips. Thailand-based Canadian, Alexander Puchalski, defeated Bangladesh’s Khorshad Sagor after an intense two and a half hour heads-up duel.

I had the same seat when I won the APPT Cambodia. It’s incredible. It feels like a dream. It’s amazing. I don’t come here that much but every time I do I get lucky and win.

For his second victory in Asia, a much larger field but same seat on the stage, Puchalski received US$ 233,680 which includes the US$ 10,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December. Before that happens, he plans to attend the upcoming APPT Cambodia.

Runner-up Sagor is one of around a dozen players from Bangladesh, who made the trip to the Kingdom of Cambodia for this live poker festival extraordinaire. There were barely any recorded cashes to his name prior and he is only the fourth player from his country to achieve a live poker result according to The Hendon Mob database. And it’s certainly a big one, as Sagor won’t be too unhappy about the consolation prize of US$ 150,000.

The grueling heads up lasted for over two hours with the chip lead bouncing. Puchalski had this to say about the grind,

He was really aggressive in some spots but I didn’t adjust my play that much. I just played my game, not too crazy, wait for my spot, and hope to get lucky. I did manage to get lucky.

Before the final elimination was delivered, with both players at an average of 19 bb, one hand in particular swung the counts. On a board 3♠3♣5♥9♠, Sagor fired heavily at every stage, Puchalski answered back with a shove that froze Sagor to plunge to 7 bb. Two hands later, Puchalski won it.

I have 4 6. I just think he’s got a lot of bluffs and he has a better hand. Maybe had an over pair, then so be it. But I have some open ender to hit, so I just went all in.

#28 WPT Prime Cambodia ($1,100)

Deja vu as Alexander Puchalski wins his second major title at this very location and at the same exact final table seat.

"I had the same seat when I won the APPT Cambodia. It's incredible. It feels like a dream. It's amazing. I don't come here that much but every time I do I get lucky and win. It is also very nice here in Cambodia."

Puchalski topped a field of 1,484 entries and defeated Khorshad Sagor in a grueling two and a half hour heads up battle. For his victory, he was awarded the US$ 233,680 inclusive of a seat worth US$ 10,400 to the WPT World Championship in December.

Total Prize

$1,429,080

Guaranteed

750,000

Entries

1,484

ITM

186

#	Payout	Player
1	$233,680	AP Alexander Puchalski Canada
2	$150,000	SK Sagor Khorshad Alam
3	$111,200	PD Patrik Demus Hungary
4	$82,700	YJ Yannick Jobin Switzerland
5	$63,000	YC Yita Choong Australia
6	$48,800	YY Yuan Yu China
7	$37,500	MC Manuel Carvalho Portugal
8	$29,200	TM Tom Maguire Australia
9	$22,900	XL Xiao Liu China

Check the 186 Payouts & Results ...

Also among the finalists were 2022 GPI Australian Player of the Year Yita Choong, Manuel Carvalho and Tom Maguire. Among those to reach the money stages in a very international field but bow out on Day 2 were Japan’s rising star Shiina Okamoto, reigning WPT Player of the Year Yunkyu Song, Abhinav Iyer, 2024 WSOP Main Event finalist Joe Serock, WPT Global ambassador Pete Chen, Amit Kaushik Mike Takayama, and Naj Ajez, the latter of which entered second in chips.

Action of the Final Day

The final day brought back 13 players with Vyacheslan Shin as the shortest stack. He doubled but bowed out soon after, followed to the payout desk by South Korea’s Wonho Lee in the first level of the final. Lee waited for a spot to get the chips in and did so with Queen-Seven suited, but found no luck to beat the King-Queen of Patrik Demus.

Canada’s Peter Kiem, likewise, earned a double in the opening level with a miracle card on the river but still didn’t make it to the first break as he three-bet jammed with King-Queen into the Ace-Ten of  Demus. The board ran out ten-high and Kiem was the third casualty of the day.

Down to the final ten players and with no pay jump for the next two eliminations ahead of the nine-handed final table, there were two all-in and call on separate tables. Yannick Jobin won the flip with queens against the ace-king of Demus while Nariman Yaghmai couldn’t hold with ace-five, as Manuel Carvalho turned two pair with king-ten suited for Yaghmai’s last three big blinds.

The final table started with a distinct short stack as Xiao Liu only had seven big blinds at his disposal, while Carvalho was leading the way on a very healthy sixty-five blinds. Several contenders were closely bunched together and it was no surprise that Liu became the first casualty when his ace-four was pipped by the ace-five of Alexander Puchalski.

Yita Choong sprung into action with a five-bet against Carvalho, who then lost a big pot with a failed bluff to double Khorshad Sagor. The next to go was, however, Tom Maguire. In a battle of the Aussies, he made a move at the wrong time by three-bet jamming ace-seven suited right into the pocket aces of Choong. Things got worse for Carvalho when he lost a chunk to Puchalski and Choong then finished the job shortly after for the chip leader at the start of the final table to exit in seventh place.

Puchalski had taken over the top of the leaderboard but Jobin doubled through him with pocket kings versus pocket queens preflop to provide yet another twist on this action-packed showdown. The action slowed down after that and Yuan Yu was the only one to slip down the pecking order after he tangled with Puchalski. Yu ultimately jammed a dominated queen from the small blind and Puchalski prevailed with queen-jack to bring the field down to the final five.

Khorshad Sagor Takes Command

The wild roller coaster ride of Choong would ultimately end with a perhaps disappointing fifth place. He went from chip leader to the payout desk within two levels after losing two big pots against Puchalski and Sagor. It was then the latter who also dealt the final blow after Choong’s ten-six suited were drawing dead against a turned set of nines, further cementing the status of Khorshad atop the leaderboard.

During four-handed play, Puchalski applied a lot of pressure to pull ahead and Sagor then sent Jobin to the payout desk when he had pocket aces at the perfect time, as the Swiss player could not improve with pocket tens. Demus was the far shortest stack thereafter and lasted only a couple of hands to set up the duel for the title between Sagor and Puchalski.

Heads Up: Alexander Puchalski vs Khorshad Sagor

What followed was a grueling heads-up battle that spanned across multiple 30-minute levels and both players were on the verge of victory several times with the lead changing ever so often. When things became more shallow, Sagor dropped to only 12 blinds but spiked a flush on the turn to survive.

A few minutes later, he was back down to a mere seven blinds and there was no coming back anymore after a total of 234 hands on the final table. Sagor found a queen to get it in with and Puchalski had an ace, which he paired right away on the flop to secure the victory after nearly 12 hours on the final day.

All eyes will now be on the start of the WPT Cambodia 2025 Championship, which kicks off on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. The crown jewel of the schedule comes with a price tag of $3,500 and a guarantee of US$ 1.5 million with two starting flights in as many days. The festival runs until February 24 and six days of exciting live poker action in Cambodia await.

Read up on the action and the full results via the Live Updates.