APPT Cambodia 2022 MAIN EVENT: 378 entries, $494.9K prize pool, 75 players head into Day 2; Valeriy Pak, Yu Qi Zhao top heats; David Erquiaga wins trophy

11/12/2022

The inaugural Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cambodia enters its penultimate day with Day 2 of the Main Event seeing 75 players return. The pack will be led in by front runners just half a small blind apart – Korea’s Nam Hyung Kim (410,000) and Russia’s Valeriy Pak (409,000). Kim topped Day 1A and Pak closed last night’s Day 1B as race leader. At the evening’s turbo flight, USA’s Yu Qi Zhao bagged the biggest. You can read up on the action via the Live Updates.

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The Main Event got underway on November 10 with three starters that pulled in a combined 378 entries to easily surpass the guarantee. Returning players are now looking at a sweeter prize pool of $494,991, however only 55 of them will earn a share with the eventual champion pocketing $96,028. For players, today’s agenda is to reach the money round then secure a seat to the final table with nine seats awaiting its qualifiers.

Main Event – Day 1B and Day 1C review

The Grand Ballroom of NagaWorld was teeming with activity with the final two Main Event starting days filling the tournament floor. A large force of Vietnamese players were among the crowd. Ten of them qualified into Day 2 with Vu Thai Bao bagging the largest of 48 BB followed by Cao Ngoc Anh with 32 BB and NagaWorld Kickoff champion Mai Bien with 30 BB. Also powering through were decorated APPT Main Event champions Michael Soyza (36 BB) and Florencio Campomanes (28 BB).

The Day 1B heat produced the largest Main Event entry field of 186 entries with 32 advancing. During the last hands called, several players ran neck on neck for the chip lead until Russia’s Valeriy Pak edged the counts slightly to earn the high status. He bagged up a 102 BB stack. Trailing him with 99 BB was Pakistan’s Omair Joved.

Other notables advancing via this heat were Singapore’s Bryan Huang, a rarity in the live scene, and series side event champions Malaysia’s Victor Chong, and France’s Clement Van Driessche. While Huang returns with a healthy 57 BB, Chong and Van Driessche have their work cut out with 11 BB and 10 BB.

Over at Day 1C, it was a wild race for a seat to today’s stage with blinds escalating quick. 79 entered with 22 surviving the rush led by USA’s Yu Qi Zhao with 53 BB. Zhao is one of the top performers of the series. He led the Kickoff Day 1A counts, cashed at the APPT National, and won the $500 NLH Knockout.

Also qualifying via the final heat were Filipino pro David Erquiaga (48 BB), Malaysia’s Natalie Teh (15 BB), and APPT National champion Seongmin Lee (13 BB).

APPT Main Event – CHIP COUNTS

Day 2 will see cards in the air at 1pm local time. You can follow the action via the Live Updates.

DAVID ERQUIAGA wins the $1,100 NLH Freezeout

The lone side event with a PokerStars spade up for grabs was the $1,100 NLH Freezeout. Intended to take place on November 5, it was moved to after Main Event Day 1B however it only attracted 9 players for a prize pool of $8,643. Korea’s hot running Nam Hyung Kim missed the trophy again, falling in 3rd place for a payout of $1,729. The battle for the title came between David Erquiaga and Robert Schiffbauer. The Filipino pro drained out Schiffbauer with the final hand of sealing it shut against 10c on a board .