Ari Engel’s First NagaWorld Trip Ends in Gold, Bags Championship Event Trophy

Ari Engel won the Championship Event on the WPT Cambodia: Passport to the World Championship , turning his first visit to NagaWorld into a memorable one.

The longtime poker traveler defeated a field of 391 entries to claim the title after a six-hour final day. Engel secured $91,444 through a heads-up ICM deal with Aditya Agarwal , along with the $10,400 WPT World Championship seat, while the two players later flipped for the trophy.

For Engel, the result adds another major score to a career that has already produced more than $10 million in live tournament earnings. But despite having traveled the poker world for years, Cambodia and NagaWorld were new territory.

And his first visit proved to be worth the trip.

#39 CHAMPIONSHIP ($1,300)

Total Prize USD

$500,000

Total Prize

500K USD

Guaranteed

500K USD

Entries

391

ITM

49

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$91,444	AE Ari Engel Canada
2	$81,610	AA Aditya Agarwal India
3	$43,811	MO Micheal Oneill Ireland
4	$32,919	HU Hendrik Uibo Estonia
5	$25,173	RN Rindra Norodom France
6	$20,332	MS Mangalam Seksaria Singapore
7	$16,459	BY Benhur Ybarsabal Philippines
8	$13,071	AZ Aleksei Zhukov Russia
9	$10,166	BR Bekzhan Rasulov Kyrgyzstan

Check the 49 Payouts & Results ...

From 18 Big Blinds to Champion

Engel entered Day 2 as one of the shorter stacks with just 18 big blinds. He had played only Day 1A and chose not to fire another starting flight after bagging his stack.

The short stack didn’t stop Engel from navigating his way through the final nine, where all nine players represented different countries.

“Of course, you hate being a short stack. I’ve played a lot of poker in my life, and I just want to play every situation as well as I can. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t. You just try to play the best you can.”

Final Table Action

Micheal O’Neill entered the final table as the massive chip leader and immediately put his stack to work, raising relentlessly and applying pressure to the rest of the table. Bekzhan Rasulov was the first casualty in ninth place , followed by Aleksei Zhukov in eighth place , who fell to O’Neill’s continued aggression.

Agarwal then eliminated Benhur Ybarsabal in seventh place before producing one of the biggest hand of the final table. Agarwal held pocket aces in a three-way cooler against Mangalam Seksaria’s kings and O’Neill’s queens. The aces held, eliminating Seksaria in sixth place and sending a huge pot Agarwal’s way.

Engel, meanwhile, was fighting to stay alive.

The River That Changed Everything

Engel eventually found himself in a huge all-in against O’Neill and was one card away from elimination . Holding pocket queens against O’Neill’s ace-ten, Engel saw his opponent pair the ace on the flop.

Engel had just two outs. One of them arrived on the river. The double-up kept Engel alive and became one of the key turning points of the final table.

On that crucial river, Engel said his approach was simply to accept whatever happened.

“I always say to myself when I’m all-in in deep spots like that, it’s all good no matter what. And that’s the truth. I’m blessed to have a great life, and if I lose, it’s going to be okay. I’m trying to win, so it’s great to get lucky.”

That mentality carried him deeper.

Rindra Norodom was eliminated in fith place by O’Neill, while Hendrik Uibo survived several all-ins before Engel eventually ended his run in fourth place .

Three-handed play then became the Engel show.

He picked up several pots and gradually moved into the chip lead before the biggest turning point of the final table arrived.

Ari Engel Ends Micheal O’Neill’s Run

O’Neill and Engel clashed in a massive pot that reached the river.

Engel moved all-in, putting O’Neill to the test. After using a time bank, O’Neill called with top pair, but Engel had the same pair with the better kicker. Engel won the massive pot and eliminated O’Neill in third place .

It was a tough ending for O’Neill, who had dominated much of the final table and looked to be on course for another deep run at NagaWorld.

After finishing runner-up in the WPT Cambodia Championship last January for the biggest cash of his career, O’Neill was once again close to the top. This time, he had to settle for third.

Agarwal Fights Back, Deal Is Made

Engel started heads-up with a huge lead, holding 14 million against Agarwal’s 1.6 million. But Agarwal fought his way back, climbing to approximately 5.8 million and significantly closing the gap.

The two players then paused to check the numbers and agreed to an ICM deal .

Engel locked up $91,444, while Agarwal secured $81,610. They also agreed to split the $10,400 WPT World Championship seat, with Engel taking the seat and paying Agarwal his share.

The money was settled, but the trophy remained. The two players agreed to flip for the title, and Engel came out on top, officially crowning him the WPT Cambodia Championship Event champion and capping off a memorable first visit to NagaWorld.

A Poker Nomad Finds Another Trophy

Engel’s lifestyle is perhaps one of the more unusual ones in the poker world. He shared that he has been without a home for around 12 years, instead traveling wherever life takes him and playing poker along the way.

That lifestyle also created a funny problem after winning at NagaWorld: figuring out where to put another trophy.

“I was joking with my girlfriend, Jo, that we have to get rid of some clothes or something from the luggage. We just have to carry it. I usually leave trophies at my Mom’s house or with my couple of friends because I don’t travel around with them.”

For someone constantly moving from one destination to another, NagaWorld was a completely new stop. It turned out to be a very good one. Engel had plenty of praise for the way the festival was run, particularly given that he had no previous experience playing at the property.

“Professionally, every time I go to a new place, I’m not sure how professionally run it’s going to be. Danny and his team did a great job, and it was very, very well run. Of course, you probably shouldn’t ask the winner for their thoughts because they’re always going to like it, but I do like it.”

Whether he’ll be back is still up in the air, fittingly enough for someone who doesn’t know where he’ll be from one month to the next.

“I’m always traveling and I don’t have a home. I don’t know yet where I’m going to be next month, so I can’t know for sure, but I would love to come back for the January series.”

For now, Engel leaves Cambodia with another trophy added to his collection, another six-figure-plus result, and a WPT World Championship seat tucked into his travel plans.

Ari Engel came to Cambodia for the first time. He leaves as a WPT Cambodia champion.