India’s Karan Sitlani Wins WPT Cambodia Passport To The WC 8 Max Survivor On International Debut
On his first poker trip outside of home turf India, Karan Sitlani bulldozed through the final table of the WPT Cambodia Passport To The World Championship – 8 Max Survivor Bounty to clinch the first live title of his young pro career. Along with the glory, Sitlani earned a payout deal of USD 29,830, inclusive of a seat worth USD 1,100 to the WPT World Prime Championship in Las Vegas this December.
In a post-win interview with the champ, Sitlani shared his elation and the strategy that helped him win.
“It’s unreal. This is is my first international poker trip. Even if I play 24/7, I did have to make some adjustments. At the final table, I was putting ICM pressure on everyone, especially when I got the chips. I knew that’s what I had to do. I guess it was my day.”
Sitlani is mainly an online player but with his dominating performance today, he made the live felt look easy. When asked about his decision to attend the event, Sitlani said,
“I was thinking that WPT is a big event and all these regs and sharks target these events so I didn’t know if I belonged here. I’ve only been studying and playing professionally for two years. But I was also in the correct mindset before coming here. I was here to play poker. Trust the process. I was not going for the result, I was trusting the process.”
To seize the win, Sitlani had to get past India’s hottest running Asia circuit pro Amit Kaushik. Kaushik has been tearing up the felt since last year and entered the final table with the lead. Sitlani had this to say about Kaushik,
“He is my very good friend, we play online a lot of times. I was actually thinking that since he has had more experience here and if our game is even or he is better, I just have to play my A-game. I play the man not the cards.”
The 8 Max Survivor Bounty drew 439 entries across three flights for a cash pool of USD 174,998 and a bounty pool of USD 130,500. For each head scalped, the winning player received a bounty prize of USD 1,500. Both Sitlani and Kaushik redeemed 7 bounties for a total of USD 10,500 added to their cash out. Fourth placer from Korea, Woojin Kim, collected the most bounties totaling 9 for an added USD 13,500 payout to his winnings.
Read up on Final Day action via the FINAL DAY Live Updates – 8 Max Survivor Bounty
8 Max Championship
Date: July 15-17, 2024
Buy in: USD 800
Guarantee: USD 150,000
Entries: 439
Prize pool: USD 174,998
Bounty pool: USD 130,500
ITM / Day 2: 56 players
Final 9 Payouts
| Place | Player | Flag | Payout in USD | Bounties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karan Mahesh Sitlani | India | $29,830 | $10,500 |
| 2 | Amit Kaushik | India | $30,460 | $10,500 |
| 3 | Se Han Park | Korea | $15,731 | |
| 4 | Woojin Kim | Korea | $10,604 | $13,500 |
| 5 | Junzhong Loo | Malaysia | $8,151 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Dan Erik Sebastian Larsson | Sweden | $6,770 | $3,000 |
| 7 | Trung Ha Nguyen | Viet Nam | $5,670 | $3,000 |
| 8 | Xinglong Huang | China | $4,576 | $4,500 |
| 9 | Santiago Soriano Ramos | Spain | $3,487 | $4,500 |
Event Recap
Fifty-six players returned for the final day, all assured a share of the prize pool. Early risers included Hai Nam Hoang, Amit Kaushik, and Woojin Kim. As the final table approached, Karan Sitlani climbed the leaderboar, and after knocking out Mingcheng Zhang in 10th place, Sitlani secured a solid second place in the standings.
It wasn’t until Sitlani faced off against Kaushik did he take the lead for the first time. Despite doubling up the short-stacked Park Se Han, Sitlani held onto his top position. And as the field narrowed to five players, Sitlani accumulated half the chips in play. His dominance continued when he eliminated Kim in 4th place, boosting his stack to 63% of the total chips.
The true test of a champion is being able close it out. At heads up, Sitlani started out 20 bb ahead of Kaushik which quickly vanished. Kaushik doubled up to reclaim the throne he once owned and proceeded to build a 50 bb gap. Impressively, Sitlani fought back and recovered some of the lost chips. At the break, a deal was reached with Kaushik awarded the larger payout. Sitlani went on to win.
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