Martin Sedlak Clinches Maiden WPT Title at Championship Warm Up; WPT Prime Up Next

today at 5:05 PM

The WPT Cambodia series, in partnership with Connaissance Management Limited, spans a thrilling nineteen days and is already building up great numbers across its opening games. With the first five days now behind us at the world-class NagaWorld Integrated Resort, fifteen players have already secured WPT titles with newly minted champion, Germany’s Martin Sedlak among the biggest winners to date.

Sedlak triumphed over the opening highlight, Championship Warm Up, marking a strong start to his festival grind. He’s undoubtedly a player to keep an eye on this season, with the two marquee events – WPT Prime Cambodia and the prestigious WPT Championship, coming up next.

After the first seven events, leading the Player of the Festival race is China’s Zeyu Sun, who banked a trophy win at the Superstack Turbo side event right on day one. In addition to his victory, Sun has since made two more final table appearances, finishing 3rd in the Deepstack Turbo and 9th in the first PLO event of the series.

WPT Championship Cambodia 2025 – Player Guide

Martin Sedlak Clinches Maiden WPT Title at Championship Warm Up

After three days of intense play, German pro Martin Sedlak emerged victorious over this season’s WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up, claiming his first-ever WPT title. Sedlak came out on top of the 527-entry field, taking with him $45,578 in winnings, plus a WPT Prime seat worth $1,100, following a heads-up deal with Kazakhstan’s Ilya Firstov.

Normally, I don’t make heads-up deals. I prefer to play it out,” said Sedlak. “But I underestimated how deep the stacks still were and how slow the structure was. After an hour and a half, we still had the same stacks, so we decided to make the deal. But I wanted to try at least.

#3 Championship Warm Up ($600)

After three days of intense play, German pro Martin Sedlak emerged victorious over this season's WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up, claiming his first-ever WPT title. Sedlak came out on top of the 527-entry field, taking with him $45,578 in winnings, plus a WPT Prime seat worth $1,100, following a heads-up deal with Kazakhstan’s Ilya Firstov. Sedlak found his turning point three-handed, having won a crucial flip against Hassan for over 60 big blinds. This gave Sedlak just enough ammo to close out the win and book a great start to his 2025 run.

Total Prize

$274,943

Guaranteed

150,000

Entries

527

ITM

#	Payout	Player
1	$45,578	MS Martin Sedlak Germany
2	$44,000	IF Ilya Firstov Kazakhstan
3	$23,914	AH Ali Hassan Saint Kitts and Nevis
4	$16,866	MS Mateusz Stanielewicz Poland
5	$12,952	AA Amir Abbas Australia
6	$10,766	RA Robert Andrew Sherwood United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
7	$8,930	HS Hassan Sey Finland
8	$7,122	TE Thomas Eychenne France
9	$5,350	SP Shane Pearce Australia

Check the 66 Payouts & Results ...

The final day began with eight players returning back to the scene, all stacking above the 30 big blind mark. While a lot of room for play was expected, the first elimination came just two hands in, as Thomas Eychenne was knocked out after taking a bad beat from Ali Hassan.

WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up Final Table

The next four eliminations were all delivered by Firstov, putting him at a great advantage once the payouts bore more weight. Sedlak on the other hand, found his turning point once the field was down to the final three, having won a crucial flip against Hassan for over sixty big blinds. This sprung Sedlak just ten big blinds behind Firstov onto the final duel.

Ilya Firstov at the Championship Warm Up — Ilya Firstov

The two battled back and forth for over an hour, with Sedlak gaining a 3:1 lead at one point. Firstov however, managed to bounce back in the game, leaving both to finally cut an even chop, which guaranteed both $44,000 each in winnings, while leaving the remaining $1,578, the coveted WPT trophy, along with the WPT Prime entry on the table.

Another hour of play followed, with Sedlak gradually wearing down his opponent. The final hand eventually saw Firstov go all-in with king-eight for his last sixteen big blinds, only to be called by Sedlak with king-queen. No help came on the board, denying Firstov a career maiden win, and securing Sedlak the final victory.

When asked about his first time playing in WPT, Sedlak replied “So far, it’s very nice. I really like the casino. I like Cambodia a lot. It’s a very nice place.“

Martin Sedlak

Germany

Bounty

Place

1st

Prize

$45,578

Championship Warm Up Review

Date/s: February 7-10, 2025
Buy-in: USD 600
Guarantee: USD 150,000
Entries: 527
Prize pool: USD 274,943
ITM: 66 places

Up Next: WPT Prime and WPT Championship

The spotlight now shifts to the upcoming marquee event, the $1,100 buy-in WPT Prime Cambodia, which offers a $750,000 guarantee and runs from February 14 to 18. Following that is the second-ever WPT Cambodia Championship, with a $3,500 buy-in and an even larger $1,500,000 prize pool, scheduled for February 19 to 24. This prestigious event presents a fantastic opportunity for players in the Asian region to etch their name on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup and make their mark in WPT history.

Martin Sedlak Clinches Maiden WPT Title at Championship Warm Up; WPT Prime Up Next

The two headliners feature some of the deepest structures in live poker tournaments, ensuring participants get full value for their buy-ins. In the WPT Prime Championship, each player starts with 40,000 in chips, with all three Day 1’s playing through 40 minute blind levels. On Day 2, the level duration increases to 60 minutes, with one out of every eight entries in each flight cashing.

WPT Prime Cambodia Schedule

Date/s: February 14-18, 2025
Buy-in: USD 1,100
Guarantee: USD 750,000
Day 1A: Friday, February 14
Day 1B: Saturday, February 15
Day 1C: Sunday, February 16
Day 2: Monday, February 17
Day 3 /Final: Tuesday, February 18

In the $3,500 WPT Cambodia Championship event, players begin with a slightly bigger starting stack of 50,000, with both Day 1 levels playing one hour blinds. From Day 2 onwards, the levels increase further to 90 minutes all the way down to the Final Day. Past season champion Konstantin Held has already stepped into the action during the first week of the series, ready to defend his title in this year’s Championship games.