Taiwan’s Chao Ting Cheng crowned 2023 APPT Cambodia Main Event champion
“Game over!” exclaimed Chao Ting Cheng as he slapped down quads to crush Filipino Junnie Pamplona‘s full house and winthe APPT Cambodia Main Event. Cheng captured his first major title, the coveted PokerStars shard trophy, and a career high ICM deal payout of US$ 94,448.
“I feel so good! As a poker pro, this title is so important to me. This is my first Main Event title, and I am so very happy.”
At three-handed, Cheng was the shortest stack, and dropped to 12 big blinds. With an aggressive Eric Tsai to his right and the massive stacked Pamplona to his left, Cheng waited for his best chance to double up. It soon arrived with 
dominating Pamplona’s 
. Cheng went on to defeat Tsai in 3rd place with 
standing firm against 
. He shared how he felt upon railing his fellow countryman Tsai,
“I was both upset and happy because I am now heads up and I wanted to take down this tournament.”
At the start of heads up, Cheng had 50 big blinds and was behind Pamplona’s 69 big blinds. On the tenth hand, Cheng doubled up to switch the counts. On a board that completed 
both players were all in on the flop. Cheng won it with 
over 
.
Three hands later the final hand arrived. On a board 
with bets on the flop and checks on the turn, Pamplona called Cheng’s three-bet jam with 
full house, Cheng had the nuts 
.
For runner up Pamplona it was another missed title right here in Cambodia. However, due to an ICM deal payout at heads up, he still banked the largest payout of US$ 101,647 for his second ever six figures. A rags to riches story, impressively, Pamplona won his seat to the Main Event via a Manila Satellite that included airfare, accommodation, and Main Event ticket all for just PHP 6,000, equivalent to ~US$ 110.
Main Event
The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Cambodia festival ran its featured Main Event from May 12 to 15, 2023 at the Grand Ballroom of the NagaWorld Integrated Resorts in capital city Phnom Penh. It drew a 476-entry field for a prize pool of US$ 623,322. The money flowed at Day 2 starting at 71st place. The biggest cuts were claimed on the final day.
Main Event – Final 9 payouts
| Place | Player | Payouts in USD |
| 1 | Chao Ting Cheng | 94,448* |
| 2 | Junnie Pamplona | 101,647* |
| 3 | Eric Tsai | 54,290 |
| 4 | Jimmy Torres | 42,670 |
| 5 | Evgenii Nekrasov | 33,597 |
| 6 | KIen Tat Heng | 26,242 |
| 7 | Hua Wei Lin | 19,759 |
| 8 | Curtis Lim | 13,775 |
| 9 | Bien Mai | 10,908 |
*Heads up deal
You can read up on the Main Event Final Table race via the live updates link below.
