WPT Cambodia: Choi Hun Tae leads final 7 of Championship Warm Up; Bien Mai bags big at Mystery Bounty Day 1A

SMP Editor
SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief
championship warm up day2 1
championship warm up day2 1

Day 4 at World Poker Tour (WPT) Cambodia saw the Championship Warm Up trim down to seven players with Choi Hun Tae bagging the chip lead. At the Mystery Bounty, the opening flight drew 146 entries with 19 at bagging time led by Vietnam’s Bien Mai. Scroll down for the recap and highlights.

WPT Cambodia – News Coverage and Results
WPT Cambodia – Player of the Festival standings
WPT Cambodia – Player Guide
WPT Cambodia – Photos

Choi Hun Tae leads final 7 of Championship Warm Up

Day 2 of the Championship Warm Up saw 103 players return to action, each one aiming for a piece of the USD 340,518 prize pool. Just over two hours in, Ilya Firstov delivered the bubble, ensuring a payout for the remaining 62 players. From there, the race raged on as players hunted down a seat to the final table.

Hun Tae Choi
Hun Tae Choi

After 11 hours of play, the official WPT final table of six wasn’t reached, instead seven players remained led by Korea’s Choi Hun Tae with a strong 60 bb. Choi was a grinding machine all day, often seen raking in chips to hold top rank for quite some time.

jonald garcia
Running second in chips was Philippine player Jonald Garcia with 43 bb. Garcia was also seen up top for several levels. Dropping down at the final 9, Garcia picked up a couple of pocket Aces to surge back up, eliminatingDiego Uechi in 8th place.

Yuwen Pan
Yuwen Pan
Koen Breed
Koen Breed

Yuwen Pan and Koen Breed were next down the rung, both players struggled with short stacks for most of the day, Pan was nearly out in 15th place but a lucky river Queen saved his AsQs against Laury Vanlerberghe’sAcKs.

Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams
Marc Joseph
Marc Joseph

Day 1 chip leaders, Samuel Adams (Day 1A) and Marc Joseph (Day 1C) followed in chip rank. Joseph maintained a mid-stack all day, Adams was at risk of elimination at the final table with AcJs, but like Pan, he spiked the river card for a pair to survive against As.

Xin Zhao
Xin Zhao

To round out the pack is Xin Zhao who was a strong force all day. He carried the second largest stack into the final 9 until several bad bouts against Choi sent him down to 23 bb.

The final 7 players return on January 21, 2024 at 11:30am to chase down the title and the hefty USD 66,029 top prize.

Buy in: USD 800

Guarantee: USD 150,000

Entries: 489 (289 unique)

Prize pool: USD 341,518

ITM: 62 places

Chips in play: 24,450,000

Average stack: 3,492,857

Opening Day 3 blinds: 50K-100K ante 100K

Final 7 players

Seat

Player

Flag

Stack

BB

1

Jonald Garcia

Philippines

4,275,000

43

2

Samuel Adams

New Zealand

2,525,000

25

3

Koen Breed

Netherlands

3,375,000

34

4

Xin Zhao

China

2,250,000

23

5

Yuwen Pan

China

3,425,000

34

6

Choi Hun Tae

Korea

6,000,000

60

7

Marc Joseph

South Africa

2,600,000

26

Remaining payouts

Place

Payout in USD

1

$66,029

2

$43,960

3

$32,338

4

$24,046

5

$18,073

6

$13,732

7

$10,543

The Championship Warm Up drew 489 entries over three entry flights for a prize pool of USD 340,518. Day 1B pulled in the largest of 217 entries. 103 players advanced to Day 2

Day 1 results

Day 1A entries: 123 entries (107 unique)

Day 1B entries: 217 (135 unique)

Day 1C (Turbo): 149 entries (47 unique)

India’s Amit Kaushik carried in the chip lead and bowed out in 12th place. In mid-day, Vietnam’s Dao Minh Phu built a fortress until a four-bet shove with Jack-Ten cost him a chunk and eventually the rest against Martin Gonzales‘s pocket Aces. At three tables remaining, Philippine’s Christopher Mateo and France’s Adrien Berger drove their stacks to the top and finished in 11th and 10th place to form the unofficial final table of 9 players.

You can read up on some of the action via the WPT Cambodia – Daily Updates. We will have the payouts for you once it has been made available.

Mystery Bounty – Day 1A

The Mystery Bounty attracted 146 runners to the tables with 19 making the cut into the next round. Vietnam’s Bien Mai enjoyed a late game surge to zoom to the top and bag a dominating 862,000 stack (86 bb). In second rank was Canada’s Thomas Lee with 64 bb, and to round out the top three was Slovakia’s Andrej Desset who delivered the bubble to close with 53 bb.

Bien Mai
Bien Mai

Mai’s fast rise happened in two big hands against Taiwan’s Chao Ting Cheng. The first hand saw the board complete Ah with a pot of 175,000 brewed. Mai checked, Cheng fired 85,000, Mai shoved, Cheng tank-folded.

The second hand was about the same. On a board that completed and 240,000 in the middle, Cheng bet 100,000, Mai check-raised all in again, Cheng tank-folded. Shortly after, Andrej Desset railed a player with standing firm against Ah to burst the bubble and wrap up Day 1A.

Date: January 20, 2024

Buy in: USD 800

Guarantee: USD 200,000

Day 1A: 146 entries (119 unique)

ITM: 19 players

Day 1B: January 21, 2024 at 11:30am (30 min blinds)

Day 1C: January 21, 2024 at 4pm (25 minute blinds)

End of Day 1A – 19 players

Rank

Player

Flag

Stack

1

Bien Mai

Viet Nam

862,000

2

Thomas Lee

Canada

646,000

3

Andrej Desset

Slovakia

536,000

4

Renji Mao

China

453,000

5

Mr. Fendy

Indonesia

395,000

6

Oleg Titov

Russia

350,000

7

Dmitrii Gnusaev

Russia

318,000

8

Sean Joseph Keeton

United Kingdom

277,000

9

Eike Soren Strub

Germany

267,000

10

Anthony Cierco

France

249,000

11

Chao-Ting Cheng

Taiwan

237,000

12

Rolands Norietis

Latvia

236,000

13

Conor Mark Berry Grimsley

United Kingdom

235,000

14

Maximilian Detlef Horst Von Nolting

Germany

192,000

15

Bin Yang

China

158,000

16

Younghun Moon

Korea

131,000

17

Ville Jyrki Santeri Pohjalainen

Finland

109,000

18

Chul Woong Joo

Korea

101,000

19

Yoay Ram

Israel

97,000

WPT Cambodia

WPT Cambodia is the first Main Tour in Southeast Asia currently taking place at NagaWorld Phnom Penh. The games opened on January 17 and runs through January 30, 2024. Games have been heating up players continuously flocking in preparation for the big one.

mik sexton cup trophy 2
mik sexton cup trophy 2

The WPT Cambodia Championship takes place on January 25 to 29 featuring a USD 1 Million guarantee. The champion will be forever memorialized on the iconic Mike Sexton Champions Cup! Already seen in action are WPT champions Hoyt Corkins, Mel Judah, and Masato Yokosawa.

*Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you daily updates of WPT Cambodia from start to finish.

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About the Editor

SMP Editor

The SMP Editor covers international poker and iGaming for SoMuchPoker, providing news, tournament coverage, and industry insights. With a focus on accuracy, clarity, and relevance, the editor helps readers stay informed about developments across the global poker community.