WPT Cambodia: Jonald Garcia clinches Championship Warm Up; Hwany Lee, Will Kwok win events

On Day 5 of World Poker Tour (WPT) Cambodia, another three players emerged victorious – Jonald Garcia, Chi Wai Will Kwok, Hwany Lee– to score their first WPT hardware. We’ve got those stories below.

In addition, the Player of the Festival race is well underway with 13 events in the books. Two-time winner Seongho Cho leads, check out the standings via the link provided.

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

Jonald Garcia clinches Championship Warm Up

On his first trip outside of home turf Philippines, Jonald Garcia clinched the Championship Warm Up to lift his first ever WPT trophy and a career high payout out of USD 55,989. He slides into second rank in the Player of the Festival race.

“I feel great! I’ve had pretty good results back home in the Philippines and friends have been encouraging me to play outside of the country so I decided to get my passport and come here. It feels good to win! The field was tough. Players are really good.”

Entering heads up, Garcia was up against South Africa’s Marc Joseph who had been dominating the final table. Joseph knocked out four players to amass two-thirds of the chips in play. Commenting on the match, Garcia said,

“Marc was my toughest opponent. Even in Day 2, he was hard to read and hard to earn chips from. We have similar styles. I didn’t realize that seeing the way I play in someone else is difficult. I really couldn’t tell if he had anything.”

After a two-hour heads up race, Garcia evened up. With average down to 30 bb, both players agreed on an ICM deal with USD 1,989 and the trophy on the side. Several hands in, Garcia skyrocketed on a flush holding over Joseph’s straight on a board . Garcia went on to win it with outdrawing Joseph’s on a board .

Watch the action via the Final day – Live Updates.

Buy in: USD 800

Guarantee: USD 150,000

Entries: 489 (289 unique)

Prize pool: USD 341,518

ITM: 62 places

Final day payouts

*Heads up even deal, played for trophy and USD 1,989

Full payouts in WPT Cambodia – Festival Results

HWANY LEE perseveres at the Single Day High Roller

Korea’s Hwany Lee came from behind at the Single Day High Roller to claim his first WPT trophy and a payout deal of USD 48,201. The rise took place at three-handed with Nguyen Quang Huy backed by a monstrous stack followed by Valeriy Fokin. After several showdowns went Lee’s way, his stack became a threat as he climbed to second rank. The players then opted on an ICM deal leaving USD 3,801 and the trophy to play for.

Lee surged to the top on a double up through the leader Nguyen with flush on a board . Fokin cleaned out Nguyen in 3rd place to face Lee for the win.

Lee went on to win it with top pair dusting Fokin’s missed flush draw. It was all in on the flop , Lee with top pair, Fokin with flush draw. The turn and river completed the board.

Date: January 21, 2024

Buy in: USD 3,000

Entries: 91 (65 unique)

Prize pool: USD 69,252

ITM: 13 places

CHI WAI WILL KWOK wins turns $230 to $3,697 at the Freezeout

Fast action at the Freezeout event with 107 players hunting down the title. The top three players opted on an ICM deal then played for the trophy. Hong Kong’s Chi Wai Will Kwok rose from the shortest stack to champion to grab his maiden live tournament title and payout of USD 3,697.

Date: January 21, 2024

Buy in: USD 230

Players: 107

Prize pool: USD 20,758

ITM: 14 places

*Three way ICM deal, play for trophy

WPT Cambodia

For those just hearing of this inaugural event, WPT Cambodia kicked off on January 17 at NagaWorld Phnom Penh running until January 30, 2024. It is the biggest festival by the brand in the region featuring at 44-game lineup.

The most anticipated event is the WPT Championship – the first WPT Main Tour in Southeast Asia – boasting a USD 1 Million guarantee. This is the largest prize pool announced by the WPT in the region. Buy in is USD 3,500. Event runs January 25 to 29, 2024.

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