Repeat Winners and Ari Engel’s Big Comeback Define WPT Cambodia 2026

Twelve days had passed, and the WPT Cambodia Passport to the World Championship 2026 had reached its final chapter. The World Poker Tour (WPT) wrapped its festival at   NagaWorld in Phnom Penh, Cambodia , crowning champions across 80 events over 13 days.

The festival ran from August 12 to 24, with the headline story belonging to Canada ‘s Ari Engel , whose Championship Event win capped an eventful series that also produced several multi-title winners along the way. Full breakdowns are available on Somuchpoker’s in-house statistics page .

Key Figures: WPT Cambodia by the Numbers

Biggest Events by Prize Pool

Ari Engel Wins the Championship Event After a Wild Comeback

Ari Engel turned his first-ever visit to NagaWorld into a memorable one, defeating a 391-entry field to win the $1,300 Championship Event , the festival’s flagship. Engel entered Day 2 as one of the shorter stacks with just 18 big blinds after choosing not to fire a second bullet, and navigated a final table where all nine players represented different countries .

He eventually reached heads-up against India ‘s Aditya Agarwal , where the two agreed to an ICM deal, Engel locking up $91,444 and Agarwal $81,610, before flipping for the trophy. Engel won the flip.

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Recap

Ari Engel’s First NagaWorld Trip Ends in Gold, Bags Championship Event Trophy

Ari Engel wins the WPT Cambodia Championship Event on his first NagaWorld visit, taking $91,444 and a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat.

2026.08.24

Ireland ‘s Micheal O’Neill , who had dominated much of the final table as chip leader, fell in third for $43,811, the second time he’s finished agonisingly close to a WPT Cambodia Championship title after a runner-up finish at the January 2026 edition for $249,700 .

#39 CHAMPIONSHIP ($1,300)

Total Prize USD

$500,000

Total Prize

500K USD

Guaranteed

500K USD

Entries

391

ITM

49

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$91,444	AE Ari Engel Canada	2,146.28
2	$81,610	AA Aditya Agarwal India	1,517.65
3	$43,811	MO Micheal Oneill Ireland	1,239.15
4	$32,919	HU Hendrik Uibo Estonia	1,073.14
5	$25,173	RN Rindra Norodom France	959.85
6	$20,332	MS Mangalam Seksaria Singapore	876.21
7	$16,459	BY Benhur Ybarsabal Philippines	811.22
8	$13,071	AZ Aleksei Zhukov Russia	758.82
9	$10,166	BR Bekzhan Rasulov Kyrgyzstan	715.43

Check the 49 Payouts & Results ...

Hyunkyou Park’s Remarkable Run: Four Trophies in One Festival

No player made a bigger mark on the side event schedule than South Korea’s Hyunkyou Park , who won four separate titles across the festival.

His run started on Day 1 with Event #3 6-Max Megastack Turbo, followed by Event #23 NLH and Event #38 1K Hyper Turbo later in the series.

He closed it out on the final day, winning the $550 Mini Championship for $16,520 and defeating Dakota Anderson heads-up. Park told Somuchpoker earlier in the series that he considers himself lucky at NagaWorld – four trophies later, that’s hard to argue with.

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Dakota Anderson and Other Multi-Title Winners

Park wasn’t the only player to collect multiple trophies. American Dakota Anderson won three titles across the series, including the Superstack Action Clock Bounty and two Early Bird Megastack events, finishing as the festival’s top SPI performer with eight cashes.

Thailand ‘s Jakkapong Sreprasom also picked up two titles in the 1K Hyper Turbo and 1K Hyper Turbo Bounty events, sandwiched around a runner-up finish to Taiwan ‘s Liang Hao Chen in the 5 Card PLO Turbo.

Russia ‘s Nail Aberkhaev and India ‘s Chandan Agarwal both won two trophies apiece as well, underlining just how often the same names kept returning to the winner’s circle throughout the festival.

Jim Glassie’s Unexpected Detour Into WPT Poker

Not every story from NagaWorld belonged to a professional. Jim Glassie , a business traveler from the tiny island of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, stumbled across the festival’s signage while looking for a casino during a stopover in Cambodia.

It turned into his first-ever international tournament experience , and he made it count, finishing 12th in the Championship Warm Up for $1,652 at age 57.

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Country Breakdown

China topped the money list by total prize money, though with 49 countries represented, the festival’s international spread was reflected throughout the leaderboard, including the nine-country final table of the Championship Event itself.

Top 5 Countries by Total Prize

Canada’s total is notable given just 7 ITMs produced $103,845, almost entirely down to Engel’s Championship win.

Game Types

Texas Hold’em accounted for the vast majority of the schedule, generating $1,563,234 across 113 events and 2,842 entries. Omaha made up the rest, with $16,474 spread across four events and 78 entries, giving the festival a small but present split-game presence alongside its Hold’em-heavy schedule.

Looking Ahead

WPT Cambodia Passport to the World Championship 2026 closed out 13 days at NagaWorld with $1,579,708 awarded across 80 events, headlined by Ari Engel’s Championship Event victory. The tour returns to NagaWorld for the WPT Cambodia Championship from January 12 to February 2, 2027. Complete results and coverage from the series are available through the landing page .

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