WPT Prime Cambodia: Main Event crushes $500K GTD! Last chance to enter; Somashekar Kurkhepally, Aun Jian Wong, Martijn Gerrits win trophies; Hieu Ngo leads POF

08/20/2022

Players worldwide continue to pour into WPT Prime Cambodia for the biggest event this year in Asia. The highly anticipated Main Event has been much talked about and after two record breaking starting days, it is on track to crush its 2019 turnout. As it stands, the 610 combined entries – Day 1A (264 entries) and Day 1B (346 entries) – have already torn past the US$ 500,000 guarantee. Players have one last chance to enter with Day 1C up next on Saturday, August 20 starting at 1pm at NagaWorld Phnom Penh.

Currently in the lead is Day 1A chip leader India’s Kunal Patni trailed very closely by Day 1B chip leader Taiwan’sChi Jen Chu. Other players advancing with big stacks were Sameer Agarwal and WPT India champion Ashish Munot. You can follow the action via the WPT Live Updates.

WPT Prime Cambodia schedule
WPT Prime Cambodia structures
A Quick Guide to WPT Prime Cambodia

DAC 0005 — William Kang bubbles at Main Event Day 1B

At the side events, three players lifted trophies. Somashekar Kurkhepally lifted another one for India at the Bounty event, Malaysia’s Aun Jian Wong captured his first live title, and Dutch pro Martijn Gerrits second ever WPT title. We’ve got those stories and highlights down below.

Somashekar Kurkhepally brings India trophy #5 at the Bounty Tournament

India continues to shine at the series with another player capturing a trophy. The latest champion was Somashekar Kurkhepally who outlasted the 150 entrants, staging an incredible comeback against Taiwanese pro Yu Chung Chang at heads up.

DAC 9722

The two-day Bounty tournament saw 19 players rejoice after WPT Prime Vietnam Player of the Festival winner Duy Ho cracked Aces during the bubble round. With action folding around the felt, small blind Ho shoved with and was snap-called by the shorter stacked big blind player Siddanth Kripalani who had . Looking like a double up, the flop came crashing down and with the turn and river it was a nutty straight for Ho and no dinero for Kripalani.

DAC 9529 — BOUNTY EVENT $250 BOUNTY (1 RE-ENTRY) BUBBLE

At Day 2, action continued to be fast paced. Ho reached the final table and bowed out in 6th place. The title came down between Kurkhepally and Taiwanese pro Yu Chung Chang aka Nevan. The newcomer Kurkhepally was behind in the counts but after a double up with getting very lucky on with an Eight falling on the flop, he gained on Nevan then drained him to seize the US$ 18,567 top prize. Kurkhepally also earned an extra US$ 1,500 for his six bounties.

DAC 9668 — BOUNTY EVENT $250 BOUNTY FINAL TABLE

Dates: August 17 to 18
Buy in: US$ 800
Entries: 150
Prize pool: US$ 67,260
Bounty pool: US$ 37,500
ITM: 19 places

Payouts

1st	Somashekar Kurkhepally	India	$18,567
2nd	Yu-Chun Chang	Taiwan	$11,771
3rd	Armon Van Wijk	Australia	$6,928
4th	Jeseung Lee	Korea	$4,206
5th	Tsung-Ying Lee	Taiwan	$3,262
6th	Duy Manh Ho	USA	$2,694
7th	Jasven Saigal	India	$2,354
8th	Eric Wasylenko	Canada	$2,102
9th	William Bolton	Australia	$1,857
10th	David Peter Rodwell	Australia	$1,614
11th	Hsien Ren Koh	Malaysia	$1,614
12th	Jonas Magdalinski	Sweden	$1,614
13th	Sokmeng Hun		$1,379
14th	Daniel Chin	Malaysia	$1,379
15th	Harold Brooks	South Africa	$1,379
16th	Kanchan Sharma	India	$1,177
17th	San Tze Chia	Singapore	$1,177
18th	Samuel Adams	New Zealand	$1,177
19th	Avneesh Munjal		$1,009

Malaysia’s Aun Jian Wong wins Pot Limit Omaha

DAC 9937 Aun Jian Wong

Another first time WPT winner emerged with Malaysia’s Aun Jian Wong outlasting the 66 runners of the Pot Limit Omaha event. Wong denied Singaporean Wei Wen Thio at heads up to turn his US$ 800 buy in into a substantial US$ 16,133 payday. One of Wong’s crushing hands was flush over 3rd placer Minxuan Fu‘s set on a board . This gave him a big advantage at heads up against Thio that was never broken. Among the finalists was Jasven Saigal who reached back to back final tables. Saigal placed 7th at the Bounty tournament.

Dates; August 18 to 19
Buy in: US$ 800
Entries: 66
Prize pool: US$ 46,094
ITM: 9 places

Payouts

1st	Aun Jian Wong	Malaysia	$16,133
2nd	Wei Wen Thio	Singapore	$9,219
3rd	Minxuan Fu	China	$5,647
4th	Jun Hao Wu	Singapore	$4,033
5th	Chao Ting Cheng	Taiwan	$3,111
6th	Vamdino Magsakay	Philippines	$2,420
7th	Chung Yi Ho	Taiwan	$2,074
8th	Jasven Saigal	India	$1,844
9th	Chengcai Pan	China	$1,613

Dutch pro Martijn Gerrits wins the Short Deck High Rollers

Date: August 19
Buy in: US$ 5,300
Entries: 4
Prize pool: US$ 29,100

Payouts

1st	Martijn Gerrits	Netherlands	$20,600*
2nd	Fuwei Chen	China	$8,500*

*Deal made to award 2nd place payout

Update: WPT Player of the Festival

After 13 completed events, the WPT Player of the Festival is shaping up to be a very tight race. Hieu Ngo still holds the lead however, Kunal Patni has already qualified into Day 2 of the Main Event and he is currently one of the chip leaders. More points can be earned at the side events. The player with the most points at the end of the festival will receive a WPT Passport worth US$ 5,000 to any WPT Main Tour of choice this year.

HIEU NGO	825
KUNAL PATNI	600
SEMEN KAPITONOV	550
SHARDUL PARTHASARATHI	520
AKSHAY KAPOOR	500
FLORENCIO CAMPOMANES	475
MINSEONG CHO	425
ANAND KUMAR	400
GAKUTO OSHIRO	400
TSUNG-YING LEE	400
SOMASHEKAR NAHADEVA	400
MARC ANTHONY JOSEPH	375
CHRISTOPHER VMATEO	375
KYLE BAO DIEP	350
YU-CHUNG CHANG	350
ASHISH MUNOT	300

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you updates on the ongoing WPT Prime Cambodia at NagaWorld Phnom Penh. For pics, head to the Somuchpoker FB page.