Record breaking WPT Prime Cambodia pays out over $2.9M; David Erquiaga hailed Player of the Festival; Mike Takayama wins two events

 

The record breaking WPT Prime Cambodia may be in the history books but the confetti continues to fly with winners yet to be celebrated and moments to relive. Running from August 11 to 23 at NagaWorld Phnom Penh, players gathered from around the world to create the biggest WPT event in Asia of 4,309 entries and a festival prize pool over $2.9 Million. The bulk of 1,050 entries was seen at the Main Event and a record US$ 1,018,500 pot.

The final day witnessed Mike Takayama emerge as the first player to capture two events, Main Event champion David Erquiaga was hailed WPT Player of the Festival, and India walked away with two more trophies for a whopping 8 in total. We’ve got those stories, festival highlights, and final side events winners for you.

Festival review

Grand prize pool: US$ 2,951,395 (24 events)
Entries: 4,309
Record breaker: Main Event – 1,050 entries, US$ 1,018,500 prize pool
Main Event champion: David Erquiaga
Player of the Festival: David Erquiaga
Multi-winner: Mike Takayama – 10K SHR Single Day Challenge & $HR 3K
Biggest earner: Mike Takayama – US$ 200,100
Most final tables: Kunal Patni (4) Jasven Saigal (4)
Trophies by flag: India (8), Philippines (3), Malaysia (3), Vietnam (2), Russia (1), Korea (1), South Africa (1), United Kingdom (1), Indonesia (1), Netherlands (1), USA (1), Taiwan (1)

Philippines’ David Erquiaga hailed WPT Player of the Festival

Philippines’ David Erquiaga was supposed to fly home after winning the Main Event but postponed it in an attempt to secure his lead in the WPT Player of the Festival race. With three events yet to complete on closing day, Erquiaga wasn’t safe with only 100 points ahead of Kunal Patni. Five others down the rung were also in contention, Trong Hieu Ngo, Mike Takayama, Martijn Gerrits, Christopher Mateo, and WPT Prime Vietnam Player of the Festival winner Duy Ho. WPT Live Events Specialist, Danny McDonagh, documented the tight race in his Facebook page:

The Player of the Festival for WPT Prime Cambodia went literally right down to the wire! I was fortunate to have a front seat to watch the action. Coming into the final three events the top 7 were live.

Christopher Mateo was actually on 375 points and a 2nd in the SuperStack Classic moved him up to 675 points. He declined to play the Turbo Closer given his flight that night and Mike Takayama also passed on the last two events for the same reason.

However, the other 5 in the top 7 all played Event 23, the $300 6 Max. Both Kunal and Martijn Gerrits busted and jumped into the Turbo Closer but both ultimately fell short in that event also.

That left the start of day leader David Erquiaga with 900 points, Trong Hieu Ngo on 825 points and Duy Ho on 650 points to fight for the trophy and 5K Main Tour entry in the 6 Max. The winner would receive 300 points, going down to 50 points for 9th.

All three were live with 11 remaining and David was seriously short stacked down to 53k. And then in the matter of three hands this happened.

David went all in a slight underdog and doubled up. Next hand on same table Duy Ho was all in with Aces against a shove of 6’s for a 500k plus pot only to see a 6 fall on the flop and eliminate him in 11th.

And on the other table just after Duy busted Hieu Ngo was all in and busted in 10th to guarantee David the POF win.

Erquiaga earned 750 points for his Main Event victory. 150 points for 6th place at the $5.3K Super High Roller, and 50 points for 9th place at the SuperStack 6-Max Finale for a combined 950 points. With the most points accrued, he won the WPT Passport worth $5,000 to any WPT Main Tour of choice.

Record breaking Main Event

The WPT Prime Cambodia broke bounds with players from around the globe pouring in packs for a record breaking 1,050 Main Event entries and a prize pool of US$ 1,018,500. This was the largest turnout and pot for an open event by the brand in Asia.

Emerging triumphant was Philippine pro David Erquiaga for his first ever major title. In addition to a career high payout of US$ 137,008, Erquiaga won a seat worth US$ 10,400 to the WPT World Championship $15M guaranteed. The event takes place in December at the Wynn Las Vegas.

David Erquiaga clinches the record breaking WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event

Philippines’ Mike Takayama captures second high roller title, closes as biggest earner

Highly decorated Filipino pro Mike Takayama impressed at the festival, becoming the only player to bag two events. Takayama‘s first win was at the 10K Super High Roller Single Day Challenge for a substantial US$ 94,100 payout, then on penultimate day, he outlasted the 140 entry field of the High Roller 3K event for a larger US$ 106,000 paycheck. With a combined US$ 200,100 in winnings, he was also the festival’s biggest earner.

The HR 3K event was a two-day affair, and being that it was the last high roller event scheduled, it drew a 140 entry field for a bulky US$ 380,240 prize pool. Among the players in attendance were Tzai Wei Phua, Cao Ngoc Anh, GACKT, James Mendoza, Punnat Punsri to mention a few. Day 1 closed with Philippines’ Alfie Poetra leading the hunt while Takayama was ranked 8th. Also in the top 10 lineup were WSOP champion Leo Soma, France’s Clement Van Driessche, Russia’s Vladimir Mefodichev, and Filipino Vamerdino Magsakay.

At seven-handed, Takayama amassed a monstrous stack after delivering a double elimination with a nutty nut flush against Magsakay‘s  and Mefodichev’s on a board . From there he cruised to heads up backed by a massive lead against Dutch pro Martijn Gerrits. Both players were seeking their second festival title with Gerrits having won the Short Deck High Roller. Despite Takayama‘s big lead, it wasn’t an easy close. Gerrits battled to steal the lead. Once Takayama grabbed it back, he nailed it shut with pocket Tens over King-Five.

Buy in: US$ 3,000
Entries: 140
Prize pool: US$ 380,240
ITM: 18 places

1st	Mike Takayama	Philippines	$106,000
2nd	Martijn Gerrits	Netherlands	$66,900
3rd	Sangbeom Lim	Korea	$39,700
4th	Clement Van Driessche	France	$23,800
5th	Phachara Wongwichit	Thailand	$18,500
6th	Vladimir Mefodichev	Russia	$15,590
7th	Vamerdino Magsakay	Philippines	$13,400
8th	Somashek Kurkhepally	India	$12,000
9th	Koen Breed	Netherlands	$10,600
10th	Punnat Punsri	Thailand	$9,250
11th	Alfie Poetra	Philippines	$9,250
12th	Abhinav Iyer	India	$9,250
13th	Mei San Ang	Singapore	$8,000
14th	Fuwei Chen	China	$8,000
15th	Gavin Best	Australia	$8,000
16th	Zarvan Tumboli	India	$8,000
17th	Kyungtae Lee	Korea	$7,000
18th	Viet Hoang Tran	Vietnam	$7,000

Kunal Patni and Jasven Saigal reach four final tables

While several players reached multiple final tables, Indian players Kunal Patni and Jasven Saigal topped the counts with four each. Both players also won one event. Here’s a look at their achievements:

Kunal Patni
3rd place – Event 3: Deepstack NLH Freezeout
1st place – Event 5: Deepstack NLH
5th place – Event 7: Mystery Bounty
6th place – Main Event

Jasven Saigal
6th place – Event 7: Mystery Bounty
7th place – Event 11: Bounty Event $250 Bounty
8th place – Event 16: Pot Limit Omaha
1st place – Event 23: SuperStack 6-Max Finale

WPT World Championship package winner: DINH QUOC NGUYEN

Vietnam’s Dinh Quoc Nguyen won a package worth US$ 12,500 to the WPT World Championship after outlasting seven other runners at the WPT WC Satellite.

India lifts eight trophies

Throughout the 13-day festival, players from all over the globe were in participation. Coming in packs were players from Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, France, and India who lifted 8 trophies, the most by any nation.

Winners: Ashish Munot (NagaWorld SuperStack), Kunal Patni (Deepstack NLH), Akshay Kapoor (NLH Single Day), Zarvan Tumboli (Pot Limit Omaha), Shardul Parthasarathi (SHR), Somashekar Kurkhepally (Bounty Event), Jasven Saigal (SuperStack 6-Max Finale), and Gurpal Singh (Closer Turbo).

Final side event winners

Event 18:  NLH Freezeout – DUY MANH HO – US$ 6,460

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 119
Prize pool: US$ 31,166
ITM: 15 places

1st	Duy Manh Ho	USA	$6,460*
2nd	Anton Widjaya	Indonesia	$5,711*
3rd	Chi Chung Ho	Hong Kong	$6,110*
4th	Abbouchi Mohamad	Lebanon	$2,182
5th	Suk Sun Noh	Korea	$1,652
6th	Po Chun Wen	Taiwan	$1,371
7th	Jin Xiong Lee	Singapore	$1,184
8th	Tomas Dedinas	USA	$1,044
9th	Raju Jaruplavath	India	$919
10th	Bruce Richard Kelly	Australia	$810
11th	Kittipat Poochaneeyangkoon	Thailand	$810
12th	Robert Campbell	Australia	$810
13th	Lindsay Charles Jefferson	Australia	$701
14th	Kamran Suriya	Pakistan	$701
15th	Harsh Bubna	India	$701

*Three-way deal

Event 19: NLH Turbo Freezeout – VICTOR CHONG – US$ 8,000

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 115
Prize pool: US$ 30,119
ITM: 15 places

1st	Victor Chong	Malaysia	$8,000*
2nd	Duy Manh Ho	USA	$6,382*
3rd	Gunisha Sinha	India	$3,283
4th	Samuel Adams	New Zealand	$2,108
5th	Ari Marlon Kumpumaki	Finland	$1,596
6th	Raju Jaruplavath	India	$1,325
7th	Prommin Talordpong	Thailand	$1,145
8th	Tanik Kongjaroentin	Thailand	$1,009
9th	Chung Yu Ho	Taiwan	$888
10th	Chang Yu Lee	Taiwan	$783
11th	Omair Javed	Pakistan	$783
12th	Laksh Pal Singh	India	$783
13th	Kanchan Sharma	India	$678
14th	Muhammed Ali Chandna	Pakistan	$678
15th	Eunju Jung	Korea	$678

*Heads up deal

Event 20: Bounty Event $150 Bounty – VAN TRUNG NGUYEN – US$ 12,100

Buy in: US$ 500
Entries: 194
Prize pool: US$ 84,681
Bounty pool: US$ 29,100
ITM: 25 places

1st	Van Trung Nguyen	Vietnam	$12,100*
2nd	Duc Kien Tran	Vietnam	$11,264*
3rd	Trent Fechter	USA	$5,697
4th	Klas Stafan Borjesson		$3,465
5th	Hua Wei Lin	Taiwan	$2,676
6th	Junxiang Collin Lim	Singapore	$2,218
7th	Constantine Paparestis	Ireland	$1,890
8th	Mohamad Bin Noording	Singapore	$1,634
9th	Ari Marlon Kumpumaki	Finland	$1,383
10th	Kyoungwon Park	Korea	$1,203
11th	Hiroki Karatsu	Japan	$1,203
12th	Hiroki Morishita	Japan	$1,203
13th	Ankit Wadhawan	India	$1,028
14th	Van Canh Nguyen	Vietnam	$1,028
15th	Phuong Ngoc Nguyen	Vietnam	$1,028
16th	Ying Chang Chen	Taiwan	$853
17th	Chyuan Seng Wee	Malaysia	$853
18th	Jain Bhuvan	Singapore	$853
19th	Kenichi Seto	Japan	$681
20th	Jun Hao Wu	Singapore	$681
21st	Guoxi Lian	Singapore	$681
22nd	Sunho Yoo	Korea	$514
23rd	Thai Bao Vu	Vietnam	$514
24th	Chun Hsiang Yang	Taiwan	$514
25th	Pratibh Saluja	India	$417

*Heads up deal

Event 22: SuperStack Classic Freezeout – CHAO TING CHENG – US$ 14,271

Buy in: US$ 400
Entries: 148
Prize pool: US$ 51,682
ITM: 19 places

1st	Chao Ting Cheng	Taiwan	$14,271
2nd	Christopher Mateo	Philippines	$9,044
3rd	Ngoc Quoc Bao Pham	Vietnam	$5,323
4th	Sinsung Yoon	Korea	$3,232
5th	Anton Widjaya	Indonesia	$2,507
6th	Kohei Wada	Japan	$2,070
7th	Jun Hao Wu	Singapore	$1,809
8th	Dzmitry Halubitski	Belarus	$1,615
9th	David Peter Rodwell	Australia	$1,427
10th	Ben Abrahams	Thailand	$1,240
11th	Minjae Bae	Korea	$1,240
12th	Yoke Wei Woon	Malaysia	$1,240
13th	Samuel Adams	New Zealand	$1,059
14th	Jianguo Zhou	China	$1,059
15th	Shardul Parthasarathi	India	$1,059
16th	Rindra Norodom		$904
17th	Ngoc Quoc Luat Tran	Vietnam	$904
18th	Julius Umbrazuinas	Lithuania	$904
19th	Alfonso Baja	Philippines	$775

Event 23: SuperStack 6-Max Finale – JASVEN SAIGAL – US$ 6,255

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 90
Prize pool: US$ 23,571
ITM: 12 places

1st	Jasven Saigal	India	$6,255*
2nd	Rindra Norodom		$5,700*
3rd	Sylvain Chhang		$2,829
4th	Amit Kaushik	India	$1,827
5th	Laksh Pal Singh	India	$1,414
6th	Kun Kiet Wong	Malaysia	$1,120
7th	Wongyu Kang	Korea	$943
8th	Huaxin Wang	China	$825
9th	David Jansen Erquiaga	Philippines	$748
10th	Duy Manh Ho	USA	$684
11th	Trong Hieu Ngo	Vietnam	$636
12th	Sombath Sok		$590

*Heads up deal

Event 24: Closer Turbo – GURPAL SINGH NANDA – US$ 11,713

Buy in: US$ 550
Entries: 69
Prize pool: US$ 33,465
ITM: 9 places

1st	Gurpal Singh Nanda	India	$6,255
2nd	Ankit Wadhawan	India	$5,700
3rd	Chung Yi Ho	Taiwan	$2,829
4th	Jeffry Kurniawan	Indonesia	$1,827
5th	Ashish Munot	India	$1,414
6th	Dhanesh Chainani	Singapore	$1,120
7th	Sumit Sapra	India	$943
8th	Kim Lay Ly	Canada	$825
9th	Kevin Sabbe	France	$748

Up next is WPT Australia

For the first time, the World Poker Tour will bring its main tour to Australia with games taking place from September 15 to 27 at The Star Gold Coast. The festival features a full schedule of 13 events with buy ins from A$ 440 to A$ 10,000. The highlight is the A$ 5,400 Main Event which runs from September 23 to 27. Two starting days are available to join the action. With the past WPT festivals drawing massive crowds, players can expect this event to surpass all others. Head to the WPT website for all the info.