The idea of a USD 3,500 buy in may have seemed steep for Southeast Asia but with renowned brand World Poker Tour (WPT) hosting its Main Tour for the first time in the region, it was an event many did not want to miss.
Over two starting days, the flagship tournament drew 760 entries for a WPT Asia record prize pool of USD 2,432,760. The success sealed the Main Tour’s future in Cambodia with WPT Live Events specialist Danny McDonagh announcing,
“I am very excited about the return of WPT Cambodia next year. With 2025 Chinese New Year date being January 29, that may mean a first half of February timing for the festival.”
In partnership with boutique gaming company, Connaissance Management, WPT Cambodia opened on January 17 and ran through January 30 at NagaWorld Integrated Resorts in Phnom Penh. This was the WPT’s biggest and richest festival in Asia with fourteen days of games amassing a grand prize pool of USD 7,509,328.
WPT Cambodia – News Coverage and Results
WPT Cambodia – Player Guide
WPT Cambodia – Photos
Festival review
Date: January 17 to 30, 2024
Venue: NagaWorld Integrated Resorts, Phnom Penh
Trophy Events: 44
Record festival prize pool: USD 7,509,328
Entries: 6,520 (numbered, feeders, and satellites)
Countries: 51
Top 10 Nation uniques – China (44), Philippines (44), Korea (34), USA (29), Australia (28), Viet Nam (27), India (24), Singapore (24), Japan (19), France (16)
Record prize pool: WPT Championship – USD 2,432,760
WPT Championship winner: Konstantin Held – USD 361,310
Biggest earner: Konstantin Held – USD 370,669
Player of the Festival: Jinlong Hu – 1,425 points
Most cashes: Jinlong Hu (8)
Most final table cashes: Jinlong Hu (6)
Multiple wins: Seongho Cho (2), Hyeonsik Yun (2), Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung (2)
Trophy wins: Australia (6), Philippines (6), China (5), Korea (5) Hong Kong (3), USA (3), India (2), Singapore (2), UK (2), Viet Nam (2), Canada (1), Host (1), France (1), Germany (1), Indonesia (1), Japan (1), Russia (1), Slovakia (1),
WPT CHAMPIONSHIP: Record prize pool
The inaugural WPT Cambodia Championship announced an ambitious 1 Million USD guarantee. Running from January 25 to 29, the guarantee was breached on Day 1A, and by the end of Day 1B, the combined entries was 760, for a WPT Asia record prize pool of USD 2,432,760.
Germany’s Konstantin Held emerged victorious to become the newest Main Tour champion. His win will be immortalized on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup. Held shared, “to be honest, I’ve never won a trophy despite having some success in poker and having this be the first one and actually have my name put on to it is amazing.”
Held also walked away as the biggest earner with a total payout of USD 370,669.
Article: Konstantin Held wins WPT Championship
JINLONG HU: Player of the Festival and Most Cashes
Jinlong Hu catapulted on the final two days rising from 8th ranked to 1st in points. He shared, “I am very excited to win this. I cashed seven times and five final tables, I was so lucky. Maybe next time I can win the Main Event.”
Hu actually cashed 8 times with 5 final tables and 1 victory, the most cashes by any player. For his POF win, Hu was awarded a seat worth USD 1,100 to WPT Prime Championship and USD 1,500 in cash.
1st – Event 35: 20/10/15/5
2nd – Event 39: Superstack Classic Freezeout
3rd – Event 15: 8 Max Survivor Bounty
3rd – Event 36: Bounty
4th – Event 44: 10/10/10/10
5th – Event 42: Superstack Six Max Finale
55th – Event 3: WPT Cambodia Championship Warm Up
67th – Event 9: Mystery Bounty
Read up on his win here: Player of the Festival
SEONGHO CHO, HYEONSIK YUN, SPARROW CHEUNG: Multi-winners
Three players walked away with two event trophies each, namely Korean players Seongho Cho, Hyeonsik Yun, and Hong Kong’s Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung.
| Event | Winner | Entries | Payout |
| NagaWorld Superstack | Seongho Cho | 207 | $117,780 |
| Deepstack Turbo Big Bounty | Seongho Cho | 154 | $12,475 |
| 8 Max Survivor 2K Bounry | Hyeonsik Yun | 429 | $64,418 |
|
Mini HR Hyper Turbo
|
Hyeonsik Yun | 49 | $22,700 |
| 5K HR | Park Yu Cheung | 137 | $135,755 |
| 10/10/10/10 | Park Yu Cheung | 29 | $2,218 |
Players just missing the mark with one win and one runner-up were: Marc Rivera, Hon Cheong Lee, Jinlong Hu, Justin Geronimo
Players just missing the mark with two runner ups were: Marc Joseph, Dmitrii Gnusaev, Erick Marcos
AUSTRALIA, PHILIPPINES; Trophies
Australia and Philippines both topped the trophy count with 6 each, followed by China and Korea with 5 each.
Australia winners
| Event | Winner | Entries | Payout |
| Deepstack Turbo | Sean Ragozzini | 55 | $9,869 |
| Megastack | Abhishek Goyal | 189 | $12,543 |
| 10K Single Day Challenge | Daniel Neilson | 45 | $143,903 |
| Short Deck Hyper Turbo | Brenton Lee Buttigieg | 44 | $2,912 |
| Turbo PLO Bounty | Thang Minh Truong | 119 | $4,599 |
| Mini Championship Freezeout | Yita Choong | 146 | 39,096 |
Philippine winners
| Event | Winner | Entries | Payout |
| Championship Warm Up | Jonald Garcia | 489 | $55,989 |
| Super High Roller | Mike Takayama | 66 | $158,587 |
| Megastack Action Clock | Marc Rivera | 277 | $18,679 |
| 1K Hyper Turbo | James Mendoza | 77 | $23,489 |
| Deepstack Freezeout | Justin Geronimo | 99 | $8,513 |
| PLO | John Tech | 67 | $16,376 |
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Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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