WPT Prime Cambodia: late game surge by Younghoon Joo and JK Sorn earn victories; Player of the Festival update

 

Day 3 of World Poker Tour Prime Cambodia saw lots of fist pumps as two players celebrated their first ever WPT victories. At the 8-Max NL Hold’em Single Day, JK Sorn‘s late game surge landed him the win, and at the Deepstack NLH Freezeout, Younghoon Joo crushed it at the final four. The top nine players of these events earned points towards the WPT Player of the Festival. We’ve got those recaps for you.

More trophies to capture with 20 remaining events left to play out at NagaWorld Phnom Penh. For pics, please head to the Somuchpoker FB page.

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

JK Sorn’s late surge wins the 8-Max NLH Single Day

JK Sorn was all smiles after lifting his first ever WPT title and trophy. He was one of the 74 runners of the 8-Max NLH Single Day event, and after 7.5 hours of play, Sorn conquered it for a pocketful US$ 6,591 payday.

Picking up the action at bubble time. Sorn was already one of the biggest stacks when he delivered the bubble with holding up against . At the final table, Sorn laid low while Japan’s Takuya Mitsui went on a knockout spree. Mitsui booted all the Thai players in succession, Prommin Talordpong (9th) with pocket Aces over Ace-King, Panitan Poopadsri (8th) with Ace-King dominating Ace-Jack, and Kankij Panekwong with pocket Fours standing firm against overcards. After Vietnam‘s Pham Bao (6th) fell to Sorn, Japan‘s Chihiro Takamu survived five double ups which included a very lucky flush against Max Menzel. Menzel had , Takamu with , four hearts dropped on the board.

Takamu‘s rush earned him the chip lead, though very brief, as he was put to a hard halt by Sorn. On a flop , Sorn jammed with , Takamu called with top pair, the turn Sorn spiked the lucky four-outer for a winning straight. Back on top with a massive stack, Sorn went on to win it, defeating Takamu  (3rd) then Menzel at heads up with dominating .

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 74
Prize pool: US$ 19,381
ITM: 10 places

Payouts

1st	JK Sorn	Malaysia	US$ 6,591
2nd	Max Menzel	Germany	US$ 3,779
3rd	Chihiro Takamu	Japan	US$ 2,364
4th	Takuya Mitsui	Japan	US$ 1,599
5th	Kien Duc Tran	Vietnam	US$ 1,211
6th	Pham Bao	Vietnam	US$ 969
7th	Kankij Panekwong	Thailand	US$ 853
8th	Panitan Poopadsri	Thailand	US$ 775
9th	Prommin Talordpong	Thailand	US$ 659
10th	Jack Leong	Singapore	US$ 581

Younghoon Joo crushes the final four to win the Deepstack NLH Freezeout

The Deepstack NLH Freezeout drew 98 entrants at US$ 300 a piece for a prize pool of US$ 25,666. The title came down among three Koreans with Younghoon Joo backed by a commanding stack. Joo went on to claim it along with a payout deal of US$ 5,392.

The two day event saw Day 1 close with the final 13 players all in the money. Returning on the following day, it was action from the get-go with newsworthy moments all the way to the finish. It kicked off with short stacked Kai Yang Gu shoving his 2K stack, which was equivalent to just 1/5 of a BB. Gu landed two quick double ups and eventually made it to the final table.

On the opposite end of the pole, India‘s Kunal Patni didn’t have much to worry about as he entered the day with the second largest stack then proceeded to clean out five players. Among Patni’s knockouts was Japan‘s Tatsuhiko Terai in 10th place and a double bust to Wanki Baik (7th) and Shardul Parthasarathi (8th). On the next three-way, Patni‘s were cracked by Joo‘s on board . The shoves were at the flop with Gu falling in 5th place holding .

With Joo now the new chip leader, he finished off Patni to amass a monstrous stack. After a three-way deal with remaining fellow Koreans Jony Hyun Baeg and Bae Kyung Suk, he grinded them down to claim the title and the coveted WPT trophy.

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 98
Prize pool: US$ 25,666
ITM: 13 places

Payouts

1st	Younghoon Joo	Korea	US$ 5,392*
2nd	Bae Kyung Suk	Korea	US$ 5,200*
3rd	Jony Hyun Baeg	Korea	US$ 5,000*
4th	Kunal Patni	India	US$ 1,925
5th	Kai Yang Gu	Singapore	US$ 1,501
6th	Patrick James Standen	Canada	US$ 1,200
7th	Wanki Baik	Korea	US$ 1,020
8th	Shardul Parthasarathi	India	US$ 885
9th	Nguyen Van Xuan	Vietnam	US$ 783
10th	Tatsuhiko Terai	Japan	US$ 706
11th	Selim Souissi	Tunisia	US$ 706
12th	Thanakrit Lachaima	Thailand	US$ 706
13th	Artsiom Pankratau		US$ 642

*Three-way deal

WPT Player of the Festival update

Another 18 players have joined the WPT Player of the Festival race. At the end of the festival, the player with the most points accrued will win a WPT Passport worth US$ 5,000 to any Main Tour of choice this year.

Current leaderboard

1st	Ashish Munot	India	300 points
2nd	Younghoon Joo	Korea	300 points
3rd	JK Sorn	Malaysia	300 points
4th	Trent Fechter	USA	225 points
5th	Bae Kyung Suk	Korea	225 points
6th	Max Menzel	Germany	225 points
7th	Sam Adams	Australia	175 points
8th	Jony Hyun Baeg	Korea	175 points
9th	Chihiro Takamu	Japan	175 points
10th	Akshay Kapoor	India	150 points
11th	Kunal Patni	India	150 points
12th	Takuya Mitsui	Japan	150 points
13th	Anmol Mehta	India	125 points
14th	Kai Yang Gu	Singapore	125 points
15th	Kien Duc Tran	Vietnam	125 points
16th	Jun Hoe Phua	Singapore	100 points
17th	Patrick James Standen	Canada	100 points
18th	Pham Bao	Vietnam	100 points
19th	Tatsuhiko Terai	Japan	75 points
20th	Wanki Baik	Korea	75 points
21st	Kankij Panekwong	Thailand	75 points
22nd	Eric Wasylenko	Canada	60 points
23rd	Shardul Parthasarathi	India	60 points
24th	Panitan Poopadsri	Thailand	60 points
25th	Rungrot Nuannoi	Thailand	50 points
26th	Nguyen Van Xuan	Vietnam	50 points
27th	Prommin Talordpong	Thailand	50 points

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker for updates on the ongoing WPT Prime Cambodia.

WPT Prime Cambodia schedule
WPT Prime Cambodia structures
A Quick Guide to WPT Prime Cambodia
Road to WPT Prime Cambodia
Experience WPT Prime Cambodia
WPT Prime Cambodia – Shuffle up and Deal
WPT Prime Cambodia – Day 1 recap
WPT Prime Cambodia – Ashish Munot wins the SuperStack