APPT Cambodia 2025: Nikesh Chawla Bags India’s Third Spadie With a Commanding Win in $2K High Roller Turbo (₹14.91 Lakhs)
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- Attreyee Khasnabis May 8, 2025
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3 minutes Read
The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) has made a grand, splashy return to the famed NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh for its fourth stop in Cambodia, and all signs are pointing to this being the biggest APPT Cambodia we’ve seen yet! This 12-day poker festival, running from May 2 to May 13, comes with a lofty $1.50 Million in guaranteed prize money spread across a whopping 68 tournaments (satellites included). Poker players from every corner of the continent, and even further afield, have descended upon the venue, cooking up a lively, buzzing atmosphere that’s just getting more charged up as each day’s play unfolds.
After putting on a solid showing at Poker Dream 17 Malaysia and the record-setting APT Taipei 2025, Team India has hit the ground running in Cambodia. They’ve already put together a strong tally sheet: 18 cash finishes, 12 appearances at final tables, two runner-up finishes, and a fantastic three Spadie trophies, all within just the initial days of the series. The latest player to etch his name onto the winners’ list is Nikesh Chawla (cover image), who just snagged his very first Spadie and, in doing so, delivered India its third tournament title of the series by taking down Event #35: $2,000 High Roller Turbo.
Nikesh Chawla Races to Victory in Event #35: $2,000 High Roller Turbo
Nikesh Chawla seems to have a real knack for these High Roller Turbo formats, and APPT Cambodia 2025 has proven to be fertile ground for him once more. He’s got a bit of a history in Cambodia too – it was only three months ago that he bagged his first-ever live tournament win at the WPT event in Cambodia 2025, in a similar $2K Turbo High Roller (that one was worth a staggering ₹50.33 Lakhs – a career-high score that still holds). Chawla returned to this familiar battleground brimming with confidence—and boy, did it pay dividends.
In Event #35: $2,000 High Roller Turbo, he outplayed 25 other hopefuls, and the top prize of $17,634 (~₹14.91 Lakhs) became his. This isn’t just the biggest single cash for an Indian player at this series so far; it’s also the second-largest live score of Chawla’s career, trailing only that WPT Cambodia win in February. This latest win pushes him past the $100K mark in live tournament earnings – he now boasts almost ₹87 Lakhs in total!
And this wasn’t his first deep run at this ongoing series either. Chawla had previously finished ninth in Event #9: $300 Megastack Turbo, and with this latest victory, he’s now collected a rather tidy $18,218 (~₹15.41 Lakhs) for this trip!
The $2K High Roller Turbo whipped up a prize pool of $46,405, with only the top five getting a piece of the pie. South Korea’s Nayeon Cho finished in second place, good for $11,369, while China’s Xiaosheng Zheng took third, earning $7,541. Hongru Zhang (4th) and Artem Vezhenkov (5th) were the other players to cash, collecting $5,453 and $4,408, respectively.
Romit Advani is on a Final Table Blitz in Cambodia
Another Indian pro who has been keeping very busy at this series is Romit Advani. A seasoned poker veteran, Advani is a well-known figure on the South Asian circuit and a former APT title-holder. He has been quietly putting together an impressive series resume with multiple deep finishes.
He kicked off his campaign here with a fourth-place finish in Event #9: $300 Megastack Turbo, and quickly followed that up with another fourth-place result in Event #22: $250 6-Handed Turbo, really showing his comfort in these short-handed formats.
Adding another score to his APPT Cambodia outing, Advani recently took seventh place in Event #26: $500 PLO Knockout, which added $595 (~₹50,000) to his earnings. With this, his total winnings at the series have now climbed to $4,480 (~₹3.79 Lakhs). And get this, he has already made it to the final table of another event, his fourth of this series, where he’ll be joined by fellow Indians Amit Kaushik, Somashekar Kurkhepally, and Somasekhar Sanampuri.
In that same PLO Knockout event where Advani cashed, France’s Nicolas Maillaud was the one to take it all down, pocketing $3,687, while Quoc Cuong Khoang from the Netherlands had to be content with $2,438 for second place.
Team India Scorecard at APPT Cambodia
Rank Player Name Event Name Prize (USD)
26 Avneesh Munjal Event #1: NAGAWORLD Kickoff $853
1 Arun Godiyal Event #3: Knockout Turbo [$100 Bounty] $2,789
5 Ajay Abrol Event #5: SuperStack ($300) $2,320
19 Anirban Kundu Event #5: SuperStack ($300) $466
22 Sumit Supra Event #6: Mystery Bounty ($750) $907
20 Gagandeep Singh Malik Event #6: Mystery Bounty ($750) $1,043
3 Amit Kaushik Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) $2,426
4 Romit Advani Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) $1,867
7 Umang Kakarania Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) $913
9 Nikesh Chawla Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) $584
1 Ajay Abrol Event #12: Shot Clock ($300) $5,222
2 Anju Abrol Event #12: Shot Clock ($300) $3,396
3 Arun Godiyal Event #14: Win The Button - Hyper Turbo ($300) $1,248
2 Ajay Abrol Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) $3,673
4 Romit Advani Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) $2,018
7 Anju Abrol Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) $1,033
3 Somasekhar Sanampuri Event #25: Knockout High Roller ($1000 Bounty) ($2,500) $4,653
7 Romit Advani Event #26: PLO Knockout [$200 Bounty] ($500) $595
14 Somasekhar Sanampuri Event #19: APPT National ($1,000) $3,891
2 Somashekar Kurkhepally Nahadeva Event #30: Super Knockout [$350 Bounty] Final ($750) $5,245
7 Amit Kaushik Event #30: Super Knockout [$350 Bounty] Final ($750) $1,475
8 Somasekhar Sanampuri Event #30: Super Knockout [$350 Bounty] Final ($750) $1,180
9 Romit Advani Event #30: Super Knockout [$350 Bounty] Final ($750) $944
1 Nikesh Vijay Chawla Event #35: High Roller Turbo ($2,000) $17,634
5 Somasekhar Sanampuri Event #38: 6-Handed ($300) $1,691
2 Somashekar Kurkhepally Nahadeva Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $155,225
8 Abhishek Paul Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $22,970
11 Amit Kaushik Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $13,654
18 Sumit Sapra Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $7,174
29 Umang Kakarania Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $4,724
31 Abhijith Cheruku Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $4,724
33 Pranav Bathija Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $4,108
41 Arjun Dhingra Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $3,572
53 Sameer Agarwal Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $3,572
71 Anil Adiani Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $3,106
5 Vineet Kumar Event #43: Deepstack Turbo ($300) $2,186
10 Sahil Nair Event #43: Deepstack Turbo ($300) $769
16 Anirban Kundu Event #43: Deepstack Turbo ($300) $506
17 Gagandeep Singh Malik Event #43: Deepstack Turbo ($300) $506
5 Bagaria Raj Vardhan Event #45: Megastack ($500) $3,283
14 Kaushal Vasa Event #45: Megastack ($500) $780
8 Talita Setyady Event #51: NLH 20/15/10 ($300) $615
8 Kaushal Vasa Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $2,200
10 Avneesh Munjal Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $3,670
17 Gagandeep Singh Malik Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $2,100
18 Nishant Kumar Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $1,950
20 Somasekhar Sanampuri Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $950
23 Sahil Nair Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $1,830
27 Romit Advani Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $720
4 Somasekhar Sanampuri Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $5,449
5 Vineet Kumar Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $4,192
7 Pranav Bathija Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $2,728
14 Bagaria Raj Vardhan Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $1,300
20 Aditya Agarwal Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $983
30 Talita Setyady Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $646
1 Avneesh Munjal Event #62: Knockout High Roller ($500 Bounty) ($2,000) $12,695
2 Arjun Dhingra Event #65: Deepstack ($300) $4,275
5 Nageshwara Alaparthy Event #65: Deepstack ($300) $1,878
5 Gagandeep Singh Malik Event #67: Knockout ($100 Bounty) Turbo ($300) $618
2 Amit Kaushik Event #69: 1K NLH ($1,000) $5,347
APPT Cambodia List of Winners
Player Event Prize (USD)
Cheuk Wai Wong Event #1: NAGAWORLD Kickoff $13,879
Mauricio Sanchez Event #2: Warm-up High Roller ($1,500) $9,370
Arun Godiyal Event #3: Knockout Turbo [$100 Bounty] $2,789
Wattana Sophontanakup Event #5: SuperStack ($300) $8,782
Hao Lin Event #6: Mystery Bounty ($750) $33,476
Aleksandr Diudiaev Event #7: Megastack High Roller ($2,500) $15,617
Chang Hyeon Kim Event #8: Bubble Rush ($400) $2,349
Manh Tuong Ha Event #9: Megastack Turbo ($300) $5,267
Ajay Abrol Event #12: Shot Clock ($300) $5,222
Yoke Wei Woon Event #13: PLO ($1,000) $8,957
Christian Lortie Cloutier Event #14: Win The Button - Hyper Turbo ($300) $2,728
Naotsugu Kimura Event #16: Mini High Roller - Hyper Turbo ($1,500) $6,024
Hiroya Kurushima Event #18: Double Stack - PLO ($300) $3,710
Fabian Rolli Event #19: APPT National ($1,000) $52,342
Craig Jones Event #20: Mini High Roller ($2,000) $15,087
Bin Yuan Event #21: Split hold'em ($400) $3,377
Kexin Gu Event #22: 6-Handed Turbo ($250) $5,689
Jia Yi Low Event #24: NLH ($300) $4,765
Jinlong Hu Event #25: Knockout High Roller ($1000 Bounty) ($2,500) $11,116
Nicolas Maillaud Event #26: PLO Knockout [$200 Bounty] ($500) $3,687
Cliff Chow Event #27: Showtime Hold'em - Hyper Turbo ($250) $1,652
Artur Akhmetzianov Event #30: Super Knockout [$350 Bounty] Final ($750) $8,126
Mauricio Salazar Sanchez Event#31: $10,000 APPT Super High Roller $42,811
Aike Ing Event #34: PLO Turbo ($400) $4,477
Nikesh Vijay Chawla Event #35: High Roller Turbo ($2,000) $17,634
Christian Lortie Cloutier Event #36: NLH - 10/10/10 ($200) $2,664
Richard Marquez Event #38: 6-Handed ($300) $5,063
Hai Ha Tran Event #40: APPT Main Event ($1,750) $155,225
Danny Huynh Event #42: Mix NLH/PLO ($500) $4,136
Jaewoo Jung Event #43: Deepstack Turbo ($300) $6,060
Christian Lortie Cloutier Event #45: Megastack ($500) $12,041
Alberto Morales Flores Event #47: Mystery Big Bounty [$1500 Bounty] - High Roller ($3,500) $10,151
Zeyu Sun Event #48: 6+ Hold'em (Short Deck) ($400) $3,891
Chee Hoong Yeoh Event #49: Run it Twice - Turbo ($300) $3,251
Samnang Prom Event #51: NLH 20/15/10 ($300) $4,916
Kyosuke Nagami Event #53: Freezeout Challenge ($2,000) $14,582
Danny Huynh Event #54: Teams Event ($600) $3,603
Ronald Haverkamp Event #55: 5 Card PLO - Turbo ($500) $4,200
Jakkapong Sreprasom Event #56: High Roller Hyper Turbo ($2,000) $2,000
Sanjeev Kapoor Event #57: Survivor Knockout [$1K Bounty] ($600) $25,560
Daniel Neilson Event #58: APPT High Roller ($3,000) $65,599
Alfie Adam Event #59: PLO Bomb pot - Turbo ($400) $2,349
Dewen Aloysius Lim Event #60: 6+ Hold'em (Short Deck) - Hyper Turbo ($300) $1,024
Chak Hei Chan Event #61: APPT Mini Main Event ($400) $15,863
Avneesh Munjal Event #62: Knockout High Roller ($500 Bounty) ($2,000) $12,695
Rindra Norodom Event #63: Double Stack NLH ($500) $5,595
Ilya Firstov Event #64: NLH 15/10/5 ($300) $3,004
Richard Marquez Event #65: Deepstack ($300) $6,625
Dinesh Alt Event #66: Last Chance - High Roller Turbo ($2,000) $13,386
Quoc Cuong Khoang Event #67: Knockout ($100 Bounty) Turbo ($300) $2,370
Sirimas Thanalertlap Event #68: Last Chance - Super Hyper Turbo ($200) $2,033
Jakkapong Sreprasom Event #69: 1K NLH ($1,000) $8,294
Adelina Egorova Event #70: Ladies Event ($300) $1,409
With the poker action truly heating up and India’s trophy count steadily rising, all eyes are now eagerly fixed on the remaining events at APPT Cambodia. The APPT Main Event, which kicked off today (May 8), is a big one to watch, as is the APPT Mini Main Event, which begins on May 12. If the early results are anything to go by, we are surely in for more standout performances and exciting news from the Indian camp in the days ahead.
Content and Images Courtesy: Asia-Pacific Poker Tour & SOMUCHPKOER
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