WPT Prime Cambodia: Arun Sriram Bags Big on Main Event Day 1B; Sanjay Kandampully & Deep Raina FT Event #18: $800 PLO

Arun Sriram, Sanjay Kandampully & Deep Raina
  • Profile picture
  • Attreyee Khasnabis March 18, 2023
  • 4 Minutes Read

The 2023 WPT Prime Cambodia is now on the home stretch, and Friday, March 17, saw Team India adding two more final table scores to its ever-growing tally.

Arun Sriram (888,000) stole the show by topping the $500,000 GTD Main Event Day 1B surviving field of 39 players. The second flight registered 311 entries, and Sriram, who has scored twice this series, is currently the overall chip with the last starting flight currently underway.

Kunal Patni (354,000), Chiraag Patel (271,000), MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia (100,000), Abhijith Cheruku (50,000), and Young Gun Anmol Mehta (41,000) were the other five Indians advancing through the Day 1B flight, bringing the total count of Indians on Day 2 to 13.

Sanjay Kandampully came excruciatingly close to bringing India her second WPT trophy of the series in Event #18: $800 PLO but lost the heads-up match to Russia’s Konstantin Generalov, who collected $12,803 for the win. Nevertheless, Kandampully raked in $7,550 for his runner-up finish, opening his scorecard in the series and ending a 30-month-long dry spell.

The ever-consistent Deep Raina, making his fourth final table finish in the series, finished fourth in Event #18: PLO, for $3,282. He has already cashed $10,048.5 from his spectacular run in Cambodia.

Latvia’s Roland Norietis (600,000), who finished third in Event #18: PLO, headlines the nine players remaining in Event #20: $400 NLH. Somashekar KM (359,000), Jasven Saigal (108,000), and Harsh Bubna (97,000) are also in contention.

Australia’s Kiale Matthews lifted his maiden WPT trophy in Event #19: $2,200 Short Deck High Roller, banking a personal-best $16,490.

 

India’s Arun Sriram Bags a Massive Stack Among 39 Survivors on Main Event Day 1B, 5 Other Indians Adance to Day 2

Day 1B of the $1,100 buy-in Main Event gathered 311 entries, taking the total player pool to 529 entries. Thirty-nine players survived the day’s onslaught, with India’s Arun Sriram (888,000) grabbing the day-end chip lead.

The encouraging player turnouts in the first two starting flights of the $500,000 GTD Main Event have already blown away the advertised guarantee. With Day 1C ongoing, the numbers are expected to increase further, and the 1,050-entry record set here in Season XX is under threat.

Sriram`s outstanding Friday run saw him bagging over 300,000 more than Day 1A chip leader Malaysia’s Benjamin Mun (578,000), getting him the overall chip lead after the two starting flights. However, with the Day 1C flight currently underway, many new challengers may emerge.

Arun Sriram has already scored twice in the series, but carrying such a massive stack to Day 2 has not only assured him a third cash, but also raised his prospects to get back the WPT Main Event title.

Five other Indian players managed to survive the Day 1B onslaught, namely Kunal Patni (354,000), Chiraag Patel (271,000), Young Gun Siddharth Karia (100,000), Abhijith Cheruku (50,000), and Young Gun Anmol Mehta (41,000).

The last starting flight, Day 1C, went underway at 1 PM (local time) on Saturday, March 18, while Day 2 will commence at 1 PM (local time) on Sunday, March 19.

Arun Sriram
Arun Sriram

 

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1B

  1. Arun Sriram – 888,000
  2. Vitalii Borodin – 870,000
  3. Dongyun Jo – 752,000
  4. Koen Breed – 731,000
  5. Gabriel Carter – 600,000
  6. Muhammed Ali Chandna – 395,000
  7. Jumpei Masatoshi – 355,000
  8. Kunal Patni – 354,000
  9. Victor Chong – 338,000
  10. Anton Michlmayr – 313,000

 

Russia’s Konstantin Generalov Defeats India’s Sanjay Kandampully (2nd For $7,550) Heads-up in Event #18: $800 PLO for $12,803; Deep Raina Finishes 4th ($3,282)

Buy-in – $800

Entries – 47

Prize Pool – $32,825

Places Paid – 6

The two-day-long Event #18: $800 PLO crowned a champion in Russia’s Konstantin Generalov, who topped the 47-player field to claim the lion’s share of the $32,825 prize pool worth $12,803.

Konstantin Generalov
Konstantin Generalov

 

India’s Sanjay Kandampully came close to clinching his maiden live title but fell out in second place for $7,550. It was Kandampully’s first recorded live tournament score in 30 months.

Sanjay Kandampully
Sanjay Kandampully

 

Kandampully’s fellow Indian, Deep Raina, picked up his fourth FT finish of the series, placing fourth for $3,282.

Deep Raina
Deep Raina

 

Complete Payouts (USD)

  1. Konstantin Generalov – $12,803
  2. Sanjay Kandampully – $7,550
  3. Rolands Norietis – $4,595
  4. Deep Raina – $3,282
  5. Philippe Clerc Switzerland $2,626
  6. Kamran Suriya Pakistan $1,969

 

Latvia’s Roland Norietis Headlines Final Nine in Event #20: $400 NLH, India’s Somashekar KM, Jasven Saigal & Harsh Bubna Also in Contention

Buy-in – $400

Entries – 155

Prize Pool – $54,126

Places Paid – 20

Event #20: $400 NLH drew 155 contenders, generating a $54,126 prize pool. The Friday session played down to the nine-handed final table.

The third-place finisher of Event #18: $800 PLO, Rolands Norietis is in the driving seat (600,000), followed by Thailand’s Kittipong Charoenvijitchai (366,000) and India’s Somashekar KM (359,000), rounding out the top three stacks in the field.

The Event #11: $5,300 Super High Roller fourth-place finisher Shardul Parthasarathi, who eliminated compatriot Abhishek Goindi on the Main Event Day 1A money bubble in brutal fashion on Thursday, faced a similar fate. He money-bubbled the PLO tournament in one of the most ruthless fashions after his were cracked by Charoenvijitchai’s that hit trip queens on the board .

Shardul Parthasarathi
Shardul Parthasarathi

 

Raising the hopes for a second title victory for Team India, Somashekar KM (359,000), Jasven Saigal (108,000) and Harsh Bubna (97,000), have made it to the final table.

Somashekar KM
Somashekar KM

 

Last year’s WPT Prime Cambodia Superstack 6-Max champion Saigal, one of the six Indians advancing through Day 1A of the Main Event, bagged and tagged for Day 2. He had already scored in three events at the series, and this will be his fourth ITM finish. He earlier scored in $100K GTD Mystery Bounty (4th for $10,750), Event #14: $800 Bounty (31st for $754) and NagaWorld Supertsack (25th for $403).

Jasven Saigal
Jasven Saigal

 

After bagging for Day 2, Bubna has assured himself a fourth cash in the series. His previously scored in NagaWorld Millions (34th for $1,375), $100K GTD Mystery Bounty (42nd for $810) and Event #12: $200 Hyper Turbo (12th for $389).

Harsh Bubna
Harsh Bubna

 

Final Day Chip Counts

  1. Rolands Norietis – 600,000
  2. Kittipong Charoenvijitchai – 366,000
  3. Somashekar KM – 359,000
  4. Anton Widjaya – 305,000
  5. Matt Henry Bevin – 178,000
  6. Baek Sun Wook – 179,000
  7. Chua Yong Kwee – 133,000
  8. Jasven Saigal – 108,000
  9. Harsh Bubna – 97,000

 

Australia’s Kiale Matthews Wins Event #19: $2,200 Short Deck High Roller For $16,490

Buy-in – $2,200

Entries – 17

Prize Pool – $32,980

Places Paid – 3

Australia’s Kiale Matthews has been a formidable force in the ongoing series. After three final table scores, Matthews finally picked up his first WPT title in Event #19: $2,200 Short Deck High Roller.

He topped a field of 17 high rollers to win his second live title of 2023 (ninth overall) and a personal-best $16,490 in prize moneu. The win helped Matthews to pull ahead into a commanding lead on the WPT Player of the Festival Leaderboard.

Matthews’ final table score in the series came in the NagaWorld Superstack 50K (3rd for $5,523), the NagaWorld Millions (6th for $9,650), and the $100K GTD Mystery Bounty (3rd for $15,250).

The $2,200 buy-in Short Deck High Roller collected $32,980 in the prize pool and paid the top three finishers.

Event #6: $2.2K NLHE Mini High Roller runner-up & WPT Brand Ambassador Brad Owen busted on the money bubble in fourth place. With the board open , Kiale Matthews’ (two pairs) were up against Owen’s (open-ended straight draw). The turn completed Owen’s straight, but the river gave Matthews a full boat, dismissing Owen one place shy of the money.

Brad Owen
Brad Owen

 

After knocking out Owen, Matthews went up against the chip leader Nobuaki Sasaki, who ground down Lun Loon (3rd for $6,596) to set up the heads-up match. Both players had deep stacks, with Sasaki holding 116 BBs to Matthews’ 54 BBs.

Matthews’ first all-in showdown was a double-up with , which dominated Sasaki’s and evened the stacks. As the game progressed, Matthews took the lead after exposing two of Sasaki’s bluffs, with the costlier one being Matthews calling a river bet holding on a , where Sasaki missed a draw with .

The final hand saw Sasaki ahead with , while Matthews had . The rundown gave Matthews a full house for the win.

Kiale Matthews
Kiale Matthews

 

Complete Payouts (USD)

  1. Kiale Matthews – $16,490
  2. Nobuaki Sasaki – $9,894
  3. Lun Loon – $6,596

 

Content & Images Courtesy: So Much Poker

Keep following PokerGuru for the latest updates from the 2023 WPT Prime Cambodia!

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru