WPT Prime Cambodia: India’s Arun Sriram Headlines 128 Survivors to Day 2 of $500K GTD Main Event, Somashekar KM Chops Event #20: $400 NLHE

The 2023 World Poker Tour Prime Cambodia has three days of tournament action left to unfold. The frenzy to claim the Main Event Day 2 seat brought a packed house of players to the Nagaworld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

As expected, the last starting flight of the $500K GTD Main Event was the most well-attended. The Day 1C heat drew 482 players, ramping up the attendance to 1,011 players – falling a little short of the 1,050 entries recorded at the last edition. This resulted in a staggering prize pool of $980,670, making it one of the most lucrative tournaments in the region.

The chip leader for Day 1C was USA’s Joshua Zimmerman, with a stack of 789,000 chips, equivalent to 79 big blinds (BBs). Nevan Chung (650,000 – 65 BBs), Matthieu Lamagnere (550,000 – 55 BBs), Natural8 Ambassador Pete Chen (533,000 – 53 BBs), and Yunsheng Sun (460,000 – 46 BBs) were other players finishing at the top of the totem pole.

Five Indians were among the 61 players surviving the Day 1C onslaught, namely, Harsh Bubna (407,000), Raju Jaruplavath (230,000), M Shyamsundar (194,000), Amit Kaushik (147,000), and Romit Advani (146,000).

Day 2 will bring the 128 survivors from the three flights together for the first time, where the plan is to play down to a final table of nine players. India’s Arun Sriram (888,000), who bagged the Day 1B chip lead, is the player in charge heading into the Sunday session. Vitalii Borodin (870,000) and Day 1C chip leader Joshua Zimmerman (789,000) are the other top contenders chasing a final table berth.

Other than Sriram, 17 other Indian players will be returning on Sunday. These include Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi (509,000), Alok Birewar (474,000), Harsh Bubna (407,000), Kunal Patni (354,000), Young Gun Gaurav Sood (345,000), Chiraag Patel (271,000), Jasven Saigal (236,000), Raju Jaruplavath (230,000), M Shyamsundar (194,000), Amit Kaushik (147,000), Romit Advani (146,000), Ashish Ghosh (119,000), Young Gun Siddharth Karia (100,000), Vikaash Shah (98,000), Dhaval Mudgal (90,000), Abhijith Cheruku (50,000), and Young Gun Anmol Mehta (41,000)

Just as Day 1C of the Main Event was wrapping up, Roland Norietis from Latvia rode his final table chip lead to the top in Event #20: $400 NLHE to win $11,991. He struck an even heads-up deal with India’s Somashekar KM.

USA’s Joshua Zimmerman Bags Main Event Day 1C Chip Lead Among 61 Survivors; 5 Indians Advance to Day 2

Toeing the line of what has become a norm at WPT Prime stops, the Day 1C flight of the WPT Prime Cambodia Season XXI Main Event brought in the largest field of all three heats. The Saturday session had 482 players signing up, bringing the total field size to 1,011, falling 39 short of the 1,050 entries recorded in Season XX.

Only 61 players managed to catch the last train into Day 2. All 128 remaining players are guaranteed a share of the $980,670 prize pool, with a min-cash worth $1,800 and a hefty $173,130 set aside for the Main Event champion.

Making the best run on Day 1C was USA’s Joshua Zimmerman, who bagged a stack of 789,000, equivalent to 79 big blinds (BBs). Nevan Chung (650,000 – 65 BBs), Matthieu Lamagnere (550,000 – 55 BBs), Natural8 Ambassador Pete Chen (533,000 – 53 BBs), and Yunsheng Sun (460,000 – 46 BBs) finished behind him in the day-end counts.

Team India pitched in five other contenders for the Main Event title as Harsh Bubna (407,000), Raju Jaruplavath (230,000), M Shyamsundar (194,000), Amit Kaushik (147,000), and Romit Advani (146,000) featured among the survivors.

Day 2 is already in progress and will play down to a nine-handed final table today. India’s Arun Sriram (888,000), who bagged the Day 1B chip lead, headlines the 128 starters and is followed by Vitalii Borodin (870,000) and Day 1C chip leader Joshua Zimmerman (789,000).

Other than Sriram, 17 Indians are in contention. These include Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi (509,000), Alok Birewar (474,000), Harsh Bubna (407,000), Kunal Patni (354,000), Young Gun Gaurav Sood (345,000), Chiraag Patel (271,000), Jasven Saigal (236,000), Raju Jaruplavath (230,000), M Shyamsundar (194,000), Amit Kaushik (147,000), Romit Advani (146,000), Ashish Ghosh (119,000), Young Gun Siddharth Karia (100,000), Vikaash Shah (98,000), Dhaval Mudgal (90,000), Abhijith Cheruku (50,000), and Young Gun Anmol Mehta (41,000).

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1C

1. Joshua Zimmerman – 789,000
2. Nevan Chang – 650,000
3. Matthieu Lamagnere – 550,000
4. Pete Chen – 533,000
5. Yunsheng Sun – 460,000
6. Vinh Hai Huynh – 438,000
7. Michael Haddad – 425,000
8. Harsh Bubna – 407,000
9. Seongsu Kong – 388,000
10. Shue King Ng – 387,000

Top 10 Chip Counts at the Start of Day 2

1. Arun Sriram – 888,000
2. Vitalii Borodin – 870,000
3. Joshua Zimmerman – 789,000
4. Dongyun Jo – 752,000
5. Koen Breed – 731,000
6. Nevan Chang – 650,000
7. Gabriel Carter – 600,000
8. Benjamin Mun – 578,000
9. Frank Lillis – 563,000
10. Matthieu Lamagnere – 550,000

Latvia’s Roland Norietis Wins Event #20: $400 NLHE For $11,991; Chops Prize Equally With India’s Somashekar KM

Buy-in – $400

Entries – 155

Prize Pool – $54,126

Places Paid – 20

Latvia`s Roland Norietis extended his final table chip lead to the finish line in Event #20: $400 NLHE, winning the WPT title for $11,991. He struck an even heads-up deal with India’s Somashekar KM, who chasing his maiden live title, scored the same $11,991 as the runner-up.

Norietis, who had two previous final table finishes in the series, picked up 400 points for the win, climbing from 8th to 2nd place in the Player of the Festival race behind Kiale Matthews.

Two other Indians made the final table – last year’s WPT Prime Cambodia Superstack 6-Max champion Jasven Saigal and Harsh Bubna.

Saigal placed sixth for $2,165 – posting his fourth series score. His earlier scores were in $100K GTD Mystery Bounty (4th for $10,750), Event #14: $800 Bounty (31st for $754), and NagaWorld Supertsack (25th for $403).

Bubna finished ninth for $1,455, posting his fourth score this series. The Kolkata-based MTT pro previously cashed NagaWorld Millions (34th for $1,375), $100K GTD Mystery Bounty (42nd for $810), and Event #12: $200 Hyper Turbo (12th for $389).

The tournament collected $54,126 in the prize pool and paid 20 places.

Two other Indians made the payouts list – Gunisha Sinha (14^th for $1,096) and Rahul Marwaha (20^th for $758). Sinha opened her scorecard in the series with the deep run, while Marwaha picked up his third cash on the trip. He previously scored in Event #7: Deepstack NLHE (14^th for $701) and Event #12: $200 Hyper Turbo (3rd for $1,865).

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Rolands Norietis – $11,991*
2. Somashekar KM – $11,991*
3. Anton Widjaya – $5,561
4. Sunwook Baek – $3,383
5. Matthew Henry Bevin – $2,612
6. Jasven Saigal – $2,165
7. Yong Kwee Chua – $1,881
8. Kittipong Charoenvijitchai – $1,689
9. Harsh Bubna – $1,455

*denotes a heads-up deal

Content & Images Courtesy: So Much Poker

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