WPT Prime Cambodia: Shardul Parthasarathi & Kunal Patni Ran the Deepest Among 18 Indian Scorers in Guarantee-Crushing Main Event; Pratibh Saluja & J Raju Carry Big Stacks in Side Events

There are two more days to go before the 2023 WPT Prime Cambodia winds up at the NagaWorld Integrated Resorts. It was a happening Sunday for the Indian battalion as the team boosted its tally with 19 more cashes, most of which came from a large contingent of players cashing the $500K GTD Main Event.

The WPT Prime Cambodia Season XXI Main Event registered a guarantee-crushing 1,011-entry field from three starting flights. Only 128 qualifiers returned to the NagaWorld Ballroom on Sunday, where it took ten levels of gameplay for the nine-handed final table to be formed. Taiwan’s I-Chun Chiu (6,585,000) emerged as the hot favorite to win the Main Event by bagging a commanding chip lead over the other eight contenders.

Eighteen Indians were part of the Day 2 field, and all saw their tournament run end short of the final table.

Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi was the last Indian to exit the Main Event. His 13th-place finish for $10,460 earned him his second score of the series after his fourth-place exit in Event #11: $5,300 Super High Roller, taking his total winnings to $33,958.

Kunal Patni was looking to repeat his final table run from last edition’s Main Event but fell in 14th place for $10,460, his first cash of the series.

Young Gun Gaurav Sood (29th for $4,970), Mahesh Shyamsundar (30th for $4,970), Harsh Bubna (33rd for $4,250), Jasven Saigal (37th for $4,250), Alok Birewar (45th for $3,680), the start-of-Day 2 chip leader Arun Sriram (53rd for $3,220), Romit Advani (70th for $2,570), Chiraag Patel (74th for $2,340), Vikaash Shah (80th for $2,340), J Raju (81st for $2,160), Abhijith Cheruku (90th for $1,990), Dhaval Mudgal (103rd for $1,990), Ashish Ghosh (107th for $1,860), Amit Kaushik (108th for $1,860), Young Gun Siddharth Karia (111th for $1,860), and Young Gun Anmol Mehta (115th for $1,860) were the other Indians to score in the Main Event.

The only other Indian scorer on Sunday was Saransh Garg, who finished runner-up in Event #22: $50 Supersonic NLH / Liar’s Dice Championship for $620. UK’s Paul Judge won the title for $929.

India’s Main Event sweat may be over, but with two days left, there are still a few opportunities for the team to add to the title tally.

One of these sweats is in Event #24: $3K High Roller, where Rising Star Pratibh Saluja (509,000) is hot on the heels of Russia’s Timur Khamidullin (528,000). The duo bagged the top stacks among 56 survivors from a starting field of 99 entries.

Ankit Jajodia (185,000), Ashish Ghosh (167,000), Aditya Agarwal (150,500), Abhishek Goindi (147,000), Siddharth Karia (131,000), Jasven Saigal (130,000), Gaurav Sood (128,500), Dhaval Mudgal (73,000), Alok Birewar (67,500), Zarvan Tumboli (48,000), and Vikaash Shah (38,500) also bagged and tagged for Day 2 in the $3K High Roller.

J Raju has become a specialist in PKO events. After a third-place finish in Event #14: Bounty Event, Raju (1,125,000) is now the runaway chip leader in Event #23: $500 Bounty Event among 17 survivors. Romit Advani (285,000) and Gunisha Sinha (75,000) also made the cut.

Taiwan’s Chi-Cong Chao took down Event #21: $300 NLHE Turbo Freezeout for $8,154 and France’s David Koy landed a runner-up payday of $8,153 courtesy of a heads-up deal.

Taiwan’s I-Chun Chiu Headlines Main Event Final Table; 18 Indians Score on Sunday

With three starting flights in the books, the WPT Prime Cambodia Season XXI Main Event registered 1,011 entries, falling 39 entries short of crossing last year’s record of 1,050 entries. The Main Event posted a guaranteed-smashing $980,670 prize pool that will pay the top 128 places.

Day 2 of the WPT Prime Cambodia $500K GTD Main Event commenced with 128 qualifiers jostling to make it to the nine-handed final table, all assured at least $1,800.

By the time the final table was formed, Taiwan’s I-Chun Chiu (6,585,000) was firmly in the lead, with his closest competitor, France’s Matthieu Lamagnere (4,945,000), 20 BBs behind him.

The Day 2 field was a reg-fest with 18 Indians in the mix. Despite the strong presence, no one from the team made the final table cut.

Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi ran the deepest from the Indian contingent, finishing 13th for $10,460. This was Parthasarathi’s second cash of the series, taking his tally to $33,958. He was eliminated by Matthieu Lamagnere during Level 26.

Lamagnere jammed from the small blind with , and Parthasarathi called all-in for his last 550,000 with . The Indian was ahead, but the board ran , and Lamagnere paired his Queen on the turn, ending Team India`s Main Event run.

Last August, Kunal Patni had fallen three places short of winning the first WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event title. This year too, he sadly could not claim the honor. Patni fell out just 14 minutes before Shardul Parthasarathi, exiting in 14th place for $10,460, collecting his first cash in the series.

Patni’s elimination hand saw him raise to 125,000 from the cutoff, and Lewis Cowell re-raised to 325,000 from the button. I-Chun Chiu tanked for nearly a minute before re-raising to 750,000 from the small blind. Patni thought for a while before he 5-bet all-in for 1.25 Million. Cowell got out of the way. Chiu waited for an exact count before calling with . Patni revealed . The runout showed , and Chiu further hit a set, sending Patni packing.

Young Gun Gaurav Sood (29th for $4,970), Mahesh Shyamsundar (30th for $4,970), Harsh Bubna (33rd for $4,250), Jasven Saigal (37th for $4,250), Alok Birewar (45th for $3,680), Arun Sriram (53rd for $3,220), Romit Advani (70th for $2,570), Chiraag Patel (74th for $2,340), Vikaash Shah (80th for $2,340), J Raju (81st for $2,160), Abhijith Cheruku (90th for $1,990), Dhaval Mudgal (103rd for $1,990), Ashish Ghosh (107th for $1,860), Amit Kaushik (108th for $1,860), Young Gun Siddharth Karia (111th for $1,860), and Young Gun Anmol Mehta (115th for $1,860) added to the team`s tally.

The Main Event final table started at 1 PM (local time) on Monday, March 20. While all nine finalists are assured at least $16,280, the eventual winner is guaranteed a $173,130 payday, the prestigious Main Event trophy, and a seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas worth $10,400.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. I-Chun Chiu – 6,585,000
2. Matthieu Lamagnere – 4,945,000
3. Bien Mai – 4,560,000
4. Nicholas Ragot – 3,850,000
5. Lewis Michael Cowell – 3,225,000
6. Reiji Kono – 2,755,000
7. Chua Feng Ji – 1,850,000
8. Jose Catela – 1,300,000
9. Sho Katsura – 1,245,000

Russia’s Timur Khamidullin Tops 56 Survivors in Event #24: $3,000 High Roller, Pratibh Saluja Headlines 12 Indian Qualifiers

The $250K GTD Event #24: $3,000 High Roller drew 99 entries on its opening day, and after eleven 40-minute levels, 56 players bagged stacks for Day 2. Holding the most chips in play is Russia’s Timur Khamidullin (528,000 – 32 big blinds). Khamidullin drove into the chip lead following a late double-up through former WPT champion Vincent Chauve.

Indian pro, Rising Star Pratibh Saluja (509,000 – 127 big blinds) is hot on Khamidullin’s trail, with Thailand’s Kannapong Thanarattrakul (497,000 – 124 big blinds) rounding out the top three stacks of the day.

Saluja, who has cashed twice in the series in Event #14: $800 Bounty (12th for $790) and Event #10: $300 PLO (19th for $1,271), climbed up the ranks after winning a sizable pot against Gary Lin. The latter attempted to bluff, announcing all-in on the board . Saluja tanked before making the call. Lin tabled for a missed draw, with Saluja’s collecting the pot with a top pair. Lin was eliminated, and Saluja added a big pile to his stack.

Ankit Jajodia (185,000), Ashish Ghosh (167,000), the January 2023 WPC Loyal Hanoi Kickoff finalist Aditya Agarwal (150,500), Abhishek Goindi (147,000), Young Gun Siddharth Karia (131,000), Event #5: Mystery Bounty fourth-place finisher Jasven Saigal (130,000), Young Gun Gaurav Sood (128,500), the 2018 WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal (73,000), Event #3: Deepstack NLH champion Alok Birewar (67,500), NagaWorld Millions fourth-place finisher, Spartan Poker Pro Zarvan Tumboli (48,000), and runner-up finisher Vikaash Shah (38,500) are the other Indians still in contention.

Dennis Ng (245,000), the 2022 WPT Prime Main Event champion David Erquiaga (140,000), Brad Owen (122,000), Victor Chong (98,000), Benjamin Sai (79,500), and Vincent Chauve (52,500) were other notables progressing to Day 2.

The $3,000 entry buy-in tournament has already blown away its advertised $250,000 guarantee, but the final numbers are yet to come in since players can still late-register till the start of the second level of play on Monday.

Day 2 got underway at 1 PM (local time) today, March 20.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1

1. Timur Khamidullin – 528,000
2. Pratibh Saluja – 509,000
3. Kannapong Thanarattrakul – 497,000
4. Seyed Javad Sedigh – 374,000
5. Dylan Wayne Foster – 313,500
6. Ting-Yi Tsai – 311,000
7. Max Menzel – 300,000
8. Terry Gonzaga – 289,500
9. David Chiv – 276,000
10. Manuel Braunhofer – 272,000

India’s J Raju Chip Leads 17 Survivors to Day 2 in Event #23: $500 Bounty Event

The 23rd event of the series, the $500 buy-in Bounty Event, collected 252 entries, creating a $72,198 prize pool ($37,800 bounty pool).

Day 1 of this exciting event ended with India’s J Raju (1,125,000) bagging a massive chip lead, making him the only player with over a million in chips. Raju had FT-ed Event #14: Bounty Event finishing third for $11,214. While he is assured a min-cash of $1,018, Raju will be eyeing his maiden WPT trophy and the $16,588 top prize.

Malaysia’s Kaipern Heng (780,000) and Australia’s Amir Abbas (600,000) finished a distant #2 and #3 in the day-end counts.

Romit Advani (285,000) and Gunisha Sinha (75,000) were the other Indian players moving ahead to Day 2.

End of Day 1 Chip Counts

1. J Raju – 1,125,000
2. Kaipern Heng – 780,000
3. Amir Abbas – 600,000
4. Stanislav Kovalenko – 585,000
5. Nguyen Tuan Anh – 565,000
6. Chi Ling Tsang – 535,000
7. Minkyu Kim – 450,0003
8. Seongmin Lee – 345,000
9. Firat Basbaydar – 295,000
10. Romit Advani – 285,000
11. Roland Kivi – 240,000
12. Lee Jong Kyung – 225,000
13. Gabriel Carter – 225,000
14. Jaehoon Lee – 215,000
15. Woojin Kim – 185,000
16. Lucas Tae – 135,000
17. Gunisha Sinha – 75,000

Taiwan’s Chi-Cong Chao Wins Event #21: $300 NLHE Turbo Freezeout For $8,154

Buy-in – $300

Entries – 135

Prize Pool – $35,357

Places Paid – 17

After seven hours of play, the fast-paced Event #21: $300 NLHE Turbo Freezeout saw Taiwanese poker player Chi-Cong Chao riding past the 135-entry field to win his maiden live title for $8,154 and his first WPT trophy. France’s David Koy landed a runner-up payday of $8,153 courtesy of a heads-up deal.

The $300 buy-in NLHE Turbo Freezeout collected $35,357 in the prize pool and paid out 17 places.

With four final table scores under his belt, India’s Deep Raina (4 BBs) earned the infamous bubble boy tag in the tournament. He fell out in 18th place after his failed to improve against Thomas Lind’s .

With the money secured, players fought hard to reach the final table. Thomas Lind finished fourth for $2,298, his Ace-Ten losing to David Koy’s King-Jack, which spiked a King on the board.

Dongyun Jo was eliminated in third place for $3,748, setting the stage for the heads-up battle between David Koy and Chi-Cong Chao.

After playing several hands, the duo opted to split the remaining prize money. Chao ultimately emerged as the champion, beating Koy with a full house of on a board of , while Koy held .

Erik Rozhynskyi (5th for $1,750), Hyunjoon Cho (6th for $1,485), Theerapol Thavon (7th for $1,291), Yuji Kawata (8th for $1,131), Micheal O’Neill (9th for $999), Chun-Yen Lin (10th for $884), Krit Skulgunbundit (11th for $884), Pheeratham Lerdthammatavee (12th for $884), Chi-Ting Chao (13th for $778), Chongmin Park (14th for $778), Pakistan’s Kamran Suriya (15th for $778), Jaecheol Song (16th for $681), and Joris Michl (17th for $681) were the other to cross the money line.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Chi-Cong Chao – $8,154*
2. David Koy – $8,153*
3. Dongyun Jo – $3,748
4. Thomas Lind – $2,298
5. Erik Rozhynskyi – $1,750
6. Hyunjoon Cho – $1,485
7. Theerapol Thavon – $1,291
8. Yuji Kawata – $1,131
9. Micheal O’Neill – $999

*denotes a heads-up deal

UK’s Paul Judge Champions Event #22: $50 Supersonic NLH / Liar’s Dice Championship For $929

Buy-in – $50

Entries – 60

Prize Pool – $2,619

Places Paid – 6

Event #22: $50 Supersonic NLH / Liar’s Dice Championship saw UK’s Paul Judge besting the 60-player field to win his first WPT side event trophy for $929.

Team India’s Saransh Garg fell inches short of the finish line, banking $620 for his runner-up finish. Garg posted his second final table finish in the ongoing series, with his first score coming in Event #12: Hyper Turbo (5th for $932).

The Player of the Festival race runaway leader Kiale Matthews placed fourth for $290, adding 175 points to his tally, further cementing his place on the top.

Complete Results (USD)

1. Paul Judge – $929
2. Saransh Garg – $620
3. Evgenii Chernyi – $410
4. Kiale Matthews – $290
5. Guillaume Francois Lecointre – $210
6. Patikorn Wong – $160

Content & Images Courtesy: So Much Poker

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