Season 20 WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Main Event Sets New Attendance Record

The Ballroom at Naga 1 Was Bursting With Action on Day 1c

The third and final starting day of the Season 20 WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Main Event made history in the Kingdom of Cambodia. For the first time ever, a live poker event in the country surpassed $1 million in prize money thanks to a stellar turnout on the third and final starting day. Thanks to an additional 440 entries, the overall attendance was pushed to 1,050 entries and that created a prize pool worth $1,018,500, which will be divided among the remaining 129 contenders at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh.

The starting days in numbers:

Day 1a: 264 entries / 33 survivors
Day 1b: 346 entries / 43 survivors
Day 1c: 440 entries / 55 survivors
Total: 1,050 entries / 131 qualified for Day 2 including two players with two stacks

Within the first hour, the attendance record of the previous WPT National stop in 2019 was already broken and the biggest WPT Prime Main Event was locked up soon after as well. The Ballroom at Naga 1 was bursting with poker action and it took more than 15 full levels to determine the 55 survivors. Only two players claimed more than half a million in chips to their name with Ben Loo (670,000) earning the bragging rights as the Day 1c chip leader followed by Yao Loon Tay (649,000).

Ben Loo

Notables with above average stacks in the final flight included Zachary Tay (487,500), Louis Bilodeau (470,000), Eric Teo (464,000), and Hua Wei Lin (456,000). For the latter, the session at the poker tables ended with a pivotal all-in showdown when her pocket kings held against ace-six suited for a live card and the nut flush draw.

Of course it wouldn’t be a day without any contenders from India in the mix as well, and several can be found closely bunched together. WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (368,500), Gaurav Sood (336,000), Siddhanth Kripalani (320,000), Zarvan Tumboli (307,000), and Akshay Kapoor (269,000) all advanced with healthy stacks. Tumboli’s previous attempts at running up a stack had not been successful but the third flight was a charm for the inaugural WPT Prime Vietnam champion.

The money bubble burst with the elimination of Jeungu Seo, who got his short stack in via three-bet shove with king-ten. Dzmitry Halubitski admittedly called with a “trash hand” but his eight-five flopped two pair to let the crowd around erupt in celebration.

Dzmitry Halubitski Burst the Bubble on Day 1c

Among the 55 survivors were also two players who had previously bagged up a short stack on Day 1a and 1b respectively. Wanki Baik (462,500) and Ankit Jajodia (202,000) claimed far more chips to their name this time and will carry over the bigger stack. They also automatically lock up the min-cash of $1,810 for their efforts, which will be added to their total tally.

The remaining 129 players will return to their seats on Sunday, August 21, 2022, at 1pm local time. Six and a half minutes in level 15 at blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a big blind ante of 6,000 commence the action. Every level from thereon will last 60 minutes each with a break every two levels.

Day 2 is scheduled to play down to the nine-handed final table, which then concludes the following day on the feature stage in the Ballroom at Naga 1. The WPT.com team will provide continued live updates until a winner has been crowned here in Cambodia.