Record breaking WPT Prime Cambodia pays out over $2.9M; David Erquiaga hailed Player of the Festival; Mike Takayama wins two events

 

The record breaking WPT Prime Cambodia may be in the history books but the confetti continues to fly with winners yet to be celebrated and moments to relive. Running from August 11 to 23 at NagaWorld Phnom Penh, players gathered from around the world to create the biggest event in Asia of 4,309 entries and a festival prize pool over $2.9 Million.

The final day witnessed Mike Takayama emerge as the first player to capture two events, Main Event champion David Erquiaga was hailed WPT Player of the Festival, and India walked away with two more trophies for a whopping 8 in total. We’ve got those stories, festival highlights, and final side events winners for you.

Festival review

Grand prize pool: US$ 2,951,395 (24 events)
Entries: 4,309
Main Event champion: David Erquiaga
Player of the Festival: David Erquiaga
Multi-winner: Mike Takayama – 10K SHR Single Day Challenge & $HR 3K
Biggest earner: Mike Takayama – US$ 200,100
Most final tables: Kunal Patni (4) Jasven Saigal (4)
Trophies by flag: India (8), Philippines (3), Malaysia (3), Vietnam (2), Russia (1), Korea (1), South Africa (1), United Kingdom (1), Indonesia (1), Netherlands (1), USA (1), Taiwan (1)

Philippines’ David Erquiaga hailed WPT Player of the Festival

Philippines’ David Erquiaga was supposed to fly home after winning the Main Event but postponed it in an attempt to secure his lead in the WPT Player of the Festival race. With three events yet to complete on closing day, Erquiaga wasn’t safe with only 100 points ahead of Kunal Patni. Five others down the rung were also in contention, Trong Hieu Ngo, Mike Takayama, Martijn Gerrits, Christopher Mateo, and WPT Prime Vietnam Player of the Festival winner Duy Ho. WPT Live Events Specialist, Danny McDonagh, documented the tight race in his Facebook page:

The Player of the Festival for WPT Prime Cambodia went literally right down to the wire! I was fortunate to have a front seat to watch the action. Coming into the final three events the top 7 were live.

Christopher Mateo was actually on 375 points and a 2nd in the SuperStack Classic moved him up to 675 points. He declined to play the Turbo Closer given his flight that night and Mike Takayama also passed on the last two events for the same reason.

However, the other 5 in the top 7 all played Event 23, the $300 6 Max. Both Kunal and Martijn Gerrits busted and jumped into the Turbo Closer but both ultimately fell short in that event also.

That left the start of day leader David Erquiaga with 900 points, Trong Hieu Ngo on 825 points and Duy Ho on 650 points to fight for the trophy and 5K Main Tour entry in the 6 Max. The winner would receive 300 points, going down to 50 points for 9th.

All three were live with 11 remaining and David was seriously short stacked down to 53k. And then in the matter of three hands this happened.

David went all in a slight underdog and doubled up. Next hand on same table Duy Ho was all in with Aces against a shove of 6’s for a 500k plus pot only to see a 6 fall on the flop and eliminate him in 11th.

And on the other table just after Duy busted Hieu Ngo was all in and busted in 10th to guarantee David the POF win.

Erquiaga earned 800 points for his Main Event victory and 150 points for 6th place at the $5.3K Super High Roller for a combined 950 points. With the most points accrued, he won the WPT Passport worth $5,000 to any WPT Main Tour of choice.

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Record breaking Main Event

The WPT Prime Cambodia broke bounds with a record breaking 1,050 Main Event entries for a prize pool of US$ 1,018,500. This was the largest turnout and pot for an open event by the brand in Asia.

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Emerging triumphant was Philippine pro David Erquiaga for his first ever major title. In addition to a career high payout of US$ 137,008, Erquiaga won a seat worth US$ 10,400 to the WPT World Championship $15M guaranteed. The event takes place in December at the Wynn Las Vegas.

David Erquiaga clinches the record breaking WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event

Philippines’ Mike Takayama captures second high roller title, closes as biggest earner

Highly decorated Filipino pro Mike Takayama impressed at the festival, becoming the only player to bag two events. Takayama‘s first win was at the 10K Super High Roller Single Day Challenge for a substantial US$ 94,100 payout, then on penultimate day, he outlasted the 140 entry field of the High Roller 3K event for a larger US$ 106,000 paycheck. With a combined US$ 200,100 in winnings, he was also the festival’s biggest earner.

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The HR 3K event was a two-day affair, and being that it was the last high roller event scheduled, it drew a 140 entry field for a bulky US$ 380,240 prize pool. Among the players in attendance were Tzai Wei Phua, Cao Ngoc Anh, GACKT, James Mendoza, Punnat Punsri to mention a few. Day 1 closed with Philippines’ Alfie Poetra leading the hunt while Takayama was ranked 8th. Also in the top 10 lineup were WSOP champion Leo Soma, France’s Clement Van Driessche, Russia’s Vladimir Mefodichev, and Filipino Vamerdino Magsakay.

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At seven-handed, Takayama amassed a monstrous stack after delivering a double elimination with a nutty nut flush As

Jh against Magsakay‘s KcKs and Mefodichev’s AdKd on a board 2s5sQdJs3s. From there he cruised to heads up backed by a massive lead against Dutch pro Martijn Gerrits. Both players were seeking their second festival title with Gerrits having won the Short Deck High Roller. Despite Takayama‘s big lead, it wasn’t an easy close. Gerrits battled to steal the lead. Once Takayama grabbed it back, he nailed it shut with pocket Tens over King-Five.

Buy in: US$ 3,000
Entries: 140
Prize pool: US$ 380,240
ITM: 18 places

1st Mike Takayama Philippines $106,000
2nd Martijn Gerrits Netherlands $66,900
3rd Sangbeom Lim Korea $39,700
4th Clement Van Driessche France $23,800
5th Phachara Wongwichit Thailand $18,500
6th Vladimir Mefodichev Russia $15,590
7th Vamerdino Magsakay Philippines $13,400
8th Somashek Kurkhepally India $12,000
9th Koen Breed Netherlands $10,600
10th Punnat Punsri Thailand $9,250
11th Alfie Poetra Philippines $9,250
12th Abhinav Iyer India $9,250
13th Mei San Ang Singapore $8,000
14th Fuwei Chen China $8,000
15th Gavin Best Australia $8,000
16th Zarvan Tumboli India $8,000
17th Kyungtae Lee Korea $7,000
18th Viet Hoang Tran Vietnam $7,000

Kunal Patni and Jasven Saigal reach four final tables

While several players reached multiple final tables, Indian players Kunal Patni and Jasven Saigal topped the counts with four each. Both players also won one event. Here’s a look at their achievements:

Kunal Patni
3rd place – Event 3: Deepstack NLH Freezeout
1st place – Event 5: Deepstack NLH
5th place – Event 7: Mystery Bounty
6th place – Main Event

Jasven Saigal
6th place – Event 7: Mystery Bounty
7th place – Event 11: Bounty Event $250 Bounty
8th place – Event 16: Pot Limit Omaha
1st place – Event 23: SuperStack 6-Max Finale

WPT World Championship package winner: DINH QUOC NGUYEN

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Nguyen Quoc Dinh

Vietnam’s Dinh Quoc Nguyen won a package worth US$ 12,500 to the WPT World Championship after outlasting seven other runners at the WPT WC Satellite.

India lifts eight trophies

Throughout the 13-day festival, players from all over the globe were in participation. Coming in packs were players from Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, France, and India who lifted 8 trophies, the most by any nation.

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Winners: Ashish Munot (NagaWorld SuperStack), Kunal Patni (Deepstack NLH), Akshay Kapoor (NLH Single Day), Zarvan Tumboli (Pot Limit Omaha), Shardul Parthasarathi (SHR), Somashekar Kurkhepally (Bounty Event), Jasven Saigal (SuperStack 6-Max Finale), and Gurpal Singh (Closer Turbo).

Final side event winners

Event 18:  NLH Freezeout – DUY MANH HO – US$ 6,460

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Duy Manh Ho

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 119
Prize pool: US$ 31,166
ITM: 15 places

1st Duy Manh Ho USA $6,460*
2nd Anton Widjaya Indonesia $5,711*
3rd Chi Chung Ho Hong Kong $6,110*
4th Abbouchi Mohamad Lebanon $2,182
5th Suk Sun Noh Korea $1,652
6th Po Chun Wen Taiwan $1,371
7th Jin Xiong Lee Singapore $1,184
8th Tomas Dedinas USA $1,044
9th Raju Jaruplavath India $919
10th Bruce Richard Kelly Australia $810
11th Kittipat Poochaneeyangkoon Thailand $810
12th Robert Campbell Australia $810
13th Lindsay Charles Jefferson Australia $701
14th Kamran Suriya Pakistan $701
15th Harsh Bubna India $701

*Three-way deal

Event 19: NLH Turbo Freezeout – VICTOR CHONG – US$ 8,000

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Victor Chong

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 115
Prize pool: US$ 30,119
ITM: 15 places

1st Victor Chong Malaysia $8,000*
2nd Duy Manh Ho USA $6,382*
3rd Gunisha Sinha India $3,283
4th Samuel Adams New Zealand $2,108
5th Ari Marlon Kumpumaki Finland $1,596
6th Raju Jaruplavath India $1,325
7th Prommin Talordpong Thailand $1,145
8th Tanik Kongjaroentin Thailand $1,009
9th Chung Yu Ho Taiwan $888
10th Chang Yu Lee Taiwan $783
11th Omair Javed Pakistan $783
12th Laksh Pal Singh India $783
13th Kanchan Sharma India $678
14th Muhammed Ali Chandna Pakistan $678
15th Eunju Jung Korea $678

*Heads up deal

Event 20: Bounty Event $150 Bounty – VAN TRUNG NGUYEN – US$ 12,100

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Van Trung Nguyen

Buy in: US$ 500
Entries: 194
Prize pool: US$ 84,681
Bounty pool: US$ 29,100
ITM: 25 places

1st Van Trung Nguyen Vietnam $12,100*
2nd Duc Kien Tran Vietnam $11,264*
3rd Trent Fechter USA $5,697
4th Klas Stafan Borjesson $3,465
5th Hua Wei Lin Taiwan $2,676
6th Junxiang Collin Lim Singapore $2,218
7th Constantine Paparestis Ireland $1,890
8th Mohamad Bin Noording Singapore $1,634
9th Ari Marlon Kumpumaki Finland $1,383
10th Kyoungwon Park Korea $1,203
11th Hiroki Karatsu Japan $1,203
12th Hiroki Morishita Japan $1,203
13th Ankit Wadhawan India $1,028
14th Van Canh Nguyen Vietnam $1,028
15th Phuong Ngoc Nguyen Vietnam $1,028
16th Ying Chang Chen Taiwan $853
17th Chyuan Seng Wee Malaysia $853
18th Jain Bhuvan Singapore $853
19th Kenichi Seto Japan $681
20th Jun Hao Wu Singapore $681
21st Guoxi Lian Singapore $681
22nd Sunho Yoo Korea $514
23rd Thai Bao Vu Vietnam $514
24th Chun Hsiang Yang Taiwan $514
25th Pratibh Saluja India $417

*Heads up deal

Event 22: SuperStack Classic Freezeout – CHAO TING CHENG – US$ 14,271

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Buy in: US$ 400
Entries: 148
Prize pool: US$ 51,682
ITM: 19 places

1st Chao Ting Cheng Taiwan $14,271
2nd Christopher Mateo Philippines $9,044
3rd Ngoc Quoc Bao Pham Vietnam $5,323
4th Sinsung Yoon Korea $3,232
5th Anton Widjaya Indonesia $2,507
6th Kohei Wada Japan $2,070
7th Jun Hao Wu Singapore $1,809
8th Dzmitry Halubitski Belarus $1,615
9th David Peter Rodwell Australia $1,427
10th Ben Abrahams Thailand $1,240
11th Minjae Bae Korea $1,240
12th Yoke Wei Woon Malaysia $1,240
13th Samuel Adams New Zealand $1,059
14th Jianguo Zhou China $1,059
15th Shardul Parthasarathi India $1,059
16th Rindra Norodom $904
17th Ngoc Quoc Luat Tran Vietnam $904
18th Julius Umbrazuinas Lithuania $904
19th Alfonso Baja Philippines $775

Event 23: SuperStack 6-Max Finale – JASVEN SAIGAL – US$ 6,255

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Jasven Saigal

Buy in: US$ 300
Entries: 90
Prize pool: US$ 23,571
ITM: 12 places

1st Jasven Saigal India $6,255*
2nd Rindra Norodom $5,700*
3rd Sylvain Chhang $2,829
4th Amit Kaushik India $1,827
5th Laksh Pal Singh India $1,414
6th Kun Kiet Wong Malaysia $1,120
7th Wongyu Kang Korea $943
8th Huaxin Wang China $825
9th David Jansen Erquiaga Philippines $748
10th Duy Manh Ho USA $684
11th Trong Hieu Ngo Vietnam $636
12th Sombath Sok $590

*Heads up deal

Event 24: Closer Turbo – GURPAL SINGH NANDA – US$ 11,713

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Gurpal Singh Nanda

Buy in: US$ 550
Entries: 69
Prize pool: US$ 33,465
ITM: 9 places

1st Gurpal Singh Nanda India $6,255
2nd Ankit Wadhawan India $5,700
3rd Chung Yi Ho Taiwan $2,829
4th Jeffry Kurniawan Indonesia $1,827
5th Ashish Munot India $1,414
6th Dhanesh Chainani Singapore $1,120
7th Sumit Sapra India $943
8th Kim Lay Ly Canada $825
9th Kevin Sabbe Australia $748

Up next is WPT Australia

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For the first time, the World Poker Tour will bring its main tour to Australia with games taking place from September 15 to 27 at The Star Gold Coast. The festival features a full schedule of 13 events with buy ins from A$ 440 to A$ 10,000. The highlight is the A$ 5,400 Main Event which runs from September 23 to 27. Two starting days are available to join the action. With the past WPT festivals drawing massive crowds, players can expect this event to surpass all others. Head to the WPT website for all the info.

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