APPT Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2023 APPT Cambodia
APPT Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2023 APPT Cambodia
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$623,322
Entries
476
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
160,000
Players Left
1
Chao-Ting Cheng Wins the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event ($94,448)
Level 31
: Blinds 80,000/160,000, 160,000 ante
The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) stop at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in the Kingdom of Cambodia has determined a winner in the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event. Out of a field of 476 entries, Chao-Ting Cheng and Junnie Pamplona shared the biggest slice of the $623,322 prize pool after cutting a heads-up deal.
It only took 13 hands from there on for Cheng to overcome a small chip deficit and claim the golden shard trophy that had still been up for grabs along with $94,448 for the efforts. Runner-up Pamplona won his seat in a PokerStars LIVE Manila live qualifier for 6,600 Philippine Pesos ($120), which included the tournament entry and hotel package, and made it almost all the way to victory with just one bullet to claim $101,647 for the efforts.
Pamplona narrowly missed a career-best score on the live poker circuit, which he previously set in the 2022 WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Main Event right here in the grand ballroom at Naga 1.
Ting-Yi "Eric" Tsai and Hua-Wei Lin also represented Taiwan on the final table, finishing in third and seventh place respectively. Colombia's Jimmy Torres followed up an 18th place in the 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event with another deep run while on a poker and vacation trip to Asia alongside fellow countryman Mauricio Salazar Sanchez.
Final Result 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chao-Ting Cheng | Taiwan | $94,448* |
| 2 | Junnie Pamplona | Philippines | $101,647* |
| 3 | Eric Tsai | Taiwan | $54,290 |
| 4 | Jimmy Torres | Colombia | $42,760 |
| 5 | Evgenii Nekrasov | Russia | $33,597 |
| 6 | Kien Tat Heng | Singapore | $26,242 |
| 7 | Hua-Wei Lin | Taiwan | $19,759 |
| 8 | Curtis Lim | Singapore | $13,775 |
| 9 | Bien Mai | Vietnam | $10,908 |
*denotes ICM deal of the final two players
The final nine players returned to their seats at 1 p.m. local time, and the average stack was very deep, yet it took just six and a half hours to determine a champion. Especially the opening stages brought several all-in showdowns, and the field was already cut down to just four contenders on the first break with the short stack holding 48 big blinds to their name.
Vietnam's Bien Mai, who already had two runner-up finishes and a win to his name in the last two months in the Asia-Pacific region, was the first to bow out. In the third hand of the final table, Mai's king-queen suited flipped versus pocket eights, and Cheng made quads.
Curtis Lim aimed to parlay the same pocket pair into success but Jimmy Torres held up with pocket queens to reduce the field to the final seven in a matter of minutes. Hua-Wei Lin was outflipped by Eric Tsai, and Kien Tat Heng swiftly followed when he ran with jack-nine suited into the pocket kings of Cheng. Evgenii Nekrasov lost a portion of his stack to end up second-best with tens against Pamplona's king-queen.
That wrapped up the first two hours of frantic poker action, and the deep-stacked part of the final table commenced. Tsai pulled ahead of the pack by some margin before a pivotal all-in showdown unfolded. Torres had dropped to a short stack and open-jammed with eight-seven suited, which Tsai called. Pamplona found another premium pair in pocket kings to isolate, and Tsai folded as Pamplona soared to the top of the leaderboard.
Cheng was on the verge of becoming the third-place finisher after his stack plummeted to a mere 12 big blinds. However, he doubled back into contention through Pamplona and chipped up. The inevitable clash between both contenders from Taiwan then followed in which Cheng's ace-queen rivered a flush to crack the pocket queens of Tsai.
Ten hands into heads-up play, Cheng's pocket queens secured a large double against the flopped top pair of Pamplona, and it was all over three hands later. Pamplona slow-played pocket aces in the big blind with a min-raise, and Cheng flopped quads to lock up the victory.
That concludes the PokerNews live reporting from here in Cambodia. The next APPT stop is already scheduled for late in July and early August at the PokerStars LIVE poker room at Okada Manila.
Junnie Pamplona Eliminated in 2nd Place ($101,647)
Level 31
: Blinds 80,000/160,000, 160,000 ante
Chao-Ting Cheng limped the button and Junnie Pamplona then moved forward 250,000 chips without announcing anything. The floor was called and it was determined to be raise to 350,000, after which Cheng called and initially also missed the extra 100,000 chips as well to shake his head with a grin.
The flop came 9♣9♠9♦ and Pamplona checked, Cheng bet 200,000 and called a check-raise to 600,000. Both players checked the 4♦ on the turn and Pamplona announced a bet of 1,000,000 on the 8♥ river. Cheng then moved all-in and Pamplona called.
"Game over," Cheng immediately announced to flash his cards to the rail first.
"You have quads?" Pamplona said with some disbelief and was indeed shown the 9♥5♦ by Cheng, exposing his A♣A♠ for nines full of aces.
Pamplona had to settle for the runner-up finish but earned the bigger payday of $101,647 while Cheng will collect $94,448 for the efforts along with the PokerStars APPT Main Event gold shard trophy.
A recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
14,280,000 | 3,190,000 |
|
Busted |
Cheng Doubles Into Commanding Lead
Level 31
: Blinds 80,000/160,000, 160,000 ante
Early in the new level during the tenth hand of heads-up play, Junnie Pamplona limped the button and called a raise to 500,000 by Chao-Ting Cheng. The 8♥5♥2♠ flop was checked by Cheng and Pamplona bet 350,000. Cheng check-raised to 1,000,000 to then face the shove by Pamplona.
"All-in?" Cheng verified with the dealer and then snap-called once it was confirmed.
Chao-Ting Cheng: Q♠Q♥
Junnie Pamplona: 8♣7♠
The top pair of Pamplona had some outs but the K♥ turn and 5♦ river let Cheng double for 4,965,000 to establish a commanding lead for the Taiwanese poker player.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
11,090,000 | 5,010,000 |
|
|
3,190,000 | -5,010,000 |
Level: 31
Blinds: 80,000/160,000
Ante: 160,000
Cheng Check-Raises Successfully
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Junnie Pamplona limped the button to see a flop of Q♣4♣4♦ on which Chao-Ting Cheng check-folded to a bet of 250,000.
Cheng won the next pot and then defended the big blind to another raise worth 250,000. On a 10♥7♥4♦ flop, Cheng check-raised from 250,000 to 700,000 and Pamplona folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,200,000 | -680,000 |
|
|
6,080,000 | 680,000 |
Pamplona Gets River Value From Cheng
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Chao-Ting Cheng raised the button to 250,000 and Junnie Pamplona called. They checked the 10♠2♦2♥ flop before Pamplona bet the 2♠ turn for 200,000 and the 9♦ river for 420,000. Cheng called both times and mucked when he was shown the 9♠5♠ for deuces full of nines.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,880,000 | 585,000 |
|
|
5,400,000 | -585,000 |
Heads-Up Deal in Place; Action Underway
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
During the break prior to the heads-up deal, Junnie Pamplona and Chao-Ting Cheng discussed a potential deal and agreed upon a straight ICM chop, leaving only the golden shard trophy to be played for. Below are their updated counts and what they have already locked up.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Chao-Ting Cheng | Taiwan | 5,985,000 | 50 | $94,448 |
| 7 | Junnie Pamplona | Philippines | 8,295,000 | 69 | $101,647 |
There are only 11 minutes left in the level and the cards are now back in the air.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,295,000 | |
|
|
5,985,000 |
Eric Tsai Eliminated in 3rd Place ($54,290)
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
The action commenced with a button raise to 260,000 by Junnie Pamplona on the button and Eric Tsai three-bet to 760,000 in the small blind. Chao-Ting Cheng then four-bet jammed out of the big blind and Pamplona swiftly folded while Tsai instantly called as both players from Taiwan got it in nearly even in chips.
Eric Tsai: Q♦Q♠
Chao-Ting Cheng: A♥Q♣
The K♥J♥J♠ flop gave Cheng a gutshot on top and he added a flush draw to go with it thanks to the 6♥ turn. "Ten or heart," he demanded and so did his rail including Nevan Chang. The 7♥ river then led the rail explode and the stack sizes were briefly verified.
Tsai had 2,755,000 and Cheng had that covered with his 2,850,000 to knock out the fellow Taiwanese poker pro in third place. There will now be a short break prior to the heads-up duel between Cheng and Pamplona.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,295,000 | -5,000 |
|
|
5,985,000 | 2,785,000 |
|
Busted |
Tsai Wins a Few Chips Back
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Eric Tsai limped in from the small blind and Chao-Ting Cheng checked it back to the 10♥8♣2♥ flop on which Tsai checked. Cheng bet 150,000 but folded to a check-raise worth 575,000 by Tsai. Both shorter stacks are separated by very few big blinds while Junnie Pamplona still has more chips than both combined.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,300,000 | -350,000 |
|
|
3,200,000 | -100,000 |
|
|
2,800,000 | 450,000 |