APPT Main Event
Day 1bc Completed
2023 APPT Cambodia
APPT Main Event
Day: 1bc
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1bc
2023 APPT Cambodia
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$623,322
Entries
476
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
160,000
Entries
300
Players Left
91
Ojha Takes Overall Lead in 2023 APPT Cambodia Main Event
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
The late registration for the flagship tournament of the 2023 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Cambodia Main Event at the luxurious NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh has concluded. All three starting days combined created an overall field of 476 entries and generated a prize pool of $623,322, all of which will be distributed in the following two days when the tournament is playing down to the winner.
India's Vishal Ojha topped 58 survivors out of 219 entries on Day 1b while nearly half of the field was still in contention during the final stages of the turbo heat 1c, which attracted another 81 runners. Ojha bagged up 407,000 in chips to claim the overall lead, well ahead of Curtis Lim (316,500) and Victor Chong (210,000) who occupied the two remaining spots on the podium for today.
Among the big stacks in the top 10 for Day 1b were also Roman Kolotiuk, WSOP bracelet winner Guoliang Wei, Jhon Hendri, and Huu Dung Nguyen.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vishal Ojha | India | 407,000 | 136 |
| 2 | Curtis Lim | Singapore | 316,500 | 106 |
| 3 | Victor Chong | Malaysia | 210,000 | 70 |
| 4 | Roman Kolotiuk | Russia | 209,000 | 70 |
| 5 | Guoliang Wei | China | 201,000 | 67 |
| 6 | Jhon Hendri | Singapore | 192,000 | 64 |
| 7 | Jia Yi Low | Singapore | 189,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Guillem Segarra Lopez | Spain | 170,000 | 57 |
| 9 | Feng Qu | China | 162,000 | 54 |
| 10 | Huu Dung Nguyen | Vietnam | 155,000 | 52 |
Other notables to bag and tag for Day 1b were Siarhei Chudapal, Natural8 ambassador Pete Chen, Renniel Galvez, Alexander Puchalski, Dhanesh Chainani, David Erquiaga, and Sven McDermott. Defending champion Puchalski needed two bullets to claim 74,000 to his name while last year's third-place finisher Galvez scored two very late double-ups to advance with 90,000.
The rise to the top of the leaderboard for Ojha started with a double-up through Laury Vanlerberghe with kings versus ace-jack before he then consistently added chips through various showdown pots. Another Frenchman fell victim to the hot run of Ojha in Romain Morvan before the player from India knocked out Australian High Roller Joshua McCully in the final hand of the night.
Many other familiar names of the Asia-Pacific poker region came up short of making Day 2, as more almost three quarters of the field departed throughout the 13 levels of 40 minutes each. Chien Chih Weng, Lester Edoc, Shardul Parthasarathi, Yunsheng Sun, Eric Wasylenko, Mauricio Salazar Sanchez, Valeriy Pak, and Junzhong Loo were among the casualties.
The 58 Day 1b survivors will join their 41 counterparts from Day 1a and everyone to bag and tag for the night on Day 1c. More than 120 players are expected to return to their seats at 1 p.m. local time in the grand ballroom at Naga 1 for the restart of Day 2. Blinds in level 14 will be 1,500-3,000 with a big blind ante of 3,000. The money bubble will burst and the race to the nine-handed final table then headlines the business end thereafter.
The overall attendance came up just shy of 500 entries and the initial $400,000 guarantee was surpassed by more than 50%, which comfortably beat the 378 entries of the previous edition in 2022 by a wide margin as well.
Stay tuned to find out who makes it one step closer to become the 2023 APPT Cambodia Main Event champion right here on PokerNews, as the live reporting team will be on the floor throughout the next two days until a winner has been crowned.
End-of-Day 1c Chip Counts
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
166,500 | 166,500 |
|
140,500 | 140,500 |
|
128,000 | 128,000 |
|
121,000 | 121,000 |
|
119,000 | 119,000 |
|
109,500 | 109,500 |
|
106,000 | 106,000 |
|
97,500 | 97,500 |
|
90,500 | 90,500 |
|
84,500 | 84,500 |
|
84,000 | 84,000 |
|
83,500 | 83,500 |
|
81,500 | 81,500 |
|
81,000 | 81,000 |
|
77,000 | 77,000 |
|
70,500 | 70,500 |
|
70,000 | 70,000 |
|
66,500 | 66,500 |
|
|
61,000 | 61,000 |
|
58,500 | 58,500 |
|
|
58,000 | 58,000 |
|
56,000 | 56,000 |
|
52,000 | 52,000 |
|
50,000 | 50,000 |
|
46,000 | 46,000 |
End-of-Day 1b Chip Counts (full)
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
407,000 | |
|
316,500 | -3,500 |
|
210,000 | 30,000 |
|
209,000 | -1,000 |
|
201,000 | 31,000 |
|
192,000 | 17,000 |
|
189,000 | 159,000 |
|
170,000 | 40,000 |
|
162,000 | 162,000 |
|
155,000 | 25,000 |
|
147,000 | 62,000 |
|
145,500 | 109,500 |
|
144,500 | 59,500 |
|
144,500 | 114,500 |
|
|
143,500 | -6,500 |
|
|
142,000 | 142,000 |
|
138,500 | 48,500 |
|
138,500 | -1,500 |
|
138,500 | 18,500 |
|
134,500 | 134,500 |
|
134,000 | 12,000 |
|
122,500 | -62,500 |
|
117,000 | 80,000 |
|
113,500 | -16,500 |
|
111,500 | 111,500 |
Day 1b Completed
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Some 57 players have bagged and tagged their chips for the night while the late registration on the turbo heat remains open. The final starting day currently shows 59 players out of 69 entries left in level eight.
Assorted counts and a recap of the Day 1b action are to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
407,000 | -3,000 |
Lau and McCully Among Late Casualties
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Heng Seng Lau got a short stack in with the K♥6♦ and found himself dominated by the K♣Q♦ of table chip leader Curtis Lim.
The A♠A♣7♣ flop changed nothing but Lau chipped up with the 6♠ turn. However, the K♦ river counterfeited his hand as Lim claimed yet another elimination for his resume.
One table over, Joshua McCully was all-in with the K♦J♠ and Vishal Ojha looked him up holding the J♣J♥. The 8♥7♥2♣5♣10♦ board failed to improve the Aussie and Ojha increased his lead in the last hand of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
410,000 | 100,000 |
|
|
320,000 | 55,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted |
Late Knockout for Kolotiuk
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
On the river of a Q♥9♠5♦3♥7♠ board, Roman Kolotiuk pushed all-in to put a shorter-stacked Julian Salvesen at risk. The latter sigh-called and mucked his cards when he was shown the K♣Q♣ for the top pair by the Russian. However, the cards were revealed to be A♥9♥ for Salvesen as Kolotiuk moved up to a very comfortable stack during the final hands of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000 | 135,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Double-Up Galore Leaves Qiu on the Ropes
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Xixiang Luo doubled for 40,400 with K♠K♣ against the A♠J♦ of Qiyuan Huang thanks to a board of 9♠8♦3♦5♠K♥.
Huang then doubled through Luo shortly after before Luo three-bet jammed over the top of a raise by Haisheng Qiu. The all-in was for another 55,000 and Qiu called.
Xixiang Luo: A♥4♥
Haisheng Qiu: Q♥J♥
The A♣6♦3♦3♣4♣ board once more delivered a double to Luo.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
125,000 | 67,000 |
|
|
122,000 | 2,000 |
|
|
7,000 | -128,000 |
Six More Hands on Day 1b
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Only 64 players spread across eight tables remain in contention as the clocks were stopped with 15:23 minutes left in the level. The final hands of the night were drawn and six of them are to be played before bagging and tagging.
Park Scores a Late Double Through Tsai
Level 13
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Hyunkyou Park kept his hopes of a finish in the money alive when his Q♣Q♦ was up against the A♠10♣ of Ting-Yi Tsai.
The board ran out Q♥9♦2♠5♥4♥ and Park doubled with a set of queens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
110,000 | |
|
|
75,000 | -5,000 |