Although the Asia Pacific Poker Tour in Cambodia is now finished, that doesn’t mean that everything is over just yet. Now that all the tournaments have been won, it is now time for the APPT Cambodia Wrap-Up. This will recap some of the most important things that happened throughout the poker festival, from the huge payouts to the lucky winners of the tournaments.
The APPT Cambodia was held from May 5 to 15, 2023, in the beautiful city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. More specifically, it was held in the NagaWorld Integrated Resort in partnership with Connaissance Management. In these 10 days, there were more than 24 events which marked the first APPT festival of the year as a huge success.
APPT Cambodia Wrap-UP: Huge Payouts for the Lucky Winners
One of the first parts covered in the APPT Cambodia Wrap-Up is the rewards for the participants. The whole poker tour had a massive prize pool of over $2 million spread out across two dozen events. Although there were hundreds of entries for these competitions, only a fraction of these players received a cash prize, with most going to the champions and those who reached the final table.
One of the most surprising stories came from the Main Event runner-up Junnie Pamplona. Although he didn’t win, he still walked out of the tournament with the largest payout and was the only player who managed to score a six-figure payout, numbering US$ 101,647. This huge prize was due to a deal he had with ICM about his payout. He was able to join the main event due to a previous win in the satellite tournament in Manila, Philippines.
His competitor, Taiwanese player Chao Ting Cheng made a surprise comeback during the Main Event, allowing him to surpass Pamplona and win his first title. He managed to leave the tournament with an ICM payout of US$ 94,448. This made him the only Taiwanese player to a poker trophy in this event.
The breakdown of winners in this APPT Cambodia Wrap-UP shows that China has had the most wins with 10 trophies, being the only country to break double digits. Second place is tied between Korea and India with 3 trophies each while Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Vietnam, and France each have one trophy.
A big part of China’s success was thanks to how many players they brought into the tournament. Over 100 players from China joined the tournament, giving them a huge advantage in the games. This means that roughly one out of ten players who came there is coming home with a trophy.
But numbers aren’t everything in this APPT Cambodia Wrap-Up. South Korean player Hyunkyou Park is famous for being the only player in the tournament to win multiple events, taking home two of the three trophies from South Korea. He managed to get first place in both the Win The Button event and the Superstack Single Re-Entry.
APPT Cambodia Wrap-Up: Next Event
Just because APPT Cambodia is finished, doesn’t mean the poker excitement is over yet. To finish the APPT Cambodia Wrap-Up is discussing the planned future events. In just a few weeks, the APPT is moving to Manila, Philippines. The event is expected to take place from July 27 to August 6 and will happen in Okada Manila, one of the most popular casino resorts in the country.
The last event in the Philippines took place in 2018 and saw 1,364 players participating in the Main Event alone. This event had a massive prize pool of US$1.2 million. With this success a few years ago, there are high hopes that the upcoming event will be just as exciting.
Of the events discussed in the APPT Cambodia Wrap-Up, the most exciting of these was the APPT Main Event which finished a few days ago.
To read about all the details including Chao Ting Cheng’s surprise win, you can read our post on the APPT Cambodia Main Event Finals.