APPT Cambodia Opening Day Highlights; Aladin Reskallah, Aleksandr Kraev Wins Spadies

The third annual APPT Cambodia got underway on November 15, bringing 11 days of nonstop poker action to the luxurious NagaWorld Integrated Resorts in capital city Phnom Penh.

In partnership with Connaissance Management Group, the series opened with the NagaWorld Kick Off event, which easily exceeded its US$ 50,000 guaranteed prize pool, setting the tone for an exciting festival ahead. By the end of opening day, 39 players advanced to the ITM round, and at the side events, two players hoisted coveted PokerStars spadies. Read on for the highlights.

Li Qi Leads 39 Into NagaWorld Kick Off Day 2

The Grand Ballroom of NagaWorld will once again be buzzing with poker chips shuffling around the felt as the final 39 players return for APPT Cambodia’s opening event – NagaWorld Kick Off. Attracting 254 entries across two flights, the $50K guarantee was easily exceeded. The remaining players are now looking to rake in the largest piece of the USD 86,726 prize pool.

Leading the way is Flight A leader Li Qi with 599,000 (75 bb). Li has a sizable 26 bb advantage over second ranked Anton Poliakov 393,000 (49 bb) who bagged the Flight B chip lead. Li earned his stack just before the bubble, railing Le Cuong Quoc on a classic flip.

Also returning is Armon Van Wijk, though with just 69,000 (9 bb). Van Wijk placed 5th in this event last year. Another returnee is Xiaosheng Zheng with 232,000 (29 bb) looking to better his past result of 19th place. Zheng has been had plenty of success in the Asian circuit this year and even secured his career second six figure payout in Cambodia last July.

The flights were also filled with fallouts that included Cheng Zhang, Kyle Bao Diep, Rene Mar David, and Hieu Ngo to name a few. These players still have plenty of chances to secure trophies and hefty payouts with a 47 events left to conquer including the APPT Main Event.

The final day gets underway at 11:30am. Players are guaranteed a minimum payout of USD 590 while waiting up top for the eventual champion is USD 17,700.

Read up on the action via the SMP Live Updates.

For the payouts: CLICK HERE
For the chip counts: CLICK HERE

Aladin Reskallah Wins Warm Up High Roller

The Warm Up High Roller was the first of seven high roller events scheduled attracting 26 entries to boost the pot to USD 34,804. Team Cimitarra’s Aladin Reskallah locked up the win after dominating the ITM round with five remaining. Khamid Khudayberganov was also a strong contender for the title but could not crack Reskallah’s 3:1 advantage at heads up. This is a great start for Reskallah who won a package to APPT Cambodia for his victory at the APPT Manila Championship – PokerStars Red Dragon event.

Read up on his win via the SMP Updates.

Warm Up High Roller Results

• Buy in: USD 1,500
• Entries: 26 (18 unique)
• Prize pool: USD 34,804
• ITM: 5 places

Payouts

Aleksandr Kraev Wins Turbo Event

First PokerStars spadie for Aleksandr Kraev at the Turbo event. Kraev outlasted the 51 entry field to turn his USD 200 buy in into a sweeter USD 2,289. On the final hand, Arun Kishor Godiyal jammed with Q♠9♠ and ran into Kraev’s A♥K♦ that dominated throughout the board.

Turbo Results

• Buy in: USD 200
• Entries: 51 (47 unique)
• Prize pool: USD 8,707
• ITM: 7 places

Payouts

If you are just hearing of this event or are only making your way to the venue, there’s still plenty of action waiting for you. The festival features an impressive lineup of 50 trophy events and guarantees over USD 1 million in prizes.

The crown jewel of the series, the highly anticipated Main Event, kicks off on November 21 and runs until the festival’s conclusion on November 25. With a massive USD 500,000 guaranteed prize pool, the Main Event is the must-play tournament of the series. If there’s one event you don’t want to miss, this is it. Also, there are also still rooms available at NagaWorld so make sure to check out the rates.

Links:

NagaWorld Promos
APPT Cambodia – Schedule
Tips For Travelers