The return of the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) to the Kingdom of Cambodia appears to be set to sail past the $400,000 guarantee in the flagship tournament of the stop at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in the heart of the capital. A total of 176 entries in the first of three starting flights were recorded for the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event. Upon completion of 13 levels of 40 minutes each, the field of survivors was cut down to just 41 contenders.
A duo sits atop the leaderboard in Taiwan's Cheng Zhang (399,000) and Bien Mai (394,000), who are both separated by a mere two big blinds for Day 2. Especially Mai has racked up several deep runs in major live poker events in the Asia-Pacific region and comes fresh off scooping a PokerStars spadie in Event #21: Turbo Freezeout one day prior.
Notables in the overnight top ten also include Chao-Ting Cheng (241,000), WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (187,000), Hao Tian (173,000), and Hal Rotholz (172,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1a
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheng Zhang | Taiwan | 399,000 | 133 |
| 2 | Bien Mai | Vietnam | 394,000 | 131 |
| 3 | Riki Yokono | Japan | 282,000 | 94 |
| 4 | Chao-Ting Cheng | Taiwan | 241,000 | 80 |
| 5 | Seunghun Ko | South Korea | 194,000 | 65 |
| 6 | Sungrock Jung | South Korea | 188,500 | 63 |
| 7 | Abhinav Iyer | India | 187,000 | 62 |
| 8 | Ilia Miakishev | Thailand | 182,500 | 61 |
| 9 | Hao Tian | China | 173,000 | 58 |
| 10 | Hal Rotholz | United States | 172,000 | 57 |
Likewise among the survivors were Adrien Tantaro (164,500), Junnie Pamplona (139,500), Zong-Chi He (132,000), Anthony Cierco (82,500), 2022 APPT Cambodia Main Event finalist Yu-Chung "Nevan" Chang (77,500) as well as Aladin Reskallah (67,000). Their stack sizes are locked as players cannot participate in any further remaining flights once they bagged up chips unlike in other Asian live events where the bigger stack gets carried forward.
Mai was a threat on the tables throughout the day and consistently added chips to his stack, soaring to the top of the leaderboard after Quan Qiu ran with pocket kings into his pocket aces. Only a few minutes later, fellow big stack Zhang spiked an ace to crack the pocket kings of Eric Ceret to set up a two-horse race for the top spot.
Defending champion Alexander Puchalski and third-place finisher Renniel Galvez were among those to try and build a foundation for yet another deep run in the grand ballroom but both joined a long list of casualties throughout the day. Things started well for Puchalski with an early double with a flopped set but things didn't go as planned from there on.
The same also applied for Nang Quang Nguyen, Grant Gardner, Guy Taylor, Jenam Yu, Huu Dung Nguyen, Pete Chen, Guoliang Wei, Chien Chih Weng, Eric Wasylenko, and Valeriy Pak to mention just some of those who came and left without anything to show for.
Many of these well-known players are expected to take another shot at running up a stack in the two remaining flights on May 13, 2023, with a regular and a turbo heat scheduled. Day 1b is slated to kick off at 1pm with a level duration of 40 minutes each followed by Day 1c as of 8pm local time with 20-minute levels.
Both flights will complete 13 levels and the survivors advance to the penultimate tournament day. A single re-entry option is available in each Day 1 during the late registration period, which is open for the first ten levels.
Stay tuned for more live poker action from Cambodia as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor until a winner has been crowned on Monday, May 15, 2023.
