The Coronavirus outbreak has hugely been impacting the lives of people especially in the Asia over the last few months. It had a huge impact on poker industry too with several marquee events getting cancelled here and there. However, there is finally a great news for players in the Asian region. The World Poker Tour (WPT) will be opening its Asia-facing Season XIX with its stop in Cambodia.
As announced by the WPT on 24 February, the brand will be hosting the second edition of the WPT Cambodia, which is slated to run from July 15 to 28 at the NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh. Featuring a total of 26 events, the series will have buy-ins ranging from $200 up to $15,000.
The biggest highlight of the upcoming WPT Cambodia 2020 will be the $3,500 buy-in Main Event, which is slated to run from July 21 to 25. The most exciting thing is that the Main Event champion will receive a $15,000 entry into the WPT Tournament of Champions, which is scheduled to run in Las Vegas at the end of Season XIX. Players finishing 2nd and 3rd in the main event will get a $3,500 entry into WPT Nagaworld Asia Pacific Championship Main Event to be held next year in May 2021.
The festival kicks off with the US$ 550 buy-in NagaWorld Billions Event, followed by the WPT Cambodia Main Event. Other featured events include the $1,100 buy-in WPT Cambodia Mini Main Event, the $10,000 High Roller Championship, the $15,000 WPT Cambodia Short Deck High Roller Championship, etc.
The first WPT Cambodia held in November 2019 was a record-breaking success with its Main Event drawing a record 750 entries and creating a total prize pool of US$ 727,500. It was Brian Tougias who outlasted the 750-entry field in the event to earn his first live title for $131,460 in prize money.
“The WPT continues to expand globally and we are delighted to break new ground in the Asia-Pacific region to open our 19th season this July with WPT Cambodia. The breakthroughs made last November showed the poker world the magnificent NagaWorld and the passion of the network of players who flew from all corners of the globe to attend the record-breaking event.” said Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour.