Brian Tougias Wins Record-Breaking WPTDeepStacks Cambodia for $131,430
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The World Poker Tour DeepStacks $1,100 buy-in Main Event at Cambodia��s NagaWorld Integrated Resort attracted 750 runners, which made it the biggest poker tournament in the country��s history. It was just the second WPT ever held in Cambodia, and the first in Phnom Penh.
Coming out on top was 29-year-old Brian Tougias, originally from the Boston area but not residing in Thailand.
��I feel great. Four months ago I was teaching PE and swimming lessons on Koh Samui, had a couple of big scores online and stopped teaching,�� Tougias told WPT officials after the win. ��I have only been playing professionally now for four months and semi-pro for five years, but it is pretty surreal. My birthday was yesterday and I couldn't ask for a better birthday gift.��
It was just Tougias�� second live cash and the first time he ever played live in Asia.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Tougias | United States | $131,430 |
| 2 | Kai Fu Wong | Malaysia | $92,152 |
| 3 | Jae Kyung Sim | South Korea | $59,400 |
| 4 | Aladin Reskallah | France | $43,941 |
| 5 | Si Yang Phua | Singapore | $33,574 |
| 6 | Kue Seong Tchong | Australia | $26,583 |
| 7 | Alex Lee | Singapore | $22,007 |
| 8 | Yong Cheong Foo | Singapore | $17,504 |
| 9 | Jiyoung Kim | South Korea | $13,146 |
Among those to capture a piece of the $727,500 prize pool were Ryan Revai (11th - $10,891), Ping Liu (13th - $8,672), Brett Kennedy (19th - $5,885), Jaegwang Kim (26th - $4,169), and Hong Leong Kho (48th - $2,634).
Final Table Action
According to live updates from Somuchpoker, a familiar face at the final table was South Korea��s Jiyoung Kim, who you might recall won the 2019 World Series of Poker Ladies Event. Unfortunately for her, she didn��t last long at the final table after getting it in with ace-queen only to run into the pocket kings of Tougias. The board ran out clean and Kim had to settle for ninth place and $13,146.
Tougias would claim his next victim during six-handed play. That is when Kue Seong Tchong called off on a seven-high flop holding pocket tens only to see Tougias roll over a set of fives. Tchong took home $26,583 for his sixth-place finish.
Kai Fu Wong went on to score the next three eliminations to take a slight chip lead into heads-up play against Tougias. However, Tougias managed to pull out to a 3:1 chip lead before things came to a head in Level 32 (75,000/150,000/150,000). That is when Wong got his stack in with an up-and-down straight draw against Tougias�� two red kings. Wong failed to complete his draw and hit the rail in second place for $92,152.
Photos courtesy of WPT and Somuchpoker.
