Terada Towers Over Olympians as GOP Phnom Penh Crowns First Champions

Day 1 of the inaugural Gods of Poker festival at NagaWorld Phnom Penh concluded with both new and familiar faces claiming their place among the first champions, while Japan’s Takuma Terada ruled the featured GOP Olympians event. Dive in for all the key highlights from the opening day.

Terada’s Late Charge Tops GOP Olympians Survivors

The first three flights of the GOP Olympians ran today, attracting a total of 125 entries at a $330 buy-in. By the time the last flight closed, 18 players locked up their seats for Day 2.

• Flight A: 77 entries, 11 survivors
• Flight B: 42 entries, 6 survivors
• Flight C: 6 entries, 1 survivor

The headline story was Japan’s Takuma Terada, whose late surge in Flight A stole the show. At the time, China’s Lei Zhang had firm control of the top spot with just five eliminations needed before bagging.

Takuma Terada

Down to 12 big blinds, Terada found a crucial double when his pocket aces held for maximum value against Men “The Master” Nguyen, sparking a rapid upswing.

He first dispatched short-stacked Tristan Lemaillet, then knocked out Nguyen by rivering a king to crack pocket queens. With momentum fully on his side, Terada piled on the pressure, dragging multiple pots without showdown to seize the chip lead.

Flight A bubble bursts

To cap off the run, Terada eliminated Gary Bellchambers on the bubble with A ♠️ 3 ♠️ over Q ♥️ 9 ♥️ on a jack-high board.

Adrien Berger

Over at Flight B, France's Adrien Berger just edged David Wayne Vining for the chip lead, and at Flight C, American player Srinivas Mangipudi cleaned out the table. 

Srinivas Mangipudi

Flight A-B-C Survivors

The 18 survivors now get a couple of nights to reset before returning on Saturday, March 28 for the final run at the title with each one already guaranteed a share of the prize pool.

While they wait, the final three flights run on Friday, March 27 starting times at 12:30PM, 5:00PM, and 9:00PM. 

For the survivors list, click here. 

For the schedule, click here. 

Day 1 Winners

Martijn Gerrits and Alfie Adam

Running alongside the featured GOP Olympians, a slate of side events saw six players claim prized GOP hardware. First time GOP winners dominated the list while familiar faces Martijn Gerrits and Alfie Adam continued to extend their impressive trophy collections.

Gerrits returned to the GOP arena riding high as the GOP Taipei Player of the Series, and carrying five GOP trophies. He added another to his collection with a win in the Hyper Turbo - a victory made even sweeter as it was his birthday.

Meanwhile, Adam captured his seventh GOP trophy, coming close to an eighth after narrowly missing the top spot in Event #2: 5-Card PL Omaha. 

Up Next

More events to conquer at GOP Phnom Penh - The Coiled Path with the festival running a total of eleven days from March 26 to April 5. The first gauntlet event rolls in on Saturday, March 28 at the Demigods Challenge. 

The headliner, GOP Main Event, is still several days away, scheduled to hit the felt on March 30 featuring a $500,000 guarantee. 

Be sure to check the schedule for all the details.

Links: 

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• Photo Gallery
• Player of the Series (POS Leaderboard)
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