Beltz, Diep, Gerrits Top GOP Phnom Penh Day 3 Highlights

Day 3 at the Gods of Poker, taking place inside the luxurious Grand Ballroom of NagaWorld Phnom Penh, was packed with highlights as Wouter Beltz claimed the first gauntlet, Martijn Gerrits went three-for-three, and Kyle Bao Diep defied the odds. Those stories and more are just below. 

Wouter Beltz Wins First GOP Gauntlet At Demigods Challenge

The Demigods Challenge was a tough sell with only three players forking the hefty $12,600 buy-in for a prize pool of $34,920. Despite the light turnout, the battle for the first GOP gauntlet trophy was fierce.

Daniel Neilson was first to exit to bring about heads up between Wouter Beltz and Gustavo Silva Campos. With the winner-take-all pot at stake, the two agreed to an ICM deal, leaving $12,000 aside for the eventual champion.

When they restarted, it was over in a snap. On the first hand, a board of 4 ♣️ 4 ♥️ 5 ♦️ 6 ♠️ Q ♥️ saw action erupt on the turn. Beltz called Campos’ three-bet, then shoved on the river to scoop the pot without a showdown.

On the very next hand, Campos limped in before shoving his last 19 big blinds, only to be snap-called by Beltz. Campos revealed 8 ♠️ 4 ♠️ bluff which was no match for Beltz’s 10 ♣️ 10 ♦️ that ran the table to award Beltz the coveted black gauntlet.

Fortune Shines on Kyle Bao Diep At GOP Olympians

Kyle Bao Diep

What a day for Kyle Bao Diep! Down to just three big blinds long before the final table, Diep battled back against the odds and even caught a lucky break at five-handed to ultimately win the GOP Olympians event. 

“This is my first trophy in over a year! I feel really good. I ran really well, played well, and got lucky.”

Final Table - Payouts

For the full payouts, click here.

Event Recap

The GOP Olympians drew 294 entries across six flights with 42 players advancing to the ITM round. 

• Date: March 26-28, 2026
• Buy-In: $330
• Entries: 294
• Prize pool: $84,672
• ITM: 42 players

 

Takuma Terada

The final day began with Flight A chip leader Takuma Terada at the forefront. As the field narrowed to two tables, Terada remained the player to catch until Kyle Bao Diep went on a furious run to cut the gap significantly.

Diep first eliminated Mauricio Ott in 18th place, then won a three-way pot with pocket Kings over pocket Jacks and Ace-Queen, to knock out Ihor Yerofieiev (17th) and double up through Terada. 

Over at the other table, Joonhee Cho was also causing havoc. Nearly out holding A ♠️ J ♠️, the river dropped a jack to save him from Lei Zhang's A ♣️ Q ♥️. Cho's momentum continued, knocking out two players simultaneously with K ♠️ Q ♣️ full house cracking A ♠️ A ♣️. 

Final Table

After Dakota Anderson fell in 10th place, Cho carried the lead into the final table and widened further after eliminating Jonathan Looi in 9th place. 

After Wenhai Li's swings sent him out in 8th place, Diep won a flip with pocket Sevens over Jounghun Kim's Ace-Queen to catapult to the top, then eliminated Lei Zhang in 7th place. 

Joonho Cho

Cho reclaimed the lead by cleaning out both Micha Hoedemaker in 6th place with Ace-King over Ace-Jack and Kim in 5th place. This gave him nearly half of the chips in play. 

It was at this time when Diep shoved preflop J ♥️ 10 ♥️ and got lucky on Terada's A ♠️ K ♥️ on a board 6 ♦️ A ♦️ 7 ♣️ 8 ♥️ 9 ♣️ for a straight. Terada recovered some of the chips on a double up through Diep and by eliminating Hsing Hsiung Tai in 4th place. 

However, Terada's charge was given a hard halt in 3rd place by Diep whose pocket Eights set dusted top pair Ace. Diep entered heads up with 30 bb to Cho's 14 bb. 

On just the sixth heads-up hand, it was all over. Cho snap-called all-in with 8 ♣️ 6 ♣️, Diep had 9 ♥️ 8 ♥️. The final board ran 6 ♥️ 5 ♠️ Q ♦️ K ♥️ Q ♥️ for a victorious flush. 

Three for Three for Martin Gerrits

Martijn Gerrits has done it again! The defending GOP Player of the Series champion continued his hot run, claiming his third trophy of the series in as many days. Gerrits won the last event of the day, the Hyper Turbo - High Roller for his career eighth GOP trophy and a payout of $2,192. 

For the payouts, click here. 

Adrien Berger Leads Pandora's Mystery Bounty

Adrien Berger

The Pandora's Mystery Bounty attracted 59 runners at $660 a piece for a cash prize pool of $33,984. A total of 11 players advanced to the ITM round led by Adrien Berger with a massive stack worth 146 big blinds. 

Game resumes on Sunday, March 29 at 12:30PM. The top cash prize is set at $6,575 while the mystery bounty prizes have yet to be announced. 

For the payouts, click here. 

Blinds open at 3K-6K ante 6K. 

Day 3 Winners

Among the nine winners on Day 3 were Alfie Adam, Romains Lihacovs, and Jun Yan Kok, each securing their second series victory. Kok came very close to claiming two titles in a single day, only to be denied by Martijn Gerrits, who edged him out by a single spot.

Both Adam and Gerrits now boast career eight GOP trophies each. And with eight days of action still ahead, the race is wide open to see who will ultimately emerge as the top trophy collector.

In the Player of the Series race, Adam leads, trailed closely by Gerrits, and Kok in third rank.

For the POS leaderboard, click here. 

What's in Store at Day 4

Day 4 is up next and it promises a continued trophy-packed schedule, with gauntlets, spartans, and shields all waiting for new owners. On top of that, the final Aphrodite Mirror will be decided so ladies, this is your last chance to claim it in Cambodia before it’s gone.

The day's highlight will undoubtedly be the GOP Super High Roller where the second gauntlet will be on the line. The event offers two flights, running at 1:00PM and 8:00PM. 

For a buy-in of $8,500, players receive a 120,000 starting stack (120 bb). Registration closes at the start of Level 3. Each flight plays down to ITM.

• Flight A: Level 1 runs 80 minutes; Level 2 runs 120 minutes. 
• Flight B: Level 1 runs 40 minutes; Level 2 runs 60 minutes.

Good news for early birds, there is a 50% rake back for the first 12 players that put their chips into play on the first hand of the event. 

For all the details, click here. 

Main Event Coming Up

Tian Zhi Kong

Headlining the festival is the GOP Main Event where the mighty black-and-gold gauntlet awaits the champion. Only two players have earned the right to own it, Taiwan's Chih Wei Fan (GOP Taiwan) and China's Tian Zhi Kong (GOP Jeju).

• Date: March 30 to April 4
• Buy-In: $1,540
• Flights: 5
• Starting stack: 120,000

The GOP Main Event has five flights to choose from with varying registration time schedules. All flights close registration at 30 BB average. 

• Flight A runs a total of 240 minutes of late registration. 
• Flight B / C / E each run a total of 180 minutes of late registration - 60 minutes for Level 1 and 120 minutes for Level 2.
• Flight D runs a total 9 hours of Day 1 late registration - four hours for Level 1 and 5 hours for Level 2. Players also have until the start of Level 3 in Flight D - Day 2 to sign up.

 

Be sure to check the schedule for all the details.

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