APT Taipei 2023: The Preview
The stage is set for the biggest poker festival in Asian Poker Tour (APT) history, with the action-packed APT Taipei 2023 featuring the NT$50,000 (~USD $1,700) buy-in Main Event which boasts a NT$30 million (~USD $1M) prize pool guarantee. The APT Taipei promises to be one of the standout poker events of 2023 and marks the start of a new era for Asia’s premier poker tour.
Running April 28 – May 7 and taking place at the brand-new Asian Poker Arena in Taipei, Taiwan, the 10-day, 49-event poker festival boasts more poker variations than ever before and over NT$50 million (~USD $1.6M) in guaranteed prize money.
With so many quality poker tournaments on offer over the festival, we’ve taken a close look at the schedule to highlight some of the marquee events that you should be pencilling into your diary.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
- APT Kickoff (NT$2M GTD): NT$10,000 (~USD $300) Buy-in, Running April 28-29
The opening weekend gets underway with NT$10,000 APT Kickoff, which boasts a decent structure for a low price point; Players receive a 30,000-chip starting stack have 30-minute levels (20-minutes on Flight B) to stake their claim to the first title on offer for the festival. The last APT Kickoff at February’s APT Hanoi drew an impressive 452 entries and generated a VND 3.5 billion (USD $147K) prize pool, with the eventual winner – Vietnam’s Phan Minh Duc – walking away with a VND 520.52 million (~USD $22.38K) top prize, and expectations are high to blow these numbers out of the water.
- Mystery Bounty Hunter presented by Natural8 (NT$3M GTD): NT$16,000 (~USD $500) Buy-in, Running April 29-30
The NT$16,000 Mystery Bounty Hunter is one of the most anticipated events on the schedule. All players who make Day 2 have a chance to claim a mystery bounty by busting one of their opponents. The fun element is the fact you have no idea how much a specific bounty is worth until you draw it. The starting stack comes in at 30,000 with a 30-minute level length (20-minutes on Flight B). The previous Mystery Bounty at APT Taiwan 2022 saw 251 entries compete for a NT$1.19 million (USD $39.81K) prize pool, while the most recent Mystery Bounty at APT Hanoi attracted 419 entries and generated a VND 3.65 billion (~USD $157K) prize pool, including VND 1.257 billion in bounties.
- APT Super High Roller 8-Max (NT$5M GTD): NT$150,000 (~USD $5,000) Buy-in, Running April 29-30
APT Taipei will offer eight high roller events, with the first of these – the NT$150,000 APT Super High Roller 8-Max – running concurrently with the Mystery Bounty Hunter. The tournament boasts a 250,000-chip starting stack, with players competing over 40-minute levels. Previous Super High Roller events have drawn between 15 and 46 entries and have featured some of the cream of the Asian poker scene. While player numbers are lower than the more standard buy-ins, both the prize pools and skill levels on display are some of the highest on offer, with the tournament promising some scintillating live poker action.
- APT Main Event (NT$30M GTD): NT$50,000 (~USD $1,700) Buy-in, Running May 1-6
The biggest draw will be the NT$50,000 APT Main Event, which comprises four opening flights running from Monday, May 1 to Wednesday, May 3, with the tournament concluding on Saturday May 6. Flight A boasts the longest level length of 60-minutes, with Flight B (45-minutes), and Flight C and D (30-minutes) speeding up the action slightly. Players start with a 40,000-chip stack and level length will be 60-minutes per level from Day 2 onwards. This is the second largest Main Event in terms of a both buy-in and guarantee in the APT’s 15-year history – the largest being the 2008 APT Macau which saw 257 players compete for a guaranteed USD $1.5 million in prize money, with Ukraine’s Yevgeniy Timoshenko claiming the USD $500,000 top prize. The largest Main Event in terms of player numbers was the APT Vietnam Ho Chi Minh 2022 which saw Vietnam’s Tran Tuan Anh defeating a 722-strong field to claim the lion’s share of the VND 14 billion (US$587,000) prize pool, walking away with a VND 2,127,900,000 ( US$89,000) top prize.
- Zodiac Classic (TWD $3M GTD): NT$20,000 (~USD $650 Buy-in, Running May 4-5
A new entry to the APT, the NT$20,000 Zodiac Classic gets underway on Thursday, May 4 and concludes on Friday May 5 and looks set to be a great addition to the tour, especially with its juicy USD $100,000 guarantee. Players start with 40,000 in chips and will compete over 40-minute levels.
- Double Stack (NT$2M GTD): NT$15,000 (~USD $500) Buy-in, Running May 5-6
Formerly the Monster Stack, the NT$15,000 Double Stack gets underway on Friday, May 5 with the tournament concluding on Saturday, May 6. Players start with a 60,000-chip stack with Flight A boasting 30-minute level length, and Flight B a slightly shorter 25-minute level length. The previous APT Taiwan 2022 Monster Stack saw 150 entries compete for a NT$1.09 million prize pool (~USD $34K) with Taiwan’s Yujyun Chang claiming the NT$253,000 (~USD $7,967) top prize. The last ever Monster Stack at the recent APT Hanoi saw 330 entries duke it out for VND 3.2 billion (~USD $134,440) prize pool with Vietnam’s Hoan Cong Le taking down the VND 623.8 million (~USD $26K) first prize.
- Mini Main Event (NT$1.5M GTD): NT$10,000 (~USD $300) Buy-in, Running May 6-7
Boasting almost the exact same structure of the Main Event albeit with a slightly lower buy-in of NT$10,000 the Mini Main Event sees players start with a 40,000-chip stack with Flight A boasting 30-minute level length, and Flight B a slightly shorter 25-minute level length. First introduced at the recent APT Hanoi back in February, the Mini Main Event attracted 250 entries on its Vietnamese debut, who competed for a VND 1.94 billion (~USD $81,757) prize pool with Hong Kong’s Kelvin Tan claiming the VND 389 million (~USD $16,338) top prize. The bar has been set, so let’s see if it can be raised in Taipei in May.
- APT High Roller (4.5M GTD): NT$100,000 (~USD $3,250) Buy-in, Running May 6-7
Last, but by no means least, is the NT$100,000 APT High Roller which closes out the festival’s High Roller events when it gets underway for Day 1 on Saturday, May 6 and concludes on Sunday, May 7. The previous APT High Roller at the recent APT Hanoi saw 204 entrants compete for a VND 9.89 billion (~USD $415.5K) prize pool with Latvia's Aigars Plivcs claiming the VND 2.19 billion (~USD $92K) top prize. If those numbers seem impressive, then we can’t wait to see how many high rolling entries battle it out at the baize in Taiwan.
There are a whole host of other events on offer over the series catering for players with a variety of bankrolls, ranging in scope from Pot Limit Omaha and Short Deck tournaments to Crazy Pineapple and Super Hold’em tournaments. The tournaments will be as varied as the player base; this is going to be a festival that poker players of all abilities from all walks of life can enjoy – we hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are.