Biggest & Richest Poker Series in Taiwanese History Concludes on a High with USA's Stanley Weng Claiming APT High Roller Title

APT TAIPEI 2024 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS | PLAYER LISTS

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, March 10, 2024 – It's official, the APT Taipei 2024 is the biggest and richest tournament series ever to play out in Taiwan.

Run in partnership with Chinese Texas Hold'em Poker Club (CTP) from February 28 to March 10 at the Asia Poker Arena – Asia's largest permanent poker room – and the CML (Chinese Mahjong League 華人麻將競技聯盟), the 12-day festival saw 2,223 unique players from 44 combined countries & regions generate 13,153 total entries over 106 Trophy Events, competing for a staggering TWD 383.49 million (~USD 12.19 million) in prize money.

In addition to making Taiwanese poker history, the festival drew 3 four-figure fields, with the APT Main Event the biggest of these – and the richest tournament ever to run in Taiwan.

APT Taipei 2024 By The Numbers

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier briefly held the record for largest first prize won in Taiwan

Multiple records were broken during the series; the Superstar Challenge set a new record for largest first-place prize ever awarded in Taiwan, with France's Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier claiming the honors.

However, this was immediately broken by the APT Main Event, which set a new all-time Taiwan record for prize pool & first-place prize.

The tour's two other signature events, the APT Super High Roller and APT High Roller, also raised the bar; the Super High Roller setting a new event record for prize pool & first place prize, and the High Roller setting a new event record for top prize.

The Mystery Bounty Hunter set a new APT event record for prize pool & first-place prize, as did the Sunday Super Stack, the Zodiac Classic, the Mini Main Event, and the Micro Main Event.

For a breakdown of prize money, player numbers, and records set during the festival you can view the APT Taipei 2024 Festival Breakdown by Prize Pool HERE – note the two tabs – with a graphic available HERE.

Close to a fifth of the series prize money (18.8%) was awarded in the record-breaking Main Event, which saw 1,182 entries (737 unique) from 34 countries/regions compete for Taiwan's richest prize pool of all time – a sizable TWD 72,232,020 (~$2,286,275).

It was Japan's Daisuke Ogita claiming the largest first-place prize ever to be awarded in the region – a mammoth TWD 12,944,020 (~409,730)!

For APT Main Event Breakdown by Country & Region please CLICK HERE and view as graphic HERE.

Poker legend Isaac Haxton won the richest APT Super High Roller of all time

The next largest events in terms of prize pools were the APT Super High Roller, and the Superstar Challenge, which both set new APT records.

Combined, the two tournaments accounted for a further 19.5 percent of the total prize money awarded – the TWD 37.8 million (~USD 1.19 million) APT Super High Roller purse making up 9.8 percent, and the TWD 36.9 million (~USD 1.16 million) Superstar Challenge purse making up a further 9.6 percent.

However, the largest event in terms of player numbers was the record-breaking APT National Cup, which drew 2,305 entries (1,046 unique), setting a new APT record for opening event field size & prize pool.

The third of the festivals four-figure fields came in the Mystery Bounty Hunter, which drew 1,053 entries (590 unique), setting a new APT event record for prize pool & first place prize, with Taiwan's Teng Kuei Hsu claiming the accolades and TWD 2,193,380 (~USD 69,460) top prize.

USA's Stanley Weng Dominates APT High Roller to Claim TWD 5M (~USD 160K) Top Prize

Stanley Weng claimed his maiden APT title and second-largest career cash in the APT High

Just 35 players out of a field of 160 entries (114 unique) returned for the final day of the TWD 150,000 Event #101: APT High Roller - TWD 11,000,000 GTD, all competing for the coveted Bronze Lion APT High Roller Trophy and the largest APT High Roller top prize of the APT new era – a chunky TWD 5,053,000 (~USD 160,685).

While there was TWD 21,728,000 (~USD 690,940) in the prize pool, only 23 of the returning players would earn a share.

It was the USA's Stanley Weng who showcased his lion-taming skills, putting on a dominating final table performance to claim the second-largest prize of his poker career.

Weng came into a stacked final table holding a commanding chip lead he would not relinquish, which when you consider the quality of the opposition, was no mean feat.

The final nine players featured a former APT Main Event champion in Hong Kong's Dicky Tsang, one of Taiwan's top tournament players in Chen An Lin, and one of Asia's most prolific players in the form of Sparrow Cheung, but none of them could derail the Weng express.

While Tsang gave it his best shot heads-up, battling back from an 8-to-1 chip deficit to a slight 2-to-1 chip disadvantage, Weng would not be denied, closing out the win in style by rivering a straight flush to earn his maiden APT title and only his second-ever cash on Asian soil.

Weng caught up with APT Host Gregory "Greg Goes All In" Liow immediately after his epic win, who asked how he was feeling after taking down the title.

"Euphoria, man" replied an ecstatic Weng.

"Thanks to all of my friends who watched - and family. And thanks for supporting me."

"In the heads-up match, I was getting a little worried, all the chips were going back [to Tsang], it was becoming a challenge but besides that, it was pretty good."

APT HIGH ROLLER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

The USA's Frank Cucchiara came up just short of a place in the last nine, exiting in tenth place for a TWD 424,000 payday.

Other notables to make the money but fall short of the final table included triple bracelet winner Yan Shing "Anson" Tsang (12th for TWD 369,000), Hong Kong's Hon Cheong "Ivan" Lee (13th for TWD 369,000), the USA's Benjamin Jacobs (17th for TWD 304,000), and the UK's Jack Salter (20th for TWD 274,000).

For APT High Roller Results please CLICK HERE.

You can read about all the APT High Roller Final Day action as it happened via the APT Blog or view all the action as it happened via the APT High Roller Final Day Live Stream using the following links:

Youtube

Facebook

All tournament information can be found on the APT High Roller Final Day tournament page.

Taiwan' Mao-Lun Yu Wins Largest & Richest Mini Main Event

Mao-Lun Yu claimed a career-best score in the largest & richest Mini Main Event in APT history

Even after 11 continuous days of record-breaking action the APT Taipei 2024 still had some gas left in the tank, with the final day of the largest and richest TWD 22,000 Event #99: Mini Main Event - TWD 6,000,000 GTD playing out concurrently with the APT High Roller.

The two-day tournament saw a record 678 combined entries (394 unique) enter the two opening flights – which played out on Saturday, March 9.

This generated the largest Mini Main Event prize pool in APT history with TWD 13,021,668 (~USD 414,225) in the purse.

Just 96 players fought their way through to the final day, all guaranteed a TWD 36,000 (~USD 1,145) payday, though all were eyeing the top prize and Gold Lion Silhouette Trophy.

It was Taiwan's Mao-Lun Yu who etched his name in the APT record books, cutting an ICM chip chop deal with heads-up opponent Michael Smith of Canada to claim a career-best TWD 2,213,418 (~USD 70,365) top prize, more than tripling his lifetime tournament winnings and making his maiden APT title victory one to remember.

Smith took the fourth largest prize of his poker career, banking TWD 1,867,250 (~USD 59,365) for his runner-up finish.

Taiwan's Sin Ren Chen claimed the second-best score of his career, taking TWD 1,097,000 (~USD 34,880) for his third place finish, with the final table paying out as follows:

MINI MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables to cash included the Philippines' Jeffrey Pamplona (23rd for TWD 86,000), and Edilberto Gopez (25th for TWD 73,000), and former Main Event champions Renniel Galvez (30th for TWD 62,000), and Chrisopher Mateo (33rd for TWD 56,000).

For Mini Main Event Results please CLICK HERE.

For Mini Main Event Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE.

For Mini Main Event Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE.

For Mini Main Event Flight B Player List please CLICK HERE.

For Mini Main Event Flight B Survivors please CLICK HERE.

All tournament information can be found on the Mini Main Event tournament page.

South Korea's Yonghyun Lee Defeats Record Micro Main Event Field

South Korea's Yonghyun Lee claimed his maiden live title in the record-breaking Micro Main Event

Anything this festival with the words 'Main Event' in broke a record, and the TWD 11,000 Event #107: Micro Main Event - TWD 1,500,000 GTD was no exception.

Boasting almost the same structure as it's more expensively priced counterparts, but at a fraction of the cost, the tournament drew a record field of 393 entries (312 unique), making it the largest Micro Main Event field in APT history.

With a record TWD 3,732,045 (~USD 118,720) prize pool on the line, a place in the hallowed money spots was fiercely contested, and with only the top 55 places getting paid many players would be leaving empty handed.

It was South Korea's Yonghyun Lee who entered the APT annuals of history, cutting an ICM chop with heads-up opponent Masashi Tamaru of Japan with the duo then playing it out for the remaining 10 percent of the prize pool, and the all-important trophy and title.

Lee locked up a career-best TWD 677,540 (~USD 21,544) top prize, clinching his maiden live tournament title in the process, with Tamaru also banking the best score of his playing career, taking TWD 512,500 (~USD 16,300) for his runner-up finish.

The Philippines' Edgar Asehan rounded out the winner's podium, taking a TWD 332,000 (~USD 10,560) payout for his third-place finish, with the final table paying out as follows:

MICRO MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables to cash but come up short of a place in the final nine included Hong Kong's Alan Lau (12th for TWD 51,000), Singapore's Jereld Sam (40th for TWD 18,000), Australia's Jennifer Cassell (43rd for TWD 18,000), and Sunday Super Stack champion Kenji Hata (46th for TWD 18,000).

For Micro Main Event Player List please CLICK HERE.

For Micro Main Event Results please CLICK HERE.

All tournament information can be found on the Micro Main Event tournament page.

SIDE EVENT ACTION

Catch up on APT Taipei 2024: Side Event Action from Day 12 of the Series (Sunday, March 10).