APT TAIPEI 2023 SCHEDULE | ULTIMATE GUIDE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, May 4, 2023 – The APT Taipei 2023 continues to push the envelope, with the TWD $50,000 (~USD $1,700) Main Event drawing a total of 1,434 entries (881 unique) and generating a massive TWD $62,594,100 (~USD $2,039,630) prize pool.
In addition to obliterating every APT record in the tour's 15-year history including the previous APT record of USD $1.5 million for largest Main Event prize pool – set during the APT Macau 2008 – the APT Taipei 2023 Main Event is officially the richest in Taiwanese poker history!
The eventual winner will make history, walking away with a TWD $11,210,400.00 (~USD $365,270) top prize – the largest first place prize ever to be awarded in a Taiwanese poker tournament.
You can view all prize pool and payout information HERE.
Playing out at the tournament tables of the brand new CTP Asia Poker Arena – Asia's largest permanent poker room – a total of 562 survivors from the four starting flights returned for Day 2, and were joined by a further 52 Day 2 entries before registration closed at 11:59am, bringing the total number of players in action up to 614.
By the time the eight 60-minute levels played out, just 173 players were left in contention after three simultaneous bustouts on the money bubble, with Taiwan's Ping-Hsien Chan, Japan's Hiroki Kato, and Hong Kong's Hon Cheong Lee chopping a min-cash and receiving payouts of TWD $26,100 (~USD $850).
These 173 Day 2 survivors will be be joined by a further 27 online qualifers who won their way through to the money on Natural8 – including reigning APT Da Nang Main Event champion Doo Sik Nam – meaning a total of 200 players will return for Day 3, all guaranteed a payout of at least TWD $78,300 (~USD $2,550).
It is Singapore's Ravn Teo who will be returning in the box seat, following up his third place finish in the APT Kickoff by putting on a commanding performance in power poker to top the chip counts of this historic event with a stack of 1,105,000.
India's Nishant Sharma will be returning second in the counts with a stack of 1,064,000 – and was the only other player to crack the 1-million chip mark.
Taiwan's Teng-Kuei Hsu (768,000) rounds out the top three, with the top ten stacks as follows:
MAIN EVENT TOP TEN DAY 2 STACKS
- Ravn Teo (Singapore) – 1,105,000
- Nishant Sharma (India) – 1,064,000
- Teng-Kuei Hsu (Taiwan) – 768,000
- Jason Lee (Australia) – 761,000
- Chih Wei Fan (Taiwan) – 747,000
- Namhyung Kim (South Korea) – 705,000
- Ming Sang Chung (Hong Kong) – 667,000
- Julian Cheung (Canada) – 666,000
- Soo Bum Kim (South Korea) – 660,000
- Hung-Ling Wu (Taiwan) – 659,000
Other notables in contention include a further four former Main Event champions, with Azerbaijian's Farhad Aghayev (647,000), Singapore's Zhao Feng (605,000), Natural8 Ambassador Kitty Kuo (407,000), and two-time Main Event winner Lester Edoc (143,000) all still in the running.
Reigning APT Phu Quoc Main Event champion Jacque Ramsden made Day 2 but was unable to make the money, as were former Main Event champion John Tech and French poker superstar Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier.
Day 3 action gets underway at 12:15pm local time on Friday, May 5 with the tournament scheduled to play down to the nine-handed final table – however, the magnitude of the field may mean play concluding before this.
Day 4 gets underway at 12:15pm on Saturday, May 6 with the tournament playing down to a champion.
You can read a full recap of the Day 2 action via the APT Blog and live updates will be available throughout the tournament until a champion is crowned.
You can also watch the action via the APT Day 2 Live Stream.
For Main Event Final Day 2 Survivors please CLICK HERE
For Main Event Day 3 Draw please CLICK HERE
Zodiac Classic – TWD $3M GTD – Sponsored by Natural8 Draws Record Field; USA's Francisco Sanchez Tops Counts
The USA's Francisco Sanchez is on the hunt for his maiden APT title after topping the counts of the record Zodiac Classic field
While we don't want to sound like a broken record, that's exactly what the TWD $20,000 Event #34 Zodiac Classic - TWD 3,000,000 GTD - Sponsored by Natural8 represents.
Day 1 of the two-day tournament drew a 386-strong (307 unique) record field – another APT best – generating a TWD $6,739,560 (~USD $219,380) prize pool.
The top 55 places will make the money, with a min-cash good for TWD $33,000 (~USD $1,075).
After eleven 30-minute levels, just 202 of the field were left in contention for the TWD $1,307,760 (~USD $42,570) top prize.
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
It is the USA's Francisco Sanchez the man to top the chip counts, bagging up a stack of 252,500.
South Korea's Koangho Lee (248,000), and Japan's Kota Nakano (236,500) round out the top three stacks, with the top ten as follows:
ZODIAC CLASSIC TOP TEN STACKS
- Francisco Sanchez (United States) – 252,500
- Koangho Lee (South Korea) – 248,000
- Kota Nakano (Japan) – 236,500
- Kay Yew Teng (Malaysia) – 210,000
- Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss (United States) – 208,500
- Yishun Tong (China) – 206,000
- Burton Lam (Hong Kong) – 200,000
- Kosuke Bando (Japan) – 193,500
- Pongrut Lemongkol (Thailand) – 192,500
- Chia Yun Wu (Taiwan) – 185,500
Other notables in the running include France's Romain Morvan (163,000), Singapore's Jacky Wang (124,500), Hong Kong's Dicky Tsang (80,500), India's Sumit Sapra (60,500), and Zavan Tumboli (47,000), and APT high roller specialist Hon Cheong Lee to name but a few.
The second and final day resumes at 12:15pm local time on Friday, May 5 and the tournament will play down to a champion.
For Zodiac Classic Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE
Yu-Chung Chang Wins Event #33 Single Day High Roller - 8 Max for $1.96M (~USD $64K)
Taiwan's Yu-Chung Chang joins an exclusive club with his third APT high roller win
The fifth of the APT Taipei's scheduled single-day high roller tournaments – the TWD $70,000 Event #33 Single Day High Roller - 8 Max – drew another three-figure field, with 128 players in action (105 unique).
This generated a TWD $7,822,080 (~USD $254,625) prize pool, with the top 17 places paying out.
It took twenty-eight 20-minute levels for the tournament to find a champion.
It was Taiwan's Yu-Chung Chang the man to claim the TWD $1,967,880 (~USD $64,060) top prize – joining the exclusive club of players to claim both the old APT high roller trophy and the new era golden lion silhouette high roller trophy, alongside Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit and Superstar Challenge champion John Tech.
Chang defeated compatriot Peng-Sen Wu heads-up to win his third APT high roller title, leaving Wu to settle for the TWD $1,329,800 (~$USD 43,390) runner-up prize.
Malysia's Wai Kiat Lee rounded out the winner's podium, collecting TWD $864,300 (USD $28,200) for third, with the final table paying out as follows:
SINGLE DAY HIGH ROLLER FINAL TABLE RESULTS
- Yu-Chung Chang (Taiwan) – TWD $1,967,880
- Peng-Sen Wu (Taiwan) – TWD $1,329,800
- Wai Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – TWD $864,300
- Ryosuke Yamazaki (Japan) – TWD $715,700
- Hsien Ren Koh (Malaysia) – TWD $577,300
- Kazuhiro Shirasawa (Japan) – TWD $455,200
- Moonho Seo (South Korea) – TWD $348,100
- Wen Kai Chen (Taiwan) – TWD $262,000
- Chih Hsien Lin (Taiwan) – TWD $195,600
Other notable players to make the money but come up short of the final table included Austalia's Anton Lu (10th for TWD $160,400), and South Korea's Steve Joonhee Yea (12th for TWD $140,800).
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
SIDE EVENT ACTION
Cun Wu Hong Wins Record Pot Limit Omaha High - Turbo - 8 Max Event for TWD $156,210 (~USD $5.1K)
Taiwan's Cun Wu Hong claimed his maiden APT title in the record Event #31 PLO High Turbo 8 Max
Playing out in the early hours of Thursday morning, the TWD $5,000 Event #31 Pot Limit Omaha High - Turbo - 8 Max was another tournament to draw a record field, with 154 players (99 unique) in action.
It was Taiwan's Cun Wu Hong who claimed the lion's share of the TWD $672,210 (~USD $21,910) prize pool, defeating Australia's Jarryd Godena heads-up to take the TWD $156,210 (~USD $5,100) top prize and his maiden APT title.
Godena earned TWD $105,900 (~USD $3,450) for his runner-up finish, with Hong Kong's Ken Suen taking bronze and TWD $70,600 (~USD $2,300) for third.
A total of 23 players made the money, with the final table paying out as follows:
PLO HIGH TURBO FINAL TABLE RESULTS
- Cun Wu Hong (Taiwan) – TWD $156,210
- Jarryd Godena (Australia) – TWD $105,900
- Ken Suen (Hong Kong) – TWD $70,600
- Wing Po Liu (Hong Kong) – TWD $57,800
- Chuan Hsieh (Taiwan) – TWD $46,400
- Junyeob Song (South Korea) – TWD $36,000
- Chian Chen Tse (Taiwan) – TWD $26,600
- Charles Wong (Hong Kong) – TWD $19,600
- Ding Kwong Lo (Hong Kong) – TWD $15,600
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
Patrick Liang Takes Down Event #32 Turbo - 8 Max for TWD $480,635 (~USD $15.6K)
The TWD $15,000 Event #32 Turbo - 8 Max drew a 153-strong field (123 unique), generating a TWD $2,003,535 (~USD $65,300) prize pool.
It took thirty-two 15-minute levels to find the latest side event champion, with the tournament concluding in the early hours of Thursday morning.
It was Taiwan's Patrick Liang who brought home the bacon, besting Hong Kong's Chun Kit Ho heads-up to claim his maiden APT title and the TWD $480,635 (~USD $15,680) top prize.
Ho had to settle for the TWD $326,600 (~USD $10,650) on offer for second, with Japan's Kenji Yamase taking TWD $215,400 (~USD $7,030) for third.
A total of 20 players made the money, with the final table paying out as follows: ** TURBO – 8 MAX FINAL TABLE RESULTS**
- Patrick Liang (Taiwan) – TWD $480,635
- Chun Kit Ho (Hong Kong) – TWD $326,600
- Kenji Yamase (Japan) – TWD $215,400
- Chin Kampanatsanyakorn (Thailand) – TWD $177,900
- Satoshi Kuriga (Japan) – TWD $142,900
- Hsuan Yao Chen (Taiwan) – TWD $112,000
- Raja Puttamsetty (India) – TWD $83,900
- Ikko Takahara (Japan) – TWD $62,100
- Chi Jen Chen (Taiwan) – TWD $48,100
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.