Punnat Punsri Wins Richest Taiwanese Poker Tournament of All-Time

Ben Wilson / 7 May 2023

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Punnat Punsri Wins Richest Taiwanese Poker Tournament of All-Time

APT TAIPEI 2023 SCHEDULE | ULTIMATE GUIDE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, May 6, 2023 – The APT Taipei 2023 has reached its climax with Thailand's top tournament player Punnat Punsri cementing his place in Asian Poker Tour history, winning the richest Main Event ever to play out in Taiwan!

Punsri outlasted the monster 1,434-strong APT Taipei Main Event field to win a massive TWD $11,210,400.00 (~USD $365,270) top prize – the largest first-place prize ever to be awarded in a Taiwanese poker tournament.

Playing out at the tournament tables of the brand new CTP Asia Poker Arena – Asia's largest permanent poker room – just 17 players remained in contention for the title at the start of the fourth and final day, with Punsri returning in pole position.

Another returning notable looking to make Main Event history was two-time former champion Lester Edoc, who was looking to add a record third APT Main Event title to his amply stocked trophy cabinet.

Natural8 Ambassador Kitty Kuo was also in contention, looking to add a second APT Taipei title to her list of accolades.

However, none could derail the Thai train, with Kuo bowing out in sixteenth place for TWD $487,200 (~USD $15,870) and Edoc falling in sixth at the hands of the Thai player, banking TWD $1,982,700 (~USD $64,600) for his deep run.

Runner-up Soo Bum Kim gave it a good go though, battling back from a thirteen-to-one chip disadvantage to seize the chip lead and nearly cause an upset, before Punsri showcased exactly why he sits atop the Thailand All-time Money list – retaking the lead, and subsequently the title.

Punsri gave Kim a sportsman's handshake before celebrating wildly with his watching rail, leaving Kim to head to the cash desk to collect the TWD $6,375,500 (~USD $207,730) on offer for second place, with the final table paying out as follows:

MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS

  1. Punnat Punsri (Thailand) – TWD $11,210,400
  2. Soo Bum Kim (South Korea) – TWD $6,375,500
  3. Tung Wing Wong (Hong Kong) – TWD $4,503,000
  4. Long Lam Kim (Vietnam) – TWD $3,311,900
  5. Teng-Kuei Hsu (Taiwan) – TWD $2,595,400
  6. Lester Edoc (Philippines) – TWD $1,982,700
  7. Chih Wei Fan (Taiwan) – TWD $1,517,100
  8. Ben Loo (Malaysia) – TWD $1,074,500
  9. Joshua Tan (Malaysia) – TWD $823,500

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

This monumental victory pushes Punsri's live career tournament winnings up to over USD $5.86M – further cementing his stranglehold on the Thai tournament top spot where he sits over USD $3.5M clear of his next closest competitor.

"I got lucky – I qualified online so I could come in at the start of Day 3," stated a modest Punsri in his post-match interview.

"I ran super good in the right spots and I had big hands hold in very big pots twice yesterday to survive. Then today everything went my way; I coolered many people many, many times, and then heads-up wasn’t as easy as I expected it to be considering the stack discrepancy, but yeah… What a journey!"

"I’ve always wanted to have a deep run in a big field Main Event regardless of what it is and the APT I actually hold a lot of sentiment for, especially because it was my first big event that I won in Korea [APT Seoul 2019 Championships Event] so be able to win the old Championship and then this feels amazing!" confided an ebullient Punsri, before posing for a slew of winner's photos with his vocal Thai rail.

You can read a full recap of the Day 4 action via the APT Blog.

Full Final Table coverage is also available via the APT Live Stream.

All the Series thrills did not end with the conclusion of the Main Event however, with Day 1 of the largest APT High Roller in the Tour's 15-year history taking place, and the record-breaking Double Stack - TWD 2,000,000 GTD also playing out to an exciting end – both of which you can read about below.

Norway's Peter Da Leads Largest-ever APT High Roller

APT Taipei 2023 Event #43 APT High Roller chip leader Peter Da.jpg Norway's Peter Da leads the largest APT High Roller in APT history

Just when you think there's no more gas in the tank, the APT Taipei 2023 continues to increase speed and set records.

Even as the record Main Event was winding down, action in the TWD $100,000 Event #43 APT High Roller - 8 Max - TWD 4,500,000 GTD was ramping up with the tournament drawing a total of 302 entries – shattering the previous high of 204 set during February's APT Hanoi VSOP 2023.

By the time registration closed at the end of level 12, the prize pool had climbed to a sizable TWD $26,364,600 (~USD $860,930) – making it the second largest of the Series.

The eventual winner will walk away with a stasty TWD $5,286,500 (~USD $172,630) top prize, with a total of 39 players making the money.

You can view all prize pool and payout information HERE.

Notables in the running looking to earn their share included Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit, high stakes cash game crusher James Chen, Hong Kong's Sparrow Cheung, and Alan Lau, and bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer to name but a few.

Add in a few former APT Main Event champions in the form of Farhad Aghayev, John Tech, Lester Edoc, and Dicky Tsang and you have a recipe for some scintillating poker action.

After the fifteen 40-minute levels played out just 84 players remained in contention, with Norway's Peter Da the man to top the counts, concluding play with a stack of 1,096,000 - making him the only player to bag up a seven-figure stack.

Australia's Adam Kharman came close though, bagging up 999,000 to return second in the overall counts for Day 2.

Hong Kong's Timothy Yim (870,000) rounded out the top three, with the top ten as follows:

APT HIGH ROLLER TOP TEN STACKS

  1. Peter Da (Norway) – 1,096,000
  2. Adam Kharman (Australia) – 999,000
  3. Timothy Yim (Hong Kong) – 870,000
  4. Zarvan Tumboli (India) – 813,000
  5. Napat Chokejindachai (Thailand) – 751,000
  6. Chung Chuen Co (Hong Kong) – 727,000
  7. Wooram Cho (South Korea) – 708,000
  8. Julien Rouxel (France) – 703,000
  9. Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss (United States) – 669,000
  10. Milan Stojkovic (Australia) – 663,000

Other notables to make it through included the aforementioned Iyer (371,000), former Main Event champion Tsang (304,000), Wongwichit (206,000), and Cheung (201,000).

Day 2 resumes at 12:15pm on Sunday, May 7 and the tournament will play down to champion.

You can read about all the action as it happened via the APT Blog.

For APT High Roller Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE

Hong Kong's Ho Yi Chau Takes Down Record-setting Double Stack for TWD $991,350 (~USD $32K)

APTTaipei2023_Event37_DoubleStack_FinalDay_044.jpg Hong Kong's Ho Yi Chau won his maiden APT title in style by taking down the record Double Stack

All the record-setting tournament action did not conclude with the Main Event and APT High Roller, with the TWD $15,000 Event #37 Double Stack - TWD 2,000,000 GTD playing down to a thrilling conclusion concurrently.

Just 55 players returned for the second and final day out of a record field of 390, all guaranteed a payout of at least TWD $25,000 (USD $820) from the TWD $5,107,050 (~USD $166,610) prize pool.

It was Hong Kong's Ho Yi Chau the man to top the largest Double Stack in APT history, defeating Dhanesh Chainani heads-up to claim his maiden APT title and deny the Singaporean his third.

In addition to winning himself one of the new golden baby lion APT side event trophies, Chau took a TWD $991,350 (~USD $32,370) top prize, with Chainani collecting TWD $628,200 (~USD $20,510) for his runner-up finish.

Taiwan's Inkuei Tan took TWD $454,000 (~USD $14,825) for third, with the tournament wrapped up in fourteen 30-minute levels and the final table paying out as follows:

DOUBLE STACK FINAL TABLE RESULTS

  1. Ho Yi Chau (Hong Kong) – TWD $991,350
  2. Dhanesh Chainani (Singapore) – TWD $628,200
  3. Inkuei Tan (Taiwan) – TWD $454,000
  4. Orathai Nasathaen (Thailand) – TWD $367,200
  5. Jakkapong Sreprasom (Thailand) – TWD $290,600
  6. Julien Rouxel (France) – TWD $223,700
  7. Dion Chew (Singapore) – TWD $166,500
  8. Hsi Hao Chen (Taiwan) – TWD $120,500
  9. Po-Lun Chao (Taiwan) – TWD $97,500

Other notables to cash included France's Romain Morvan (13th for TWD $70,000), and start-of-day chip leader Toshio Kataoka (24th for TWD $40,300).

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

SIDE EVENT ACTION

Taiwan's Yuan Hao Chang Triumphant in Event #40 Turbo for TWD $120,120 (~USD $3,920)

APTTaipei2023_Event40_Turbo_049.jpg Taiwan's Yuan Hao Chang took down his first APT title in Event #40 Turbo

Playing out in the early hours of Saturday morning, the TWD $5,000 Event #40 Turbo saw 188 (160 unique) players in action, all competing for a share of the TWD $820,620 (~USD $26,800) prize pool.

It was Taiwan's Yuan Hao Chang who emerged triumphant after thirty-one 15-minute levels to take a top prize of TWD $120,120 (~USD $3,920) after cutting an ICM deal with fellow finalists Shao-Ting Jian and China's Cheng-Feng Tsai.

Chang claimed his maiden APT title for the win, with Jian receiving TWD $146,000 (~USD $4,770) for his runner-up finish, with Tsai collecting TWD $123,000 (~USD $4,010) for third.

A total of 27 players made the money, with the final table paying out as follows:

TURBO FINAL TABLE RESULTS

  1. Yuan Hao Chang (Taiwan) – TWD $120,120
  2. Shao-Ting Jian (Taiwan) – TWD $146,000
  3. Cheng-Feng Tsai (China) – TWD $123,000
  4. Sakan Dhangwatnotai (Thailand) – TWD $68,900
  5. William Lam (Hong Kong) – TWD $54,900
  6. Yuthana Boonorm (Thailand) – TWD $42,200
  7. Ryan Lim (Singapore) – TWD $30,700
  8. Shunya Aizawa (Japan) – TWD $22,200
  9. Hiroki Kato (Japan) – TWD $18,400

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

Thailand's Napat Chokejindachai Wins Event #41 Turbo - 8 Max for TWD $548,655 (~USD $17,910)

APTTaipei2023_Event41_Turbo8Max_champion Napat Chokejindachai3.jpg Thailand's Napat Chokejindachai claimed his maiden title in Event #41 Turbo – 8 Max

The TWD $15,000 Event #41 Turbo - 8 Max drew a 189-strong field (157 unique), generating a TWD $2,474,955 (~USD $80,820) prize pool.

It took thirty 15-minute levels for Thailand's Napat Chokejindachai to claim the crown, defeating Singapore's Nicholas Heng heads-up to take the TWD $548,655 (~USD $17,910) top prize and claim his maiden APT title.

Heng, who was on the hunt for his second Series title, had to settle for the TWD $370,000 (~USD $12,080) runner-up prize.

Japan's Masaki Nakamura collected TWD $254,700 (~USD $8,320) for third, with 27 players making the money and the tournament paying out as follows:

TURBO – 8 MAX RESULTS

  1. Napat Chokejindachai (Thailand) – TWD $548,655
  2. Nicholas Heng (Singapore) – TWD $370,000
  3. Masaki Nakamura (Japan) – TWD $254,700
  4. Seungyeol Kim (South Korea) – TWD $207,600
  5. John Bonadies (United Kingdom) – TWD $165,600
  6. Chia Yun Wu (Taiwan) – TWD $127,200
  7. Chin Kampanatsanyakorn (Thailand) – TWD $92,600
  8. Jui-Ting Chen (Taiwan) – TWD $67,100
  9. Pradya Laohapornsvan (Thailand) – TWD $55,400

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

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