Main Event Opening Flight Draws 265 Runners; Taiwan's Chen Yu Hung Bags Biggest

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

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, March 3, 2024 – The hors d'oeuvres have been served, now it's time for the meaty TWD 65 million (~USD 2M) guaranteed main course with the TWD 70,000 APT Main Event getting underway at the Chinese Texas Hold'em Poker Club (CTP) Asia Poker Arena.

The opening flight served up a hot slice of action with a juicy portion of high stakes entertainment served up on the side, with the final table of the richest APT Super High Roller of all-time playing out concurrently – more on that below.

Flight A of the Main Event saw a total of 265 entrants (208 unique) enter the tournament arena, all aiming to make a deep run and improve their chances of claiming the APT's coveted award-winning 24K Gold Lion Main Event Trophy.

The 24K Gold Lion APT Taipei Main Event Trophy was voted GPI Fans Choice – Best Trophy

It was Taiwan's Chen Yu Hung the man topping the chip counts when the tournament clock ticked into the red after ten 60-minute levels, bagging up a stack of 331,800.

Hung is sitting pretty atop the leaderboard with a stack close to 100,000 in chips more than the next closest rival Chin Wen Tseng (Taiwan), who bagged up 237,900.

South Korea's Moonho Seo rounded out the top three stacks, concluding play with 227,600, with Australia's Jennifer Cassell (215,100), Sweden's Adam Martinsson (203,600), and Ireland's Frank Lillis (203,100) also bagging up top ten stacks:

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT A TOP TEN STACKS

A total of 95 players successfully circumnavigated the tournament minefield, with former APT Cebu Main Event champion John "JoJo" Tech (172,500) also enjoying a stellar day at the tables.

Other notables to make the cut included Hong Kong's Kevin Choi (138,000), and Sparrow Cheung (128,500), former Starcraft professional turned poker player Yohwan "BoxeR" Lim (82,300), Taiwanese-US player Raymond Wu (79,400), APT Incheon Superstar Challenge champion Jun Hao Wu (71,200), and Malaysia's Natalie Teh (49,200).

For Main Event Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE.

For Main Event Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE.

With three more starting flights left to play out, there are still opportunities for those unsuccessful in their endeavors to win their way through.

Flight B gets underway at 11am on Monday, March 4, with players competing over ten 45-minute levels.

The final two starting Flights C & D – both boasting six 30-minute levels and four 40-minute levels each – get underway on Tuesday, March 5 at 11am and 6pm respectively.

You can follow all the APT Main Event Flight A action as it played out via the APT Blog.

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

Isaac Haxton Wins Richest-Ever APT Super High Roller; Claims Pewter Lion & TWD 9M (~USD 287K) Top Prize

Isaac Haxton claimed the coveted Pewter Lion APT Super High Roller on his APT series debut

A slew of poker's biggest names have descended on Taipei for APT's largest-ever festival, with the USA's Isaac Haxton the latest of the game's greats to earn their maiden Asian Poker Tour title.

Haxton came loaded for big game, with the 24K Pewter Lion APT Super High Roller Trophy and the lion's share of the TWD 37,873,650 (~USD 1,199,370) prize pool firmly in his sights.

Just 27 players out of a field of 49 returned for the Final Day, all looking to fight their way to the top 20 paying positions.

It was two-time former APT Main Event champion Mike Takayama returning in pole position, though with players such as Haxton, two-time bracelet winner Jans Arends, triple bracelet winner Anson Tsang, and defending APT Taipei Main Event champion Punnat Punsri all in the mix, the field was no cake walk.

However, Haxton showed just why he has amassed career tournament earnings of over USD 47 million, putting on a poker masterclass to scoop the TWD 9,089,650 (~USD 287,885) top prize and win the richest APT Super High Roller in the tour's 17-year history.

Haxton amassed a sizable chip lead as the tournament approached the business end. Japan's Hirokazu Kobayashi, Greece's Alexandros Theologis, and New Zealand's Vincent Huang all fell victim to Haxton as he rampaged towards the title.

Huang's tenth-place departure set up a thrilling final table, with the first four hands played bringing four speedy exits.

The lightning-fast final was wrapped up in 53 hands, although it was not all plain sailing for Haxton.

The world's #8 ranked tournament player had to navigate some choppy waters, with heads-up opponent Tony Lin battling back to seize the chip lead, before losing two back-to-back hands to bring his title run to a close.

In what proved to be a cooler of a final hand, the duo got all the chips in pre-flop, Haxton's pocket kings leading Lins pocket queens to close out the match.

"This is awesome. A great start. I am definitely enjoying my entry into APT," stated Haxton immediately after his victory.

"It was a wild heads-up match. Big pots every hand and a lot of back and forth."

"This is no joke of a trophy. I hope you're going to help me ship this because it's not fitting in my luggage" joked Haxton.

"Thanks to everyone who is watching and supporting me. This has been a lot of fun for me, and I hope you have enjoyed it."

APT SUPER HIGH ROLLER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

APT Super High Roller Final Table back row (l-r) Tien Loon Ling, Tony Lin, Sung Joo Hyun, Edward Yam. Front row (l-r) Anson Tsang, Punnat Punsri, Mike Takayama, Andrija Robovic

For APT Super High Roller Results please CLICK HERE.

You can follow along with all the thrilling APT Super High Roller action via the APT Blog or view all the action as it happened via the APT Super High Roller Live Stream using the following links:

• Youtube

• Twitch

• Facebook

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

Taiwan's Teng-Kuei Hsu Takes Down Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 for TWD 2.19M (~USD 69K)

Taiwan's Teng-Kuei Hsu claimed his second APT title in the Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8

The TWD 20,000 Event #31: Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 has a champion, with Taiwan's Teng-Kuei Hsu triumphing over a 1,053-strong field to claim his second APT tournament title.

Just 147 players returned for the Final Day, all guaranteed a TWD 21,000 (~USD 665) share of the TWD 18,385,380 (~USD 582,160) prize pool.

The action played out over seventeen 30-minute levels, with Hsu collecting eight scalps on his way to victory, defeating Thailand's Phatsapong Thokaew heads-up to claim a TWD 2,193,380 (~$69,460) top prize – including TWD 290,000 (~USD 9,200) in bounties.

Thokaew, scalped five opponents to amass TWD 70,000 in bounties, collecting a further TWD 1,338,000 (~USD 42,414), for his runner-up finish.

France's Axel Bayout rounded out the winner's podium, banking TWD 941,000 (~USD 29,830) for third, plus a further TWD 80,000 in bounties.

Sho Katsura was unable to convert is start-of-day chip lead into victory, but the Japanese player did go deep, cashing in fourth for a TWD 776,000 (USD ~24,580) payday, with the final table paying out as follows:

MYSTERY BOUNTY FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Taiwan's Chao Ting Cheng drew the biggest mystery bounty, valued at TWD 1.5M (~USD 47.5K)

While Hsu may have earned the accolades, it was Taiwan's Chao Ting Cheng who claimed the biggest bounty, valued at TWD 1.5M (~USD 47,500).

Fortune also smiled on Romania's Constantin Alexandru who drew the second-largest bounty, valued at TWD 1M (~USD 31,665).

Other notables to cash but come up short included India's Sumit Sapra (15th for TWD 160,000), Hong Kong's Hon Cheong "Ivan" Lee (19th for TWD 96,000), Taiwan's Maggie Chien-Chih Weng (30th for TWD 93,000), India's Zarvan Tumboli (66th for TWD 53,000), and the Philippines Richard Marquez (86th for TWD 38,000).

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Results please CLICK HERE.

All tournament information can be found on the Mystery Bounty Hunter tournament page.

Austria's Klemens Roiter Wins Inaugural Baby Superstar Challenge for TWD 3.8M (~USD

Austria's Klemens Roiter claimed the second largest cash of his poker career in the inaugural Baby Superstar Challenge

All the high rolling action was not exclusive to the APT Super High Roller, with the inaugural TWD 300,000 Event #41: Baby Superstar Challenge also playing out at the tournament tables of the CML (Chinese Mahjong League 華人麻將競技聯盟).

This attracted a 41-strong field (32 unique), generating a TWD 11,334,450 (~USD 358,935) prize pool.

The action played out over twenty-four 25-minute levels, and it proved to be third time's the charm for Klemens Roiter, with the Austrian turning his third series final table appearance into victory.

Roiter defeated Japan's Hirokazu Kobayashi heads-up to claim his maiden APT title and a TWD 3,854,450 (~USD 122,075) top prize – the second-largest score of his poker career.

Kobayashi too earned a career second-best score, taking home TWD 2,664,000 (~USD 84,372) for his runner-up finish.

Kosei Ichinose made a first series final table appearance, which was good for third and a payday of TWD 1,700,000 (~USD 53,840).

Sweden's Mikael Andersson followed up his seventh-place Superstar Challenge finish with a fourth-place cash, which was good for a further TWD 1,303,000 (~USD 41,270).

A total of six players made the money with the tournament paying out as follows:

BABY SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE RESULTS

For Event #41: Baby Superstar Challenge Player List please CLICK HERE.

For Event #41: Baby Superstar Challenge Results please CLICK HERE.

All tournament information can be found on the Baby Superstar Challenge tournament page.

Japan's Kenju Wata Grabs Gold in Event #42: Sunday Super Stack - TWD 2,000,000 GTD

Japan's Kenju Wata ordered a golden lion trophy to go in the Event #42 Sunday Super Stack

Designed to play out in a day, the TWD 30,000 Event #42: Sunday Super Stack - TWD 2,000,000 GTD drew a 216-strong (183 unique) field, setting a new Taiwan country record for this event and generating a TWD 5,657,040 (~USD 179,145) prize pool.

The action played out over thirty-three 20-min levels with the quirkily dressed Kenju Wata, sporting a green Grab outfit, taking the trophy to go, with a side order of a TWD 1,196,040 (~USD 37,880) top prize – the largest of his poker career.

Wata defeated Taiwan's Chi Jen Chen heads-up to claim his maiden live tournament title, with Chen scoring silver and a payout of TWD 806,000 (~USD 25,527) for his runner-up finish.

It was another local player, Yun Ting Chen, rounding out the winner's podium and earning a payout of TWD 568,000 (~USD 17,990) for third place.

A total of 32 players made the money, with the final table paying out as follows:

SUNDAY SUPER STACK FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables to cash included South Korea's Yonghyun Park (12th for TWD 92,000), Romania's Constantin Alexandru (16th for TWD 75,000), and Serbia's Danilo Radonjic (24th for TWD 55,000).

For Event #42: Sunday Super Stack Player List please CLICK HERE.

For Event #42: Sunday Super Stack Results please CLICK HERE.

All tournament information can be found on the Sunday Super Stack tournament page.

SIDE EVENT ACTION

Catch up on APT Taipei 2024: Side Event Action from Day 4 of the Series (Saturday, March 2).