APT Main Event - Day 2 (Reg Open Till Start) - TWD 65,000,000 GTD

Jia Lee

Day 2 of the TWD 70,000 2024 APT Main Event has entered the history books after becoming the richest-ever tournament to take place in the region of Taiwan. It was Singapore's Jia Lee who topped the counts after he accumulated 1,221,000 chips and was the only player to break the one-million chip barrier. The total number of entries climbed to 1,182 after 62 players bought into Day 2 before registration closed at 11am.

The prize pool ballooned to TWD 72,232,020 (~$2,286,275) which is the biggest prize pool ever generated for a poker tournament in Taiwan. A record that was set earlier in the series when Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier won the Superstar Challenge for the largest-ever first prize awarded in Taiwan will also be broken (assuming no deal is made) as the winner will take home a huge TWD 12,944,020 (~$409,730).

To start the day there were 504 hopefuls who all had one thing on their mind — making the money. A min-cash was worth TWD 111,000 (~USD 3,510) with 175 players locking up a guaranteed payday. Former Main Event champion John Tech was the unfortunate player to bubble after he shoved the river with ace-seven of hearts right into the ace-seven of clubs which was held by Japan's Shunsuke Tokoo, who had flopped the nut flush. That failed bluff attempt meant Tech was out in 176th place but did draw a Double Stack ticket worth TWD 20,000 (~$649) as a consolation prize for bubbling.

The two-hour bubble was a hectic but exciting experience with fifteen short stacks doubling up before Napat Chokejindachai (177th) and the aforementioned Tech (176th) hit the rail. It's not known what the record is for the duration and amount of double-ups on a Main Event bubble but certainly, this could be the most.

France's Safwane Bahri bagged up the second-biggest stack of 896,000 and former two-time APT Main Event champion Lester Edoc rounded out the top three stacks with a portentous bag of 888,000 chips. The Filipino phenom eliminated his countrymate Florencio Campomanes and Australia's Graham Cowan in his attempt to become the first-ever person to win the Main Event three times.

Lester Edoc

Japan's Jun Obara had the chip lead going into the day and converted that into the fourth-biggest stack after he bagged up 815,000 chips. Obara quietly went about his business throughout the day and almost tripled his starting stack to put himself in a fantastic spot going into Day 3. The Japanese player currently sits in seventh on his country's All-Time Money List with almost $1,700,000 in live career earnings.

Another former two-time Main Event champion, Mike Takayama, sits tenth on the leaderboard and will bring a stack of 647,000 into Day 3. Takayama sits second on the Philippines' All-Time Money List and would snatch the top spot from Marc Rivera should he finish in the top two here in Taipei.

Other notables to make it through were Thomas Ward (558,000), Moonho Seo (540,000), David "Spade" Erquiaga (518,000), 2023 WSOPE Main Event winner Max Neugebauer (444,000), Jeffrey Lo (383,000), three-time bracelet winner Yan Shing "Anson" Tsang (317,000) Sofia Lovgren Fullmer (299,000), Teng-Kuei Hsu (156,000), ten-time APT title holder Yohwan "BoxeR" Lim (62,000), and bracelet winner Wing Po Liu (61,000).

The top ten stacks can be found below.

A full APT Taipei Main Event Day 2 Survivor List can be found by CLICKING HERE.

A full APT Taipei Main Event Day 3 Seat Draw can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Join us tomorrow from 11:15am local time for all the latest action from Day 3 of this record-breaking Main Event.

Day 2 of the APT Main Event is a wrap!

The players have bagged up their chips and a full write-up fo the day's action will follow shortly.

John Tech bubbles the APT Main Event

In the final hand of the night, John Tech and Shunsuke Tokoo had taken it to the streets on a board of 8♣ 4♣ 2♣ 9♦ 3♣. There were over 200,000 chips in the pot and Tokoo had fired 55,000 on the river. Tech then shoved all in for 142,000 and Tokoo couldn't call any quicker.

It was a few minutes before the players could reveal their hole cards and Tech already had his backpack on ready to leave the Asia Poker Arena. Once the camera team had arrived, the cards could then be revealed.

Tokoo A♣ 7♣

Tech A♥ 7♥

Tokoo was loving life as he knew he had the nuts the entire way. Tech also knew his fate as soon as Tokoo had called the river but had to wait until all the other hands had been completed before his bubble ordeal could be over.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for Tech as the Filipino player had a chance to pull a mystery envelope with prizes inside. Tech pulled a ticket for the Double Stack event which will take place later in the week with a buy-in of TWD 20,000 (~$649).

Napat Chokejindachai

With just two more eliminations until the money, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Junzhong Loo opened to 16,000 from middle position. When it folded to Napat 'Toptapp' Chokejindachai in the big blind, he announced all-in for about 160,000 total, Loo snap-called.

Loo A♣ A♥

Chokejindachai A♠ Q♠

Chokejindachai, a popular actor and TV host back in Thailand, was in his element with all the cameras on him. But when the flop came 4♠ 6♥ K♦ he couldn't hide the disappointment of potentially not cashing the APT Main Event. The turn 7♣ left him drawing dead as a cheer was unleashed from the remaining players who were now just one more elimination from making the money. An inconsequential K♥ came on the river, and Chokejindachai left the tournament area.

Naota Takeya slams down his ace-king high to win the pot

Another all-in-and-call situation, this time between New Zealand's Thomas Ward and Japan's Naoto Takeya.

We missed the action but Ward had shoved the river on a 9♠ 3♣ 5♣ 4♠ 4♥ board and as soon as the chips went in the middle, Takeya called the floor.

The Japanese player was trying to explain something but due to his limited English, he could not get his message across clearly. The floor informed Takeya that the shot clock was ticking down but the Japanese player was still trying to use the translate app on his phone to ask a question. With just a few seconds left on the clock, Takeya still hadn't got the answer to whatever it was he wanted to ask, and he angrily slammed calling chips down into the pot.

It took a few minutes for the train of media crew and cameras to arrive, and when they did the hands were revealed.

Ward T♠ 8♣

Takeya A♠ K♥

A huge call for Takeya on the bubble! We're still unsure of what he was trying to ask, but the situation worked out perfectly for him and he doubled up!

Tse Yueh Tsai celebrates boating up on the river

With 177 players still in the mix, Hao Ran Li and Tse Yueh Tsai got their chips in the middle on a J♦ K♦ J♠ flop, which left Tsai at risk.

Li J♣ 9♥

Tsai J♥ Q♠

Both players had flopped trips but it was Tsai who was ahead and looking to double up.

The chance of doubling up was drastically reduced as the A♠ landed on the turn as both players now would chop the pot if a clean river peeled off.

Tsai didn't like that idea and scooped the entire pot when the Q♦ filled out the board, giving him a full house.

Mike Takayama opened to 25,000 and Takeshi Takahashi shoved all in for 28,000. Takayama made the call to put the Japanese player at risk.

Takahashi K♠ K♦

Takayama 5♠ 5♣

Takahashi was in front but at risk and needed to fade the fives in the deck to stay alive. Once the media team had arrived, the dealer ran a board of 9♣ 2♥ 6♣ 2♣ 8♥ and Takahashi doubled up.

Masashi Tamuro

There was another all-in and call on the bubble between Masashi Tamuro and Jereld Sam.

The short-stacked Tamuro is at risk for his last 50,000, but he holds the preflop nuts with A♥ A♣. Singaporean Jereld Sam tabled 9♥.

The board ran out T♥ Q♦ 3♣ 8♣ 8♠. Another shorty survived on the bubble.

Edilberto Gopez Jr.

Another all-in and call on the bubble of the APT Taipei Main Event. This time, the player at risk is Edilberto Gopez Jr.

Gopez Jr., shipped all in for his last 37,000 on a 3♣ 5♥ 2s: flop. His Japanese opponent made the call and showed 9♠ 9♣. Gopez Jr. is looking for any ace or four.

The turn brought the A♦ for the Filipino, what an escape! His Japanese opponent took the beat with a smile while Gopez Jr. celebrated his two pair.

The 7♦ river meant Gopez Jr.’s celebrations continued.

Max Neugebauer

Max Neugebauer was all-in and at risk for his last 200,000 with K♥ Q♠ against the A♦ Kd: of Koji Nagasaka.

The flop came K♠ 2♠ 5♠ to give Neugebauer a queen-high flush draw, he received instant service when the turn came the J♠, guaranteeing he would double up. A board-pairing 5♣ came on the river and Neugebauer was dragging in a pot over 400,000.