Chapter 1: A Champion Shaped by the APT

Road to the Top

Abraham Ceesvin did not arrive at the top overnight.

His Main Event victory at APT Jeju 2025 was not the product of a single breakthrough, but the culmination of years spent moving through the Asian Poker Tour exactly as it was designed, starting small, learning steadily, and improving without shortcuts. Built by repetition, shaped by competition, and refined through consistency, the Singaporean pro’s rise mirrors the very pathway the APT has long championed.

Since the launch of the APT New Era at APT Taipei 2023, thirteen Main Events have been played, and Ceesvin has competed in eight of them, cashing every single time. Five of those runs saw him finish inside the top eighteen, including final table appearances at APT Incheon 2023, the APT Taipei Poker Classic, and now APT Jeju 2025. This record is enough to dub Ceesvin as the best performing player for New Era APT Main Events (outside of the APT Championship), with total cashes amounting to USD 844,369.

Abraham Ceesvin is the best performing player in Main Events at the Asian Poker Tour

Abraham Ceesvin’s APT New Era Main Event Final Table Results

The APT Jeju 2025 Main Event title was his fifth APT trophy in what he describes as the toughest competitive environment he has faced. Yet even at the peak of his achievement, he resists mythology.

“When everybody is improving, the skill gap is lower,” Ceesvin explains. “When the gap is lower, it boils down to card distribution. Who gets aces, who gets kings — if it’s reversed, you lose.”

In an era where poker knowledge is universal and improvement is accelerated by online tools and coaching, Ceesvin sees no benefit in pretending otherwise. Winning, to him, is not destiny, but timing and preparation.

Ceesvin lifting the APT Jeju 2025 Main Event trophy

Consistency Over Illusion

By the time he lifted the Jeju trophy, Ceesvin was no stranger to deep Main Event runs. Prior to the APT Championship 2025, he had cashed in every New Era APT Main Event he had ever entered, a remarkable record that quietly contradicts his insistence on luck alone.

Those results include two defining moments: a runner-up finish at the APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 Main Event and his Main Event victory at APT Jeju 2025, the two largest scores of his career. Yet Ceesvin never frames them as turning points.

“I try to keep improving,” he says. “We cannot stop learning. When everybody is learning, if you remain stagnant, you fall behind.”

For him, consistency is not about respecting the process. “You cannot come into a championship thinking, ‘I’m a champion, I’m good enough.’ If you want to win again, you have to do better.”

Ceesvin with APT Taipei Poker Classic 2025 Main Event Champion Rene Von Reden; a friendship forged in the crucible of poker

The Discipline of Self-Review

After tournaments, Ceesvin rewatches streams, often repeatedly, reviewing hands without emotion.

“I watch back, I see what I did wrong and what I could have done better,” he says. “Some you do right, some you still get wrong. It’s okay. I wouldn’t be too hard on myself.”

Even while still playing festivals, learning does not stop. “When I bust, I go back to my room, watch hands, learn from others. If you don’t learn from yourself, you learn from other people.”

There is no entitlement in his mindset, only curiosity. Deep runs by others are not threats, but lessons. “What did they do to get there? You can learn from that.”

Jeju and the Weight of Competition

APT Jeju 2025 felt different from the outset.

“You already know the competition is going to be tough,” Ceesvin says, pointing to the stronger European presence and higher buy-ins. “I respect them, I learn from them but it’s every man for himself.”

To counter this, one of Ceesvin’s strongest convictions is his refusal to let pressure dictate his decisions.

“I do not want to put pressure on myself, because it affects the way I play,” he explains. “I want to play how I want to play. I want to enjoy it.”

Pressure, he believes, alters instincts, particularly around bluffing. “Sometimes you tell yourself, ‘Please don’t bust bluffing,’ but when you pressure yourself, you choose not to bluff when you should.”

Instead, he focuses on internal wins. “If I make a big fold, I tell myself, that’s a good fold. We move on.”

“If it doesn’t work,” he adds, “it doesn’t work. We move on.”

Ceesvin is self-critical when it comes to going over his own hand reviews in poker tournaments

The Grind, the Cost, and the Point of It All

Tournament poker, Ceesvin says, is far more unforgiving than most people realise. “Yesterday I played 12 hours,” he recalls. “The next day I come back, five minutes, bust.”

One night you are fully invested; the next, it is over almost immediately. “You’re fired up from the day before, then suddenly it’s done. You go back to your room and try to improve again.”

There is no frustration in his voice, only acceptance. “If you want to win, you have to do what it takes. If you’re not willing to do it, then don’t complain.”

That realism extends to why he plays. “That’s all it is, money. I’m not chasing fame.” As a full-time cash-game player, tournaments are not a stage but an opportunity, a way to win a decent amount of money and help his family.”

“I want to reach a level where I’m comfortable,” he says. “Family is good, kids are good, you’re travelling, you’re playing poker, and you still have that fire.”

Ceesvin anxiously watches a hand at APT Jeju 2025

The Bigger Picture, Seen Clearly

Ceesvin understands that his journey did not happen in isolation.

“I’m a product of this,” he says of the Asian Poker Tour. “You don’t need to start high. You do your small, your medium, then your main, you move at your own pace.”

He also acknowledges the unseen effort by the APT behind events like Jeju. _“Most players don’t see the amount of work that goes into running this kind of event, every department.” _ That same perspective shaped how he treated the biggest win of his career.

“I don’t fossil things,” Abraham says. “Memories matter more.”

There was no spectacle after his Main Event victory, just time with friends, then family, a holiday planned, and space to let the moment settle.

For Ceesvin, winning was never the destination. It was simply one meaningful moment along a longer path, built by the tour, proven through consistency, and guided by a clear understanding of what truly matters.

Check out the full interview with Ceesvin here:

As the Asian Poker Tour celebrates its milestone 20-year anniversary, it's time to take a look back at the stories that have shaped those two decades. From the people that have helped to shape the APT experience, to the players on the felt that have defined the very competition the tour stands for.

Throughout the year, the APT will unveil a series of 20 iconic stories offering personal perspectives of how the tour has impacted lives, careers, and journeys, with Ceesvin’s story the first part of 20.