Ruiko Mamiya

Japan’s Ruiko Mamiya has completed an incredible run to win the National Cup Championship, topping the largest Asian Poker Tour side event ever held. The former dealer, who only started playing after learning the game during her shifts, secured the title following a three-way deal with Taiwan’s Wei Chun Kuo and Hong Kong’s Wilfred Yiu. The payouts at the top were balanced, but the trophy, the title, and the final APT Championship Main Event seat were still in play. Mamiya claimed all three, along with TWD 3,087,700 (~USD 101,900).

The numbers behind her win were just as impressive as the result. The National Cup Championship pulled in 2,398 entries (1,157 unique) inside Red Space, Taipei, building a TWD 29,849,200 (~USD 985,120) prize pool. It more than doubled the TWD 12,000,000 guarantee and now stands as the largest side event in the tour's history.

What made Mamiya’s finish stand out was the route she had to take. She slipped to fewer than eight big blinds by Level 25 and had to survive several all-ins just to stay afloat. Bit by bit, she worked her stack back into play, then found a surge at the perfect time, climbing from short stack to chip leader before the final two tables. For someone who learned the game from the dealer’s side of the table, it was a composed showing that kept building as the day went on.

National Cup Championship Final Table Results

*denotes three-way ICM deal **also wins an APTC Main Event Seat

Mamiya's Thoughts After Victory

For Mamiya, the moment the final river card fell was almost surreal. She joked that she is usually the loudest voice in the dealer pit, yet standing with a trophy in her hands felt like something she had only ever watched other people experience. “I almost never enter No-Limit Hold’em tournaments tournaments where you can win a trophy,” she admitted afterward. “I never expected that I would actually win one myself. I’m really happy.”

Her path into poker has been anything but traditional. Mamiya spent years working as a dealer, and only learned to play because she decided to practice on her days off while preparing for a short course at a dealer school in Las Vegas. She also credits her mother for nudging her toward the game. “At the beginning, I actually started poker because my mother recommended it,” she said with a smile.

What struck her most about this event was the diversity and strength of the field. She had imagined tournaments in this buy-in range would be full of casual players, but throughout the day she recognized multiple professionals in the seats around her. It made her appreciate just how popular and respected the National Cup Championship has become.

“People from all kinds of countries come here,” she said. “You see players who just learned poker, people who play for fun, people who squeeze it in around their jobs, and also full professionals. I tried to imagine how each person learned poker and gauge their level as I played.”

Ruiko Mamiya celebrates with friends

Mamiya entered the final table third in chips, only to lose a flip and suddenly find herself at the bottom of the counts. From there, she settled in for a long grind, building her stack back piece by piece. “I had a really long period of slowly grinding and building up little by little,” she reflected. “Honestly, I was really lucky and the flow was good.”

Before leaving to celebrate, Mamiya made sure to thank the players around her who helped her grow on the competitive side of the game. “I always ask everyone about the things I don’t understand, so I’m really grateful,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

Day 2 Action

A total of 337 spots were paid, but only 336 returned for Day 2 because Ben Gur qualified twice and received a min-cash for his lower stack, which was removed from play. The Israeli player had a deep run on his bigger stack and finished in 53rd.

The eliminations came thick and fast, with several big names making deep runs. Most of them fell on their march to the final table, including Alan Lau (15th), Natural8 Ambassador Thai Ha (23rd), Tom Verbruggen (36th), Michel Molenaar (40th), John Perry (52nd), Ben Underwood (62nd), and Nishant Sharma (72nd).

The final table was reached during Level 36 when Han-Hsu Hsieh got king-jack in the middle for his last four big blinds and ran into the ace-jack of Shiuan Cen Chang. A clean runout later, and Hsieh was out in tenth as the final table bubble boy.

Final Table

The chip lead was held by Yiu, only narrowly over Wing Fai Kwan, and they were well clear of the rest of the field. Mamiya came in third, and the three clear short stacks were Florencio Campomanes, I Hsuan Wu, and Tsz Him Chan.

Mamiya had a chance to vault into the chip lead early on as her pocket nines were flipping against the ace-queen of runner-up Kuo. A queen on the flop kept Kuo in contention, with both of them unaware they would meet to play it out for the title.

The aforementioned Chang was the first to hit the rail on the final table when his pocket kings came up short against the ace-ten of Kuo, who flopped an ace.

Kevin Tang

Kevin Tang fell immediately after when he three-bet shoved queen-jack into the ace-eight of Kwan. A jack-high flop seemed to be keeping Tang alive, but both the turn and the river were aces, sending him out in eighth.

Chan wasn't too far behind as he let his stack dwindle to less than a big blind before he got it in with jack-eight, only to run into the pocket kings of Kuo. A double-gutshot on the turn did give Chan some hope, but the river bricked, spelling the end of his run in seventh.

I Hsuan Wu's elimination came just a few minutes later as his four big blinds went in with king-jack. He was called by the pocket fives of Kuo and the ace-queen of Yiu, and when it checked to showdown on a board that nobody connected with, Wu was out in sixth.

Florencio Campomanes

Campomanes took his turn in the firing line when his king-eight came up against the king-queen of Yiu. The board didn't contain any eights, and the Filipino player hit the rail in fifth.

Mamiya was then the short stack for a while and with less than five big blinds, she turned the pressure on. Consecutive double-ups against Kwan moved her up the counts, first with ace-ten against Kwan's ace-eight and then her king-jack spiked a jack against his ace-ten.

Moments later, Kwan's demise was complete as he moved all in for his last three big blinds with queen-jack and picked up two callers. Yiu ended up rivering a straight holding queen-nine, which meant Kwan exited in fourth.

Wing Fai Kwan

ICM Deal Struck

With three players remaining, the stacks slowly became close to even and an ICM deal was made to flatten out the payouts.

When play resumed, chips went flying. Yiu was all in with ace-jack and looked to be heading to the exit as Kuo had flopped a queen holding queen-ten. However, running Broadway cards kept him in the hunt.

Wilfred Yiu

However, Yiu couldn't keep that momentum going as he soon ran ace-six into Mamiya's ace-king. A turned open-ended straight draw did give Yiu some hope, but the river bricked, leaving him out in third.

Kuo took a marginal lead into heads-up play, but that soon became a massive deficit as the two finalists played out a massive pot. Mamiya held ace-queen and Kuo queen-four, and they both flopped top pair. When the action got to the river, Kuo shoved, and Mamiya eventually called, with her ace-kicker earning her a massive chip lead.

Wei Chun Kuo

Despite Kuo managing to double up once, the mountain was just too steep to climb. In the final hand of the night, Kuo raised jack-nine and then called off the shove of Mamiya, who held ace-five. An ace-high flop gave Mamiya a big lead, and she held through the runout, which meant Kuo had to settle for second.

That concludes the coverage of the National Cup Championship, but be sure to check the APT blog regularly find all the latest updates from the championship events at APTC.

Wei Chun Kuo

A couple hands after Ruiko Mamiya doubled through Wei Chun Kuo, Kuo shoved on the button for his last 12,000,000 and was called by Mamiya.

Wei Chun Kuo: Q 3

Ruiko Mamiya: 8 4

Both player's rails rushed the table to sweat the runout, which came 2 J 9 A K — leaving Kuo best with his queen and keeping his hopes of a comeback alive with a double up.

However, just a few hands later, Kuo raised to 4,000,000 on the button and Mamiya shoved to put him all in. Kuo obliged and called all in for about 26,000,000 total.

Wei Chun Kuo: J 9

Ruiko Mamiya: A 5

This time Mamiya had the best of it, and the A Q K flop gave her a commanding lead with a pair of aces.

Kuo still had outs to Broadway, but the 4 turn and 2 river left him second best, eliminating him in second place and sending Mamiya's rail into a frenzy.

Ruiko Mamiya

Ruiko Mamiya just stunned Wei Chun Kuo!

Mamiya raised to 3,200,000 on the button and Kuo called in the big blind.

They went to a flop of 2 T Q , were Kuo check-called a bet of 1,700,000 from Mamiya.

A 5 on the turn saw Kuo check it over once again, and Mamiya continued to fire with a bet of 3,700,000. Kuo wasted no time in making it 10,000,000, which Mamiya called.

When the J filled out the board, Kuo shoved, putting Mamiya to the test for her remaining 26,500,000. She tossed in a time bank, stared at the board, stood up, and announced a call.

Kuo then revealed Q 4 for a pair of queens, but Mamiya had that beat as she held A Q for a pair of queens with an ace-kicker.

Mamiya is on the brink!

Wilfred Yiu

After chipping down in a couple of small pots, Wilfred Yiu raised to 2,600,000 from the small blind and was met with a shove from Ruiko Mamiya in the big blind.

Yiu thought a bit, but decided to commit his last 15,000,000 into the middle to put himself at risk.

Wilfred Yiu: A 6

Ruiko Mamiya: A K

It was a bad time to make a stand, as Mamiya had Yiu crushed with her suited ace-king.

"Six! Six!" Yiu's rail chanted as they sweat the runout.

It wasn't meant to be, however, as the 5 4 J 7 7 runout provided no help to Yiu, eliminated him in third place for TWD 3,036,000 (~USD 100,200).

Each of the three have locked up a guaranteed cash prize, as seen in the table below. There is TWD 388,700 (~USD 12,830) left to play for, plus the APTC Main Event seat!

Immediately after play resumed, Ruiko Mamiya raised the button and Wei Chun Kuo three-bet the small blind. Wilfred Yiu four-bet to 16,000,000 from the big blind, which got Mamiya to fold. Kuo then shoved, and Yiu folded with around 18,000,000 behind.

A few orbits later, Yiu had his last 15,200,000 in the middle and was put at risk by Kuo.

Wilfred Yiu: A J

Wei Chun Kuo: Q T

Yiu was ahead, but the 2 3 Q flop meant he was staring third place in the face.

A T turn actually gave him an extra out as any of the four remaining kings would give him Broadway.

Kuo was a massive favorite with his two pair, but Yiu erupted when the K hit the river, completing his straight and earning him a double-up.

The three remaining players have agreed to an ICM chop, but will play for a set-aside amount along with the lion trophy and a APTC Main Event ticket.

Official numbers will be posted shortly.

Wilfred Yiu raised to 2,200,000 on the button and Wei Chun Kuo defended his big blind.

They went to a flop of Q 7 3 , where Kuo check-called a bet of 1,500,000 from Yiu to the 9 turn. Both checked and watched the Q hit the river.

Kuo took some time before he bet 4,500,000, and Yiu pretty quickly called, tabling A 7 for a pair of sevens. That was good as Kuo mucked.

The three players have asked for the clock to be paused while they discuss a potential deal.

Wing Fai Kwan

Wing Fai Kwan shoved for around 13,000,000 from under the gun and it was folded around to Ruiko Mamiya, who called all in for approximatley 8,000,000 from the big blind.

Ruiko Mamiya: K J

Wing Fai Kwan: A T

Kwan held the lead, but lost it immediately on the 5 J 9 flop.

The 9 turn and 9 river left Mamiya with a full house and she doubled up through Kwan, who was left with a bit over 3,000,000 following the clash.

A few hands later, Kwan shoved under the gun for 3,000,000 and was called by Wilfred Yiu in the small blind and Mamiya in the big blind.

Both players checked down on the 7 3 T flop and J turn, but then Yiu bet out on the K river, which got an immediate fold from Mamiya.

Yiu tabled Q 9 for a straight, which was best against Kwan's Q J for a pair of jacks to eliminate him in fourth place for TWD 1,333,500 (~USD 44,010).

Ruiko Mamiya doubles up

Ruiko Mamiya is hanging in there. She just shoved 4,500,000 from the small blind and was put at risk by Wing Fai Kwan in the big blind.

Ruiko Mamiya: A T

Wing Fai Kwan: A 8

Mamiya was in the lead, and found a safe flop in Q 4 2 .

A J turn gave her a flush draw, and the T river paired her ten to secure the double-up.