Jun Obara

Day 2 of the APT High Roller Championship has wrapped up. A total of 52 players returned from the initial 108 entries (87 unique), and with registration open until after the first break, another 65 jumped in. This brought the final tally to 173 entries (119 unique) and created a prize pool of TWD 75,782,176 (~USD 2,428,915).

Returning to the felt on the final day are the 12 remaining contenders, each guaranteed TWD 1,288,300 (~USD 41,290). Leading the pack is Japan's Jun Obara with 2,950,000 in chips.

Obara sits 2nd on Japan’s All-Time Money List with $7,322,286 in live earnings and owns APT titles from the APT Manila 2024 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up event and the APT Taiwan 2024 Hyper-Turbo High Roller.

Now, he seeks to claim the APT Highroller Championship Rose Gold Trophy, and secure the top prize of TWD 17,618,976 (~USD 564,710).

Gerald Karlic

Ireland’s Toby Joyce follows second in chip lead with 2,645,000, while Austria’s Gerald Karlic holds third place with 2,345,000. Karlic previously captured the APT Single Day High Roller earlier in the festival and remains a strong contender for another title.

With standout competitors such as WSOP bracelet winner Samuel Mullur, Alexander Wice, Huu Dung Nguyen, and APT Taipei Main Event champion Punnat Punsri still in the mix, an intense showdown awaits on the final day.

High Roller Final Day Stacks

Day 2 Highlights

The APT High Roller Championship drew some of the most prominent names in poker, creating one of the toughest fields of the festival.

Out of the 117 entries that participated in Day 2, only 23 spots were paid, prompting everyone to bring their A-game in pursuit of a cash.

Daniel Neilson, ranked 7th on Australia’s All-Time Money List, aimed to secure another APT Rose Gold Trophy after winning the same event at APT Manila 2024. Despite reaching two final tables earlier in the series, his run ended well before the money when his pocket sevens ran into Karlic’s pocket nines.

Thi Xoa Nguyen, 9th on Vietnam’s All-Time Money List and the overnight chip leader, also fell victim to Karlic. Her ace-queen couldn’t overcome his pocket aces, cutting her deep run short.

Samuel Mullur

Adding extra drama to the already intense atmosphere was a brief rivalry between Karlic and his countryman Samuel Mullur, who traded back-to-back all-ins with a few playful jabs exchanged between them.

The most heartbreaking moment came when Denmark's Johan Schultz-Pedersen was eliminated on the bubble. The young pro, who has openly shared his growth in the game, saw his pocket kings cracked in brutal fashion when Karlic’s ace-king turned a full house, knocking him out one spot short of a payout.

Dylan Linde

Later in the evening came another painful exit: American Dylan Linde (17th) whose downfall was tied to ace-nine. First, he was crippled when his ace-king lost to Khoi Le Nguyen’s ace-nine, which turned two pair.

And the coup de grâce was delivered by Paulius Plausinaitis, holding the exact same hand, when he paired the river against Linde’s queen-six to seal his fate.

Several other well-known players also missed the money, including two-time APT Main Event champion Mike Takayama, former StarCraft Pro Yohwan “Boxer” Lim, Erik Seidel, Joseph Cheong, Thomas Ward, Alexander Lynskey, and many more.

The final day will begin tomorrow at 12 p.m. (TST) and will start in Level 22 with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and an ante of 40,000, playing through 60-minute levels until a champion is crowned.

For the Seat Draw, CLICK HERE.

For the Full Payout Schedule, CLICK HERE.

Don’t miss a moment and stay locked in as tomorrow’s finale promises fireworks from the very first deal.

Day 2 has officially ended with 12 players moving on to the Day 3 Final. Play will resume at 12:00 noon TST, which is in less than 12 hours from now.

A complete recap with all the chip counts and the day's highlights will be up shortly.

On the last hand of Day 2, the action folded to Chase Cokaliong on the button, and he jammed.

Tung Nguyen Thanh folded with around 700,000 in his stack from the small blind and Alex Wice let go of his hand with 1,000,000 behind in the big blind.

Cokaliong instantly stood up and flipped over 7 2 and then began bagging up his stack of 2,100,000, while laughing out loud.

Chase Cokaliong

It was one of the final hands of the evening, and both players built the pot to seven figures during a blind battle.

The action began with a limp from Punnat Punsri in the small blind, to which Chase Cokaliong responded with a bet of 105,000. Punsri called.

The flop came A 9 5 , and neither player took the initiative.

On the 3 turn, Punsri bet 120,000, and Cokaliong called to see the K river.

Punsri pushed then 360,000, hoping to force Cokaliong out, but the Filipino calmly announced “all in.” Punsri leaned in to confirm, and Cokaliong repeated "all in"

Punsri hesitated, running the hand through his mind and fiddling with his chips. He ultimately played it safe and mucked, leaving the massive pot to Cokaliong.

Curious, Punsri asked, “Did you hit your king on the river?” Cokaliong nodded in confirmation.

Samuel Mullur

Samuel Mullur raised to 60,000 under the gun before Toby Joyce three-bet from the big blind to 220,000. After thinking it over, Mullur four-bet jammed for 969,000, and Joyce instantly called.

Samuel Mullur: Q Q

Toby Joyce: A K

It was a huge flip to end the night with Mullur holding the pair against the two overcards of Joyce

A low clean runout of 3 2 T 6 T came out for Mullur's Ladies, and he doubled up to just under 2,000,000.

Steven Chew opened to 60,000 in cutoff and got called by big blind Matthias Lipp taking them to the flop.

The flop came Q 5 K . Lipp check-called Chew's bet of 40,000 to see one more card.

The turn dropped 9 and after action was once again passed to him, Chew fired 145,000 which was enough to take the pot down.

The floor staff have announced that there will be six more hands before play concludes for the night

Gerald Karlic

The two biggest stacks on the table belonged to Gerald Karlic and Toby Joyce.

Karlic was on the button and opened for 70,000. Joyce was on the big blind and three-bet raised to 270,000.

Karlic made the call.

The dealer fanned a flop of T T 6

Joyce check-called the 150,000 bet of Karlic and K was shown on the turn.

Check-check and the Q came on the river.

Both checked again.

Joyce opened J J

Karlic mucked.

Kannapong Thanarattrakul

Natural8 ambassador, Kannapong Thanarattrakul jammed from the hijack for 267,000 and Gerald Karlic was the only caller from the next seat. After the rest of the table folded, the cards were revealed.

Kannapong Thanarattrakul: 6 6

Gerald Karlic: A K

Thanarattrakul had already survived being at risk a few times, and increase his stack to over ten big blinds for the first time in a while if Karlic didn't connect with the board.

A flop of K 2 3 came down propelling Karlic into the lead with a pair of kings. A Q on the turn meant only a six on the river could save Thanarattrakul.

It wasn't to be as the 8 completed the board and Thanarattrakul was out in 13th place for TWD 1,288,300 (~USD 41,290).

Daewoong Song

Daewoong Song shoved his entire stack after Toby Joyce opened to 66,000.

The two players went heads-up preflop, with Song risking his tournament and needing to improve to stay alive.

Daewoong Song: 9 9

Toby Joyce: J J

The dealer ran a flop A Q 7 J 4 that offered no help to Song. Instead, Joyce hit a third jack, sending Song to the rail. He finished in 14th place and collected TWD 1,174,600 (~USD 37,650).