Jianfeng Sun
After five epic days of Main Event play here at LES A Casino, the grand venue for the APT Jeju 2026 series, China's Jianfeng Sun has been crowned the Main Event Champion.
With the day starting a player short after an epic double bust out involving Changliang Sun and Yi Heng Luo closed Day 4 action yesterday, it took just 90 hands of final day play to award this year's winner the Gold Mega Lion Trophy.
It came as little surprise to see Jianfeng Sun go the distance after starting the final day well ahead of the pack, even if he narrowly missed out on holding the chip lead throughout. After coming up just short at this same event during the 2024 Jeju Main Event, Sun secured a new career-best score of KRW 427,565,000 (~USD 319,080) alongside an APT Championship Main Event ticket.
Steve Ng
His heads-up opponent and runner-up, Steve Ng of Singapore, took home the lion's share of the KRW 3,207,600,000 (~USD 2,393,730) prize pool after the pair struck a heads-up deal, securing a payout of KRW 449,115,000 (~USD 335,160). Ng's fellow countryman Kwang Chung Tan rounded out the podium after being eliminated in third place, taking home KRW 225,180,000 (~USD 168,045).
Both runners-up also received seats to the APT Championship 2026 Main Event, worth an additional ~USD 10,000, giving them another opportunity to seek redemption in just over a month's time in Taipei.
APT Jeju 2026 Main Event Final Table Results
*Denotes heads-up deal
Jianfeng Sun, Final Hand
Jianfeng Sun: "Could today be my day?"
For Jianfeng Sun, this victory carried a different feeling to his runner-up finish in the same event two years ago. While there was an underlying expection from Day 4 onwards that he could go the distance, Sun revealed that the disappointment of 2024 wasn’t weighing to heavily on him going into the final day.
“Over the past two years, I’ve played in many tournaments, so that past loss didn't actually leave a deep impression on me. Back then, I entered heads-up with a very short stack—a 1-to-5 chip ratio—so I didn't feel it was much of a regret to lose. But this time, I really wanted to win, especially since I entered the Final Table as the chip leader. On the very first hand, when my AK eliminated KK, I felt like luck was on my side today, and I thought, "Could today be my day?" I had that feeling at the time. I feel I’ve made some progress over the past two years, especially in my mindset and my grasp of table dynamics compared to two years ago; I can feel the improvement myself.”
That confidence was put to the test when the tournament reached heads-up play. Despite surrendering the chip lead to Steve Ng during the middle of play and beginning the duel at a disadvantage, Sun never doubted his ability to come out on top.
“I’m very confident in my heads-up play because a few months ago, I was constantly playing heads-up matches against Xu Yang (Boss Xu). So I felt my heads-up skill level had improved a bit, and I was confident I could win against him. Throughout the process, I could also feel victory shifting in my direction.”
The victory itself was the culmination of years of work, but when the final hand was over and his ace-high held against Ng’s king-ten, Sun's thoughts immediately turned away from the poker table and towards home.
“It was definitely my wife. She was watching the live stream, so I wanted to grab my phone immediately to tell her that I had won, since the live stream has a delay.”
Sun also reflected on how much he has grown as a player over the past two years and considered what he would tell his younger self knowing where that journey has led him today.
“I wish I could go back to play that Jeju Final Day two years ago with my current skill level; maybe the result would have been a bit better….Yes. If I hadn't won today, it would mean there are still areas I need to improve, and maybe I'd have another chance in a couple of years.”
“It really boosts my self-confidence. Going forward, when playing this kind of Final Table, I'll definitely have more experience.”
Finally, Sun paid tribute to the supporters who packed the rail throughout the final table and especially during the heads-up battle against Ng.
“Thanks to their support, including their cheering during hands and everything, we definitely dominated the momentum over our opponent.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
*Quotes Translated from Mandarin
While Sun ultimately lifted the Gold Mega Lion Trophy, his path to the title was far from straightforward, with plenty of twists and momentum swings unfolding throughout the final day.
Fierce Final Table Action
Back Row L-R: Kwang Chung Tan, Toby Joyce, Steve Ng, Jianfeng Sun.
Front Row L-R: Erdun Xu, Shuang Qiu, Jiawei Wan, Weimin Chen
Sun had a steady start to the Main Event, bagging around average on both Day 2 and Day 3 before making his move to the top on Day 4. His rise to the chip lead wasn't entirely smooth sailing, as he was caught in sizeable pots, sending chips across the table, but he always managed to recover.
Jianfeng Sun
Riding his Day 4 momentum, Sun started the final day as chip leader and applied pressure from the offset, maintaining his lead through the first two levels of the day.
After just four hands, Sun kept running and cracked Shuang Qiu’s kings with his big slick after flopping trip aces, leaving no way for Qiu to survive. Qui and had previously placed third in the APTJeju Main Event 2025, but couldn't improve on that result here, collecting KRW 53,230,000 (~USD 39,725).
Erdun Xu
Sun was miles ahead of the pack, but that didn't stop players from trying to chip away at the leader.
Erdun Xu came into the day with the shortest stack at just 16 big blinds and patiently waited for his opportunity. The first hand he chose to play at the final table would also be his last, as he open-jammed with king-queen offsuit from under the gun and ran into Steve Ng's dominating ace-queen. Xu picked up a backdoor straight draw on the flop but bricked the runout and exited in seventh place.
Between eliminations, players remained conservative, with small pots being passed, mainly through walks and uncontested opens.
China’s Jiawei Wan, who had been patiently waiting for his shot, came into the final day with just USD 5,824 in live tournament earnings, making him the least experienced tournament player in the field. Wan put in an impressive Day 4 performance, but his run came to an end after blinding down to just over ten big blinds. He took his shot with ace-king but unfortunately ran into Weimin Chen's pocket jacks. Wan found no help from the board, and was sent home in sixth place, after around three hours of final table action.
There appeared to be no stopping Sun, who maintained his tournament top spot throughout the first four hours of play, putting his dominant stack to good use and pressuring all players at the table. With just five players remaining, he held almost double the stack of Steve Ng, his nearest challenger.
Toby Joyce
It was Ireland's Toby Joyce and China's Weimin Chen who sat at the bottom of the counts through the middle stages of the day, but it was Chen whose run came to an end in fifth place after he defended his big blind with nine-five suited and flopped trip nines. He was up against Ng who turned a flush; Chen missed his chance to improve to a full house on the river. The hand also proved pivotal for Ng, who seized the chip lead from Sun for the first time all day.
Ng didn’t stop there, and almost immediately took on Ireland’s Toby Joyce, who was left running on fumes. Joyce put his tournament life on the line with ace-jack offsuit, only to run into Ng’s pocket nines. Joyce didn’t find any help from the board and headed to the rail in fourth place, taking home KRW 166,770,000 (~USD 124,455), the first of the top four six-figure USD payouts.
It took only ten minutes for play to go from three-handed to heads-up, and it was Singapore’s Kwang Chung Tan who finished in the first of the tournament's podium places. Tan entered the final table with a middle-sized stack and made some headway before being swiftly knocked back down to the shortest stack after just three levels of play.
Kwang Chung Tan
Tan found some hope of a comeback after locking up a double with pocket fives after flopping a set, but his luck with pocket pairs quickly ran out. Shortly after, Tan woke up with pocket sixes, only for Ng to turn a pair of aces, sending Tan to the rail in third place.
Heads-Up Deal Confirmed
Jianfeng Sun(left) & Steve Ng(right)
After a short pause while the Sun and Ng discussed a deal, the tournament moved to 30-minute levels.
The duo flattened out the payouts, dueling heads-up for the Gold Mega Lion Trophy and a further KRW 23,600,000 (~USD 17,610) in cash.
The pair had been battling near the top of the counts from the outset. Although Ng started the day trailing Sun, it came as little surprise to see them reach heads-up play given they entered the day topping the counts and had some of the most final table experience.
For the first two hours of play, Ng gave Sun a genuine run for his money and wasn't afraid to put himself in difficult spots, accepting that you win some and you lose some.
Ng Gets a Head Start
Ng then went on a rampage, accounting for four of the six final-table eliminations on his way to heads-up play. It was Chen's elimination that first gave Ng the lead, and he managed to maintain it for the following hour of play. He rocketed his stack to 32,000,000 against Sun's 21,000,000 when heads-up action began, holding the 3:2 chip lead.
With the average stack still sitting at around 80 big blinds when heads-up play commenced, the battle started off steady. A series of small pots kept chip counts relatively flat, though Ng continued to hold a slight advantage.
Sun and Ng battle heads up in the APT Jeju 2026 Main Event
Sun Retakes the Spotlight
Momentum swung back in Sun's favour after a series of bigger pots allowed him to chip away at Ng's advantage. A key hand widened the gap even further after both players held queens and found themselves in a limp-check pot. Ng paired his queen, but Sun flopped top two pair and improved to a full house by the river. Ng could only get away on the river after Sun jammed, but the damage was done and Sun emerged holding a commanding 3:1 chip lead.
Sun then shifted through the gears and extended his lead to 5:1 after scooping a string of consecutive pots, successfully betting Ng off a couple of sizeable pots.
After just 90 hands of final table action, the final hand saw Ng raise with king-ten before Sun moved all-in with ace-four. Ng quickly made the call, and both players missed the flop, turn, and river, leaving Sun's ace-high good enough to secure the title.
Jianfeng Sun, APTC Ticket
All that remained was to hand Sun the Gold Mega Lion Trophy and his APT Championship Main Event ticket, bringing an end to a Main Event final day that goes into the books as the second-fastest of the APT's new era. Only the 2024 Taipei Main Event ended more quickly, concluding five hands earlier, though one level shorter than this year's championship.
The last of the festival's signature lion trophies—the Rose Gold Lion—is on the line in the APT High Roller, and you can follow all the high-stakes coverage over on the APT High Roller Day 1 tournament blog with the event concluding on Sunday, October 4.
Jianfeng Sun
Steve Ng
Jianfeng Sun (left), Steve Ng (right)
Jianfeng Sun
Steve Ng
Jianfeng Sun
Steve Ng
Jianfeng Sun
Steve Ng
Jianfeng Sun