Ritwik Khanna
The APT Taipei 2026 series has already produced memorable moments, and the TWD 150,000 APT High Roller added another one before the festival reached the finish line. The event drew 329 entries (211 unique), creating a TWD 34,110,720 (~USD 1,089,800) prize pool and becoming the second-largest and second-richest APT High Roller in tour history.
India’s Ritwik Khanna was the last player standing inside the Red Space Arena, taking home the APT Rose Gold Lion Trophy, an APT Championship 2026 Main Event ticket, and TWD 5,336,300 (~USD 170,490) after a heads-up ICM deal with defending champion Trung Quan Nguyen. The win also made Khanna the first Indian player to capture a standard APT Mega Lion Trophy.
Khanna had to get through plenty of APT superstars to close it out. He denied Nguyen back-to-back APT Taipei High Roller titles and a second Mega Lion Trophy, while Rene von Reden’s hopes of adding another Mega Lion to his mantelpiece also ended at the final table.
APT High Roller Final Table Results
*depicts ICM deal **_Includes APTC 2026 Main Event ticket worth TWD 312,000 (~USD 10,000)
Winner’s Reaction
Speaking after his victory, Khanna was still taking in the biggest live poker moment of his career, and one he had just shared with his family over the phone.
“Um, this was one of the greatest moments in my life. And just sharing it with my family was very special because they've been supportive all throughout, even though, you know, my dad's always been like, 'you've got to do our business'.”
“They've been really supportive to help me just take this as a career. And you know, I've been playing live for two years and finally just getting that monkey off my back.”
Khanna admitted the trip to this series was not really a plan, which made ending the series with the huge trophy even harder to put into words.
“I did not even plan this. I was, I was traveling for two months and I did not plan on coming for APT. It was just all of a sudden I spoke to a couple of guys and, you know, uh, and for that to happen in the last tournament in the series. I don't have any more words.”
Ritwik Khanna
The Indian player said he had not let himself dream too much about winning the trophy before the event started.
“Oh, man. To be honest, I did not manifest this thing because this is beautiful. And I was like, this is too far fetched. Let me not, like, get to two carried away in my head and let's see how it goes.”
“But I think, uh, honestly, you know, money is one aspect, but just having this in my resume and this beautiful thing, like it's huge and it's heavy. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna be flaunting this quite a bit now.”
Khanna has built much of his poker reputation online, but this win now gives him a major live title on the Asian circuit.
“Um, yeah. See, I was primarily an online player and did not have too many live results. So just, you know, now I'm going to have this in my resume. So it's definitely pushing it more towards, you know, just keep hustling, keep hustling, because it's not going to stop over here.”
Ritwik Khanna
Asked what he learned about his live game during the run, Khanna said the final table brought something out of him that even he did not fully expect.
“To be honest, I didn't think I was that good. But while playing... like the kind of bluffs that I made, the kind of calls that I made. I wasn't expecting this, but I guess when you're totally zoned in and you're totally like in it to win it. I think it just automatically comes in. Which tells me that I may I may have a natural instinct for it. And yeah, it's not going to stop. Never.”
Khanna also gave plenty of credit to the Indian rail, who he said pushed him to take his shot in what became the highest buy-in event he had ever played.
“A lot of these boys told me to play this tournament. I did not plan on playing this tournament, but they were like, 'you should play. It's lucrative. The ROI is going to be higher'.”
“Because I wasn't really confident enough to play a four thousand dollar buy in. This is probably the highest buy in I've ever played. So I wasn't that confident.”
“But the push that these Indians have given me is phenomenal. So I think if it wasn't for them, or if it wasn't for their support, it would have been very difficult.”
Ritwik Khanna
As for where the trophy is going, Khanna already had a location in mind.
“Oh, man. This is going to live with me in my grind room with the other lions. Not the other lions, but, you know, maybe the rabbits.”
Day 2 Action
When cards hit the baize before noon, 63 players were still in the hunt, all hoping to be the one lifting the final APT Mega Lion Trophy of the series. For most though, the first task was simply to survive the money bubble, with only the top 47 spots getting paid.
It didn’t take long for play to reach the hand-for-hand stage, with the likes of Anuj Yadav, Main Event fourth-place finisher Kristof Segers, and Eonseok Ki all leaving empty-handed. Phanlert Sukonthachartnant earned the unfortunate title of bubble boy after shoving pocket tens from late position, only for Mikael Andersson to wake up with kings in the blinds.
Phanlert Sukonthachartnant
With everyone guaranteed at least TWD 190,900 (~USD 6,100), the bustouts came quickly as players tried to build stacks for the final table. John Matsuda and Aung Myo both ran into Matthew Chan’s pocket queens, while Abraham Ceesvin followed them to the cashier’s desk after he couldm't get away from second pair, while Hei Mong Ying had top pair.
Joseph Cheong
A few more notables fell before the tournament was down to ten players. Joseph Cheong shoved ace-deuce into Kai Yang’s ace-seven, while Mike Takayama’s hopes of winning a second major title this series ended at the hands of von Reden. Takayama jammed with a suited queen but finished second best against von Reden’s ace-ten.
Once play reached ten-handed, the floor paused the action for hand-for-hand play, with the next elimination set to form the final table. Rob Hollink was the one to break the deadlock, busting in tenth after jamming a suited king on the button and getting called by both blinds. Hollink could only make king-high, losing out to Quang Trinh Do’s top pair, which meant the final table for the APT High Roller was set.
Rob Hollink
Final Table Action
The final table wasted no time getting going, with Nguyen picking up an early pot with big slick before Andersson was on the right end of a cooler. Andersson five-bet jammed pocket kings into Ying’s ace-king, and with no ace on the runout, the Swede doubled into the chip lead while Ying was left short.
The first elimination came just one hand later when Yi Cheng Lo moved all in with pocket sevens and was snap-called by von Reden, who had ace-queen in the big blind. The flop brought two aces, and Lo couldn’t find any help, becoming the first player to hit the rail in ninth.
Yi Cheng Lo
Khanna then began to gain momentum, picking up pots with some well-timed aggression before Nguyen, Andersson, and Nirunrut Rachburom all took turns near the top of the counts. Von Reden also looked like he was heading for the exit when he got king-queen in against Andersson’s ace-six, but a ten on the river gave him Broadway and kept his hopes of winning another Mega Lion alive.
Do was next out the door after getting pocket fives in against the ace-queen of Tran Anh Tuan Le. Le paired his ace on the flop, improved to trips on the turn, and Do couldn’t find the one card he needed on the river, heading out in eighth.
Mikael Andersson
Andersson had been one of the early movers at the final table, but his stack went in the wrong direction quickly. After being left short, he got the last of it in blind from the big blind against Khanna. Andersson had ten-deuce, while Khanna held queen-nine, and the board ran clean for the eventual champion to send Andersson out in seventh.
Khanna then made a call that defined his final table. On a queen-high board, Rachburom check-jammed the turn with second pair, but Khanna found the call with top pair holding king-queen. The river changed nothing, leaving Rachburom short, and Khanna finished the job a few hands later when his pocket eights flopped a set against her ace-ten, sending the only lady at the table out in sixth.
Rene von Reden & Nirunrut Rachburom
Von Reden was the next former Mega Lion winner to fall in the tournament. He jammed from under the gun with king-four and was called by Le, who woke up with pocket jacks. Von Reden couldn’t find a king or any clubs, and his deep APT High Roller run ended in fifth.
With four left, Ying doubled Nguyen with ace-nine into pocket kings and was left with less than a big blind. Ying was forced all in the very next hand, and although he paired his king, Nguyen had him pipped with the better kicker. No help arrived, and Ying had to settle for fourth, just shy of a podium finish.
Tran Anh Tuan Le
Three-handed play looked like it might end quickly when Le got ace-king in against Nguyen’s ace-ten. Le was in great shape to send the tournament heads-up, but Nguyen turned extra outs and drilled a king on the river to make Broadway, leaving Le short instead. Le did manage one double after that, but the comeback was short-lived. He shoved king-ten from the small blind, Nguyen called with ace-nine, and the board ran out clean to send Le to the rail in third.
Heads-Up For the Mega Lion
That set up a heads-up match between Khanna and Nguyen, with Nguyen holding a slight lead. The two agreed to an ICM deal before play resumed, but there was still the trophy, the title, and the final chunk of money left to play for.
Trung Quan Nguyen & Ritwik Khanna
Nguyen started the stronger of the two and began edging away. Then came the hand that almost ended it. Nguyen pulled off a big river bluff after Khanna had check-raised the turn, forcing Khanna to fold a small full house, and then showed the bluff as he moved into a massive lead, of around 10-to-1
At that point, Khanna was down to just a few big blinds and looked all but finished, but his spin-up started immediately. First, he doubled with king-five against Nguyen’s six-four, flopping two pair and holding. Then he doubled again with queen-ten against jack-nine, moving back into eight figures and suddenly making it a match again.
Trung Quan Nguyen
Nguyen still had chances to stop the comeback, including one all-in where his queen-ten chopped against Khanna’s queen-jack, but the momentum had shifted. Khanna kept applying pressure, picked up a few walks, and chipped his way into the lead.
The final hand came when Nguyen jammed the button and Khanna snap-called from the big blind with pocket kings. Nguyen had queen-ten and picked up some hope when a queen hit the turn, but the river was a blank. Khanna’s cowboys held, and he ran over to celebrate with his rail as Nguyen was denied back-to-back APT Taipei High Roller titles.
Ritwik Khanna
That brings the end a record-breaking APT Taipei 2026 series, one that delivered the biggest opening event in tour history, the richest-ever APT Super High Roller, the second-largest and second-richest APT High Roller ever, and the most unique players ever recorded in any APT festival event.
Ritwik Khanna Our 2026 APT Taipei High Roller Champion
Ritwik Khanna
Ritwik Khanna
Ritwik Khanna
Ritwik Khanna
Trung Quan Nguyen
Ritwik Khanna
Trung Quan Nguyen