Shoichiro Tamaki
The record-breaking KRW 2,300,000 APT Incheon Main Event has been won by Japan's Shoichiro Tamaki after he outlasted the field of 930 runners (563 unique) and takes home a bumper first prize of KRW 271,447,000 (~$206,030) for his victory after cutting a three-way ICM deal with China's Tsz To Wan and Thailand's Napat Chokejindachai.
The tournament saw two tour records broken with the prize pool of KRW 1,867,347,000 (~USD $1,411,975) being the largest ever for a Main Event in South Korea and the number of entries crushing the previous high of 540 set at APT Korea in 2021.
"I hoped, I hoped, but I didn't expect," said an overwhelmed Tamaki immediately after his victory.
"This is... so big...in my life," Tamaki said emotionally before asking if he could finish his interview in Japanese.
"Thanks to everyone, I was able to win the championship! Thank you for your support. I was happy with your messages – it was really encouraging. Thank you!"* Tamaki stated, before bowing and heading off to the cashier to collect his winnings.
*Tamaki's words were translated into English via the use of an interpreter.
Incredibly, this is only Tamaki's third-ever live tournament cash and his second APT score after finishing runner-up in a Midnight Tick Tock event earlier in the series for KRW 5,120,000. It brings the Japanese player up to 69th in Japan's All-Time Money List, up 1,309 spots from his previous position of 1,378th.
*denotes deal made
When the day began there were sixteen hopefuls all looking to first secure their place at the final table, ladder up the payouts, and then go on to lift the golden lion trophy. All of them had secured a payout of at least KRW 15,300,000 (~$11,570) and it was New Zealand's Tu Tran who fell first after his pocket aces were undone by the seven-five of Wataru Kosugi who turned a flush.
Artem Sofronov (15th), Kosugi (14th), Zhanhui Zheng (13th), and Inaba Katsuhiro (12th) all fell short of making the final table as did the APT Super High Roller champion Milos Petakovic after the Serbian ran his king-nine into the king-queen of Japan's Masahiro Adachi to finish eleventh.
The final table bubble burst with Adrian Chua hitting the rail in tenth after he called off the last of his short stack with king-four and couldn't get there against the ace-nine of Napat Chokejindachai.
Adrian Chua bubbles the APT Main Event final table
When the final table got underway it was Tamaki who led the way, just as he did at the end of Day 3, with over ten million chips which was a little under thirty percent of the total chips in play.
Spain's Raul Martinez Gallego started the final table as the shortest stack and he would be the first eliminated when his king-nine couldn't overcome the ace-king of Wan. It was the first APT final table of the Spaniard's career and he took ninth for KRW 25,700,000 (~$19,430).
Adachi would soon follow when the Japanese player shoved over the early open of Tamaki with ace-seven but ran into his countrymate's pocket queens. Tamaki flopped a set which ended the run of Adachi in eighth and he locked up a career-best score of KRW 32,600,000 (~$24,650).
Masahiro Adachi
Just eight hands later there would be another player heading to the cashier as Jason Lau hit the rail with Singapore's Abraham Ceesvin being the one to send him there. Lau had shoved all in with ace-king and was put at risk by the pocket eights of Ceesvin but the king-high flop wouldn't be enough to keep him alive as the Singaporean had flopped a set to send Lau out in seventh for KRW 45,700,000 (~$34,550).
Tamaki then took a bit of a dent to his stack after getting ace-jack in preflop against the ace-seven of Ceesvin. The Singaporean looked destined to be the next player eliminated but flopped a flush draw and turned the flush to stay alive and knock Tamaki off the top of the leaderboard.
King Wai Cheung found himself on the wrong side of a cooler after flopping trip aces with ace-eight but running into the ace-ten of Tamaki. The Japanese player had rivered a full house and put Cheung to the test for all of his chips and the player from Hong Kong couldn't find the fold button which left him out in sixth for a payday of KRW 63,900,000 (~$48,310).
Abraham Ceesvin's bustout
It took just three more hands to be dealt before the next player's chip count hit zero as Ceesvin shoved pocket eights and was put at risk by the king-ten of Wan. A safe flop would have given the Singaporean hope but the king on the turn ended his dream of a Main Event title and he finished fifth for KRW 86,300,000 (~$65,250).
Veleriy Pak's unorthodox playing style proved to be successful and at one point he took the chip lead but started to lose chips after his ace-nine couldn't overcome the pocket nines of Chokejindachai. The two clashed not long after with Pak's pocket kings being outflopped by the ace-eight of the player from Thailand to leave the only player in the tournament from Uzbekistan with just six big blinds.
It was Tamaki who delivered the final blow after Pak shoved all in with eight-nine and was put at risk by the king-queen of the Japanese player. Tamaki flopped trip queens to leave Pak drawing extremely thin and there would be no miracle runout for Pak which left him out in fourth for KRW 110,900,000 (~$83,850).
Veleriy Pak
When play dropped to three-handed the remaining players immediately decided to discuss a deal and it didn't take long for it to be agreed. An ICM chop saw them all lock up a fixed amount regardless of where they finished in the tournament but KRW 26,347,000 (~$20,000) would be left for the eventual champion along with the APT golden lion trophy.
The three battled it out with them all taking their turn at the summit of the leaderboard but eventually it would be Chokejindachai who would occupy the bronze-medal position after running pocket threes into Wan's pocket fives. No help from the dealer would arrive which left the Thai player out in third for KRW 222,200,000 (~$168,050).
When heads-up play began it was Wan who held a slender four-to-three chip advantage over Tamaki but the Japanese player pulled some aggressive moves to regain the chip lead. Tamaki had a chance to end it all when he called the shove of Wan with jack-ten but couldn't get there against the Chinese player's ace-king.
Tsz To Wan
In the twenty-ninth hand of heads-up play, both players had seen a flop after Wan limped in and then uncharacteristically open-shoved the flop for twelve big blinds with an open-ended straight draw holding seven-eight. Tamaki was deep in the tank and elected to call off with bottom pair holding five-three to give himself another chance at winning the title. Wan couldn't find any of his outs on the turn or river which meant he was eliminated and took home KRW 211,200,000 (~$160,300) for his runner-up finish.
Wan won his seat online in an invitation-only influencer event hosted by Natural8 that saw seven players secure a $1,700 APT Main Event seat plus $875 in cash which meant he had paid nothing to enter this tournament. A fantastic result for the video game streamer.
It left just one man with all of the chips and that was Shoichiro Tamaki. The Japanese player fought hard and turned up the aggression when he needed it to win the APT Main Event and lift the golden lion trophy.
Congratulations to Tamaki on a well-deserved victory.
Tsz To Wan