Day 1 Chip Leader Yunpeng Bai

The final flagship event of the 10-day festival, the APT High Roller, has come to a close after drawing a strong field of 259 entries (167 unique) to the LES A Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World Resort. Players seized their last opportunity of the series to claim the coveted APT Rose Gold Trophy.

The event comfortably surpassed its KRW 700,000,000 guarantee, generating a massive total prize pool of KRW 1,118,880,000 (~USD 763,740). From the starting field, 55 players will advance to the final day, all setting their sights on the top prize of KRW 233,530,000 (~USD 159,400), along with an APTC Main Event seat valued at KRW 14,650,000 (~USD 10,000).

Leading the pack is China’s Yunpeng Bai, who bagged 1,408,000 chips at the end of the day. Close behind is Romania’s Mihai Tabac with 1,350,000, determined to capture a flagship Lion after narrowly missing out with a third-place finish in the recently concluded APT Main Event.

Rounding out the top three is WSOP bracelet holder Weiran Pu from China, who boasts nearly USD 3,500,000 in total live tournament earnings. A familiar presence on the APT circuit, Pu is still in pursuit of his first Mega Lion trophy.

Top Ten Chip Counts

APT HIGH ROLLER DAY 1 TOP TEN STACKS

Also inside the top ten is former APT Main Event champion Rene von Reden from Germany, who shared in a recent interview that he endured a rough 2025 and is eager to secure a victory at this series. Already the owner of an APT Gold Trophy, capturing a Rose Gold Lion would be a fitting addition to his growing pride.

Still in contention is the USA's Joseph Cheong, currently ranked #1 on the APT All-Time Money List. A two-time APT Superstar Challenge champion and two-time APT Zodiac Classic winner, Cheong has yet to bring home one of the flagship Lions to the United States.

Former APT High Roller champion German player Martin Sedlak also remains in the hunt, hoping to claim a second Rose Gold Trophy.

Renji Mao, ranked 13th on China’s All-Time Money List with total live earnings of USD 4,490,950, recently captured the KRW 5,000,000 APT High Roller title. He will be aiming to complete a remarkable double high roller victory before the festival concludes.

Martin Sedlak

Also chasing his first Lion is Fendy Kosasih from Indonesia, who finished third in this festival’s APT Superstar Challenge and is determined to add a flagship trophy to his résumé.

Notables who were unable to advance include back-to-back APT Super High Roller and APT Superstar Challenge champion Tony Ren Lin, former APT champion Punnat Punsri, Natural8 Ambassador Nevan Chang, APT High Roller champion Trung Quan Nguyen, James Cheung, and Dylan Foster.

Play resumes tomorrow, February 8, at 11:15 a.m. (KST), beginning at Level 17 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and a 12,000 big blind ante. There will be 15-minute breaks every three levels, and play will continue until a champion is crowned.

With so many heavy hitters remaining, the final day is set for a fierce showdown. Stay tuned as we bring you continued high-level poker action straight from the tournament floor.

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The remaining 50 players have bagged their chips marking the end of APT High Roller Day 1. Please stay tuned as a full recap of the day will follow shortly.

Steve Ng

Tianhao Zheng open-shoved for 136,000 from under the gun and button player Steve Ng called, putting Zheng in jeopardy of elimination.

Tianhao Zheng: 8 8

Steve Ng: A T

Zheng fell behind the moment the flop fell 2 T 6 . He wasn't able to turn things around on the runout 2 4 . Zheng left the tournament floor as other tables started bagging their chips.

Zhifan Ye

Yunpeng Bai started the action with 20,000 from hijack and Zhifan Ye in the big blind called to see a flop.

The flop came 9 4 5 . After action was passed to him, Bai fired 18,000 which Ye called.

On the turn J , Ye check-called Bai's bet of 50,000 once again.

Not able to shake-off Ye, Bai checked the river 3 after Ye. Ye showed J T for a turned pair, prompting Bai to muck his hand.

Shouda Zhang opened for 20,000 in late position and after a time bank, big blind player Jiaming Zhao three-bet to 105,000. Zhang replied with a four-bet shove for more than 500,000 and Zhao, covered and at risk, made the call.

Jiaming Zhao: A K

Shouda Zhang: A Q

Zhao was ahead on the flop of 7 4 8 but lost his lead when the Q fell on the turn.

The river 9 completed the board and Zhao left the floor as the day was nearing its end.

The clock has now been paused, and the floor has announced that seven more hands will be dealt for the day.

At the conclusion of the seven hands, all remaining players will bag up their chips to return for Day 2 tomorrow, February 8, and play down until a champion is crowned.

Mihai Tabac

Mihai Tabac opened for 25,000 from under the gun and was matched by Jun Lin on the next seat. When action came to Ryuta Nakai on the button, he re-raised to 95,000.

Tabac then moved all in for 578,000. Lin stepped out of the way and Nakai didn't hesitate to push a chip to call.

Ryuta Nakai: A K

Mihai Tabac: Q Q

Board ran 6 8 4 2 5

Nakai found no help and when the chips were counted Tabac went on to scoop the remaining 565,000 of Nakai, sending him to the rail in the process.

Tabac, it seems, just rocketed to the chip lead with over a million in chips.

There was around 120,000 beside a flop of 5 8 K . After a bet from Zhili Zhou for 26,000 from the small blind, button player Kanwen Du shoved all-in for 159,000. Zhou took all his allotted time before making the call, putting his seat mate at risk.

Kanwen Du: K J

Zhili Zhou: A J

Du had hit the flop with top pair but Zhou was hoping the ace would fall on the next two streets. Unfortunately, the runout came 3 and Q . Du's pair held giving him a much needed boost to his stack.

Waiting for the next hand, the two players had a friendly chat.

Renji Mao

Action was folded around to Renji Mao in the hijack, who raised it up to 16,000 and was looked up by Xixiang Luo in the big blind.

The dealer fanned out the flop of 9 9 A , Luo check raised Mao's 7,000 continuation bet to 25,000 and Mao called.

Both players checked the 6 turn to see the 4 peel off on the river.

Luo sized up an overbet of 115,000 which was enough to put Mao all in who went deep into the tank and tossed in all his time banks. The dealer charged him two of these before he released his hand to send the pot to Luo, who showed the 6 with much needling occurring after.

Yifeng Zhang during APT Jeju Classic 2026 Zodiac Classic

After losing most of his chips to Ledong Zhou, recent Zodiac Classic runner-up Yifeng Zhang was forced all in on his big blind for his last 3,000.

Guanglei Zhou raised to 16,000 on the hijack and Tianhao Zheng three-bet raised to 50,000.

Zhou let it go and it was Zhang fighting for his tournament life against Zheng.

Yifeng Zhang: 7 6

Tianhao Zheng: A K

Board ran 5 T 8 4 6

Zhang made a straight on the turn to survive, but was still in critical condition.

Incidentally, Zhang made an impressive come back when he finished as the runner-up of the Zodiac Classic, coming from just two big blinds to almost win it.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find the same mojo he had and bowed out a few moments later.