Tran The Anh

A newly-seated Daeyoung Park wasted little time making his presence felt as the new table chip leader. Park raised to 200,000 from the cutoff, only for small blind Tran The Anh to jam for around 1,000,000, forcing Park to let it go.

The next hand saw Anmol Mehta open to 200,000 from under the gun, picking up the blinds without a fight.

The most interesting hand of the stretch came when Hun Tae Choi opened from early position and Mehta defended his big blind. The 6 4 2 flop saw Mehta check-call a 125,000 continuation bet from Choi before both players checked through the T turn. Mehta led for 200,000 on the 8 river, and after burning a timebank, Choi made the call.

Mehta tabled A J , but it was Choi's better kicker with A K that took the pot.

APT National Cup - Sponsored by Deep Run Trophy

The Asian Poker Tour’s 20th year milestone has wasted little time adding another major chapter to the tour’s record books, with the APT Taipei 2026 National Cup - Sponsored by DeepRun producing the largest field ever seen in an APT event.

The TWD 12,000 APT National Cup attracted 2,940 entries across six starting flights at Red Space and Asia Poker Arena, generating a prize pool of TWD 28,929,600 (~USD 927,230). That figure made the tournament the largest-ever opening event in the APT’s 20 year history, and the richest opening event that the tour has ever seen.

The scale of the achievement becomes even clearer when compared with the other largest opening events in APT history. Taipei has dominated the top end of the list in recent years, with the National Cup growing from a festival starter into one of the tour’s most important record-setting events.

APT Opening Event History

The previous opening event field record came at APT Taipei 2024, when the TWD 10,000 APT National Cup drew 2,305 entries and generated a TWD 19,899,065 (~USD 629,650) prize pool. At the time, it was the largest opening event in APT history and the second-largest tournament the tour had ever run.

APT Taipei returned even stronger in 2025 from a prize pool perspective. The APT Taipei 2025 National Cup drew 2,161 entries, slightly below the previous year’s field size, but its TWD 21,264,240 (~USD 656,000) prize pool made it the richest opening event in tour history at that point.

APT Taipei 2026

The APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 National Cup also played a major role in the National Cup’s rise, attracting 1,680 entries and creating a TWD 14,353,920 (~USD 454,375) prize pool. That result was another clear sign that the opener was becoming a major event in its own right rather than simply a warm-up for the rest of the schedule.

The growth is even more striking when compared with the start of APT’s New Era. Back at APT Taipei 2023, the tour-opening APT Kickoff drew 751 entries and generated a TWD 7,005,130 (~USD $220,600) prize pool, setting an opening event record at the time.

How Much Bigger Was This Opening Event?

The jump from 2024 to 2026 is significant. Compared with the 2,305 entries recorded at APT Taipei 2024, the new record represents an increase of 635 entries, or around 28%.

Against the 2,161-entry APT Taipei 2025 National Cup, the 2026 edition drew 779 more entries, a rise of roughly 36 percent. The prize pool followed the same upward trend, climbing from TWD 21,264,240 to TWD 28,929,600.

APT Taipei 2026 National Cup - Sponsored by DeepRun

The comparison with the APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 National Cup is even sharper. The 2026 edition drew 1,260 more entries, making it 75 percent larger than the 1,680-entry field recorded less than two years earlier.

Viewed against the APT Taipei 2023 Kickoff, the growth is enormous. The 2026 National Cup was almost four times the size of that 751-entry opener, showing just how quickly APT’s opening events have expanded during the tour’s New Era.

APT's Opening Event Success

The APT National Cup has become more than just an opening event. It is now one of the main indicators for where a festival is heading, and in Taipei, that signal has been unmistakable.

What once served just as a starting point for a series has developed into a record-breaking event in its own right. The 2024 edition set a new field benchmark. The 2025 version set a new prize pool standard, while this year's 2026 edition has taken the next step by breaking both the field size and prize pool records.

For a tour celebrating its 20th year, it shows how far APT has come from its early years into its current era of huge guarantees, packed tournament rooms, and record fields.

APT Taipei 2026

Chang Ho Hwang opened to 200,000 from middle position and saw Po Hao Liao call from the big blind.

The 3 7 A flop was checked by Liao and Hwang bet 250,000. Liao called and the pair were taken to the A turn.

Liao checked again, and Hwang moved all in for his remaining 1,050,000. Liao asked for a count, as their remaining stacks were almost identical, with Liao just covering Hwang.

It took around a minute before Liao mucked, passing the pot to Hwang.

Joshua Gebissa

Recent departures from the National Cup include Joshua Gebissa and Day 1E chip leader Dakota Anderson as the field continues to thin out.

Pranav Agarwal

Pranav Agarwal opened from middle position and faced a 740,000 jam by Ping Hsin Ou on the button. Agarwal asked "how much?" before the dealer confirmed his remaining stack and Agarwal made the call.

Ping Hsin Ou: K Q

Pranav Agarwal: 3 3

Ou was behind, but the 5 2 Q river went his way. Agarwal called for a "three" on the turn, but another queen Q fell, only improving Ou further.

A 9 completed the board and Ou secured his double-up, taking a stack from the start of day chip leader.

Yongwon Jo

Yen Chun Chen open-shoved for 1,250,000 from early position, followed by a shove behind from next-to-act Yongwon Jo. Ting Wei Chang checked the stacks but forfeited his big blind, leaving the two to show down.

Yen Chun Chen: T T

Yongwon Jo: Q Q

Chen was dominated by Jo's ladies, but the 8 9 J flop did offer a few more outs, albeit with Jo holding two of them. The A 5 river couldn't improve Chen, and he was sent to the rail as the mystery man Jo absorbed a huge chunk of chips; his expression, as ever, impossible to read. Fairly sure he was happy, though.

Tran The Anh was sitting in an early position and covered Zhuang Minzhe who was already all in and at risk for his remaining ~400,000 from under the gun.

Zhuang Minzhe: 6 6

Tran The Anh: A A

Minzhe needed to improve, but the 8 J K J 7 board wasn't enough to keep him in the tournament, and he was sent to the rail.

Connor Burchwell

The action was joined at the completion of the runout, with the board showing J 7 T 3 7 .

Button Piin Hang Yap, all-in and at risk for 430,000, was showing K 7 for trips. Big blind Connor Burchwell showed A 6 and was counting out his payment to Yap.

"What a game," Burchwell said with a wry smile.

Chia Ta Tsai open jammed from the small blind, forcing Hocheungjorge Leung all in for his remaining 485,000 in the big blind.

Hocheungjorge Leung: Q J

Chia Ta Tsai: 6 8

Tsai held to double up after sweating the 3 5 5 2 7 runout.

Akshay Nasa

In the next hand, Akshay Nasa opened to 120,000 from under the gun and saw a single call from Tsai.

The 9 3 T flop was continued by Nasa for 165,000 and Tsai paid to see the 7 turn.

Both players checked to get to a 5 river, and Nasa moved 375,000 into the middle. Tsai called but then quickly mucked after seeing Nasa show A T for top pair.

Nasa left the hand as the current chip leader, with a stack just short of 3 million.

Pranav Agarwal

Pranav Agarwal continues to lead the way at his table with 2,700,000, more than double the average stack, as the Indian pro keeps climbing. At the other end of the table, Waratch Saengprachum is in danger with just 120,000, barely two big blinds, and will need to find a spot soon.