• Calvin Lee Goes Wire-to-Wire in Superstar Challenge for KRW 328M (~USD 235K) Payday

APT INCHEON 2025 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA, August 5, 2025 – Registration still remains open in what is unofficially the Asian Poker Tour’s largest and richest Korean-based Main Event with the two final flights for the KRW 2.5M (~USD 1,800*) buy-in tournament bringing the field up to 1,200 entries.

With late entry available until the start of Day 2 which gets underway at 11am local time (KST) on Wednesday, August 6 the field is expected to grow further, but has already surpassed the tours’ previous all-time Korean record set during the APT Jeju 2024.

Running in partnership with Paradise Group at the tournament tables of the palatial Paradise City resort the fifth day of the 10-day festival saw players pack into the poker room for flights C & D of the Main Event, all eager to get in on the record-breaking action with the KRW 1 billion (~USD 1 million) guarantee surpassed at the start of Flight C.

In addition to the draw of the tours’ flagship tournament there was also added attraction of the finale of the festival’s most prestigious high stakes tournament — KRW 35M (~USD 25,300*) Superstar Challenge — which played out to a thrilling conclusion.

That was not the only tournament to crown a champion, with the Final Day of the tours’ largest Korean iteration of the Event #31 High Roller – Ultra Stack also playing out, in addition to a further twelve tournaments (including promotional events). You can read about all the exciting side event action in the side event day five press release.

*USD rates for comparison only and have fluctuated, changing the exchange rate

Main Event Flight C

Japan’s Shuzo Sekine topped the Flight C chip counts

The action started out with the penultimate flight of the Main Event which proved to be the largest of the four drawing 316 entries (263 unique) bringing the number of entries up to 1,008 entries to reach and breach the tournaments’ KRW 1.5 billion guarantee.

The Flight C contenders duked it out over ten levels comprising six 30-minute levels and four 45-minute levels in an attempt to fight their way through to Day 2, with 148 of them successful in their endeavours.

None could catch Flight A frontrunner Chi Hsiang Chiu, meaning that the Taiwanese player will be returning in pole position when the tournament resumes for Day 2.

It was Shuzo Sekine who topped the Flight C chip counts, concluding the action with a stack of 307,300, with the Japanese player the only one of two players outside of Chiu to exceed 300,000 in chips over the four flights, the other being Flight A second chip lead Takumi Nakayama.

Japan also provided the second largest Flight C stack, with Keigo Kotani concluding the action with 242,100 in chips, with Taiwan’s Poseidon Ho playing up a storm to bag the third largest Flight C stack of 228,100, with the top ten stacks as follows:

FLIGHT C TOP TEN STACKS

Other notables to make it through included Taiwan’s I-Chun “Charlie” Chiu (137,400), Korea National Cup champion Kevin Choi (120,900), China’s Renji Mao (103,100), APT Super High Roller champion Michael Foo (99,800), and Russia’s Maxim Sorokin (68,200) to name but a few.

For Main Event Flight C Player List please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Flight C Survivors please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Main Event Flight C tournament page.

You can follow all the Flight C action as it played out via the APT Blog.

Main Event Flight D

Singpapore’s Dongying Dongying bagged biggest on Flight D

While Flight C broke the Main Event guarantee, it was the fourth and final Flight D that pushed the tournament to new heights, attracting a further 192 entries (156 unique), to bring the total number of entries up to 1,200 and set a new tour country record for the tournament, making this the largest APT Main Event ever to play out in Korea.

Flight D followed the same format as C, with players competing over ten levels comprising six 30-minute levels and four 45-minute levels.

A total of 95 players made the cut, with Singapore’s Dongying Dongying topping the flight, bagging up a stack of 239,500.

Japan’s Takumi Takumi was not that far behind in the counts, finishing the flight with 230,300 in chips.

France’s Selim Oulmekki (201,600) rounded out the top three stacks and was the only other Flight D player to crack the 200K milestone, with the top ten stacks as follows:

FLIGHT D TOP TEN STACKS

Other notables to make it through from the final flight included Natural8 Ambassadors Phachara Wongwichit (110,100), and Eric “Six Poker” Tsai (105,400), the Netherland’s **Joris Michl **(68,200), Thailand’s Kiwanont Sukhum (56,700), and Malaysia’s Ben Loo (34,500), with former APT head of live poker operations Lloyd Fontillas (28,900) proving that he can play as well as officiate.

For Main Event Flight D Player List please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Flight D Survivors please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Main Event Flight D tournament page.

You can follow all the Flight D action as it played out via the APT Blog.

The 431 survivors of all four starting flights will combine for the first time for Day 2, with the tournament getting underway at 11am local time (KST) on Wednesday, August 6 with the action scheduled to play out over eight 60-minute levels.

For Main Event Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE.

Full coverage will be available on the APT Blog, and you can also watch the action as it plays out via the Main Event Day 2 live stream on the official APT YouTube channel.

Calvin Lee Goes Wire-to-Wire in Superstar Challenge for KRW 328M (~USD 235K) Payday

Wire-to-wire wins — where a competitor takes an unassailable lead in a sporting event — are a rarity, especially in poker, which makes Calvin Lee’s latest tournament victory in the APT Incheon’s highest buy-in tournament, the KRW 35M (~USD 25,300*) Superstar Challenge, all the more impressive.

Just six players from an initial Day 1 field of 24 entries returned for the Final Day to compete for a share of the KRW 781,670,000 (~USD 561,140) prize pool – the second largest of the festival to-date (outside of the Main Event).

Lee came back with a start-of-day lead he would not relinquish, returning with twenty five percent of the chips in play and scoring four out of the five final table eliminations on his way to victory.

While it was APT Incheon 2023 High Roller champion Thanisorn Saelor who claimed first blood — eliminating the short-stacked Fabian Schmidt on the second 40-minute level played — Lee scored the next casualty, sending former APT High Roller champion Stanley Weng to the rail in fifth place to burst the money bubble and guarantee the four remaining players a payday of at least KRW 93,800,000 (~USD 67,340).

The US-Korean player further increased his strangle hold on the tournament top spot two levels later following the first break of the day after waking up with pocket kings when Saelor moved all-in pre-flop with pocket threes.

Three became two minutes later in a blind-on-blind confrontation between Lee and Sweden’s Mikael Andersson; Lee moving all-in preflop with king deuce of diamonds and hitting bottom pair on the runout to overcome the Swede’s ace three.

Lee brought a five-to-one chip lead into the heads-up match against Jun Obara, and while the Japanese player put up a spirited resistance the slopes of Lee’s mountainous chip stack proved too steep to scale, with Lee rivering the second nut straight to overcome Obara’s rivered two pair and bring the tournament to a close.

SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE RESULTS

*Plus APT Championship Main Event seat valued at KRW 13,930,000 (USD 10,000)

For Superstar Challenge Results please CLICK HERE

The KRW 328,300,000 (~USD 235,680) top prize represents Lee’s third-largest career cash, and his second largest title victory, coming just behind his 2016 WSOP bracelet win.

In addition to the sizable cash prize, Lee also won a USD 10,000 seat to the APT’s largest-ever guaranteed Main Event — the USD 5M GTD freezeout APT Championship Main Event — running in November in Taipei, Taiwan.

"I'm very excited now I have the ticket, so I'll be there for sure. Yeah, it's very different because you only have one life, right? So it's basically like playing a video game on like a hardcore mode," said Lee when asked about his views on the upcoming tournament.

Calvin Lee is headed to the APT Championship in November

Lee now boasts close to USD 4.5 million in live tournament winnings, usurping Phil ‘Unabomber’ Laak for the #269 spot on the US All-Time Money List, and was happy to have accomplished it in one of the most prestigious tournaments on the APT schedule.

"It's a big buy in – the biggest buying of the whole series. I was in for two bullets. So, you know, you enjoy that. You enjoy that moment; you get the adrenaline rush," Lee confided immediately following his win.

"I always say there's nothing like going deep in a tournament. You know, it doesn't matter if its lower stakes or medium stakes. You're just going deep in a tournament, it’s a rush, like no other," said Lee in his post-match interview, acknowledging the fact that the cards were on his side this tournament.

"I just ran super-hot. I was in for my first bullet. I didn't run so hot, and it was just literally down only. And I busted. And then I re bought, I max late reg’d. From there I just kept getting a lot of fortunate spots and just kept going up – I've been very lucky, of course."

Jun Obara and Calvin Lee share a sporting handshake immediately after the final hand

Lee was also gracious in victory, complementing Obara on his play.

"I was enjoying the moment every hand, trying to play the best I can. He [Jun Obara] has been great. I've known him for a long time, he's improved vastly. I remember when he first started playing poker, he was an amateur, but now, you know, especially this past summer, he's had very big scores in Vegas, and now he's he plays on a completely different level than when I first met him a while back."

After coming into the six-handed final table as the second shortest stack, Obara will not be disappointed with his second-place finish, with the KRW 218,870,000 (~USD 157,120) runner-up prize granting the Japanese player a top four career-best cash and his largest-ever result on Korean soil, taking his total live earnings to just over $5M.

Third-place finisher Mikael Andersson was card dead for much of the final table but will be happy with the KRW 140,700,000 (~USD 101,005) payout, which granted the Swede a career-best score, eclipsing his previous best third-place finish in the APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 Super High Roller.

Former APT High Roller champion Thanisorn Saelor rounded out the last of the paying positions, with the KRW 93,800,000 (~USD 67,340) on offer for fourth awarding the Thai player a top five career cash.

All tournament information can be viewed on the Superstar Challenge – Final Day tournament page, and you can follow all the tournament thrills and spills on the APT Blog.