The award-winning Gold Lion APT Main Event Trophy

APT JEJU 2026 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

• Natural8 Ambassador Nevan Chang Wins Record-Breaking Superstar Challenge for Career-Best KRW 451.7M (~USD 337K)

• China’s Xiang Chen Claims Maiden APT Title in High Roller – Ultra Stack for Career-Best KRW 217.9M (~USD 162.6K)

JEJU, SOUTH KOREA, September 29, 2026 – The KRW 2.2 billion guaranteed APT Main Event is one third of the way through, with the final two starting flights concluding at the tournament tables of LES A Casino – located inside the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa World resort complex.

Alongside the flagship action, Day 5 of the 13-day festival delivered plenty of high-stakes thrills and spills with the exhilarating end of the record-breaking Superstar Challenge and High Roller – Ultra Stack.

The action extended across a further ten side events, led by the KRW 1.1M NL Hold’em Bounty and the KRW 4.3M Single Day High Roller. The schedule also featured Masters Mix Game – 9-Game action, the Women’s Main Event, and a host of Turbo and Hyper Turbo offerings. Details on these can be found in the side event press release.

Main Event

The final two starting flights of the KRW 2.7M (~USD 1,900) buy-in APT Jeju 2026 Main Event saw a combined 413 entries throw their hat in the ring—256 on Flight C and 157 on Flight D—and join the 297 Flight A entries and 239 Flight B entries.

This brings the current field up to 1,172, with 368 players advancing to Day 2. The KRW 2.2 billion (~USD 1.6 million) guarantee was surpassed midway through Flight C, with the current prize pool from the online entries and four live flights standing at KRW 2,734,041,600 (~USD 2,040,330).

However, with late registration remaining open until the start of level 12 at 12:15pm local time (KST), both the number of entries and prize pool are expected to grow further.

China’s Chang Li Tops Main Event Flight C

China’s Chang Li bagged the Main Event Flight C chip lead with 239,000 chips

Action in the penultimate Flight C got underway at 11am (KST) with 256 entries (209 unique) entering the tournament arena to duke it out over six 30-minute levels and a further four 45-minute levels.

For the third flight in a row it was a player from the Middle Kingdom who came out on top, with China’s Chang Li bagging the chip lead with 239,000 chips.

Li was the only Flight C player to finish on over 200K, with Vietnam's Trinh Anh Tuan (189,500), and China's Jie Yuan (181,800) rounding out the top three with 116 players making it through to Day 2, with the top ten as follows:

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT C TOP 10 STACKS

For Main Event Flight C Player List please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Flight C Survivors please CLICK HERE

Former APT Big Three champions to make it through included two-time Main Event champion Lester Edoc (128,000), APT Taipei 2024 Main Event winner Daisuke Ogita (106,800), and APT Jeju Classic Main Event winner William Li (56,700) alongside APT High Roller champions Stanley Weng (149,900), Daniel Neilson (80,800), and Khoa Anh Ngo (65,300).

Other notables to make it through to Day 2 included the Philippines’ James Mendoza (96,900), Taiwan’s Maggie Weng (73,200), and David “Spade” Erquiaga (22,900).

Full tournament details are available on the Main Event Flight C tournament page. To read about all the action, visit the Main Event Flight C APT Blog.

Canada’s Fuyu Yang Summits Main Event Flight D

Flight D frontrunner Fuyu Yang will be returning second in the overall Day 2 counts

The fourth and final Flight D followed the same structure as Flight C and got underway at 6pm (KST) drawing 157 entries (117 unique) with 58 players making the cut.

Canada’s Fuyu Yang (329,900)—the only player from Flight D to bag over 300K—summited the final flight and will be returning second in the Day 2 chip counts. China’s Dajie Zhuo (256,000), and Yifan Zhang (243,100) rounded out the top three, with the top ten as follows:

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT D TOP 10 STACKS

For Main Event Flight D Player List please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Flight D Survivors please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE

Former Main Event winners to make it through include APT Taipei 2026 champion Walter Lau (139,900), and APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 champion Rene von Reden (72,700).

Fresh from his runner up finish in the Superstar Challenge, APT Jeju Classic High Roller champion Rudy Edenata bagged up a 97,800 stack. APT Jeju 2025 High Roller champion Mingcong Chen (86,000) also made it through.

Other notables to bag included Japan’s Ryuta Nakai (87,200), Taiwan's Pete Chen (82,100), and bracelet winners Georgios Skarparis (50,300), and Maxim Lykov (29,900).

Full tournament details are available on the Main Event Flight D tournament page and you can follow how the action played out on the Main Event Flight D APT Blog.

The Main Event live stream will start concurrently with the Day 2 action on Wednesday, September 30 at 11am (KST) and you can view all the action as it happens on the official APT YouTube channel or follow along with the live reporting on the APT Blog.

Natural8 Ambassador Nevan Chang Wins Record-Breaking Superstar Challenge for Career-Best KRW 451.7M (~USD 337K)

Nevan Chang claims his 10th career APT title and the exclusive Black Stealth Lion trophy

The richest Superstar Challenge in APT history has crowned its champion, with Natural8 ambassador Nevan Chang defeating APT Jeju Classic High Roller champion Rudy Edenata to claim the KRW 451,777,500 (~USD 337,150) top prize—the largest score of his professional career and the second-largest Superstar Challenge top prize ever awarded.

Chang is currently enjoying the best year of his poker career to-date, with this result bringing his live tournament winnings for 2026 up to over USD 1.4 million and moving him up into the top three on the Taiwan All-Time Money List.

In addition to marking his tenth career APT title by taming the exclusive Black Stealth Lion trophy, the Taiwanese poker professional also secured a USD 10,000 (~KRW 13.4M) seat to November’s APT Championship (APTC) Main Event.

“I can finally put this trophy in my home, because I already have a few Lion Trophies in this style, so I can place this black, premier one right in the middle,” said Chang with a chuckle in his post-match interview.

What makes Chang’s victory all the more impressive is the fact he overcame the largest Superstar Challenge field since the tournament increased its buy-in to USD 25,000 back in March 2024. Chang saw off challenges from a 51-entry field packed with talent, with 16 players returning for the Final Day to battle for a share of the monster KRW 1,785,127,500 (~USD 1,332,185) prize pool.

“I will definitely play the entire schedule,” Chang stated when asked about his plans for the APT Championship now he has claimed his Main Event seat.

Nevan Chang has booked his ticket to the APT Championship Main Event

“The key thing is that last year I also won a championship there and brought home a big Lion Trophy. I heard this year's Lion Trophy has been redesigned and looks different, so I'll find a way to fight for another lion,” an upbeat Chang said with a laugh.

Chang’s journey to the title was defined by high-impact eliminations, relentless aggression, and key timing with hot runouts. The Taiwanese professional was instrumental in bursting the money bubble, guaranteeing the remaining 11 players a payout of at least KRW 53,150,000 (~USD 39,665) after eliminating Japan’s Ryuta Nakai near the end of the third 40-minute level played.

Two 40-minute levels later, a high-octane final table was set. Start-of-day chip leader Rob Hollink held command with 69 big blinds, while Chang entered fifth in chips with 28 big blinds.

However, Chang soon took control through relentless aggression, knocking out five of his eight final-table opponents—including Hollink in fourth place.

“After I eliminated the fourth-place player, my chip stack jumped up. At that point, I felt my chances of winning were as high as 80 or 90 percent,” Chang shared after the win.

Lightning-Fast Heads-Up

Carrying a nearly 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Edenata, Chang needed just three hands to seal the victory. The final hand saw Chang flop a flush, raise Edenata's bet, and call an all-in turn shove to capture the title.

“In the final heads-up match, I didn't expect it to end in just three hands. Everything went very smoothly,” said Chang.

“I've played this USD 25,000 APT event quite a few times before and never made the money. This was the first time, and I went all the way to take the championship… Having accumulated a lot of experience from playing against many players before made me better and better. I'm really happy to win this competition today.”

Top Row (L-R): Fabian Gumz, Johan Pedersen, Renji Mao, Rudy Edenata, Rob Hollink

Bottom (L-R): Nevan Chang, Nang Quang Nguyen, Yoko Sasaki, Chih Wei Fan

SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE RESULTS

For Superstar Challenge Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For Superstar Challenge Results please CLICK HERE

For full tournament details, visit the Superstar Challenge Final Day tournament page and you can read about all the high-stakes action via the Superstar Challenge Final Day APT Blog.

China’s Xiang Chen Claims Maiden APT Title in High Roller – Ultra Stack for Career-Best KRW 217.9M (~USD 162.6K)

Xiang Chen booked his APT Championship Main Event seat with his High Roller - Ultra Stack win

The two-day KRW 4.5M (~USD 3,300) buy-in High Roller – Ultra Stack saw just 96 players from a 283-entry field return for the final day to fight it out at the felt for a share of the KRW 1,100,304,000 (~USD 821,120) prize pool.

With only the top 39 players set to earn a payout, competition for a place in the paying positions was fiercely contested, with a min-cash worth KRW 7,500,000 (~USD 5,600).

It was China’s Xiang Chen who proved to be the last player standing, defeating Japan’s Haruhiko Shinohara heads-up to claim his maiden APT title and a career-best KRW 217,934,000 (~USD 162,640) top prize, alongside a USD 10,000 (~KRW 13.4M) seat to November’s APT Championship Main Event.

Shinohara scored KRW 144,880,000 (~USD 108,120) for his runner-up finish, which represents the second largest payout of his poker career to date.

The United Kingdom’s Sam Ameen rounded out the winner’s podium, and was another player to cash for his best result ever, banking KRW 105,970,000 (~USD 79,080) for his third place finish, with the final table paying out as follows:

HIGH ROLLER – ULTRA STACK FINAL TABLE RESULTS

For High Roller – Ultra Stack Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For High Roller – Ultra Stack Results please CLICK HERE

Thailand’s top ranked tournament player Punnat Punsri (11th) narrowly missed out on making a 39th career APT final table. Other notables to cash included the Netherlands’ Tom Verbruggen (12th), former APT High Roller champion Trung Quan Nguyen (16th), Indian bracelet winner Abhinev Iyer (17th), reigning APT Jeju Main Event champion Abraham Ceesvin (32nd) and a whole host of others.

All tournament information can be found on the High Roller – Ultra Stack Final Day tournament page.