• India’s Akshay Nasa Rockets to Day 1 Chip Lead in 7-Max Championship

• Korea’s Kiyoung Kim Pips Jennifer Cassell for Chip Lead in Opening Three Flights of the Ultra Stack Championship

APT CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | LIVE REPORTING | IMAGES | WINNERS

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, November 17, 2025 – The riddle of who is the fairer sex at the poker tables appears to have been solved, with Sweden’s Sofia Lovgren putting on a dominating display of power poker to tame the Pewter Lion APT Championship Trophy in the TWD 35,000 (~USD 1,155) buy-in [Event 2] Mystery Bounty Championship.

Playing out at the tournament tables of the cavernous Red Space 多元商務空間 venue and run in partnership with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Club (CTP), the Final Day of the tournament saw 94 players out of a field of 667 entries return to fight it out at the felt.

All returning players were guaranteed a TWD 35,100 (~USD 1,160) min-cash from the TWD 12,166,300 (~USD 401,530) tournament prize pool—including a APT Championship Main Event seat valued at TWD 311,000 (USD 10,000) for the winner—with a further TWD 8,004,000 (~USD 264,160) up for grabs in the bounty pool.

Lovgren returned 60th in the counts, but quickly got to work and proved to be a veritable bounty-hunting queen, eliminating close to 12 percent (11.8%) of the Final Day field on her journey to claim the third of the festivals’ Championship Event trophies, busting 11 of the 94 Final Day players.

The only other player to come close to the same tally of scalps was fifth-place finalist Justin Tsui of Hong Kong, who collected ten on his deep run.

Following two simultaneous bust outs on the final table bubble—one of which came at the hands of Lovgren—the finale was an eight-handed affair.

The Swede was the only female player at the final table, and came in with a chip lead she did not relinquish, with Lovgren eliminating five of the other seven remaining competitors on her ride to the tournament summit.

Lovgren dispatched heads-up opponent Hao Che Cheng in a lightning-fast match that lasted just two hands to claim a TWD 2,268,600 (~USD 74,870) top prize—the third-largest of her poker career—plus the aforementioned APTC Main Event seat.

In addition to the title, trophy and Main Event ticket, Lovgren claimed an impressive 12 bounties (including her own) on her road to victory, taking the two largest bounties of TWD 1.5 million (~USD 49,505) and TWD 1 million (~USD 33,000) respectively for an additional TWD 2,733,000 (~USD 90,200) windfall.

Lovgren drew the tournament's two biggest bounties

Not since Russia’s Natalia Rozova claimed the top three bounties in the Hanoi Billions 2023 Single Day High Roller Mystery Bounty tournament (which was a 1,000,000-to-1 shot in terms of odds) has a female player dominated a mystery bounty tournament so comprehensively.

"You know, this is the first time I'm pulling envelopes in a mystery bounty tournament, and to get the biggest ones, yeah amazing," an upbeat Lovgren stated immediately after her emphatic victory.

“I feel great. I won the two biggest bounties in the tournament and a lot of smaller ones, and the trophy and the APTC Main Event seat. So [I’m] very happy. It’s a very cool trophy, but it looks very heavy, so I need to figure out how to bring it home; I need a new suitcase,” Lovgren joked.

Taiwanese runner-up Cheng collected the second-largest score of his poker career, earning TWD 1,400,700 (~USD 46,230) plus an additional TWD 158,000 (~USD 5,215) in bounties after collecting three scalps.

Man Wai Lui rounded out the last of the podium positions, earning TWD 1,001,200 (~USD 33,040) for his third place finish, with the Hong Kong player pulling the third largest bounty and seven others for a further TWD 1,014,000 (~USD 33,465).

Taiwan’s Chen An Lin made his first final table showing of the festival, collecting TWD 344,800 (~USD 11,380) for his seventh place finish, plus an additional TWD 166,000 (~USD 5,480) for his four bounties.

Top (L-R): Takashi Arima, Man Wai Lui, Chen An Lin, Hao Cheng Bottom (L-R): Yubin Heon, Sofia Lovgren, Pou Hong Jin, Justin Tsui

MYSTERY BOUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Two out of the three Championship Event titles awarded so far have been claimed by female players. What makes this achievement even more incredible are the odds against it.

The 2,398 entry National Cup Championship saw 133 female entries (5.5%) versus 2,265 male entries (94.5%) with the 1,157 unique players being weighted heavily towards the masculine, with the 1,084 unique male entries (93.7%) far outnumbering the 73 unique female entries (6.3%).

Women bucked the odds in the Mystery Bounty Championship even more, with 24 unique female entries out of the 466 unique entry field making up just over five percent (5.2%)of the total field and accounting for just over four percent (4.6 %) of the total reentries.

While women are dominating the Championship Events, there are also ample opportunities for them to showcase their skills in a female only environment, with daily women’s events running all festival, headlined by the TWD 35,000 (~USD 1,140) buy-in [Event 9] APT Women’s Championship – Sponsored by LIPS running Friday, November 21 to Saturday, November 22.

India’s Akshay Nasa Rockets to Day 1 Chip Lead in 7-Max Championship

Former APT Main Event champion Akshay Nasa leads the inaugural 7-Max Championship

Boldly going where no one has been before, India’s Akshay Nasa has piloted his stack to the top of the leaderboard in the inaugural TWD 80,000 (~USD 2,600) [Event 4] 7-Max Championship.

A brand-new addition to the APT schedule, a total of 313 intrepid adventurers (230 unique) chose to explore the strange new world of short-handed APT tournament play, generating a substantial TWD 21,634,560 (~USD 702,420) prize pool.

By the time the tournament clock ticked into the red at the conclusion of the thirteen 40-minute levels played, it was Nasa commanding the mission to make the Final Day.

Nasa, a former APT Main Event champion, bagged up a stack of 488,500 with which to make his play for the title, trophy and TWD 4,279,560 (~USD 138,950) top prize – which includes a TWD 311,000 (USD 10,000) APT Championship Main Event seat.

A total of 107 players made it through to the Final Day to duke it out for the tournament top spot, although only 39 of them will make the paying positions, with a min-cash good for TWD 147,000 (~USD 4,770).

For 7-Max Championship Prize Pool & Payouts please CLICK HERE

The UK’s Jesse Wigan sits second in the counts with 451,000 in chips, with Japan’s Kyosuke Nagami the only other player to crack 400K, rounding out the top three with a stack of 402,000.

Australia’s Dylan Foster bagged a top ten stack, as did Taiwan’s Daniel Yang who was aided in his quest to make the top ten percent of the field after sending Shuhei Nomura to the rail late in the Day 1 action.

7-MAX CHAMPIONSHIP TOP TEN DAY 1 STACKS

Other notables still in the running include China All-Time Money List #2 Biao Ding (246,500), Japan’s Jun Obara (228,000), former APT Super High Roller champion Shung Er Sua (198,500), India’s Kunal Patni (154,500), former APT Super High Roller champion Julian Warhurst (99,000), Natural8 Ambassador Kitty Kuo (97,500) and APT Jeju Superstar Challenge champion Danny Tang (67,500) to name but a few.

For 7-Max Championship Day 1 Player List please CLICK HERE

For 7-Max Championship Day 1 Survivors please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the 7-Max Championship Day 1 tournament page and you can follow along with the action via the APT Blog.

The Final Day action resumes at 11:15am local time (TST) on Tuesday, November 18, where players will return to battle it out for the fourth of the festival’s exclusive APT Championship Lion Trophies.

Korea’s Kiyoung Kim Pips Jennifer Cassell for Chip Lead in Opening Three Flights of the Ultra Stack Championship

Playing out concurrently with the Final Day of the Mystery Bounty Championship and Day 1 of the 7-Max Championship, the opening three flights of the inaugural TWD 25,000 (~USD 810) [Event 3] Ultra Stack Championship saw 691 combined entries fight it out at the felt.

In total, 97 players were successful in their endeavours to make the Final Day and a place in the paying positions with Korea’s Kiyoung Kim bagging the overall chip lead after topping the Turbo Flight C flight.

Kim just edged out Flight B frontrunner Jennifer Cassell for the tournament top spot, with Flight A frontrunner Hajime Watanabe bagging the third largest stack of the day.

Flight A

Japan’s Hajime Watanabe topped Flight A

The initial opening Flight A kicked off the action at 11am local time (TST) and saw 293 entries compete over close to twenty-two 25-minute levels.

A double elimination on the money bubble sent Australia’s William Jia and the Philippines’ Michael Concepcion to the rail to conclude the flight, with 40 Flight A players making the cut.

Japan’s Hajime Watanabe topped the Flight A chip counts, bagging up a stack of 1,831,000, with South Korea’s Jaeah Kim (1,470,000), and Hong Kong’s Douglas Lui (1,396,000) rounding out the top three, with the top ten as follows:

ULTRA STACK CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT A TOP TEN STACKS

Other notables to make it though included South Korea's Wanghee Lee (1,015,000), Bulgaria's Slaven Popov (961,000), and Natural8 Ambassador Hua-Wei Lin (467,000).

For Ultra Stack Championship Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE

For Ultra Stack Championship Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Ultra Stack Championship Flight A tournament page and you can read about all the ultra-exciting highlights in the Ultra Stack Flight A APT Blog coverage.

Flight B

Australia’s Jennifer Cassell bagged biggest on Flight B

The second of the day’s three scheduled flights – Flight B – got underway at 4pm and drew 266 entries (225 unique), with the action playing out over twenty-one 20-minute levels of game time.

The departure of Takashi Mizukami concluded the Flight B action after the Japanese player’s aces were cracked by Korea’s Gi Boum Kim, with the latter bagging a top five stack.

However, it was Australia’s Jennifer Cassell leading the charge with a flight-leading stack of 1,847,000.

Taiwan’s Chi Fan Hsu (1,569,000), and Canada’s Tyler Warken (1,286,000) rounded out the top three, with the top ten as follows:

ULTRA STACK CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT B TOP TEN STACKS

Other notables to make it though from the second flight included former female Main Event champion Dang Thi Hue (1,057,000), the Philippines John Tech (888,000), and two-time Main Event champion Mike Takayama (398,000).

For Ultra Stack Championship Flight B Player List please CLICK HERE

For Ultra Stack Championship Flight B Survivors please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Ultra Stack Championship Flight B tournament page and you can follow all the action in the Ultra Stack Flight B APT Blog coverage.

Flight C

South Korea’s Kiyoung Kim topped the Turbo Flight C to take the overall chip lead

The last of Monday’s scheduled Ultra Stack Championship opening flights – the Turbo Flight C – got underway at 8pm, with 132 entries (114 unique) competing over twenty-one fast-paced 15-minute levels.

Just 19 players made it through the tournament minefield with Kai Yang exiting on the bubble to conclude the evening’s action.

This saw Kiyoung Kim beating out Cassell for the tournament top spot by less than one big blind, with the Korean player finishing the flight with a stack of 1,859,000.

Japan’s Noa Aoki (1,714,000), and Singapore’s Ravn Teo (1,373,000) rounded out the top three stacks, with APT Taipei 2023 Main Event champion Punnat Punsri (1,370,000) making the top four.

ULTRA STACK CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT C TOP TEN STACKS

Other notables to make it though from the third and final turbo flight included Singapore’s Eugene Zhou (457,000), and Israel’s Daniel Benor (302,000).

For Ultra Stack Championship Flight C Player List please CLICK HERE

For Ultra Stack Championship Flight C Survivors please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Ultra Stack Championship Flight C tournament page and you can bring yourself up to speed in the Ultra Stack Flight C APT Blog coverage.

The three remaining flights all play out on Tuesday, November 18, with the 25-minute level Flight D getting underway at 11am local time.

The 20-minute level Flight E gets going at 4pm, and the 15-minute level Turbo Flight F closes out the last of the opening flights at 8pm.