Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou
A poker teams event always brings a fun and lively atmosphere to the tournament floor, and this year was no different. With 62 duos registering yesterday, the event generated a TWD 3,214,080 total prize pool.
Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou (Team Thoo/Zhou) battled through 62 teams (124 players) and were crowned the winners of the APTC Taipei 2025 Teams Championship, each taking home the top TWD 374,782 (~12,010 USD) prize and a silver lion trophy.
Teams Bonus
There was also a team bonus in play for the last duo to have both players’ stacks still in action. The bonus saw 20% of the prize pool held back, equating to TWD 321,408 (~USD 10,300), which would be awarded to each player in the team.
Only 11 full teams made it through to Day 2, but this quickly whittled down, with Natural8 Ambassador and Taiwaneese pro Kitty Kuo and her teammate Frankie Cucchiara from the USA missing out on the chance at the bonus. Kuo got her remaining stack in pre-flop with ace-six suited, but her opponent Ian Kit Ung held with ace-queen offsuit, leaving just three teams in play.
Mitsuuchi So - Team Bonus Bubble
Japan's Taro Iikzuka was teamed up with Mitsuuchi So, and they put up a fair fight heading towards the final table but fell just short of getting two stacks through after running into Kitty Kuo’s straight with their set of kings.
When just 10 players remained, play went hand-for-hand. Within minutes, Hong Yu Huang ran out of luck with ace-king and just missed the minimum cash of TWD 38,550 (~USD 1,235) after getting rivered by Singaporean Eugene Zhou, who spiked a deuce to bust him.
Final Table
With each duo needing to play each level, there were two final table lineups.
The first to take their seats were:
Top Left to Right: Sparrow Cheung, Ming Ken Thoo, Man Lok Chan, Chudapal Siarhei, Frankie Cucchiara
Bottom Left to Right: Kai Cheng Hsu, Chun Yung Wang, Chao Chiuan Lin, Mitsuuchi So
When the level changed, the teammates were up:
Top Left to Right: Dicky Tsang, Chao Chiuan Lin, Eugene Zhou, Taro Iikzuka, Ian Kit Ung
Bottom Left to Right: Sin Lan Chen, Chun Yung Wang, Kitty Kuo, Sukhart Massimov
Those with a keen eye will see that there are two players in both final tables. This is because one complete team made it to the final table—Team Lin/Wang—meaning both Taiwaneese players Chao Chiuan Lin and Chun Yung Wang had secured two cashes each; the only question was which ones…
Chao Chiuan Lin and Chun Yung Wang
They entered with two short stacks, with Lin starting with just over one big blind. Within the first couple of hands, Lin was all in with ace-eight offsuit but couldn’t overcome Frankie Cucchiara’s pocket eights, eliminating the team in 9th place.
Down to one short stack, they managed to ladder before busting in 7th place, getting their final stack in with ace-five offsuit and bricking against Taiwan's Sin Lan Chen’s pocket fives.
In between, Team Massimov/Siarhei were down to just under ten big blinds. Belarus's Chudapal Siarhei open-jammed from the small blind with ten-seven suited, but their opponents picked up two pair on the flop, leaving no path back and ending their run in 8th place.
Chudapal Siarhei and Sukhart Massimov
Team Chen/Hsu secured 6th place with Taiwan's Sin Lan Chen getting the team’s stack in with tens but stacking up Malaysia's Ming Ken Thoo and partner after Thoo flopped top pair with ace–queen.
There was a longer battle for fourth position, with Hong Kong's Dicky Tsang chipping up and Taiwan's Kitty Kuo securing a full double-up, taking out Macau's Ian Kit Ung of Team Chan/Ung in the process.
Next to go was Team Iikzuka/So, who locked up 5th place after Japan's Mitsuuchi So got them into a sticky situation. So didn’t want to give up top pair and saw opponent Macau's Man Lok Chan hit a straight on the river to bust them.
Team Thoo/Zhou continued their final-table momentum and battled through the table, chipping up from the remaining teams.
Holding half the chips in play, they bullied their opponents, next eliminating Man Lok Chan of Team Chan/Ung. Chan got the team stack in with queen-ten suited on a ten–four–eight rainbow flop and ace turn, but was snap-called by Ming Ken Thoo holding pocket tens for a set. Team Chan/Ung finished in 4th place.
Kitty Kuo and Frankie Cucchiara
Thoo kept going and soon logged another knockout, eliminating Team Kuo/Cucchiara in 3rd. Frankie Cucchiara made it to the flop before Thoo raised him on an ace–eight–deuce board. Sitting with nine-eight, Cucchiara called but ran into Thoo’s ace-eight, ending the pair’s night.
Heads-Up
Top: Ming Ken Thoo (left), Sparrow Cheung (right)
Bottom: Eugene Zhou (left), Dicky Tsang (right)
After a short pause, it was time for heads-up play. The rail had grown, and the pressure was on, with most expecting a quick finish after Team Thoo/Zhou dominated the final table and held nearly all the chips.
Due to the structure of the tournament, rounds of heads-up action, with Natural8 Ambassador Sparrow Cheung vs Ming Ken Thoo and Dicky Tsang vs Eugene Zhou, ensued at each level change.
Team Tsang/Cheung dug deep and worked their way back into a more comfortable heads-up position within just a few hands of play.
Cheung continued battling, taking several pots without needing to go to showdown.
The pair continued battling for around two hours, with Team Cheung/Tsang clawing back even more, but they were never able to gain the chip lead.
Following a feisty heads-up duel, the last hand saw Cheung move all in with the shorter stack holding queen-jack suited. Thoo called with ace-six offsuit and found an ace on the flop, claiming the rest of the chips and the title for his team as APT Team Championship winners.
Winner Reaction
Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou
An eruption of roars filled the room after Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou took the glory of winning the inaugural TWD 30,000 (~USD 960) Teams Championship Event.
They were surrounded by many friends who were on the rail from the final table, who wanted to share their excitement.
Catching them after the event, the pair shared their thoughts on the structure and dynamic of the event, both saying "It was really really fun!"
When asked if they had teamed up before in such an event, Zhou responded with "I asked him (Thoo) last time, but he rejected" Zhou continued "He (Thoo) only said yes this time." A choice Thoo definitely won’t be second-guessing now.
Whilst this wraps up coverage of the APTC Taipei 2025 Teams Championship, we still have two action-packed days left in the series. Stay with us as we continue live reporting through the final two days of play, with eyes turning to the Micro Main, High Roller, and Freezeout Events—which all conclude tomorrow!