Chi Hsiang Chiu

With high anticipation since 2023, APT made its grand return to Paradise City Casino, launching the punishing marathon that is the KRW 2,500,000 APT Incheon Main Event with its first starting flight. After ten grueling 60-minute levels, Flight A has officially etched its chapter into the history books.

Commanding significant attention, Flight A drew a field of 250 entries. Fuelled by ambition and unwavering resolve, just 89 players survived the battlefield to bag their chips and keep the dream alive.

Leading the pack is Taiwan’s Chi Hsiang Chiu, coming off a strong 17th-place finish in the National Cup just yesterday. Riding that momentum, he soared to the top with a commanding stack of 540,000 — the only player to surpass the half-million mark by day’s end.

Japan’s Takumi Nakayama also delivered a noteworthy performance, bagging 306,000 in chips. Despite being cut down by Xinzhao Yuan’s bottom pair in the penultimate level, Nakayama held firm under pressure, showing poise and resilience to lock in the second spot on the leaderboard.

Rounding out the top three is Nakayama’s compatriot, Shibuya Ryohei, who quietly built momentum throughout the day before bagging 282,600 in chips, securing his seat in Day 2 with a confident stride.

All three top contenders remain in pursuit of their first APT title, each having built a solid stack to position themselves strongly heading into Day 2.

Flight A Top Ten Chip Counts

Much like today’s chip leader, Min Sung Lee (118,300) entered the Main Event with strong momentum, having topped Flight A of the National Cup before finishing third. He carried that rhythm forward and closed out his day in solid form.

Bayarkhuu Batbayar (179,800) kicked off his day with a bang, scoring an early elimination in Level 2 by cracking Zhuoqun Zhang’s queens with pocket eights — finding salvation on the river to complete his set.

Batbayar maintained his momentum throughout the night, later adding another knockout against Qian Wu with runner-runner trips, rounding out a solid performance.

Other notable names outside the top ten include multiple APT champion Abraham Ceesvin (157,700), 2024 APT Phu Quoc High Roller winner Jason Lau (151,300), 2024 APT Taipei Last Chance High Roller champion Hon Cheong Lee (101,200), and Jianfeng Sun (45,600), who holds over half a million in live earnings.

A full APT Main Event Flight A Survivor List can be found by clicking HERE.

Flight B of the Main Event kicks off tomorrow at 11 a.m. (local time), featuring six 45-minute levels followed by four 60-minute levels.

Stay tuned with us for more thrilling poker action and updates.

90 players has navigated through ten gruelling 1-hour levels and now are bagging up their chips for the day.

Stay tuned for a recap of Main Event Flight A's action.

From middle position, Australian player James Naisbitt opened the action. Kookchunantoine Priniotakis called from the small blind, and the big blind came along as well.

The dealer spread a flop of K 8 6 , and action checked to Naisbitt, who fired a continuation bet of 4,000. Priniotakis made the call, while the big blind got out of the way.

The 5 landed on the turn. Undeterred, Naisbitt continued his aggression with a second barrel of 7,500. Priniotakis called once again.

The river brought the seemingly harmless 2 , and both players checked it down.

Naisbitt tabled 8 7 for second pair, which was enough to take down the pot.

The action was picked up on the turn with a board reading K 8 4 5 and around 110,000 chips in the middle. Yunfeng Sun checked the big blind to Tong Li, who also knuckled it back from middle position.

Both players saw a board-pairing 8 river and it went check-check again.

Yufeng Sun revealed 6 4 , hoping that his four would be enough to collect the pot, Li also tabled a four with J 4 , making it a chopped pot.

Van Pham

We picked up the action on the turn, with Vietnamese player Van Pham betting 8,000 into a pot of approximately 18,000. Yuan Liu, on the button, made the call before Go Yanagida raised to 30,000, leaving himself with just 18,000 behind. After a brief pause, only Pham continued.

The river completed the board: A T 4 J 6 . Yanagida slowed down and checked—but Pham wasn’t about to offer a free showdown. He moved all-in, putting maximum pressure on the short-stacked Yanagida.

After some thought, Yanagida decided to fold, conceding the pot to Pham without a showdown.

Tong Li made it 2,800 to go from the cutoff and Zhentao Long defended from the big blind.

Both player checked through when the flop came K T Q , bringing up flush and straight draw possibilities.

Long fired 3,600 after seeing a 2 hit on the turn, which was enough to take down the pot as Li returned his cards to the dealer.

With around 6,000 chips in the middle, the flop read 9 7 5 . Both Jiaxin Wang from the big blind and Shitaro Kobori in the hijack checked through.

When the 7 landed on the turn, Wang fired out 4,000, which was enough to collect the pot as Kobori let go of his cards.

After opening preflop from middle-position, Takumi Nakayama put out a continuation bet of 2,300 against Xinzhao Yuan in the big-blind.

The flop read K 3 2 and Yuan responded with a raise to 6,500. Nakayama then moved all-in, covering his opponent's remaining 16,000. The big-blind quickly put his remaining chips into the middle.

Xinzhao Yuan: Q 2

Takumi Nakayama: A 7

The board ran out with 9 on the turn and 8 on the river, giving Yuan a double-up with his pair of deuces.

Bayarkhuu Batbayar

Bayarkhuu Batbayar made it 2,400 from early position and Kookchunantoine Priniotakis called from the hiajck. Qiant Wu then shoved all in for 22,000, which only Batbayar called to put the female player at risk.

Bayarkhuu Batbayar: Q J

Qian Wu: K K

Wu was in great shape to score a double-up and maintained her dominance on the 5 3 7 flop.

However, the deck had other plans and delivered the J and J , giving Batbayar runner-runner trips to crack the kings and send Wu to the rail in the penultimate level of the day.

Aleksandar Jakovljevic

Dajia Chen opened the action from middle position and was met with a three-bet from Aleksandar Jakovljevic in the small blind. Chen made the call, and the two went heads-up to the flop.

The dealer spread 7 4 3 , and Jakovljevic continued with a bet of 5,500. Chen called to see a turn.

The K hit next, and Jakovljevic wasted no time, firing a second barrel—this time a small bet of 5,000. The king proved enough of a scare card, as Chen let his hand go, awarding the pot to the Romanian