Darius Nass, Day 1 Chip Leader

The APT Taipei 2026 Zodiac Classic - Sponsored by Natural8 has just wrapped up after thirteen 40-minute levels. There were a total of 486 entries (357 unique) that registered for the TWD 85,000 buyin, generating a total prize pool of TWD 35,691,840 (~USD 1,123,970), crushing the original TWD 25 million guarantee.

Germany's Darius Nass bagged a stack of 468,500 chips, making him the chip leader out of the 156 survivors, who will continue their championship campaign when play resumes during tomorrow's final day at 11:15 AM local time.

Nass, has a modest USD 57,135 in total live earnings and is yet to cash in an APT event. Most of his live cashes have come from Manila-based poker events dating from 2024.

Ka Lok Lam of Hong Kong ended with 359,500 chips for a distant second, and not so far away from him was Joshua Gebissa, another German, rounding up the top three with 345,000.

These were the top ten chip counts at the end of the day:

ZODIAC CLASSIC TOP TEN DAY CHIP COUNTS

The remaining players will still have to play down to 71 ITM slots with the minimum payout guaranteed at TWD 133,300 (~USD 4,270). Up on top, the champion of the APT Taipei 2026 Zodiac Classic will be awarded the massive first place prize of TWD 6,767,640 (~USD 216,910).

As an added bonus, the two top finishers will be also awarded a seat to the APT Championship Main Event Freezeout worth TWD 312,000 (~USD 10,000 ), that will be played in November later this year, also here in Taipei.

Click HERE for the complete payouts.

DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS

A lot of notable players entered the event with the likes of former APT High Roller champions Rudy Edenata and Trung Quang Nguyen, starting early. Edenata and Nguyen fired some bullets, but eventually were able to make it through to Day 2 with Edenata bringing 103,000 and 176,500 respectively.

Rudy Edenata

Edenata had one of the more dramatic hands of the day, but he found a way to redeem himself when he re-entered.

Past Main Event winners Nishant Sharma and Rene von Reden were also stacked early. Sharma ended with 68,500, while von Reden had 106,000. Another past APT Main Event winner, Lester Edoc, entered late and found a bag for 88,000.

Advancing tomorrow is recent APT Super High Roller champion Mike Takayama, who bagged for 158,500, and recent NLH-Freezeout champion Dinesh Alt with a bag of 106,000.

Hugues Girard (240,500), Harry Halim (240,500), Peter Kiem (193,000), Andy Tsai (155,500), Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss and Rishi Mirpuri (92,000) - some of the more frequent regulars of the APT - also came in early and survived to Day 2.

Daniel Neilson

In the middle of the tournament, several of those who ended their Main Event run in Day 3, immediately jumped into the Zodiac Classic. Some of the more known players included Daniel Neilson, who entered Day 3 of the Main Event as the chip leader, but failed to advance to Day 4. Instead, he found himself a bag for Day 2 of this event, bringing a 231,500 chip stack to his seat tomorrow.

Other "jumpers" from the Main Event included Amit Kaushik (317,000), John Tech (188,500), John Niko Constiniano (114,000), John Matsuda (125,500), and Akshay Nasa (63,500).

John Matsuda

Matsuda suffered some brutal swings but managed to bounce back to make it to Day 2.

Former Zodiac Classic winner Alan Lau may have a chance at a second title, but has work to do with a stack of only 42,000.

Natural8 Ambassadors Nevan Chang, Sparrow Cheung, Chih Wei Fan and Charlie Chiu came to represent the Natural8 brand, but none of them made it through to Day 2.

Yan Yan

Representing the women, Yan Yan (128,000), Dang Thi Hue (97,000), Nguyen Hong Nhung (89,500) and Candy Lin (76,000) will be seated tomorrow.

The Day 2 Final of the Zodiac Class will resume at 11:15 AM local time of Friday, May 1, 2026.

The surviving players have bagged up for Day 1, stay tuned for a recap of the day's action and the full survivor list!

After doubling up Dylan Foster a few hands earlier, Ethan Yau got his remaining 23,000 in against Wooram Cho, hoping to survive Day 1 of the Zodiac Classic.

Yau kept his cards hidden, showing only the J , while Cho revealed the K .

The board ran K T J 3 9 , giving each player a piece, but it was Cho who held the monster, tabling K K for pocket kings and a flopped set. Yau's A J for second pair was no match, and the popular content creator was sent to the rail during one of the final hands of the day.

Dylan Foster

Dylan Foster was pleading with Ethan Yau to make a decision on his 32,000 shove, and Yau was taking every second available to him, much to the discomfort of Foster, who desperately needed to use the toilet.

After making the precise calculations required, and with some encouragement from the Australian, Yau eventually stuck in the call.

Dylan Foster: 8 8

Ethan Yau: A 9

"There's no way you win this," Foster said as the dealer prepared to run the board.

And he was right, the 2 T Q 6 4 runout kept the pair of eights in front, securing a crucial double for Foster at the end of the session.

The floor has instructed the dealers to play seven more hands before survivors bag up for the day.

Dylan Foster

Dylan Foster is having fun on his table, switching conversations between German and a bit of Chinese and, of course, his native Aussie English.

He's seated beside Ethan "Rampage" Yau and are in the middle of the happiest hour.

In Foster's words, "If I bust, I can drink. If I double up, I win."

Words of poker wisdom.

Dakota Anderson was among the notable departures during the final stages of the day, the American pro having been seated since the first level before his run came to an end.

Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss was on the lowjack against Ryosuke Kubodera on the button.

The players were staring at a board of 8 4 4 6 5 with a pot of around 55,000 beside it.

Nemeskeri-Kiss checked his option, allowing Kubodera to fire a bet of 37,000.

Nemeskeri-Kiss spent a time bank token, then threw in a chip to call.

Kubodera peeled open first and showed a Q 2 for a flush, while Nemeskeri-Kiss mucked his cards.

Methavee Taveekitvatee

John Matsuda

Apparently, John Matsuda was able to spin his stack to around 90,000. However, he sent some photo news to the APT Live Reporting Team.

Basically, he had to pay 27,500 on a preflop allin showdown against Josei Kamei.

Josei Kamei: T Tc:

John Matsuda: Q Q

Board: A 5 T 5 K

Kamei makes a set to double up.

Josei Kamei

Matsuda grins back up again to a healthy 90,000 or so. Then, in another hand, also against Josei Kamei...

Josei Kamei: K K

John Matsuda: A K

Board ran clean 2 T 8 6 5

Matsuda pays out 51,700.