Daniel Neilson

Day 2A of the APT Taipei 2026 Main Event has wrapped up here at the Red Space venue in Taipei. A combined 587 players returned to the felt from Flights A, C, and D, playing all the way down to the money bubble before bagging up for the night. The Main Event itself has drawn a massive 2,354 entries (1,300 unique), generating a TWD 111,862,080 (~USD 3,585,320) prize pool.

A combined number of 587 players brought chips through to today, but a further 187 entries were recorded before late registration closed, birnging the total players for Day 2A at 728. From that, only 199 bagged up chips to advance to Day 3, all of whom are now in the money.

Leading them is Australia's Daniel Neilson, holding a commanding 1,425,000. A seasoned veteran with nearly $6 million in career earnings, Neilson has a third-place finish at WSOP Paradise among his career highlights and won an APT title here in Taipei back in 2024. He also cashed in the Superstar Challenge earlier this series, and is poised to continue his strong run as the week progresses.

South Korea's Hoseong Ha is close behind in second with a stack of 1,180,000, while Laos' Mangkone Sanaphanith rounds out the top three with 1,054,000 to work with on Day 3.

Day 2A Top Ten Chip Counts

Day 2A Action

The 587-strong field returned to Red Space with a spot in the money firmly in sight, and the eliminations came at a steady pace throughout the day.

Three of Asia's biggest names entered Day 2A carrying the weight of their countries' all-time money lists on their shoulders. Thailand's Punnat Punsri, the 2025 GPI Player of the Year, and the Philippines' James Mendoza both fell short of bagging up, while Vietnam's Nguyen Le fared better, bagging 352,000 to carry the flag into Day 3.

Ren Lin

Ren Lin, fresh off his remarkable back-to-back victories at the APT Jeju Classic, bags in seventh with 766,000, showing he remains in fine form. Andres Vasquez had a strong day at the tables, scooping a three-way pot with queens to eliminate Nai Yuan Hu along the way, eventually bagging 679,000, just outside of the top 10.

Also surviving the day is Joseph Cheong, who bags 529,000 after a consistent session, showing no fear around the bubble, especially. Peter Kiem bags 428,000, while recent APO Champion Joris Michl ends the day with 190,000.

The day also saw a number of notable departures. Nishant Sharma, the reigning APT Championship Main Event winner, and Harry Halim, who final-tabled the Super High Roller earlier in the series, both hit the rail before bagging time. Swiss grinder Fabian Rolli also fell short, as did Rosalie Petit, the reigning APT Championship Women's Event champion, who battled hard throughout the day but ultimately couldn't find a bag to take into Day 3.

Rosalie Petit

The Bubble

As the field tightened around the money, the tension was thick in the air. On the soft bubble, Yuta Arai's set of queens was overtaken by Ryota Shinde's rivered straight, sending him to the rail just two spots from the money in particularly cruel fashion.

Aung Myo then produced one of the most memorable moments of the session. All-in on the stone bubble with pocket jacks against Gab Yong Kim's six-three offsuit, having made a trip threes on the flop. Myo was needing a two-outer to survive, and he found exactly that on the river. He leapt from his seat and punched the air as the halls of the Red Space venue erupted around him.

Aung Myo proved the poker gods have a sense of humour

The stone bubble proved equally dramatic. Yung Teng Wang shoved from under the gun with pocket kings and was called by Chun Shing Lau in the hijack with queens. Wang was firmly in front until the flop delivered a set for Lau, and despite a desperate wait for the turn and river, no help came, sending Wang to the rail as the bubble boy and locking up a cash for all remaining players.

Yung Teng Wang was 2A's unfortunate bubble boy

What's Next

Day 3 begins tomorrow at 11:15 AM local time at Red Space, where the Day 2A survivors will be joined by the Day 2B field. With TWD 16,640,100 (~USD 533,340) up top, the APTC Main Event seat and a Gold Lion Trophy on the line, the race is well and truly heating up.

The remaining 199 players from Day 2A have bagged up their chips and will return tomorrow for Day 3, along with all of the survivors from Day 2B, which is currently still playing out.

Stay tuned for chip counts and a full recap of the day's action.

Yung Teng Wang

Yung Teng Wang was under the gun and risked his last 147,000 all in. Chun Shing Lau on the hijack made the call.

When the cards were flipped...

Yung Teng Wang: K K

Chun Shing Lau: Q Q

Wang was ahead with pocket kings and was poised to double up.

However, the poker gods thought they saw too many double ups during the bubble period and threw out a flop of 4 2 Q to give Lau a set of queens, overtaking Wang.

Wang needed a miracle to keep his Main Even dream alive, but the 6 turn didn't provide any promise and the J on the river broke his dream, sending him out as the bubble boy.

Yung Teng Wang

Aung Myo

Aung Myo was all-in and at risk against Gab Yong Kim on the stone bubble of Day 2A, with the 3 3 2 flop already on the felt as the announcer and cameras descended on the table. The two players showed their hands.

Aung Myo: J J

Gab Yong Kim: 6 3

Kim had opened with nothing and flopped trips, leaving the short stack at risk of being eliminated by six-three offsuit. The Q turn changed nothing, and the light began to go out in Myo's eyes.

The J river, however, gave Myo the card he needed, a superior set, sending the table and the watching Day 2A field into uproar. Myo leapt out of his seat and punched the air, knowing justice had been served.

Yuta Arai was up against Ryota Shinde.

The board showed 5 4 Q 3 7 beside a pot of around 65,000.

Arai was at risk for his last 44,000 with Shinde making the call.

Yuta Arai: Q Q

Ryota Shinde: 6 6

Arai had a very worthy set of queens, but it wasn't enough against the rivered-straight of Shinde, sending him to the rail on the soft bubble, just two spots away from the money.

The APT Gold Lion Trophy

The numbers have been crunched, and fingers are aching from the tapping on the calculators, but the final figures have just been released.

The 2026 APT Taipei Main Event smashed the TWD 70 Million guarantee with a huge 2,354 (1,300 unique) players ponying up the TWD 55,000 buy-in, generating a massive TWD 111,862,080 (~USD 3,585,320) prize pool.

A total of 340 players will be paid with a minimum cash prize of TWD 94,000 (~USD 3,010), being awarded, but all players will be eyeing up the mouth-watering first-place prize of TWD 16,640,100 (~USD 533,340) which comes along with the coveted APT Gold Lion Trophy.

The top six placed finishers will also receive a ticket to the APT Championship Main Event here in Taipei this November, worth TWD 312,000 (~USD 10,000), and an additional two tickets will be awarded randomly, one to a random draw after all players are in the money, and one to a random draw on Day 4.

Full Payout Structure

Stay tuned for all the action live and direct from the floor as it unfolds.

With the flop showing 2 7 J and after some betting and raising, Minjae Kim's stack of 124,000 got into the middle from the cutoff, with Yi Chang Ho being the player trying to bust him in the hijack.

Minjae Kim: A A

Yi Chang Ho: Q J

Kim needed his pocket rockets to hold up or he would bust shy of the money and Day 2A would be on the official bubble.

The K hit the turn, which was safe for Kim.

A 3 on the river meant Kim's aces held up and he survived the rail.

Chi Dung Tran

203 Players remain. Some of the recent busts nearing the bubble include Jaesik Lim, Matthew Chan, Nguyen Khoi Le and Toni Ravnak

One-time Day 2A monster chip leader Chi Dung Tran also bowed out.

Fendy Kosasih suffered a bad beat with his big slick against ace-queen.

Ho Hoi Choy, Lee Wee Liew and Hal Rotholz were the latest bust outs, prompting the floor to put a pause on the action as play will now go hand-for-hand until the bubble burts.

Joseph Cheong

Gong Hyeongseok opened to 12,000 from under the gun before calling next-to-act Pei Shan Hsu's 30,000 three-bet. Both players checked through the entirety of the 2 6 8 7 K board, with Hyeongseok tabling J J to best Hsu's ace-queen.

The next hand saw small blind Joseph Cheong limp and Hyeongseok check in the big blind. Cheong forced a fold with a 6,000 bet on the 3 Q 5 flop.

In the third hand of note, Cheong raised to 13,000 from the button and Hsu defended from the big blind before check-folding on the 2 A J flop when Cheong continued for 8,000.

Gong Hyeongseok

We didn't catch the action, but Gong Hyeongseok had made a set of tens and the chips were being counted by the dealer from the stack of Yashar Mammadov.

Yashar Mammadov