APT Taipei 2026 Zodiac Classic Winner Eisuke Katsuren

The 2026 APT Taipei Zodiac Classic - Sponsored by Natural8 was another monstrous event here at the 2026 APT Taipei Series, drawing 486 entries (357 unique) & generating a total prize pool of TWD 35,691,840 (~USD 1,123,970), smashing the TWD 25 million guarantee.

An extra day was needed to crown a champion and it was Japan’s Eisuke Katsuren, who took home the title, the TWD 5,457,040 (~USD 174,905) first-place prize (after a three-way ICM deal), and an APT Championship ticket for the ATPC Main Event in November, worth USD 10,000, not forgetting the coveted Zodiac Classic Trophy.

Katsuren defeated Estonia’s Ranno Sootla in a hard fought heads-up battle to secure his name in the APT history books. This win marks Katsuren ‘s first-ever APT Title and secured the Japanese player his largest-ever recorded live cash to date.

ZODIAC CLASSIC FINAL TABLE RESULTS

*depicts ICM deal **Includes 2026 APTC Main Event ticket worth TWD 312,000 (~USD 10,000)

Day 2 Action

A total of 156 players took their seats yesterday for what was planned to be the final day. Only the last 71 standing made the money and a minimum cash of TWD 133,300 (~USD 4,270). The money bubble was a long-winded, near two-level affair after about five hours of play, with South Korea’s Wooram Cho being the unfortunate bubble boy.

Wooram Cho The Bubble Boy

Germany’s Darius Nass started yesterday with the largest stack, but unfortunately, he got short coming into the bubble and was eliminated just after it burst

Several notables bit the dust shortly after the bubble had burst, and the likes of Rene von Reden, Martin Sedlak, Hugues Girard & Joshua Gebissa will have to jump in one of the final upcoming events for their shot at an APT Taipei 2026 Trophy.

After about 11 hours of play, the field was reduced to a final table of nine players after Malaysia’s Jeremy Chan was eliminated in tenth spot as the final table bubble boy.

Eventaul runner-up Ranno Sootla came in as the final table chip leader with a commanding lead over the rest of the pack.

Ranno Scootla Starting Final Nine Chip Leader

Final Table Starting Stacks

Top(L-R), Jeffrey Lo, Tran Le, Trong Ngo, Eisuke Katsuren, Hon Lee

Seated(L-R), Ichiro Hamada, Ranno Sootla, John Tech, Leo Pang

Final Table Action

First to get eliminated from the final table was Vietnam’s Tran Le when he took a stand with king-queen and couldn’t improve against Jeffrey Lo’s pocket jacks.

Tran Le Sent Packing in ninth

Next to go was Japan’s Ichiro Hamada, his button jam with ace-eight running into Leo Pang’s pocket kings, and with no bullet coming to his rescue, was sent packing.

Sent to the rail in seventh was Vietnam’s Ngo when his ace-five jam ran into Katsuren’s pocket kings and couldn’t spike an ace.

Our sixth-place finisher was Hong Kong’s Hon Cheong Lee, unfortunate that his jam with king-jack saw Katsuren wake up with pocket queens this time and couldn’t improve, giving Katsuren his second bust-out in a row and boosting him into the final table chip lead.

APT Cebu 2015 Main Event Winner John Tech Sent to the Rail in fifth

Sent home in fifth spot was APT Cebu 2015 Main Event winner John Tech, his jam with queen-nine getting called off by Pang’s queen-ten and getting no help.

Finishing just off the podium in fourth spot was Jeffrey Lo, proving that timing matters in poker, and unlucky that his ace-queen ran into Sootla’s ace-king and couldn’t hit the three outer or miracle straight.

Due to a hard 3:00am stop being in place here at Red Space, when three players were left standing last night, May 1, an ICM deal was discussed and agreed.

ICM Deal Numbers

The trio left TWD 600,000 (~USD 19,230) plus one of the two APTC seats in the pot for the eventual winner, with second place receiving the second APTC seat.

Pang was sent home in third when he slow-played kings and let Katsuren get there with a rivered straight.

Leo Pang Finished in the Bronze Medal Position

Heads-Up Play

The heads-up match between Katsuren & Sootla kicked off with Sootla as a near 3-to-1 underdog, but it was a hard-fought battle.

Sootla wasn’t going to give up the title without a fight and kept chipping away at Katsuren’s stack, and at one point took the lead.

This didn’t last long though, and the final hand saw a massive cooler when Sootla’s ace-queen ran into Katsuren’s ace-king and couldn't improve to give Katsuren his first APT Title along with the TWD 5,457,040 (~USD 174,905) first-place prize and an APT Championship Main Event ticket.

Sootla, making a third career APT final table appearence, earned TWD 4,515,500 (~USD 144,730) for his runner-up finish, in addition to the second APTC seat on offer in the tournament.

Winner’s Reaction

In interviews with Yuri Murakami (APT Japanese Host) & the APT blog Katsuren talked about his elation of taking down his first APT and taking home his biggest poker pay cheque ever.

When asked, ‘You managed to come out on top of a huge field of 486 entries. How are you feeling right now?’

‘I’m so happy that I can’t even put it into words’ and ‘I feel very lucky’ was Katsuren’s response

‘Why Lucky? You played great’

‘But if I don’t have luck, I could not win’.

On the huge Zodiac Classic field:

The Zodiac Classic had 486 entries despite the NT$85,000 buy-in, making it extremely popular. Why do you think it attracted so many players?

‘I think the great structure is the key to its popularity. I was able to really enjoy playing all the way through Day 2 and Day 3’.

On his plans for playing in the future:

‘I will go to APT Incheon & APTC Taipei, but I cannot go to other tournaments because I have my job’.

You’ve won a seat to the APTC Main Event. Have you played it before?

‘Yes, I have. Last time, I was eliminated when there were about 3 or 4 tables left, so I’m looking to get my revenge this time’.

When you played the APTC Main Event before, did you feel any differences?

‘Since the buy-in is higher, I felt that the overall level of play might be a bit stronger’

Eisuke Katsuren Thanked his Family for their Support

Thanking his family:

Is there anyone you’d like to give a shout-out to?

‘I came here alone, leaving my family back in Okinawa, so the first thing I want to say is thank you to them for letting me freely pursue poker’.

This concludes our coverage of the 2026 APT Taipei Zodiac Classic Sponsored by Natural8.

Ranno Sootla

After few hands of passing blinds back and forth, Ranno Sootla was sitting on just shy of 8,000,000 chips, with Eisuke Katsuren ahead with 11,500,000.

Katsuren limped and Sootla raised to 1,400,000. Katsuren re-raised to 3,000,000 and Sootla moved all in, putting his tournament life at risk. Katsuren snap called and the players flipped their cards.

Ranno Sootla: A Q

Eisuke Katsuren: A K

Sootla needed to improve to stay alive. The 4 8 4 flop brought in a few outs with the backdoor flush draw, but the 7 turn shot down the hope and the 9 river did nothing to change things.

Sootla was eliminated in 2nd place for TWD 4,515,500 (~USD 144,730) and an APT Championship Main Event Seat Ticket worth ~ USD 10,000.

Ranno Sootla

A recent hand saw Ranno Sootla limp and Eisuke Katsuren raise to 950,000. Sootla called and were taken to a A J 6 flop. Katsuren bet 600,000 and Sootla called. A T was turned and checked by both to the 4 river and again to showdown. Sootla showed Q 2 and Katsuren had the same hand, flipping over Q 2 .

A few hands later Sootla limped again and Katsuren checked. Katsuren quickly checked after seeing the 8 9 7 flop and called a 500,000 bet by Sootla to see the T turn. Action checked to the A river and Sootla mucked after Katsuren asked for 900,000.

After raise-folding to Katsuren's jam, Sootla was back behind in the counts, sitting on around 7,500,000.

Ranno Sootla

Ranno Sootla made up from the button, and Eisuke Katsuren checked his option.

On the T J 3 flop the action went check-check for the players to see the J peel off on the turn.

Katsuren led out for 1,100,000, and Sootla flat-called.

The river brought the 3 and Katsuren checked to Sootla who bet out for 2,200,000. Katsuren went into the tank and used one time bank before he made the call but quickly tossed his cards into the muck on seeing Sootla table J 2 for turned trips and a rivered full house and Sootla was shipped the pot to take the chip lead.

Ranno Sootla after starting off the heads-up match with a near 3-to-1 deficit, is not going to go down with a fight and keeps chipping away at Eisuke Katsuren's stack.

In one such hand, Sootla made up from the button, and Katsuren checked his option.

The flop came 5 9 4 , Katsuren checked, and Sootla bet out for 300,000. Katsuren made the call, and the action went check check on the 5 turn.

On the Q river Katsuren bet out for 1,200,000, and after a short tank Sootla made the call to table J 4 and pick off Katsuren's bluff with bottom two pair when Katsuren mucked his hand.

Three hands later it was a limped pot again and the flop came 9 5 K . Sootla check-called Katsuren's 300,000 flop bet and the action went check check on the Q turn.

The dealer peeled off the 3 river and Sootla lead out for 1,000,000. Katsuren made the call to pay Sootla off who tabled Q 6 and second pair, sending Katsuren's holding into the muck.

Renno Sootla

Renno Sootla lost a few more chips to Eisuke Katsuren before putting his entire stack at risk.

Sootla raised to 500,000 and Katsuren called. The pair saw a Q 5 J flop and Katsuren checked. Sootla bet 375,000 and Katsuren stuck around.

The T turn saw both check to the 9 river and Katsuren bet 600,000, enough to see Sootla muck.

In the next hand, Katsuren limped and Sootla raised to 850,000. Katsuren jammed and Sootla responded with "I cannot call" before throwing his hand into the muck. Sootla went down to 3,725,000 and asked Katsuren "What did you have?... Ace-X...K-Q Maybe?".

There was no table talk at the start of the next hand after Sootla limped, Katsuren jammed and Sootla called off his remaining 3,725,000.

Renno Sootla: J J

Eisuke Katsuren: A 9

The runout took Sootla for a ride as the A K 2 flop put Katsuren into the lead.

A 7 turn didn't change anything but the J river saved Sootla from hitting the rail.

Sootla remarked "Just when you think it's over, it isn't over". He continued laughing along with Katsuren saying "It's ok, we like to play".

Eisuke Katsuren

Ranno Sootla slid down in chips after giving up in number of small battles with Eisuke Katsuren.

Katsuren limped and Sootla checked, taking the players to a 8 9 9 flop. Sootla snap checked and Katsuren checked behind.

Play checked through more slowly from the 4 turn to see the K river and Katsuren bet 500,000 which saw Sootla muck.

The next hand saw similar action with Sootla limping and action checking through the T 4 8 6 9 runout, and Katsuren betting 350,000 on the river and Sootla folding.

A few hands later Katsuren limped and Sootla checked, the 7 6 K river saw Sootla check-call a 250,000 bet by Katsuren and the players saw a K turn.

Sootla bet 325,000 and Katsuren made it 900,000, Sootla called, and the players were dealt the 7 river. Sootla checked and Katsuren moved all in. It didn't take long for Sootla to fold, and he was then sitting on around 6,000,000.

More chips were crossed to Katsuren in a limped pot to see the 5 Q 8 flop. Both checked to the 6 turn and again to the 8 river. Sootla called a 375,000 bet by Katsuren to get to showdown, with Katsuren flipping over 7 6 to take the pot with a six verses Sootla's pair of fives holding 5 T .

Ranno Scootla

Heads up between Ranno Scootla and Eisuke Katsuren and Katsuren started off with a near 3-to-1 chip advantage but Sootla was not going to let that affect him.

He clawed some chips back in two early heads up pots with continued agression to take the pots from Katsuren on the turn after raising pre-flop and continuing on the flop.

Leo Pang

Eisuke Katsuren made it 500,000 to play from the button, and Leo Pang called from the big blind.

The action went check-check on the 8 5 T flop for the 8 to peel off on the turn.

Pang checked, and Katsuren fired out a delayed continuation-bet of 300,000. Pang thought for a while and check-raised to 700,000. Katsuren made the call.

The dealer peeled off the 9 as the river and Pang led out for 900,000. Katsuren didn't take long and announced all in, and he had Pang covered. Pang snap-called to table K K and was in shock to see Katsuren table the J 7 for a rivered straight to send Pang home in third spot.

Ranno Sootla

After a number of raise folds. Ranno Sootla picked up some chips after pressuring and jamming into his opponents, seeing folds every time.

Sootla and Eisuke Katsuren found themselves in a pot just a few hands later after Sootla opened to 500,000 on the button and Katsuren defended the big blind.

The 7 7 9 flop was check-raised to 700,000 by Katsuren after Sootla bet 275,000.

Sootla folded and gave up the pot, passing some chips back to his opponent in the first level of the final day.