Fuyu Yang

Following three full days of action on the felt, the APT Jeju Main Event field has nearly taken shape now that the fourth and final starting flight has been completed. Flight D saw 157 entrants (117 unique) make their way to LES A Casino, and following a swift 6.5 hours of play, Fuyu Yang emerged as the chip leader after bagging up 329,900 — good for the second position overall across all starting flights. Sitting a bit further back is Dajie Zhuo with 256,000, and rounding out the top three is Yifan Zhang, who managed to end with 243,100.

Yang appears to be relatively new to the tournament scene, with just one recorded cash for KRW 3,540,000 (~USD 2,612), according to The Hendon Mob, from placing 19th in the Mystery Bounty Hunter event a few days ago. However, armed with a mountain of chips, the Canadian now has plenty of ammunition to make a deep run and potentially record a career-defining score.

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT D TOP 10 STACKS

The late turbo flight saw no shortage of notables attempt to secure a big stack into Day 2, and many of them succeeded, including APT Taipei 2026 champion Walter Lau (139,900) and APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 champion Rene von Reden (72,700).

Rene von Reden

Fresh from his runner up finish in the Superstar Challenge, APT Jeju Classic High Roller champion Rudy Edenata bagged up a 97,800 stack, with APT Jeju 2025 High Roller champion Mingcong Chen (86,000) also making it through.

Other notables to bag included Japan’s Ryuta Nakai (87,200), Pete Chen (82,100), and bracelet winners Georgios Skarparis (50,300), and Maxim Lykov (29,900).

Among the less fortuante who were unable to secure a bag include recent Mystery Bounty champion Daisuke Abiko and reigning APT Jeju Main Event champion Abraham Ceesvin, who managed to build a big stack early only to lose most of his chips in a brutal pot against Jianguo Li and bust soon after.

The Main Event has now drawn 1,172 entries — 297 in Flight A, 239 in Flight B, 256 in Flight C, 157 in Flight D and a further 223 through OnLive. The prize pool currently stands at KRW 2,731,708,800, comfortably surpassing the KRW 2.2 billion guarantee. However, with late registration still open into Day 2, that number is expected to grow even further.

With the final bags now secured, 368 players will return Wednesday at 11 a.m. for Day 2, where the field will begin the march toward the money bubble. Play will resume on Level 11, which features 700/1,400 blinds with a 1,400 big blind ante. Late registration will remain open until the start of Level 12, giving the Main Event one final chance to grow before the serious business begins.

For ongoing coverage, be sure to check out the APT blog as the story of the 2026 Jeju Main Event continues to unfold.

For the Flight D survivor list, click here.

Play has now concluded for the night, and the remaining 59 players are bagging up their chips.

Stay tuned for a brief recap of the day along with full chip counts for surviving players.

Walter Lau

Hao Chan Hsieh opened from under the gun to 2,800 and found calls from Walter Lau in the next seat, Zhanyu He on the button, and Rongrong Shen in the big blind.

The flop came K 5 7 , and Hsieh continued for 3,000. Lau and Shen made the call, and He folded.

The action was checked around on the 2 turn for the 8 to peel off on the river.

Hsieh checked, and Lau fired out for 18,000. Shen tanked for a while and folded as did Hsieh, to send Lau the pot with no showdown.

The clock has now been paused and the floor has announced the seven more hands will be dealt for the night.

At the conclusion of those seven hands all remaining players will bag up their chips to return for Day 2 tomorrow, September 30.

Christian Harder

Dongxu Dai had a raised in front of him on the button while both Mou Yu and Christian Harder were all in from the small blind and big blind, respectively. Dai tanked, but eventually decided to let his hand go to set up a showdown between Yu and Harder.

Christian Harder: K K

Mou Yu: J J

It was a dream spot for Harder, who had put a bit of a cooler on Yu as both players held premium pairs.

The 6 2 A 5 7 runout kept Hader's Cowboys best and he more-than doubled his stack, having been in for about 76,000.

Yirui Zhang

Yi Bowen moved all in for approximately 27,000 from the hijack and was called by Yirui Zhang on the button to be put at risk.

Yi Bowen: A 6

Yirui Zhang: Q Q

It was bad news for Bowen, and he stood up from his seat as the dealer brought a 7 9 J 3 T runout, keeping Zhang's queens best to eliminate Bowen on the last level of Flight D.

Hong Pham

It was heads-up to the flop of 5 8 Q with about 10,000 sat in the pot and Weisheng Zhao led out from the big blind for 10,000.

Hong Pham made the call from middle position, and the players saw the 9 peel off on the turn. Zhao led out for 7,000, and after a short tank, Pham raised to 19,000. Zhao then re-raised all-in, and Pham snap-called, having Zhao covered.

Weisheng Zhao: Q 7

Hong Pham: 5 5

Pham had Zhao drawing dead so the 5 river which gave her quads was a bit of overkill and sent Zhao to the rail.

Abraham Ceesvin

Ka Wing Fu opened to 2,500 from early position and Abraham Ceesvin made the call from the button. Action came to Jianguo Li in the small blind who three-bet to 17,000. Fu got out of the way and Ceesvin made the call.

The action went check-check on the 9 J 8 flop for the players to see the 6 roll off on the turn.

Li fired out for 15,000 and Ceesvin made the call. The river brought the K and Li sized it up this time and led out for 44,000. Ceesvin snap-called and was a little shocked to see Li table A K and get there on the river to scoop the sizeable pot.

Rene von Reden

Heads-up on a flop of 4 T 6 with a sizable pot in the middle, Rene von Reden had a bet in front of him from the small blind and was met with a shove from Yixiang Zhu, who had von Reden covered from under the gun. Von Reden snap-called all in for 33,700 and a showdown was held.

Rene von Reden: A 7

Yixiang Zhu: K K

Von Reden had flopped a nearly unbeatable nut flush, and the 9 Q runout kept him front to award him the double-up.

Jianguo Li opened to 2,500 from the button only for Zhongyao Li to three-bet all-in from the small blind for 22,500. Action came back to Jianguo Li who made the call.

Zhongyao Li: A Q

Jianguo Li: 8 8

No help for Zhongyao Li on the J 6 K 3 2 runout and he was sent to the rail.