Walter Lau
The APT Taipei 2026 Main Event has come to an end inside the Red Space Arena, with Hong Kong’s Chun Shing ‘Walter’ Lau turning a huge final table chip lead into the title after defeating Australia’s Joshua McCully heads-up.
Lau came into the final table with more than a third of the chips in play and, despite a few shaky moments, closed it out to claim the top prize of TWD 16,640,100 (~USD 533,340), the APT Gold Lion Trophy, and an APT Championship 2026 Main Event seat for this November’s season finale in Taipei.
McCully finished runner-up for TWD 9,519,000 (~USD 305,100), while Taiwan’s Ching En Chen rounded out the podium for TWD 6,510,000 (~USD 208,650). McCully, Chen, Kristof Segers, and Pakinai Lisawad all found their way into the Main Event through Natural8 qualification, with all four turning their online entries into final table runs.
APT Main Event Final Table Results
*Includes APTC Main Event ticket worth TWD 312,000 (~USD 10,000)
Winner's Reaction
Speaking with the APT host after his victory, with his words translated from Cantonese, Walter Lau introduced himself as a recreational player from Hong Kong who had just completed the biggest run of his poker life.
“Usually, my poker friends call me ‘Wo Jai,’ and I’m from Hong Kong, where I work as a real estate agent,” said Lau. “I started playing poker in 2018, beginning with very small cash games with friends.”
Lau said tournament poker came much later, with his first live tournaments only coming at the end of 2023.
“As for tournaments, my first time playing was at the end of 2023,” he said. “I’ve played several APT events since then. Although I hadn’t seen results in the Main Events, I’ve done quite well in the side events.”
Despite now being an APT Main Event champion, Lau admitted this trip was never part of a serious plan.
“I didn’t actually plan this trip specifically,” he said. “It was an impulsive decision to come because many of my friends were here. I just wanted to hang out and play, so I feel very lucky to have made it this far.”
Walter Lau
Lau also spoke openly about the frustration of tournament poker and the long stretches without results.
“Regarding the fact that I haven’t been in the money many times, I have thought about giving up,” said Lau. “The buy ins aren’t cheap, and firing two or three bullets each time can be frustrating.”
However, he said anyone who plays enough tournaments understands that variance is simply part of the game, especially in huge fields.
“Anyone who plays enough poker knows that in a massive field like this, with over a thousand or two thousand people, not getting a result is actually normal,” said Lau. “The way tournaments are designed, you aren’t making money 80 percent of the time, so you have to accept the variance.”
For Lau, the key is not to judge everything by one result.
“I think it’s important not to focus too much on a single result, but rather on personal growth,” he said. “You have to ask yourself, am I consistently learning? Am I getting better? When you know you are doing the right things, even when the results are bad, it gives you the confidence to keep moving forward.”
Lau spoke about his mother, who had been mentioned during the live stream. Lau said poker can still be difficult for many parents in Hong Kong to understand.
“To be honest, it is very difficult for most parents in Hong Kong to accept their children playing poker,” said Lau. “First, they don’t understand what it’s about, and second, it remains a legal gray area in Hong Kong. It’s hard for them to accept.”
Walter Lau's Friends
Lau said it might be easier for families to accept if the results were always positive, but poker does not work that way.
“It might be easier if you were constantly winning and very successful, but poker isn’t that simple. It has its ups and downs,” he said. “When they don’t understand that, they just see it as gambling, which led to some arguments with my family.”
“We can’t control how they think, but I hope that by doing my best and playing well, they will slowly accept that this can be a profession or a goal, rather than just gambling.”
Asked if he had anything to say to his mother, Lau said both of them are reserved people, and that some things have been difficult to express.
“My mother and I are both very reserved people,” said Lau. “While we communicate okay, there are certain things I haven’t expressed.”
“She mentioned before that she felt I was under a lot of pressure, so she didn’t want to say too much to me,” he added. “I admit that’s true. When I didn’t fully understand my own path or feel certain about my future, it was hard to focus on anything else happening around me.”
“I hope that after winning this money, we can understand each other a bit more.”
Even after claiming the title, Lau was quick to keep himself grounded.
“I don’t feel like I’m anything special just because I won. A lot of it is luck, as anyone who plays tournaments knows,” he said. “But this is an opportunity for me to pursue things in life that I wanted to do but couldn’t before.”
“I’m thankful to God for this chance, which opens up more possibilities to explore different goals.”
Walter Lau
Lau also earned an APT Championship 2026 Main Event ticket with the win, something he admitted he had not originally planned to chase.
“I hadn’t originally planned to play the APT Championships because a USD 10,000 buy in is too expensive given my current situation,” said Lau. “But now that I have this ticket, I want to give it a try.”
“Between now and November, I need to study more and increase my knowledge because the field will be full of experts,” he said. “Since it’s a freezeout with no rebuys, I have to stay calm and handle things better to give myself a chance. I’m approaching it with a balanced mindset.”
Lau also said his story is not unique, and that many poker players in Hong Kong and across Asia face similar situations.
“I think the things I’m saying today are things that many other Hong Kong people or Asian players also experience,” said Lau. “My story isn’t unique to me. Many people in Asia playing poker, whether full time or part time, face these same issues.”
“Just because I won doesn’t mean I’ve made it,” he continued. “But I hope those from the older generation or family members can communicate more with their children and keep an open mind toward new things.”
“Beyond poker, there are so many different lifestyles and career paths today. It’s no longer just about having a traditional job or being a professional. I hope Asian parents can give this more thought.”
Walter Lau
As for his own future, Lau said he still wants to keep poker balanced rather than turn fully professional.
“As for myself, while I want to learn and play well, I want to maintain the mindset of a recreational player,” said Lau. “I see too many professional poker friends around me working far too hard.”
“I’ve never wanted to be a full time pro. Life needs balance and different hobbies,” he added. “Poker is one of those interests, one that can earn some money, but I think I’m much happier staying recreational than going professional.”
Lau ended the interview with one of the funnier stories of the day, revealing that he never looked directly at the APT Gold Lion Trophy during play.
“I never actually looked directly at the Gold Lion trophy during the game,” said Lau. “My friend Tim, a high roller player from Hong Kong who won the Rose Gold Lion before, gave me some advice.”
“He said the lion has a very strong ‘killing intent,’ and that if you stare at it, it will ‘counter kill’ you,” Lau said. “He noticed that many players featured by the media or YouTubers end up losing in the end.”
“So, following Tim’s advice, I didn’t look at the lion once until after I had won.”
Walter Lau
Final Table Action
The final table started with Lau holding a mountain of chips, but it was Kazuma Ishihara who landed the first real punch. On the opening hand, Ishihara flopped a set of sevens and filled up by the river, getting paid by Lau’s trip jacks to close the gap slightly and show that the chip leader was not going to have things all his own way.
McCully also found an early double, on what at first looked like a bad beat. Lau four-bet jammed with pocket jacks and McCully snapped him off with two aces, only for the flop to bring a jack and put the Australian on the ropes. The turn quickly fixed that problem as McCully spiked a higher set and stayed seated at the final table.
Pakinai Lisawad
The first elimination came when Lisawad picked the wrong time to get aggressive. He opened pocket nines, then four-bet jammed into Chen, who was sitting there with pocket aces. Lisawad couldn’t find a two-outer and was the first player to hit the rail in ninth for TWD 1,376,500 (~USD 44,120).
Tony 'Ren' Lin had managed to double through Lau earlier with ace-jack against ace-six, but his spin-up didn’t last long. Lin later called off his stack with queen-jack on a queen-high board, only to see Lau table king-queen. No help arrived on the river, and Lin’s hopes of adding an APT Main Event title to his recent heater ended in eighth for TWD 1,807,000 (~USD 57,920).
Ren Lin
Chen edged his way into the chip lead for the first time, mainly thanks to some aggression. He put Segers in the blender with a big river shove after check-raising the flop with a bluff, forcing the Belgian to burn through multiple time banks before letting it go. Chen then won a flip with ace-king against the pocket sevens of Chia Lin Huang, ending Huang's hopes in seventh for TWD 2,516,500 (~USD 80,660).
Japan's Miki Shiraishi started to gain some traction before everything unraveled quickly. First, Segers doubled through him with ace-queen against queen-jack, and not long after, McCully left him with just crumbs after ace-jack held against Shiraishi’s king-queen.
Miki Shiraishi
Shiraishi somehow managed to turn a third of a small blind into 800,000 with a runner-runner straight, but the comeback was short-lived. He got the last of it in with king-seven against McCully’s ace-queen and couldn’t connect, finishing sixth for TWD 3,297,500 (~USD 105,690).
With five left, it looked for a while like Lau had lost control of the table. Chen moved into the chip lead again, Segers started picking up pots, and McCully kept finding spots to fight back. Chen then delivered one of the most painful beats of the final table, getting pocket nines in against McCully’s pocket tens. McCully turned a set, leaving Chen needing only an eight to survive, and the miracle happened as Chen drilled a straight to keep his seat.
Joshua McCully
That hand knocked McCully down, but he refused to go away. Soon after, he called Ishihara down with second pair, catching the Japanese player bluffing. Ishihara then tried to put McCully away with king-queen against ace-eight, but McCully held, leaving Ishihara short. Lau finished the job not long after, calling Ishihara’s shove with pocket eights and holding against king-three, meaning Ishihara was gone in fifth.
Things evened out momentarily with four players left. However, Lau was the one to change that when he got the better of Segers. In a single-raised pot, Segers jammed the turn with top-top, only for Lau to call him with two pair. No help came for Segers, and he had to settle for TWD 4,880,000 (~USD 156,410) after missing out on a podium position.
Kristof Segers
Now back in control, Lau rode his momentum and just a few hands later sent the tournament heads-up. Chen three-bet shoved with ace-queen and Lau called with ace-ten, and it looked like Chen would become a huge chip leader, until a ten-high flop ended that. Chen exited in third for TWD 6,510,000 (~USD 208,650), and the Main Event went to heads-up.
The Heads-Up
Lau entered heads-up against McCully with almost a 4-to-1 lead, but the Australian pro made things interesting immediately. On the first hand, Lau flopped the nut straight, but McCully turned trips and rivered a full house before getting paid, cutting into the deficit and almost evening out the stacks.
Joshua McCully & Walter Lau
That momentum didn’t last too long. Lau quickly composed himself, chipped away in several smaller pots, and rebuilt his lead. McCully had already shown he wasn’t going to go quietly, but Lau kept the pressure on and soon had the Australian short again.
Then it was all over. McCully raised, then called off his stack with king-jack and trailed Lau’s ace-ten. Neither player improved on the runout, meaning McCully’s deep run ended in second for TWD 9,519,000 (~USD 305,100), while Lau was crowned the APT Taipei 2026 Main Event champion.
Walter Lau and Friends
The series is not done just yet, with the APT High Roller currently playing out inside the Red Space Arena. The final Mega Lion Trophy of the series will be awarded to the champion on Sunday, May 3, so be sure to tune back into the APT Blog for all the action direct from the tournament floor.
Walter Lau
Joshua McCully
Walter Lau
Joshua McCully
Joshua McCully and Walter Lau
Ching En Chen
Kristof Segers