After four thrilling days of action-packed poker, the 2025 APT Jeju Main Event–the largest international poker tournament ever to play out in Korea with 1,693 total entries–has been whittled down to the final nine players.

With a massive KRW 3,761,155,200 (~USD 2,686,540) in the prize pool, these nine finalists are playing for a share of the biggest purse the APT has ever awarded in Korea.

All nine are already guaranteed a payday of KRW 47,990,000 (~USD 34,280), with the eventual winner entering the APT history books and walking away with the largest first place prize ever awarded at a Korean held APT poker tournament – a hefty KRW 649,835,200 (~USD 464,170) winner’s purse, plus the award-winning 24K Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy and all the accolades that go with it.

And just to top it off the top three finishers will also be awarded a seat into the APT Championship Main Event held in Taipei this year valued at USD 10,000.

To see how we got to this point, you can check out the coverage on the APT Blog.

You can also view all the action as it played out via the live stream on the official APT YouTube channel.

The stage is set, the curtains are raised, all that remains is to introduce the players, so let us take a look at the lucky few and examine the poker credentials of our potential future champions-in-waiting:

Seat 1: Bizhen Li (China) – 4,270,000

Starting on the dealer’s left in seat 1 is Bizhen Li who has no major recorded live cashes so is guaranteed his biggest ever live cash to date. Coming into the final table as the short stack Li will be looking to stay out of trouble for some time and hopefully ladder up the pay outs.

Seat 2: Hao Zhang (China) – 16,375,000

Sitting in seat 2 is our chip leader Hao Zhang who starts with a commanding six million head start on any of his closest rivals. With just over USD 150,000 in live tournament earnings Zhang is looking to take down his first ever major APT title. With over USD 34,000 already locked up in this event, as per his compatriot in seat one Zhang is also guaranteed his biggest ever live cash to date.

Zhang picked up a big chunk of his stack when he picked up pocket rockets to take out Leslie Tsui in 16th place.

Seat 3: Shuang Qiu (China) – 10,040,000

Sitting to the left of our chip leader in seat 3 third in chips is Shiang Qiu, who has a modest USD 6,000 in live tournament earnings and is another final tablist looking to take down their first major title.

Qiu burst the final table bubble hitting quads to eliminate WSOP bracelet holder Georgios Skarparis.

Qiu will be looking to leverage his position on the chip leader Zhang and pick his spots to counter some of Zhang’s pre-flop raises with three-bet steals of his own.

Seat 4: Lili Tang (China) – 16,375,000

Hot off her recent success in Jeju in taking down her first APT title in Women's Event (Event #25), in seat 4 is Lili Tang.

Tang is guaranteed her largest ever career live cash and she will be looking to drastically add to her total live earnings of just under USD 45,000. She will be looking to join Natural8 Ambassador Kitty Kuo, and Vietnam’s Dang Thi Hue in the ranks of female APT Main Event champions, and could make history in becoming the first ever APT New Era Female Main Event champion.

Tang is coming into the final table in fourth spot and still has plenty of chips to play with and as she has shown throughout the tournament will be looking to pick her spots wisely and maximise profits from her premium holdings.

Seat 5: Yayun Liu (China) – 10,180,000

Yayun Liu is one of the more experienced players in the final nine. Boasting numerous side event and WSOP final tables and over USD 1,200,000 in live tournament winnings on his resume, Liu is on the hunt for his first major tournament title and will be returning with a healthy stack, starting the final table second in chips and has good position on chip leader Zhang.

Only a top two finish will better Liu’s largest live cash to date, which came from a runner-up finish in a large US-based tournament back in April 2024 where he cashed for USD 200,000.

Seat 6: Abraham Ceesvin (Singapore) – 4,490,000

Sitting in seat 6 is Abraham Ceesvin who boasts close to USD 800,000 in live tournament cashes and is appearing at his fourth APT Main Event final table.

However Ceesvin, who was APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 Main Event runner up, has work to do as he is entering the final table as one of the shorter stacks but will be looking to utilize his vast final table experience (over 20 major final tables) to maneuver his way through the final and ladder his way up the placings, hopefully building a stack along the way, to take yet another shot at an APT Main Event title.

Only a top two finish would better Ceesvin’s largest career cash achieved in the aforementioned APT Taipei Poker Classic, and a win would grant the Singaporean a second APT title to go along with the trophy he picked up taking down the Single Day High Roller Freezeout 8 Max (Event #2) at the 2023 APT Incheon.

Seat 7: Yita Choong (Australia) – 5,735,000

Australia's Yita Choong is one of the most experienced players at the final table with a WSOP Millionaire Maker final table on his poker resume.

The Aussie boasts over USD 2.8 million in live tournament cashes, although only a win would see the Aussie make a career-best score, with his fourth place finish in the tournament mentioned above good for a USD 395,545 score.

Choong is a regular on the APT tour and boasts eight APT final table appearances, and an APT title won at the APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 where he took down a Single Day High Roller for TWD 2 million (USD 63,742).

Choong will be looking to use his final table experience and plethora of deep live tournament runs to put his middling stack to work and push on to hopefully take down his second APT title.

Seat 8: Peng Zhou (China) – 5,025,000

In seat 8 is Peng Zhou who comes into the final table with just over USD 100,000 in live earnings with the Chinese player making his APT final table debut one to remember.

Zhou entered Day 3 with the tournament chip lead and continued to build his stack nicely by picking his spots wisely and never really putting his stack at risk. Zhou picked up a healthy bonus to his stack when his pocket jacks held to send Lei Song to the rail.

Zhou is coming into the final table sixth in chips but still has plenty of wiggle room and is only a big hand away from jumping into the top five stacks.

Seat 9: Haiyang Yang (China) – 4,360,000

In seat 9 is Haiyang Yang who has over USD 300,000 in live earnings, with the Chinese player looking to take down his first major title.

Yang has two APT runner-up finishes and also a WSOP final table appearance at the 2024 WSOP $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Freezeout (Bracelet Event #28) event which is his largest career cash at just under USD 150,000; a podium finish in this event will better this.

Yang has work to do though as he is entering the final table as the second shortest stack so will be hoping to ladder up some places to boost his potential take home pay.