Russia's Maxim Sorokin bagged the chip lead on Flight A of the Main Event

- China’s Mingcong Chen Tames Pewter Lion in Tour’s Largest Korean-Based Super High Roller

- China’s Changliang Sun Shines in Record-Breaking Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8

APT JEJU 2025 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

JEJU, SOUTH KOREA, September 28, 2025 – Hosted in partnership with Landing Entertainment Korea at the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa World resort, the third day of the ten-day APT Jeju 2025 saw the festival continue its record-setting trend.

The highlight of the day was the arrival of the KRW 2.6M (~USD 1,850) Main Event and its KRW 2.2 billion (~USD 1.5 million) guarantee, with the opening Flight A seeing a 39 percent increase in entries when compared to the APT Jeju 2024 Main Event – more on this below.

In addition to the Main Event action, there was the exciting conclusion of two of the festivals’ initial record-breaking events, with the two-day APT Super High Roller, and two-day Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8 both crowning new APT champions.

Then there was the single day KRW 500,000 (~USD 355) Sunday Super Stack, which set a new tour country record for field size – you can read all about this in the side event press release.

Main Event

It was the opening Flight A of the KRW 2.6M (~USD 1,850) Main Event that garnered the most attention with the action getting underway at 11am (KST) drawing 397 initial entries (308 unique).

This is a 39 percent increase in entries over Flight A of the APT Jeju 2024 Main Event, which attracted 285 entries, and a 59 percent increase in the recent record-breaking APT Incheon 2025 Main Event Flight A, which attracted 250 initial entries.

With six records already broken at this festival, including an international all-time record for field size for an opening event, the Main Event looks poised to continue the record-setting trend.

With 234 OnLive entries having already fought their way through on Natural8, this brings the Main Event field up to 631 entries in total, with three live starting flights left to play out over the next two days.

By the time the last card came off the deck at the end of the ten 60-minute levels played, just 144 players were left to bag up their chips.

It was Russia’s Maxim Sorokin who successfully summited the tournament leader board to bag up a chip leading stack of 369,300 with the Nizhny Novgorod native one of three players to crack the 300K chip mark, with the other two being China's Zu You Wang (328,900), and Xiang Yu Yu (325,700).

APT Taipei 2024 High Roller champion Martin Sedlak also managed to bag a top ten stack of 277,700, as did APT Incheon 2025 National Cup champion Kevin Choi (228,500) with the top ten stacks as follows:

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT A TOP TEN STACKS

For Main Event Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE

Other notables to make it through to Day 2 include the Czech Republic’s Roman Hrabec (217,000), Germany’s Fabian Gumz (192,600), Australia’s Dylan Foster (179,200), APT Incheon 2023 High Roller champion Thanisorn Saelor (167,000), reigning APT Jeju Main Event champion Xixiang Luo (148,800), and APT Taipei 2023 Main Event champion Punnat Punsri (121,500),

Natural8 Ambassadors Nevan Chang (152,500), and Hua Wei Lin (120,000) also made the cut.

With three more starting flights left to play out, there are still opportunities for those unsuccessful in their endeavours to win their way through.

Flight B gets underway at 11am on Monday, September 29, with players competing over six 45-minute levels and four 60-minute levels.

The final two starting Flights C & D — both boasting six 30-minute levels and four 45-minute levels each — get underway on Tuesday, September 30, at 11am and 6pm respectively local time (KST), although late registration remains open until the start of Day 2, which kicks off at 11:15am on Wednesday, October 1.

All tournament information can be found on the Main Event Flight A tournament page, and you can follow all the day’s action via the APT Blog.

China’s Mingcong Chen Tames Pewter Lion in Tour’s Largest Korean-Based Super High Roller

China’s Mingcong Chen earned a career-best score and APT Championship Main Event ticket with his Super High Roller victory

While the Main Event proved to be the biggest draw of the day, it was the record-breaking action in the Final Day of the KRW 15M (~USD 10,640) APT Super High Roller that captivated the attention of the watching railbirds.

Just 22 players out of an initial field of 97 entries (65 unique)—the largest this event has ever attracted in the country—returned for the Final Day, all looking to tame the Pewter Lion APT Super High Roller trophy and claim the coveted APT Championship Main Event ticket on offer for the eventual champion.

However, with only 13 out of the returning players cashing for a share of the tour’s richest-ever Korean-based prize pool of KRW 1,340,782,500 (~USD 950,910)—the third-richest ever generated for this event—over half of them would leave empty handed.

While it was Dajie Zhuo returning in pole position with the start-of-day chip lead, the Chinese player was unable to convert it into victory, falling at the final hurdle against compatriot Mingcong Chen.

Chen came into the heads-up match with a slight five big blind chip deficit but turned things around on the third hand played, flopping two pair against the top pair of Zhou to edge into a 3-to-1 lead.

It was all over the following hand, with Chen once again flopping two pair against the middle pair of Zhou, improving to a full house on the turn and playing possum to induce a shove from his opponent, which came on the river to grant Chen the win.

The KRW 348,252,500 (~USD 246,990) on offer for first place is the richest prize this tournament has ever awarded in Korea, granting Chen a career-best score and a second career APT title, in addition to the APT Championship Main Event seat valued at KRW 14 million (USD 10,000).

“This prize money, I feel, is just a side effect of an athlete’s hard work,” said a relaxed Chen in his post-match interview.

“It’s not like the prize money changes my life, actually not much has changed. But what makes me happy is that I feel life is happier when hard work pays off. That in itself is a blessing. As for the amount, I believe many players also don’t really care about exactly how much—it’s more about the honour.”

“For those who love tournaments, what they really care about is the honour. Honestly, I haven’t been playing tournaments that long,” Chen confided.

“I feel APT is very mature and professional in its organization, so I’m willing to participate. I’ve even won an APT High Roller before, so I feel this place brings me good fortune. That’s why I want to be here,” Chen stated when asked why he chose to come to Jeju to compete.

In addition to thanking his wife for her constant support, Chen offered others some sage advice immediately following his win.

“If you like poker, just treat it as a hobby, join good tournaments for the experience, for fun. Participation is what matters. Don’t get too obsessed.”

While Chen has a grounded approach to the game, he is looking forward to competing in the USD 10,000 APT Championship now he has won his ticket.

“If I can go, I’ll be there. For now, this is already the best result, and I have no reason not to be happy,” Chen said, before heading off to celebrate his win.

While Chen’s opponent Zhou will be disappointed to have come within touching distance of the trophy and his first live tournament title, the KRW 244,110,000 (~USD 173,130) runner-up prize represents the second-largest cash of his playing career, which should prove some consolation.

Romania’s Iulian Blebea rounded out the last of the podium positions, with the KRW 161,190,000 (~USD 114,320) on offer for third representing the second biggest cash on his poker resume.

APT SUPER HIGH ROLLER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables to cash but come up short of the final table included Australia’s Anton Lu (10th for KRW 30,510,000), and Natural8 Ambassador Nevan Chang (12th for KRW 27,200,000).

For APT Super High Roller Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT Super High Roller Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be viewed on the APT Super High Roller Final Day tournament page and you can read about how the action played out via the APT Blog.

You can also watch the action as it played out via the APT Super High Roller Live Stream on the official APT YouTube channel.

China’s Changliang Sun Shines in Record-Breaking Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8

China’s Changliang Sun claimed a career-best score in the tour's largest & richest Korean-based Mystery Bounty

All the record-breaking action was not exclusive to the APT Super High Roller, with the Final Day of the tour’s largest-ever Korean-based KRW 1.1M (~USD 780) Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8 also playing down to a champion.

The initial three opening flights drew 1,111 entries (575 unique) setting a new tour country record for the event, surpassing the one set just six weeks previously at the APT Incheon 2025.

Just 157 returned for the Final Day, all guaranteed a minimum KRW 1,210,000 (~USD 860) payout from the KRW 722,594,400 (~USD 512,480) prize pool – the richest the event has ever generated in the country and the second richest of all time, just behind the record-setting APT Taipei 2025 iteration of the tournament.

With a further KRW 333,300,000 (~USD 236,380) up for grabs in the bounty pool, the action was high octane from the get go, with the tournament all wrapped up in fifteen 30-minute levels.

While it was Minh Thang Tran returning with the start-of-day chip lead, the Vietnamese player came up short of the final table, exiting in 48th place for KRW 2,290,000 (~USD 1,625).

Instead, it was Changliang Sun’s time to shine, and despite the Chinese player coming into the nine-handed final table as the shortest stack Sun ran red hot to clinch a second career APT title.

Sun and opponents Yi Ma and Baofeng Zhang elected for a three-way ICM chop when play became three-handed, with Sun earning a career-best KRW 90,000,000 (~USD 63,830) top prize, in addition to the trophy, title and a further KRW 8,700,000 (~USD 6,170) in bounties.

Both Ma and Zhang took KRW 87,495,000 (~USD 62,050) apiece for second and third place respectively, with Ma making an additional KRW 9,250,000 (~USD 6,560) in bounties, and Zhang claiming a career-best score, plus a further KRW 11,000,000 (~USD 7,800) in bounties.

However, it was Oliver Lirio of the Philippines who proved to be the bounty hunting top dog, pulling the biggest bounty of KRW 35,000,000 (~USD 25,000) plus six others for a total of KRW 41,450,000 (~USD 29,400) in bounties, plus a further KRW 6,530,000 (~USD 4,630) for his 14th place finish.

MYSTERY BOUNTY FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Notables to cash but come up short of the final table included: Flight C frontrunner Lili Tang (27th for KRW 3.6M plus 2.2M in bounties), India’s Kunal Patni (30th for KRW 3.1M plus KRW 1.65M in bounties), Germany’s Martin Finger (36th for KRW 2.69M plus KRW 1.65M in bounties), Germany’s Jessica Vierling (41st for KRW 2.69M plus KRW 3.75M in bounties), the USA’s Yoon Ho Choi (50th for KRW 2.29M), and China’s Jie Zhang (63rd for KRW 1.92M).

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be viewed on the Mystery Bounty Hunter Final Day tournament page.