Ren Lin Bagged the Day 3 Chip Lead

Day 3 of the TWD 55,000 Main Event at the APT Taipei 2026 series is in the bag. This was the first day that all the players came together here at Red Space, Taipei to battle it out on the felt.

With the 199 survivors from Day 2A and 69 from Day 2B joined by the 70 OnLive qualifiers, a total of 338 players took their seats at the start of play.

After nearly nine levels of play at the tables, 46 survivors were left standing to bag up their chips to take through to Day 4, on Friday, May 1.

It was China's Ren Lin who closed out the day with the chip lead, bagging up a huge 5,275,000 chips. Hunting down Lin was Thailand’s Pakinai Lisawad with 4,750,000 chips, and sitting in third spot at the end of the day was Hong Kong’s Chun Yu Ma with 4,670,000 chips.

MAIN EVENT DAY 3 TOP TEN STACKS

Chinese superstar Lin is on a massive APT heater at the moment, hot on the back of taking down the Super High Roller & Superstar Challenge at the recent APT Jeju Classic. He is looking to take down his first APT Main Event and a first-place finish here will take him within a whisker of cracking into the USD 20 million in lifetime earnings club.

Thailand's Pakinai Lisawad is Hot on Lin's Heels

Lisawad is no stranger to APT deep runs but is looking for his first major title and add to his USD 1.5 million in lifetime earnings.

Ma is looking for his second APT title but first Lion Trophy after he took down the TWD 20,000 NLHE Freezeout at APT Taipei 2025. A deep run here should see him boost his lifetime earnings far above the half-a-million mark.

All players were already in the money at the start of the day, so with no bubble to burst, play was fast and furious from the off, and many notable players bit the dust throughout the day.

Kitty Kuo Along with other Former APT Champs Bit the Dust

Several former APT Big Three champions hit the rail as play progressed; start-of-day chip leader and APT Manila 2024 High Roller champion Daniel Neilson (66th), APT Taiwan 2021 Main Event champion & Natural8 Ambassador Kitty Kuo (68th), APT Jeju 2025 Main Event winner Abraham Ceesvin (98th), APT Cebu 2015 Main Event winner John Tech (163rd).

Joining them on the rail was APT Incheon 2022 Main Event winner Farhad Aghayev (174th), and APT Jeju 2024 High Roller winner & Natural8 Ambassador Ting Yi ‘Eric’ Tsai (301st), and APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 High Roller winner Martin Sedlak (333rd) were all unable to make the cut..

Remaining Payouts

A bunch of known players obviously did make the grade and are through to Day 4 such as the APT all-time money leader, the United States' Joesph Cheong, who is in the hunt for his sixth APT title with 2,010,000 chips. Cheong’s compatriot Ari Engel is still in the mix with 1,000,000. Engel is looking for his first APT title to go along with his plethora of other titles and crack into the USD 10 million in lifetime earnings club.

Josh McCully

Aussie Josh McCully finished with 1,540,000 chips and is looking for his fifth APT title and could sneak across the USD 3 million in live lifetime earnings mark with a deep run here.

Thailand's Netnapit Muksatean Leads the Last Woman Standing Race

There are still two ladies standing in the Main Event, and both have put in stellar performances so far. Thailand’s Netnapit Muksatean is sitting pretty with 2,160,000 chips and not far behind Muksatean is Japan’s Mayuko Sawada, who sits with 1,790,000 chips, both ladies have already secured their largest recorded live cash to date.

Day 4 gets underway at 11:15am local time on, Friday May 1, and prior to cards in the air the final draw for an APT Championship Main Event seat will be made.

The feature table will also be streamed on a 30-minute delay with cards up action, and be viewed via the APT Official YouTube Channel.

Be sure to tune back into the APT blog for the penultimate day of the APT Taipei 2026 Main Event, with full chip counts, big hands, and all the action as the field plays down to the final table.

Just 46 players remain in the Main Event after a full day of play here in Day 3.

Action will resume at 11.15 A.M tomorrow. Stay tuned to the blog for the full day recap which will be posted shortly.

Leonard Ng

Chun Yu Ma raised the button to 100,000 before Leonard Ng three-bet jammed for 645,000 from the big blind. Ma made the call with the covering stack and the players flipped their cards.

Leonard Ng: 5 5

Chun Yu Ma: A 9

Ng was the player at risk with pocket fives, and needed to win the flip to secure his spot on the penultimate day of the Main Event.

Ma took a huge lead in the hand by pairing his ace on the T A 4 flop.

A T on the turn meant only a two-outer on the river would stop Ng from being the last elimination of Day 3.

The dealer burned a card and peeled off the J to complete the board, ending Ng's Main Event in forty-seventh place.

Ren Lin

Mangkone Sanaphanith was eliminated in the final hand of the day after getting in his last ~1,200,000 chips against Ren Lin.

Mangkone Sanaphanith: 6 6

Ren Lin: A K

Sanaphanith was out of luck as Lin found a King on the 4 K 4 flop. The 7 turn and 7 river sealed Sanaphanith's fate, and he was eliminated from the main event. This chip up from Lin secured him the position of chip leader going into Day 4.

Jisoo Ha

At the same time, on the next table across, Jisoo Ha was at risk from the cutoff. Kota Nakayachi had opened the hijack for 100,000 and Ha moved all in for 320,000. Action folded back around and Nakayachi called, having Ha covered.

Jisoo Ha: A T

Kota Nakayachi: 7 7

Ha had two overs but Nakayachi only improved on the 7 5 2 flop.

He stood from the table as the 5 turn and 8 river was placed, being eliminated from the tournament and falling short of making Day 4.

Henry Hoo

Henry Hoo started the action when he moved all in for 470,000 from middle position. Mangkone Sanaphanith moved in a time bank card and started to count out his stack, more than once, to check his stack size. He was sitting on 475,000 only covering Hoo by 5,000.

Sanaphanith called and Hoo was stood from his seat, to record the outcome.

Henry Hoo: A K

Mangkone Sanaphanith: A Q

Hoo was ahead, and he stayed in the lead on the 5 J 7 flop.

The 5 turn paired the board, but with Hoo holding a King, he was still ahead.

A 7 river double paired the board and send the pair to a chop.

Edmond Chim raised the button to 80,000 and Chen Chuang Lin called from the small blind. Joshua Gebissa squeezed all in for 470,000 from the big blind and only Lin called.

Joshua Gebissa: A T

Chen Chuang Lin: K J

Gebissa was slightly ahead with ace-high, although Lin had two live cards working for him with five cards to come.

The flop of 2 T 6 was safe for Gebissa as he hit top pair and stayed in the lead.

An 8 hit the turn, and Lin needed a to connect on the river to win the pot.

A J on the river was exactly what Lin was looking for, and all of Gebissa's chips were absorbed into Lin's stack.

Mayuko Sawada raised to 80,000 under the gun and Cheng Chuang Lin called from the big blind.

After seeing a flop of K J K , Lin went for a check-call against the 50,000 bet from Sawada.

A 9 fell on the turn and Lin chose to lead out for 200,000. Sawada called.

The 8 came on the river and both players checked. Lin flipped over Q T for a striaght to claim the pot, as Sawada mucked A K for trips.

Ke Cheuk Koo

Junseok Oh open-jammed for his remaining 550,000 from the cutoff and Ke Cheuk Koo re-jammed from the small blind. The big blind folded, leaving the pair to go to showdown.

Junseok Oh: T T

Ke Cheuk Koo: J J

Oh was behind and the low 6 4 3 6 8 runout brought Koo no troubles.

Koo chipped up and Oh grabbed his bag and left the tournament area.

Kwang Tan

Kwang Tan raised to 80,000 from early position and was called by Wooseok Kim in the next seat. Action folded to Ming Sheng Liu in the small blind who three-bet to 420,000.

Action was back on Tan who went into the tank for a short while before he four-bet to a cool 1,000,000. Kim couldn't fold fast enough and action was back on Liu who didn't take long to five-bet all in, he had Tan covered. Tan waited briefly for a pay jump but called for his tournament life before it occurred.

Kwang Tan: A A

Ming Sheng Liu: K K

No help for Liu on the 4 6 6 7 5 runoyt and Tan was sent the massive pot for a double up and more whilst Liu was left nursing a short stack after the brutal cooler.

Bogdan Berinde (left) & Ming Liu (right)

Michael Concepcion opened to 80,000 from under the gun and Bogdan Berinde, who was sitting to his direct left, called. Ming Liu, Bernde's neighbour, raised to 500,000 and Concepcion didn't take too long to fold. Berinde moved in two time bank cards and sat back to think about his decision.

He topped up with another time card, and then said "all-in". He was quickly called by Liu, who commited the remainder of his 805,000 stack to the pot and the players flipped their hands.

Ming Liu: A K

Bogdan Berinde: A Q

With Liu ahead, the players looked to the flop to see if anything would change. The J 5 8 flop brought in a flush draw for Liu, and the 4 turn brought the sweat of a flush for Berinde.

It was a race to the finish but the 3 river saw to Liu's double and Berinde say back with less than half of the chip he started the hand with.