After four exhilarating days of tournament poker the 2,354-strong APT Taipei 2026 Main Event has been whittled down to the final nine players.
These lucky few are duking it out for a share of a TWD 111,862,080 (~USD 3,585,320) prize pool that includes eight seats to the USD 10,000 APT Championship (APTC) Main Event, two of which have already been awarded via lucky draw—the first to Russia's Sergei Zakharov and the second to the Netherlands Joris Michl. The top six finishers will claim the others.
In addition to poker's hottest ticket, the eventual champion will walk away with the second-largest non-APTC Main Event first place prize awarded by the tour—a massive TWD 16,640,100 (~USD 533,340)—as well as the award-winning 24K gold lion APT Main Event trophy and all the accolades that come with it.
The battle for the title promises to be epic. 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: Ching En Chen (Taiwan) - 7,450,000 (30 big blinds)
Taiwan's Ching En Chen qualified for the Main Event via tour sponsor Natural8 and brings USD 140,003 in live tournament cashes into the final table, with a best score of USD 55,418.
Chen's top APT result came during this series in the Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8, where he finished fourth for USD 23,846. Whatever his final placing, this will be his new highest career cash.
Seat 2: Miki Shiraishi (Japan) - 7,250,000 (29 big blinds)
Japan's Miki Shiraishi has just one recorded live cash, which came in the APT Main Event Incheon 2025 where he finished 117th for USD 3,630.
Shiraishi now finds himself at the final table, where he will be returning fifth in the overall counts. Whatever the end result, Shiraishi is guaranteed a new career-best result.
Seat 3: Kristof Segers (Belgium) - 6,525,000 (26 big blinds)
Kristof Segers, a Belgian now based in Taipei, fought his way through via tour sponsor Natural8 and has USD 708,529 in live tournament earnings.
Segers owns two APT titles, including a win earlier this series in a high roller hyper turbo. This is Seger’s nineteenth APT final table appearance and he is guaranteed a new career high score.
Seat 4: Kazuma Ishihara (Japan) - 11,450,000 (46 big blinds)
From Japan, Kazuma Ishihara enters second in chips; despite having two recorded live tournament results on the Hendon Mob both were in Japan-based tournaments for zero cashes.
One of two Japanese finalists, Ishihara is making his maiden live tournament cash one to remember – should the cards fall his way, he could even claim the title.
Seat 5: Pakinai Lisawad (Thailand) - 6,825,000 (27 big blinds)
Another of the nine finalists who qualified via Natural8, Thailand's Pakinai Lisawad has USD 1,513,999 in live earnings and regular appearances in PLO high rollers with buy-ins of USD 25,000 and USD 50,000 around the world. His best result is a runner-up finish in the WSOP PLO High Roller for USD 693,553, and he could move to fourth on Thailand’s all-time money list with a win.
Lisawad has two APT final tables on his resume, with his best result being an eighth place finish in a hyper turbo highroller during APT Taipei 2025. This is Lisawad’s second Main Event final table showing after a ninth place finish in the 2013 APT Manila Main Event for USD 12,400.
Seat 6: Tony Ren Lin (China) - 5,925,000 (24 big blinds)
China’s Tony Ren Lin enters as the shortest stack but boasts plenty of experience with over USD 19 million in live tournament earnings. Lin won back-to-back tournaments in the APT Super High Roller and Superstar Challenge at APT Jeju Classic 2026, and this marks his third final table of the series.
Lin currently sits third on China’s all-time money list, and at #1 on the Global Poker Index (GPI) with his largest cash being USD 1,045,781, which he won in 2023. Lin has already finished eighth in the APT Super High Roller this series; he has 7 APT final tables, including his 2 titles, and is looking to become the first player in the New Era to claim a second Big Three APT lion trophy.
Seat 7: Joshua McCully (Australia) - 8,125,000 (33 big blinds)
Australia’s Joshua McCully is an APT regular and also a strategy coach with tour sponsor DeepRun with USD 2,665,812 in live tournament earnings. The online crusher won his way through via Natural8 and boasts three APT titles.
McCully’s best previous APT Main Event result was 18th at the 2023 APT Summer Series Da Nang, where he also won the Superstar Challenge and a Single-Day High Roller. McCully has 19 APT final tables to his name and sits at #19 on Australia’s all-time money list. A win or runner-up finish would bump him up to #15 and grant the Aussie a new career high score.
Seat 8: Chia Lin Huang (Taiwan) - 6,525,000 (26 big blinds)
Taiwan's Chia Lin Huang enters the final table with USD 258,254 in live tournament earnings and several titles from poker festivals around Taiwan. Huang's biggest career cash stands at USD 34,171, which also came here in Taiwan.
While Huang is still chasing his first APT title, he has plenty of tour experience with several cashes and four final tables, including one runner-up finish. Huang's best APT Main Event result so far was 70th at APT Taipei 2024; he has already guaranteed himself a new career high score for making the final table.
Seat 9: Chun Shing Lau (Hong Kong) - 33,275,000 (133 big blinds)
Chun Shing ‘Walter’ Lau enters the final table as the huge chip leader with over a third of the chips in play. The Hong Kong player has USD 75,886 in live tournament earnings, with his best APT result coming at the 2025 APT Championship Series, where he finished third in a side event for a career-best USD 12,786.
Lau has already guaranteed himself a new career-high cash for making the final table, and is returning in the best of positions to claim his maiden major title.