Nishant Sharma

With 200 events on the schedule at the Asian Poker Tour Championship (APTC), there was one that stood out among the rest. After four days of blood, sweat, and tears, the APT Championship Main Event has reached its final table — and the lineup doesn’t disappoint.

With its gigantic TWD 194,080,973 (~USD 6,220,550) prize pool — the largest in APT's 19-year history — and a TWD 37,030,773 (~USD 1,186,880) first-place prize, the biggest ever awarded in an APT Main Event, it’s no surprise that some of the best names in poker made their way to Red Space, Taipei, to chase history.

From 671 hopefuls who put down the TWD 311,000 (~USD 10,000) buy-in, only nine remain. They’ll return on November 28 to battle for the title, the trophy, and a seven-figure payday. Leading the way is India’s Nishant Sharma, who bagged a massive 9,125,000, good for 152 big blinds, as he looks to become just the third Indian player to record a million-dollar score.

APT Championship Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

Dominik Nitsche is a man who needs no introduction. With over USD 21,000,000 in live tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, he sits sixth on Germany's All-Time Money List. No matter what happens on the final table, Nitsche is guaranteed to break into his country's top five. Sitting second in the counts with 7,125,000 chips, Nitsche will certainly be a huge threat.

Australia have representation on the final table as Neng Zhao brings a stack of 4,195,000 chips, good for third on the leaderboard. Zhao has already locked up a career-best cash by almost double, but it'll be the bigger payouts he will be eyeing. Zhao has only five APT cashes on his resume, but that includes a victory at the APT Summer Series Da Nang in 2023, where he took down a Turbo Event.

John Costiniano

No APT Main Event final table would be complete without the presence of a Filipino, and John Costiniano is the player representing his nation as he bagged up 3,700,000 and starts in fourth position. It won't be a new experience for Costiniano as he finished third in the APT Manila Main Event just over a year ago, but this time the stakes are much higher. Finishing seventh or above would set a new career-best score for the man from the Philippines.

One of two Taiwanese players to reach the final nine, Hao Chuang, will start in the middle of the pack after he bagged 3,345,000. Chuang already has a final table appearance this festival as he finished fifth in the Ultra Stack Championship. A career-best is already guaranteed for the local.

Matas Cimbolas

To add to the international lineup, Matas Cimbolas, who sits second on Lithuania's All-Time Money List with over USD 7,500,000 in career earnings, takes a stack of 2,370,000 onto Day 5. Cimbolas recorded his first-ever APT cash during this festival, and a second-place finish or better will ensure he locks up the largest score of his career.

If second place wasn't enough on a country's All-Time Money List, Alexandru Papazian fixes that as he is currently rated as Romania's best tournament player with over USD 4,000,000 in recorded cashes. Papazian will start the final table as one of the shorter stacks with 1,530,000 in his bag, but with 90-minute levels, he will pick his spots wisely.

Alexandru Papazian

Taiwan's Hao Shan Huang is certainly no stranger to APT events as he has no less than 11 cashes on his APT resume. Of those, five are on final tables where he has finished second twice, fourth, fifth, and sixth. The local player has the chance to tick off another box on the APT final table bingo card, but the real story is how he got there.

Huang played a USD 350 Step 1 satellite and scored a Step 2 ticket. Roughly, every six entries generated a ticket in the Step 2 satellites, and Huang was one of the players to make it through his respective qualifier. That means his minimum return on investment is 27,802%, but with a victory, it would swell to 339,008% - not bad for five days of poker at the APT. The Taiwanese player has some work to do as he starts eighth with 1,395,000 chips as he looks to cap off a fairytale tournament.

Hao Shan Huang

Germany's Martin Finger will start the day in ninth as he bagged the smallest stack of 635,000, just under eleven big blinds. Finger is approaching the USD 9,000,000 mark in live tournament earnings, and a top-five finish would bring him over that milestone. However, if he could pull off a victory, he would edge ever so close to the eight-figure territory.

Front Row (L-R) Hao Shan Huang, Matas Cimbolas, Alexandru Papazian, Martin Finger Back Row (L-R) Nishant Sharma, Hao Chuang, Dominik Nitsche, Neng Zhao, John Costiniano

Day 4 Action

There were 34 players that started Day 4, and they all had the same objective in their mind — survive until the final table. Chuang flipped out Ben Loo early on and Sharma's ace-queen dispatched the king-queen of George Tomescu.

Cimbolas also moved up the count early on as he tussled with Eisuke Katsuren. The Japanese player shoved the turn with ace-seven on an ace-high board after Cimbolas bet. After some time in the tank, Cimbolas called with ace-king and held on to score the knockout and vault up the counts.

At the halfway mark of Day 4, Dohang Na (31st), Adam Alfie (29th), Jereld Sam (24th), Ori Kossonogi (22nd), Martin Sedlak (19th), and Ankit Ahuja (18th) had all hit the rail.

Ankit Ahuja

With 90-minute levels, the expectation was that it would be a slow slog toward the final table, but the players had other ideas. Five eliminations in less than 30 minutes took the final 16 down to 11, leaving the field just two away from the final table.

Thanh Tien Nguyen ran his pocket queens into Nitsche's aces, and Junzhong Loo's ace-three couldn't improve against the pocket sevens of Andrew Han. Nitsche then scored another knockout moments later when his turned trips with five deuce induced a hero call out of Bo Wei Lin with pocket eights, which was unsuccessful.

Nguyen Manh Hao lost a flip with pocket queens against the ace-king Chuang to depart in thirteenth, before Han correctly called off a four-bet from Nitsche holding ace-queen. Nitsche held king-six and drilled a six on the flop, and that left Han out in twelfth.

Hao Chuang

From that point, it took five more hours, albeit with a dinner break thrown in there, to reduce the field down to nine. Though those five hours were magical for Costiniano as he grew his stack from a few big blinds to a massive amount in a short space of time.

First, he doubled up when his ace-eight held against the king-queen of Jun Hao Wu, then again when he picked up aces against the tens of Huang. Another hand against Huang followed, where the Filipino player correctly picked off a bluff with pocket jacks against the king-ten of Huang.

Xiaowen Zhao had an unfortunate exit in eleventh when his pocket queens were all-in on the flop against Chuang's pocket sixes. Just as it seemed Zhao would double up, a six on the turn ended his dreams as Chuang improved to a set.

Jun Hao Wu

Sharma then put on a masterclass and took down pot after pot before he played his part in the final hand of the night. Wu held pocket tens and four-bet shoved over the three-bet of Sharma, who held pocket jacks. Sharma made the call and flopped top boat, which ended Wu's run in tenth and set up the final table.

Remaining Payouts

Each of the finalists have locked up a score of TWD 3,047,100 (~USD 97,660), and each ladder is worth life-changing amounts of money. The top eight are all guaranteed USD six-figure scores, with the top three bagging at least half a million dollars each.

Play resumes at 11:15 AM on Friday, November 28, in Level 28 (30,000/60,000/60,000) with 66 minutes left on the clock.

For an APT Championship Main Event Final Table Seat Draw: Click here.

The action will be streamed on the APT Youtube and Twitch channels with a 30-minute delay. The APT blog will follow the same update to ensure no spoilers are leaked.

However you want to tune in, be sure you don't miss the final table as fireworks are almost guaranteed with huge amounts of money at stake.

The APT Championship Main Event final table has finally been reached following the elimination of Jun Hao Wu.

The remaining nine players will return tomorrow at 11:15 AM and play until a champion is crowned.

Stay tuned for a recap of Day 4.

Jun Hao Wu

Jun Hao Wu raised to 125,000 on the button and it folded to Nishant Sharma, who asked to see how much Wu had total from the big blind. He then three-bet to 425,000.

Wu took his time contemplating his decision, but eventually announced he was all in for approximately 1,700,000 total. Sharma quickly called and the hands were revealed.

Jun Hao Wu: T T

Nishant Sharma: J J

It was bad news for Wu, who found his pair pipped by Sharma's jacks as everyone watched in anticipation.

The J 5 5 flop all but sealed Wu's fate after upgrading Sharma to a full house, and the 2 turn left him drawing dead as he got up from his seat.

The 3 river made Wu's elimination official, and he was sent to the payout desk to receive TWD 2,484,200 (~USD 79,620) for his 10th-place finish.

Dominik Nitsche

Dominik Nitsche raised to 240,000 from the small blind holding J J and John Costiniano called from the big blind with A T .

The flop came 5 4 6 and Nitsche checked over his jacks, only for Costiniano to knuckle it back to the K turn. It checked through again to the 3 river, where Nitsche bet 270,000.

Costiniano quickly folded, and Nitsche took it down.

Hao Shan Huang

Hao Shan Huang opened to 120,000 and got called by Martin Finger to see a flop. The flop came 2 T 6 .

Both players checked leading them to the 5 turn. Finger fired 155,000 and got a raise from Huang to 355,000, sending Finger into the tank.

After burning through two time banks, Finger called to see the last street. The 7 dropped on the river and after a check, Huang shoved all in for more than 900,000. Finger, with only 410,000 behind, burned a time bank before mucking his hand.

Matas Cimbolas asked Huang to show, but his request fell on deaf ears.

Neng Zhao

Dominik Nitsche opened to 120,000 in the cutoff with 7 6 and Neng Zhao called in the big blind holding T 9 .

On the flop of J Q 3 flop, Zhao check-called a bet of 90,000 with his open-ender and when the 5 hit the turn, he checked it over. Nitsche then bet 510,000, and Zhao quickly folded.

Nishant Sharma

Nishant Sharma opened to 125,000 on the button and Hao Shan Huang defended his big blind.

Huang checked on the 5 7 4 flop and Sharma continued for 150,000, which was met with a check-raise to 430,000 from Huang.

Undeterred, Sharma shoved, and Huang quickly let his hand go.

The final 10 players have been sent on another 15-minute break.

Hand-for-hand play will resume when they return and continue until the final table is reached.

Here are some highlights from the past level:

• Costiniano Gets Cimbolas to Pay With Ace-High
• Wu Gets a Bluff Through on Costiniano
• Xiaowen Zhao Eliminated in 11th Place
• Finger the Clear Short Stack After Wu Gets a Shove Through
• Sharma Gets Paid with Aces

Dominik Nitsche

With the final table approaching, players tightened up as they tried to survive.

John Costiniano opened to 100,000 from the cutoff and got a call from big blind Dominik Nitsche. Both players checked the 7 J T flop.

On the A turn, Costiniano bet 125,000 and Nitsche called. The 5 river checked around, where Nitsche revealed T 7 for two pair. Costiniano let out a small gasp and flashed one card - the A .

In another hand, Nitsche raised to 100,000 under the gun and picked up calls from both blinds, Neng Zhao in the small and Alexandru Papazian in the big.

The trio checked through the 5 Q A flop. On the J turn, Zhao fired 225,000, which was enough to scoop the pot.

Hao Shan Huang

Nishant Sharma opened A A from under the gun to 100,000 and Hao Shan Huang called with 9 9 on the button. Matas Cimbolas also called with 7 6 form the big blind.

They saw a flop of 5 3 5 and when it got to Sharma, he bet 100,000. Huang came along, but Cimbolas mucked his gutshot.

A Q fell on the turn and Sharma didn't show any signs of slowing down as he bet 400,000. Again, Huang called and the Q paired the board on the river.

Sharma took some time and then decided that 550,000 was the right price with his aces. Huang thought about it and eventually called, which meant he saw the healthy pot head in Sharma's direction.