Jeremy Chan

One year ago, Jeremy Chan finished runner-up in the KRW 15,000,000 Super High Roller at APT Incheon 2025, held at Paradise City Casino. That result began a run of five consecutive heads-up defeats, along with two fourth-place finishes.

Chan reached heads-up once again, this time against Michel Molenaar at APT Incheon 2026, and the pair played out a topsy-turvy, deep-stacked battle for the largest share of the KRW 801,705,000 (~USD 575,525) prize pool.

After the final hand of the evening, Chan let out a huge sigh of relief before finally lifting the elusive APT Pewter Lion Trophy.

“Very lucky. I mean, after the heads-up last year I ended up being zero [from] five in heads-ups. My friends told me I have to break the curse, I have to come back and finish the job, and luckily this time the poker gods were in my favour. Very lucky and very happy. Thank you very much for all of the support - got the guys watching at home,” Chan said in the winner’s interview moments after his victory.

Jeremy Chan receives an APT Championship Main Event seat

When asked about runner-up Molenaar, the new champion was full of praise.

“Oh yeah, he was very, very tough. He put me in a lot of really, really tough spots. I think it went back and forth, and then I coolered him where I had top two pair and he flopped a straight and flush draw. He hit the flush on the turn and I hit the full house,” Chan said, recalling one of the pivotal hands of the heads-up duel.

The second-most expensive tournament of the festival attracted 58 entries, with 14 players surviving Day 1. Two Natural8 ambassadors reached the money, but it was last year’s runner-up Chan who secured the title and the second-largest live tournament cash of his career, according to The Hendon Mob.

Chan also received a seat in the APT Championship 2026 Main Event in Taipei this November.

APT Incheon 2026 Super High Roller Results

*The winner also receives an APTC 2026 Main Event ticket valued at KRW 13,930,000 (~USD 10,000).

Final Day Action

Only 14 players returned to their seats, and it did not take long for the action to begin. Eventual champion Chan was the first to double, winning a flip with king-jack against the pocket tens of Reoma Ogawa.

Shortly afterwards, Shota Kashiyama found a pair and straight draw on the flop with four-three suited, but the pocket eights of Peng Chen held to send Kashiyama to the rail.

Shota Kashiyama

The next player to fall was former Natural8 ambassador Phachara Wongwichit, who put his hopes on jack-nine suited in a bid to triple up. Ogawa isolated with ace-queen and left Wongwichit drawing dead on the turn.

Chan then doubled again, while Phuong Ngoc Nguyen saw his short-stack grind come to an end against Natural8 ambassador Nevan Chang on the outer table.

Martin Sedlak survived a bad beat on the outer table against Molenaar, who was involved in four consecutive all-in showdowns. Mingzhe Zhou could not crack pocket queens with king-seven and bowed out before Yuya Arito won a flip to remain in contention.

Molenaar then moved to the top of the leaderboard after four-bet jamming on the final-table bubble and being called by John Perry for more than 20 big blinds.

John Perry

Nine players remained with eight places paid, but the money bubble lasted fewer than seven minutes despite the average stack sitting above 33 big blinds.

Thailand’s Sutthi Denvitaya was the last player to leave the tournament empty-handed. After entering the final table as one of the shorter stacks, he called a three-bet with ace-ten before committing the rest against the pocket kings of Jeremy Chan on a jack-high flop. Denvitaya found no help on the turn or river and was eliminated on the bubble.

Sutthi Denvitaya was eliminated on the bubble

Chang then doubled with pocket queens before Chen found himself at risk with ace-queen suited against pocket queens. No help arrived on the flop or turn, but an ace on the river kept Chen in contention.

The next flip saw Arito at risk once again, this time with pocket fives against Chan’s king-jack. A jack on the flop and a king on the turn gave Chan the pot and extended the Malaysian’s chip lead, leaving Arito out in eighth.

Start-of-day chip leader Ogawa never managed to regain his early position and slipped into the middle of the pack. He was given an opportunity to rebuild after getting all in with pocket kings, but Molenaar’s ace-queen found an ace on the turn to send the Japanese player out in seventh.

Ogawa had recorded only two previous live cashes worth less than USD 2,000 combined, making his KRW 40,180,000 (~USD 28,845) payday a significant result for the young player from Japan.

That sent six players into the next break, and the field was reduced to five soon after play resumed.

Chang’s pocket aces on the button were cracked by Chan’s jack-deuce in the big blind after the Malaysian flopped top and bottom pair, further extending his lead and earning Chang a trip to the payout desk in sixth. Fewer than 30 minutes later, the tournament was already heads-up.

Sedlak picked the wrong time to three-bet jam ace-nine from the big blind, with chip leader Chan immediately calling with pocket queens to reduce the field to four.

The field then went from four players to two in the very next hand. Molenaar looked down at pocket kings in the big blind and was more than happy to call the all-ins of Natural8 ambassador Chih Wei Fan and Chen.

Another king on the flop left both opponents in serious trouble, and the hand was over by the turn. As Chen had a bigger stack, he took third, while Fan finished fourth. Molenaar’s double elimination set up a heads-up duel in which both players held more than 70 big blinds.

Chih Wei Fan

Molenaar remained in control for much of the heads-up duel and pulled away several times, but everything changed during a major clash. The Dutchman turned a flush, only for the same card to improve Chan to a full house and reverse their positions.

Molenaar doubled before the next break after correctly making a hero call with ace-high, ensuring the battle for the Super High Roller Pewter Lion Trophy was far from over.

The lead continued to move back and forth before Chan floated the flop with a suited ace and completed an ace-high flush when clubs arrived on both the turn and river.

Molenaar had paired his ace on the turn with ace-jack to make top pair and top kicker. He moved all in on the river, only for Chan to reveal the flush that ended Molenaar’s run in second place.