Ma Kaihong

Day 3 of the APT Jeju 2026 Main Event is in the bag, and the action is now getting down to the nitty-gritty.

The third day of the KRW 2,700,000 Main Event saw the 31 Day 3 OnLive players who won their way through on tour sponsor Natural8 take their seats and join the 167 live survivors from Day 2 at the tournament tables of Les A Casino, Jeju to battle it out on the felt.

These 198 players took their seats at the start of play, and after nearly seven levels of action, with a double elimination in the final hands of the day on two separate tables, just 47 remained to bag up their chips and take them through to Day 4 tomorrow, October 2.

It was China's Ma Kaihong who enjoyed an amazing run to go back-to-back as the end-of-day chip leader, following up his Day 2 lead by bagging a massive 3,185,000 chips today. He was the only player to cross the three-million-chip mark.

Kaihong is a relative newcomer to the Asian poker scene, with just USD 34,000 in recorded earnings, and is looking to claim his first major title.

Hunting down Kaihong was his compatriot Yi Heng Luo with 2,730,000 chips, while Weimin Chen completed a Chinese clean sweep of the top three stacks with 2,310,000.

MAIN EVENT DAY 3 TOP TEN STACKS

Luo is no stranger to APT deep runs and is hoping to get his hands on his second APT title, adding to the Baby Superstar title he won here last year. A deep run here will take him close to USD 500K in lifetime earnings.

Chen, like Kaihong, is in the hunt for his first major title and has already secured his largest recorded live cash to date.

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, with several notable players hitting the rail throughout the day.

Rene von Reden was one of several APT Big Three champions to exit on Day 3

Several former APT Big Three champions hit the rail as play progressed. Among those unable to make the cut were APT Taipei 2024 High Roller champion Stanley Weng (181st), APT Ho Chi Minh 2019 Main Event champion Abhinav Iyer (145th), APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 Main Event champion Rene von Reden (138th), and APT Taipei 2025 High Roller champion Trung Quan Nguyen (129th).

They were joined on the sidelines by APT Jeju 2025 High Roller champion Khoa Anh Ngo (127th), APT Taipei 2024 Main Event champion Daisuke Ogita (118th), APT Manila 2024 High Roller champion Daniel Neilson (113th), and APT Incheon 2026 Main Event champion Stephen Pang.

Yita Choong

Australia's Yita Choong, Hong Kong's Hon Cheong Lee, India's Vinay Boob, the USA's Daniel Lei, two-time bracelet winner Renji Mao and the UK's Scott Margereson were also among the other notables who fell by the wayside before the end of play.

Many notables did make the grade and will take a stack through to Day 4, including Christian Harder (1,420,000), Rishi Mehra (1,335,000), Joris Michl (1,215,000), Piet Pape (705,000) and the inaugural APT Championship High Roller winner Toby Joyce (700,000).

Christian Harder

A massive shout-out goes to the last lady standing in the Main Event, Vietnam’s Dieu Tu Dinh, who finished the day in 28th place with 780,000 chips. Dinh is looking for her first APT title after making two final tables here in Jeju back in February. Best of luck to her.

Dieu Tu Dinh

For a full list of all Day 3 survivors and their chip counts, click HERE.

All remaining players are guaranteed KRW 9,260,000 (¬USD 6,910), but all will be setting their sights on the mouthwatering first-place prize of KRW 556,340,000 (¬USD 415,180), which comes with a ticket to the APTC Main Event in November, not to mention the APT Main Event Golden Lion Trophy. A second coveted APTC Main Event seat will be awarded via random table draw at the start of play tomorrow, leaving the final three tickets reserved exclusively for the podium finishers.

APT Jeju Remaining Main Event Payouts

Play resumes tomorrow, October 2, at 11.15 a.m. local time, with 50 minutes remaining in Level 25. The blinds will resume at 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante.

Levels will be 60 minutes, with a break every two levels. Play will continue until the final table of nine is reached.

For the full Day 4 seat draw, click HERE.

Be sure to tune back in to the APT blog for all the action from the floor as the APT Jeju 2026 Main Event heats up even further.

Catch up on the action via the APT Main Event Day 3 live stream on the official APT YouTube channel. Live coverage will continue daily through to the Final Day on Saturday, October 3.

With a double elimination early in level 25 and the field now reduced to 47 players play has now concluded for the day.

The remaining 47 players are now bagging up their chips and will return tomorrow, October 2, for Day 4.

Stay tuned for a brief recap of the day along with full survivor chip counts.

Kim Wah Chiu

Kim Wah Chiu opened to 50,000 from the hijack only for Zixiong Jiang sat in the cutoff to three-bet to 410,000 all-in. Action came back to Chiu, who snap-called, putting Jiang at risk.

Zixiong Jiang: J J

Kim Wah Chiu: A K

Jiang was ahead but needed to dodge the dreaded ace or king to survive and make it through to Day 4.

The dealer was not so coperative though and peeled off the 8 A 2 flop to send Chiu into the lead.

No jack to save Jiang on the T turn and when the K rolled off as the river and made Chiu two pair, Jian was sent to the rail as one of the end of Day 3 bubble boys.

Dajie Zhuo

After a number of players were seen tank-folding, after coming back from the break, Dajie Zhuo moved all in for his last 260,000 from under the gun. Action folded around to Anh Tuan Le Tran on the button who was sitting comfortably on over a million.

Tran made the call putting Zhuo at risk of elimination, and the pair headed to showdown.

Dajie Zhuo: K T

Anh Tuan Le Tran: A 8

Anh Tuan Le Tran

Zhuo stood up from this seat to watch the runout, and the 6 3 7 A A saw to his elimination of the main event, in 49th place. He narrowly missed out of bagging for Day 4 but didn't go home empty handed as he took home a KRW 9,260,000 (~USD 6,910) payout.

The remaining 49 players are now on a 15-minute break.

When they return just one more player will need to be eliminated before play is concluded for the day.

Joris Michl

Action folded to Joris Michl in late position who raised it up to 50,000 to play only for Xuecong Wang, sat on the button to three-bet all-in to 372,000. It came back to Michl, who crunched the numbers and called, putting Wang at risk.

Xuecong Wang: A Q

Joris Michl: 8 8

No help for Wang on the 3 2 3 7 3 runout and Michl's eights held firm with a full house to send Wang to the rail.

With a flurry of recent knockouts, there are just 6 players currently in their seats who won't make it though to play tomorrow.

With action stopping today when just 48 players remain, the tension builds as the 2026 Jeju Main Event heads towards the final stages.

Among those who recently took home a payout include:

Qixin Tian limped with A 5 from middle position and Jiawei Wan checked his big blind.

The 9 7 A was fanned giving both players a pair, but Tian was ahead with the aces. Wan check-called a 25,000 bet by Tian.

A 4 fell on the turn. Both checked to the 5 river and Wan checked. Tian opted to bet 150,000 and Wan took some time but mucked his cards.

Weimin Chen opened to 50,000 from middle position and action folded around to Shouda Zhang in the small blind, who three-bet all-in to 572,000. It came back to Chen, who made the call to put Zhang at risk.

Shouda Zhang: K Q

Weimin Chen: A K

No outdraw for Zhang on the 6 K 3 4 A runout, and he was sent to the cage.

Weitao Chen

Dzmitry Urbanovich opened to 50,000 and action folded around to Weitao Chen in the small blind, who three-bet all-in for about 320,000. It came back to Urbanovich who made the call.

Weitao Chen: K J

Dzmitry Urbanovich: K Q

Chen was dominated and needed help from the board to stay alive. The dealer duly obliged when she peeled off the flop of 9 J 7 to send Chen into the lead.

No re-draw for Urbanovich on the 8 turn, nor the 6 river and Chen was pushed the pot for a double-up.