Minh Quang

Vietnam's Minh Quang has completed a remarkable comeback to be crowned the champion of the APT Super High Roller at the APT Taipei 2025 series. Quang secured the first-place prize of TWD 9,580,920 (~$284,905) at the Red Space venue in Taipei, Taiwan after twelve hours of poker today.

Quang walked away with the lion's share of a massive TWD 37,040,420 (~$1,143,223) prize pool that far exceeded the original guarantee when the tournament began. Not only did he win one of the most coveted trophies in poker, but he also earned an APT Championship Main Event ticket worth TWD 350,000 for use in November. Quang bested Australia's Alexander Lynskey in a brief heads-up battle, leaving Lynskey to settle for yet another APT High Roller runner-up finish in less than a year.

This victory significantly boosts Quang's lifetime tournament earnings, bringing him close to $500,000, and propels him into the top 50 on Vietnam’s all-time money list. At one point, Quang was down to just six big blinds at the final table, but his grit, determination, and timely cards proved that anything is possible in poker, propelling him from the brink of defeat straight to the top of the podium.

APT Super High Roller Final Table Results

*Includes a TWD 350,000 APT Championship Main Event ticket

When Day 2 of the Super High Roller got underway the 25 players that returned to the felt were within touching disctance of making the money. Alas, seven players still would exit the tournament area with empty pockets despite all their efforts. There was no need for any hand-for-hand play as Chih Wei Fan and Jeremy Chan busted simultaneously at different tables, and the remaining seventeen players had all locked up at least TWD 576,000 (~$17,778).

After the money bubble burst, Stanley Weng and Thanisorn Saelor were the only players left who already owned a Pewter Lion Trophy, and they knew what it took to win a tournament of this magnitude. However, Sealor and Weng were unable to make it to final table, departing in 17th and 11th positions, respectively.

Thanisorn Saelor

Dominik Nitsche busted in tenth place after he lost the majority of his stack with jack-ten against the two Snowmen of Alexander Wice when the two got all in before the flop. Wice would finish Nitsche of the next hand, and the final nine would all move to center stage to play down to a winner.

When the final table kicked off, Christopher Park held a significant chip lead, with over 30 big blinds more than his closest competitor. Meanwhile, Quang was struggling near the bottom, but a few early three-bet shoves and well-timed raises helped him work his way up the leaderboard.

The first to fall was Hirokazu Kobayashi of Japan, who jammed with king-high, only to run into Matthew Belcher's ace-high in the blinds. A few hands later, Jhon Hendri from Indonesia followed suit, eliminated in eighth place after his king-Queen couldn’t beat Joseph Cheong's ace-six.

Joseph Cheong

At seven players remaining, Quang was in serious trouble with only six big blinds left, and it seemed like the table was waiting for him to bust. However, Calvin Lee found himself at risk next with pocket jacks against Park’s ace-queen. A clean runout for Lee helped him to survive, and triggered the start of Park's downfall.

Quang, meanwhile, managed to find a dream spot with pocket tens. After a raise and three-bet from his opponents, Quang shoved all-in, getting Lee to call with a weak ace. Quang held, and he was able to triple up, propelling him into a much more comfortable position.

In an unexpected turn of events Park was the next to fall in seventh place, as he was unable to win his second huge race of the final table. Park held Big Slick against Lynskey's two tens, but a safe board meant Park was out, and Lynskey was the new tournament leader.

Christopher Park

Cheong, the most successful APT play in history with the most amount of earnings from APT events, busted in sixth after a brutal bad beat. Cheong three-bet jammed ace-king only for Lynskey to call with ace-nine suited. If Cheong held, he would be the chip leader for the first time at the final table. However, an all spade flop gave Lynskey the nuts and Cheong was drawing dead.

Wice finished in fifth place after his jack-eight couldn’t overcome Lee’s queen-high. At this point, Lynskey had more than half the chips in play, putting relentless pressure on the others, who were all waiting for Quang to be the next to fall. But Quang wasn’t going down without a fight. A timely four-bet with ace-ten allowed him to move up into second place, a position he hadn’t held before.

After an hour of stalemate between the final four, Belcher shoved all-in with jack-ten suited from the button, only to have Quang call from the blinds with ace-queen. Neither player improved, and Belcher was sent to the rail in fourth place, with Quang now holding the chip lead with three players left.

Matthew Belcher

Quang held the chip lead and slowly was pulling away from his opponents thanks to a lot of aggression, and some preiumum hands. But, the wheels looked like they were gonig to fall off for Quang when his pocket aces got cracked by Lee's two sixes. Quang showed his tenacity though, as he composed himself and mounted a comeback over the next level to regain the chip lead.

In Lee's last hand of the tournament, Lee check-raised a rivered two pair, only for Quang to put him to the test with a three-bet shove for his last ten big blinds. Lee ended up making the call with two pair and was shown a flopped set of nines by Quang, meaning the tournament was now heads-up, with Quang holding almost a 3:1 chip lead.

Alexander Lynskey

Nothing changed in Quang's game going into heads-up play. He kept up the aggression, slowly eating away at Lynskey's already short stack. Eventually, Lynskey made a stand with king-ten, but ran into the ace-four of Quang. A king of the flop gave Lynskey the winner, and meant a possible comeback was on.

The thought of a comeback was shot down just a few hands later. Lynskey jammed the button with queen-six, and Quang made the call again with ace-high, hoping it would be second times the charm. The runout changed nothing and Lynskey would have to settle for another second place in a APT High Roller. Quang first pumped the air as he became the 2025 APT Taipei Super High Roller Champion.

Minh Quang