Thai player Prin Snitmacharo three-bet to 1,200 preflop and was called by Jung Min Kim, who then check-called the 9 6 4 flop for 2,000. Both checked the K turn and Kim check-called another 2,000 on the 6 river to muck when he was shown the Q Q .

The action has kicked off right in front of the registration desk and even though there are only a handful of early entrants, that number is expected to rise significantly.

So far, there are only 12 players registered with a diverse mix of countries from Asia and Europe. For example, Ruben Korab from Austria and Nedelcho Karakolev from Bulgaria are joined by several players from South Korea whereas four other nationalities are in the mix as well.

The blinds are 100-200 with a big blind ante of 200 and that gives everyone 200 big blinds in the first level of play. The button is in seat eight and the cards are now officially underway.

Furthermore, several players are expected to jump into the action right away as there is a waiting line at the registration desk now already.

2025 champion Ruiko Mamiya

The first day of the 2026 Asian Poker Tour Championship (APTC) has arrived and thousands of card game enthusiasts from all over the world will be heading to Red Space in Taipei City to take part in Asia's largest live poker festival of the year. Held once again in cooperation with the Chinese Texas Hold'em Poker Association Taipei (CTP Club), a total of 209 events will be available, from low to high-stakes action throughout the 17 day festival.

More than TWD 256,000,000 (~USD 8,100,000) in guaranteed prize pools awaits during the festival, and several key events are part of the schedule, including 23 Championship Events and 23 High Roller Events. The first low-stakes highlight kicks off on the very first day of the series with the National Cup Championship, which boasts a TWD 20M guarantee for a buy-in of only TWD 16,000.

A total of five starting days are available with varying level durations and the longest levels of 35 minutes each will unfold on Flight A, which is slated to commence at 11.00 a.m. local time on Friday, November 13. Flight B follows later this evening at 8 p.m. local time with a 15-minute clock.

The defending champion of this very event is Japan's Ruiko Mamiya, who came out on top of a 2,398-entry field one year ago after a three-way deal with local Taiwanese player Wei Chun Kuo and Hong Kong's Wilfred Yiu. The trio took home the largest slices of the TWD 29,544,600 prize pool, whereas well-known Filipino poker pro Florencio Campomanes bowed out in fifth place for TWD 1,113,300.

All initial flights will play to 14% in the money and players must make the Final Day in order to cash. If several participants bust during bubble play, they will thus not receive a cash prize. Late registration for Flight A will be open until approximately 6.35 p.m. local time following the 75-minute dinner break. All players receive 40,000 in chips and the blinds at the end of the registration period will be 1,000-1,500/1,500.

The first Championship Event of the festival is scheduled to play down to a winner on Saturday, November 15, and the APT live updates team will provide as many key hands as possible on the way there.