Nevan Chang

Natural8 ambassador Nevan Chang tops the APT Superstar Challenge High Roller Event at APT Jeju 2026, emerging victorious from a record-breaking field of 51, to claim the title at LES A Casino in Jeju.

The Taiwanese player secured the top KRW 451,777,500 (~USD 337,150) prize, along with the exclusive Black Lion Silhouette Trophy and an APT Championship Main Event Ticket worth an additional ~USD 10,000.

Chang carried his momentum deep into the final table and wrapped up the final day of the tournament in just seven hours, requiring only a short three-hand heads-up match to seal the victory.

His competitor Rudy Edenata ultimately came runner-up, taking second place for KRW 341,060,000 (~USD 254,520), while Nang Quang Nguyen completed the podium position, claiming his KRW 243,610,000 (~ USD 181,800) prize money.

Final Results

*In addition to a APT Championship ticket worth ~USD 10,000.

Winner's Reaction

For Chang, the victory marked the culmination of years of experience competing in some of the toughest high-stakes poker events. Having finally broken through in the Superstar Challenge, he reflected on the journey that led to one of the biggest wins of his career.

"I've played this $25,000 APT event quite a few times before and never made the money. This was the first time I made the money, and I went all the way to take the championship."

Chang credited much of the victory to the experience he has gained over recent years playing against some of the toughest fields on the circuit.

"I've played a lot of high-roller events, and with accumulated experience, even when my stack dropped very low, I had the patience to slowly build it back up. Then towards the end, when my stack hit over a million, I felt I could definitely make the money."

Nevan Chang

While the four-handed battle proved to be one of the longest stretches of the tournament, a crucial knockout hand left him believing the title was within reach.

"It was very intense and lasted a long time, so it was hard to tell then. But of course, after a hand where I eliminated the fourth-place player, my chip stack jumped up. At that point, I felt my chances of winning the championship were as high as 80 or 90 percent."

Even so, Chang admitted he was surprised by just how quickly the heads-up match came to an end. After a gruelling day of play, the tournament was decided in only a handful of hands.

"Yeah, in the final heads-up match, I didn't expect it to end in just three hands. It was faster than I imagined—everything went very smoothly."

The result also continues an impressive run of form in Jeju. Chang believes his recent success comes from becoming increasingly familiar with the opposition and constantly pushing himself to improve against stronger competition.

"Over this past year, things have indeed gone very well here on Jeju Island—I've been consistently winning."

With APT heading to Taiwan again later this year for the flagship Championship series, Chang is already looking forward to competing on home soil and making another run at an APT title.

"I will definitely play the entire schedule... I heard this year's Lion Trophy has been redesigned and looks different, so I'll find a way to fight for another lion [laughs]."

This tournament win will go down as an all-time career-best result for Chang, moving him from fifth to third on Taiwan's All-Time Money List. His career earnings now surpass USD 1,400,000.

A Day of High-Stakes Action

Only 26 players made it through to the final day from the original 51-entry field, with 11 players set to receive a share of the prize pool.

Joseph Cheong

The field was fierce, and many of APT's most notable players tried their luck, including APT all-time money list topper and two-time Superstar Champion Joseph Cheong.

Previous Superstar Challenge winners Calvin Lee, Ren Lin, and Chih Wei Fan also jumped in. Lee was the final player eliminated before Day 2, and Lin met the exact same fate just 12 hours later. Returning as the tournament's shortest stack, Lin busted within 10 minutes of taking his seat. He got in his last chips with pocket deuces and ran into Chih Wei Fan’s big slick. Fan picked up an ace on the flop which saw to Lin's elimination.

That set the pace for the rest of the tournament, as the average stack sat around 35 big blinds for most of the day with levels at 40 minutes.

It was also a brutal morning for Cheong as he got in his last few chips with pocket aces, but they were cracked by Nang Quang Nguyen’s kings who flopped a set and made quads on the turn.

Fan had a rollercoaster of a day and looked almost certain to bust out within the first level of Day 2 after running into Nguyen's aces. The Taiwanese Natural8 ambassador went down to around seven big blinds, but he quickly recouped some of his stack and they both went the distance.

Ryuta Nakai

It took only two levels of play from the start of the day to reach the bubble. Within a handful of hands, Ryuta Nakai ended up being the unlucky bubble boy when he put his last ten big blinds in with pocket sixes and didn't improve against Chang's eights, hitting the rail just before making the money.

Lester Edoc came into the day in the middle of the pack but found himself at risk just after the bubble burst. He passed his stack to Nguyen, after his ace-ten failed to improve against the Vietnamese player's pocket nines, triggering the final table bubble.

Christian Harder

Nguyen, who by this point was likely wishing it was a bounty tournament, was also responsible for the elimination of Christian Harder. There was no holding on for Harder, as Nguyen had the best of it when the cards were turned over. Harder's queen-ten was dominated by ace-jack and found no help on the low runout. With that the Superstar Challenge final table was set.

Final Hours at the Final Table

Fabian Gumz was relatively quiet throughout the second day of play, rarely getting into any big spots. He saw some hope after initially doubling up with queen-jack, but just a couple of hands later he was out of the tournament after both he and Nevan Chang were dealt an ace, but his jack left him behind of Chang's queen kicker, eliminating him in 9th place.

Chih Wei Fan had been very active from the outset of Day 2, never afraid to get involved in sizeable pots. But it was Rob Hollink, who came in as chip leader and held a lot of the power in the early levels of the day, that put an end to Fan's run. All the chips went in preflop, and Fan's fours were no match for Hollink's ace, which paired on the turn, sending him home in 8th place.

Yoko Sasaki

As the only female player to enter the Superstar Challenge, Yoko Sasaki showed poise throughout the day, waiting patiently for her spots. After taking a big tumble midway through when she put out a sizable open but was forced to fold, the very next hand saw the rest of her chips committed to the pot. It was Nguyen who once again got to collect after he paired his five-four offsuit on the flop, leaving Sasaki's ace-jack out to dry and sending her home in 7th place.

Six-handed play lasted a little over an hour, with minimal movement in stacks, but after that the eliminations came thick and fast.

Johan Pedersen, who put together one of the standout performances of Day 2, proved that no stack is too short to mount a comeback. He started the day second from the bottom of the counts but battled hard to stay in contention. After surviving several pressure spots, his run finally came to an end when Nevan Chang rivered a second deuce, leaving Pedersen's ace-seven second best to Chang's ace-two.

Renji Mao placed 5th and suffered a similar fate. After losing a sizeable pot, he committed his remaining chips with ace-nine against Rudy Edenata's ace-jack but was unable to improve, bringing his tournament run to an end.

Four-handed play slowed the action down considerably compared to the previous pace. With the table taking their time and enjoying the tournament, the players shared some table talk with few chips being passed across. By this point, Edenata and Chang sat with the majority of the chips, while Hollink and Nguyen trailed behind.

Rob Hollink

Then, after around an hour, Day 1 chip leader Rob Hollink got himself into a sticky spot against Chang on a heart-heavy board. Hollink had flopped top pair, but Chang turned a flush, which ultimately saw to Hollink's exit in 4th place for KRW 187,800,000 (~USD 140,150).

Just a few hands later, Nang Quang Nguyen took home the bronze position after Chang found another pickup on the turn, pairing his ace-five against Nguyen's pocket fours.

Quick Fire Heads-Up

Heads-up play began with Chang holding a 2:1 chip lead. Within ten minutes, the tournament was over.

There was little action between the two players as a limped preflop pot got the pair to a monotone queen-high flop. Chang check-raised into Edenata, and the rest of the chips went in on the turn. Chang had flopped the flush holding ten-seven, while Edenata had flopped middle pair, which failed to improve on the runout.

Nevan Chang

That brought this year's Jeju 2026 Superstar Challenge High Roller tournament to a close; the victory adds another memorable chapter to APT Jeju 2026 at LES A Casino, with Chang becoming the latest player to lift an APT trophy. APT coverage continues with the focus now shifting to the prestigious Main Event.

All Day 1 flights have now been played or are drawing to a close, and Day 2 will kick off at 11:00 am tomorrow.

Each day will feature a live stream on the APT YouTube Channel, while live reporting continues to capture all the key action as the chase for another APT Main Event champion unfolds.

Nevan Chang

Nevan Chang has been crowned as the winner of the 2026 Jeju Superstar Challenge event, taking home KRW 451,777,500 (~USD 337,150) and a APT Championship Main Event Ticket worth ~ USD 10,000.

Chang defeated the record-breaking 51 player field, to take home the lions share of the KRW 1,785,127,500 (~USD 1,332,185) prize pool.

A full tournament recap will be posted shortly, so be sure to stick with the APT blog for the full rundown of how he conquered the 2-day high roller event.

Rudy Edenata

After just three hands of heads up play, where no action got past the flop, Rudy Edenata limped on the button and Nevan Chang checked his big blind.

The Q 2 8 flop was checked by Chang and Edenata bet 250,000. Chang raised to 750,000 and Edenata made the call.

A Q turn saw Chang check, Edenata move all in and Chang snap call.

Rudy Edenata: 9 8

Nevan Chang: T 7

Edenata was looking at top two pair, but Chang had flopped the flush.

There was no chance of recovery Edenata after the dealer placed the 2 river card, and he finished as the runner up in the Superstar Challenge event, taking home KRW 341,060,000 (~USD 254,520).

Nevan Chang

With the recent elimination of Nang Quang Nguyen, action quickly went to heads-up.

Nevan Chang sits with the clear chip lead having nearly two thirds of the chips in play, with his opponent Rudy Edenata sitting opposite him with the much smaller stack.

Rudy Edenata

Nang Quang Nguyen

Nevan Chang opened to 250,000 on the button and Nang Quang Nguyen moved all in for his last 1,335,000. Chang asked for a count and Nguyen said "It's just 11 big blinds."

Once the dealer confirmed the count, Chang responded with, "Ok, I call", and the pair headed to showdown.

Nang Quang Nguyen: 4 4

Nevan Chang: A 5

Nguyen had the advantage, and there was little to sweat on the J Q J flop.

A 5 fell on the turn which propelled Chang into the lead having the bigger pair.

Nguyen stood from his seat as the 3 fell on the river, and he was sent home in 3rd place.

Rob Hollink

The pot had swelled to 800,000 with Rob Hollink under the gun and Nevan Chang on the button.

The pair were looking at a K A 8 4 board and Hollink had checked to Chang who moved all in.

Hollink made the call for his remaining 1,500,000 and the pair flipped over their hands.

Rob Hollink: A T

Nevan Chang: Q J

Hollink had top pair, but Chang had turned the flush. It was the end of the road for Hollink after seeing the 9 was placed and Hollink hit the rail in 4th place.

Nevan Chang opened to 200,000 from under the gun and Nang Quang Nguyen jammed, scooping the pot.

The next hand, Rudy Edenata opened from under the gun and Chang called. The 6 Q 9 flop was checked to the 3 turn and 8 river and Chang bet 250,000 which got a fold from Edenata.

Rob Hollink joined the action by opening to 200,000 on the button but was raised by Chang when he put 800,000 into the pot and Hollink threw his hand into the muck.

Then Chang opened to 200,000 and Nguyen gave up his big blind but showed four-deuce off suit in the process. Chang showed his strength by flipping over his ace-queen.

During the stagnated action, players were sharing some friendly table talk. With the action having gone relatively fast, Chang suggested that they take a look at the other High Roller event which had late registration still open.

Hollink replied “You played the main event already?” He continued by saying “What’s this High Roller? What's the buy-in?”.

Hollink was then dealt his next hand and limped the small blind. Chang bet 300,000 from the big blind and Hollink was forced to fold.

Rudy Edenata

Nang Quang Nguyen opened to 200,000 from the cutoff and Rudy Edenata defended his big blind.

The 4 9 7 flop saw both check to the 8 turn.

Edenata used a time-bank before betting out 400,000 which was enough to see off Nguyen.

In the next hand, the pair went head to head again after Edenata limped from the small blind and Nguyen checked his big blind.

The A 5 Q flop was checked to the Q turn and Nguyen bet 155,000 after seeing a check. Edenata pushed his hand into the muck and passed a small pot back.

Then, Edenata the opened on the button and saw Hollink defend his big blind.

A T 5 4 flop prompted Hollink to check-fold to a 200,000 continuation bet from Edenata.

Renji Mao

Renji Mao limped from the small blind and Nang Quang Nguyen checked his big blind.

The 3 J T flop was checked quickly to the 8 turn. Mao bet 100,000 and Nguyen called, taking the players to the K river.

Nguyen check-raised to 575,000 after Mao bet 225,000. Mao mucked and was left playing with 805,000 chips.

The next hand saw Rudy Edenata open to 160,000 from the cutoff and Renji Mao moved all-in for his last ten big blinds. Edenata placed his chip protector into the pot, and the dealer checked with him to see if it was a "Call?". Edenata said yes and the players flipped their hands.

Renji Mao: A 9

Rudy Edenata: A J

Mao was behind in the race and needed to find something on the board to stay alive.

A 3 T 8 flop brought the backdoor straight but Mao missed on the the A turn and 4 river, sending him home in 5th place.

Rudy Edenata opened the button to 160,000 and Nang Quang Nguyen called from the big blind.

The J 4 2 flop prompted Nguyen to check-call a 225,000 bet by Edenata.

A K was turned and Edenata bet 500,000. That was enough to make Nguyen give up his hand, and Edenata regained some chips.