APT TAIPEI 2023 SCHEDULE | ULTIMATE GUIDE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, May 1, 2023 – We have ignition! The APT Taipei 2023 Main Event has launched and if the numbers from the opening Flight A are an indication of things to come then the Series is headed for the stratosphere.
With the festival already setting multiple records over the previous three days, anticipation was high for a stellar turnout as the day of the Main Event dawned and Flight A did not disappoint.
An impressive 437 entries (338 unique) anted up the TWD $50,000 entry fee and fought it out at the tournament tables of brand new CTP Asia Poker Arena – Asia's largest permanent poker room – making it the largest Main Event starting flight in the tour's fifteen-year history.
With a further six tournaments running throughout the day including the TWD $300,000 Superstar Challenge – which you can read about below – all 51 of the CTP's tournament tables were in operation, with the poker room packed to the rafters.
By the time the ten 60-minute levels had played out, just 187 players remained to bag up their chips with two players sharing the chip lead.
South Korea's Namhyung Kim and Taiwan's Chun-Yu Wu bagged 305,200 chips apiece – the only two players to break the 300K mark.
South Korea's Jongwook Lee also enjoyed a great day at the felt, bagging a stack of 291,200, with Japan's Naoki Matsumoto (268,600), and South Korea's Jae Wook Shin (253,600) rounding out the top five stacks, with the top ten as follows:
MAIN EVENT FLIGHT A TOP TEN STACKS
- Namhyung Kim (South Korea) – 305,200
- Chun-Yu Wu (Taiwan) – 305,200
- Jongwook Lee (South Korea) – 291,200
- Naoki Matsumoto (Japan) – 268,600
- Jae Wook Shin (South Korea) – 253,600
- Milan Stojkovic (Australia) – 245,400
- Ravn Teo (Singapore) – 240,200
- Orathai Nasathaen (Thailand) – 230,100
- Chak Lam Tsang (China) – 221,400
- Patrick Liang (Taiwan) – 209,000
Other notables to make it through included India's Zarvan Tumboli (204,100), high stakes cash game crusher James En-Ning Chen (156,500), ten-time APT title winner Yohwan Lim (152,300), Natural8 ambassador Kitty Kuo (105,000), Australia's John "Bert" Perry (60,500), Hong Kong's Jeffrey Lo (59,600) and the APT's second-highest title winner Iori Yogo (26,700) – although the latter is one of the shorter stacks.
Notables unable to make the cut included two former APT Main Event champions in Singapore's Zhao Feng and the UK's Jacque Ramsden, Canada's Ian Modder, and Luke Trotman, and Singapore's Jackie Wang.
The 187 survivors will return for Day 2 on Thursday, May 4, and with three more starting flights left to play out, there are still opportunities for those who were unsuccessful in their endeavors to win their way through.
Flight B – comprised of ten 45-minute levels – gets underway at 12pm local time on Tuesday, May 2.
The final two starting Flights C & D both boast 30-minute levels and will get underway on Wednesday, May 3 at 12pm and 6pm respectively.
You can follow all the tournament action as it happened via the APT Blog.
For Main Event Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE
John Tech Breaks Three-year Tournament Hoodoo in Superstar Challenge for TWD $3.43M (~USD $111K)
The Philippines' John Tech claimed his tenth APT title in the TWD $300K Superstar Challenge
While the APT Main Event was setting records, the Philippines' John "Jojo" Tech was battling his way to his first tournament title in three years.
While the 33-strong (26 unique) field in the TWD $300,000 Superstar Challenge may not have been the biggest, it was packed with talent boasting multiple players with USD seven-figure poker resumes who competed for a TWD $9,282,900 (~USD $301,500) prize pool.
It took twenty 30-minute levels for Tech to close out the win, with the Filipino triumphing over APT high rolling regular Hon Cheong Lee heads-up to claim a top prize of TWD $3,434,700 (~USD $111,500).
"It feels very, very nice to win because it’s been a long time since I won a trophy – like three years. Basically because I stopped playing tournaments for a while and was focusing on my cash game," stated Tech in his post-match interview.
It looks like the work on his game paid dividends, and the 38-year-old poker professional was delighted with the win.
This marks a career second-best score for the Manila native, pushing him up to third on the Philippines All Time Money List with over USD $1.5 million in live tournament winnings.
It also earned Tech his tenth APT title, and one of the APT's brand new golden lion silhouette trophies to accompany his APT Cebu 2015 Main Event trophy.
"I love the new look trophies, they look very nice, I heard they were 24k gold plated, which is… wow! Very good, this new APT is very good!" an enthusiastic Tech stated immediately after posing for his winner's photo.
"I'll be playing more tournaments moving forward, and I’m going to play the Main Event of course!"
A total of five players made the money, with Lee receiving TWD $2,367,100 (~USD $76,950) for his runner-up victory and the tournament paying out as follows:
SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE RESULTS
- John Tech (Philippines) – TWD $3,434,700
- Hon Cheong Lee (Hong Kong) – TWD $2,367,100
- Bao Qiang Ho (Singapore) – TWD $1,508,500
- Jack Sinclair (United Kingdom) – TWD $1,090,700
- Changjie Zhang (Singapore) – TWD $881,900
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
You can follow all the tournament action as it happened via the APT Blog.
Australia's Steven Vogt Leads TWD $10K NL Hold'em Single Re-Entry With TWD $1.8M (~USD $58.7K) Prize Pool Up For Grabs
TWD $10,000 Event #19 NL - Hold'em - Single Re-Entry saw 207 players in action (174 unique), generating a TWD $1,807,110 (~USD $58,750) prize pool.
Notables in the running included Taiwanese jazz-pop singer, songwriter Jeff "Yen-J" Yen, Hong Kong's Andy Chun Kit Lee, and the USA's Andrew Lech. Of these, only Lee was successful in making Day 2.
It took eighteen 25-minute levels for the tournament to play down to the money, with 31 players still in contention to take the TWD $382,410 (~USD $12,430) top prize.
It is Australia's Steven Vogt the man who bagged the biggest stack, concluding play with 871,500 in chips - over 200K more than that of next closest rival Yiu Yeung Leung who finished second in the counts with 661,000.
China's Burton Lam rounds out the top three, with the top ten stacks as follows:
NL HOLD'EM SINGLE RE-ENTRY TOP TEN STACKS
- Steven Vogt (Australia) – 871,500
- Yiu Yeung Leung (Hong Kong) – 661,000
- Burton Lam (China) – 604,500
- Kouta Nishimura (Japan) – 547,500
- Gerald Foo (Singapore) – 541,500
- Kar Shing Lo (Hong Kong) – 457,500
- Man Tsun Ho (Hong Kong) – 426,000
- Wing Ki Cheng (Hong Kong) – 424,500
- Ping Jui Lai (Taiwan) – 422,000
- Yuan-Hung Wu (Taiwan) – 291,000
The second and final day plays out at 12:15pm local time with the tournament playing down to a champion.
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
For NL - Hold'em - Single Re-Entry Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE
Australia's Leo Kamiya Wins Pot Limit Omaha High - Single Re-Entry for TWD $364K (~USD $11.8K)
The TWD $25,000 Event #17 Pot Limit Omaha High - Single Re-Entry drew a 53-strong field (39 unique), generating a TWD $1,156,725 (~USD $37,600) prize pool.
It was Australia's Leo Kamiya the man to take it down, claiming his maiden APT title in addition to the TWD $364,425 (~USD $11,850) top prize after beating Hong Kong's Kelvin Tang heads-up.
Tang took TWD $263,200 (~USD $8,550) for his runner-up finish, with seven players making the money and the tournament paying out as follows:
POT LIMIT OMAHA HIGH RESULTS
- Leo Kamiya (Australia) – TWD $364,425
- Kelvin Tang (Hong Kong) – TWD $263,200
- Julian Salvesen (Norway) – TWD $167,700
- Cheli Lin (Taiwan) – TWD $127,200
- Jarryd Godena (Australia) – TWD $98,300
- Jheng-Gang Li (Taiwan) – TWD $75,200
- Szymon Wysocki (Poland) – TWD $60,700
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
SIDE EVENT ACTION
Taiwan's Chi-Ming Yang Wins TWD $220K (~USD $7.1K) in Event #14 NLH - Win the Button - Turbo
The TWD $5,000 Event #14 NLH - Win the Button - Turbo attracted a 239-strong field (181 unique), generating a TWD $1,043,235 (~USD $33,900) prize pool.
The tournament concluded in the early hours of Monday morning, with Taiwan's Chi-Ming Yang taking down the TWD $220,735 (~USD $7,100) top prize.
Yang bested Hong Kong's Anson Choy to claim his maiden APT title and the golden baby lion trophy, with Choy receiving TWD $148,600 (~USD $4,830) for his runner-up finish.
Singapore's Reuben Chan rounded out the winner's podium, taking the TWD $104,700 (~USD $2,720) third-place prize, with 31 players making the money in total, and the final table paying out as follows:
WIN THE BUTTON FINAL TABLE RESULTS
- Chi-Ming Yang (Taiwan) – TWD $220,735
- Anson Choy (Hong Kong) – TWD $148,600
- Reuben Chan (Singapore) – TWD $104,700
- Hsuan Shan Wang (Taiwan) – TWD $84,900
- Wei-Pin Yang (Taiwan) – TWD $67,200
- Jerome Finck (France) – TWD $51,000
- Takanori Hirose (Japan) – TWD $37,200
- Kai Chun Taeng (Taiwan) – TWD $27,200
- Chaeyeon Lee (South Korea) – TWD $22,500
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.
Hong Kong's Ming Sang Chung Takes Down Event #15 NLH - Short Deck - Turbo - 6 Max for TWD $266K (~USD $8.6K)
Another side event to conclude in the wee hours of Monday morning was the TWD $15,000 Event #15 NLH - Short Deck - Turbo - 6 Max, which saw 74 players in action (55 unique), all battling for a share of the TWD $969,030 (~USD $31,500) prize pool.
It was Hong Kong's Ming Sang Chung who proved his short deck chops, beating fellow countryman Kevin Choi heads-up to take the TWD $266,730 (~USD $8,670) top prize in addition to his first APT title.
Choi had to settle for the TWD $189,400 (~USD $6,160) on offer for second place, with Singapore's Lai Koon Lim taking TWD $124,000 (~USD $4,030) for third.
A total of 11 players made the money, with the tournament paying out as follows: ** SHORT DECK TURBO RESULTS**
- Ming Sang Chung (Hong Kong) – TWD $266,730
- Kevin Choi (Hong Kong) – TWD $189,400
- Lai Koon Lim (Singapore) – TWD $124,000
- Wai Tak Choy (Hong Kong) – TWD $95,400
- Kelvin Ma (Hong Kong) – TWD $75,600
- Phachara Wongwichit (Thailand) – TWD $59,100
- Jitrada Boonnak (Thailand) – TWD $46,500
- Chuan Hsieh (Taiwan) – TWD $36,300
- Naruyasu Ota (Japan) – TWD $27,600
- Ping-Hsien Chan (Taiwan) – TWD $24,200
- Sai Ho Chiu (Canada) – TWD $24,200
All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.