Toby Joyce

The TWD 466,000 buy-in Asian Poker Tour (APT) High Roller Championship has come to a close inside Red Space, Taipei, and it is Ireland’s Toby Joyce who ended with all the chips after steering his way through a tough field packed with multiple APT champions, bracelet winners, and even a Poker Hall of Famer. Joyce overcame Vietnam’s Nguyen Huu Dung in a heads-up match that lasted less than a level, taking home the TWD 17,618,976 (~USD 564,710) top prize and the coveted Rose Gold APT Lion Trophy.

The APTC High Roller Championship, attracted 173 entries (119 unique) and generated a massive TWD 75,782,176 (~USD 2,428,915) prize pool – the richest APT prize pool ever generated outside of the Main Event!

The final table featured a strong mix of pros and rising stars, with serial final tablist Alex Wice and super high roller Punnat Punsri featuring at the final table, but both ultimately falling short of stopping Joyce’s momentum.

The win marks a major milestone for Joyce, standing as the second biggest score of his poker career and coming in what was only his second cash of the APTC. It was also his first ever APT final table and his first APT title, and he picked quite the moment to break through. If there is a trophy to win for a debut victory, the High Roller Championship is certainly one of the best.

APT High Roller Championship Final Table Results

Final Day's Action

When the cards hit the air for the final day of the APT High Roller Championship, twelve players remained, all hoping they’d be the one lifting the Rose Gold Lion Trophy by night’s end. Unfortunately for Khoi Le Nguyen and Steven Chew, they couldn’t get much going and became the first few casualties within the first hour. That left ten players, and it was the final table bubble time.

Samuel Mullur

The bubble didn’t last long, as high-stakes crusher Samuel Mullur bowed out in tenth after his stack was decimated when he bluff-jammed the river and put Dung to the test for it all. Dung figured it out and picked off the bluff with top pair. Mullur was left with crumbs soon headed to the rail when Wice turned the nuts to finish him off and set up the final table.

Joyce entered the final table with the chip lead, but he wasn’t the one to score first blood. That went to Matthias Lipp, who won a flip with ace-seven against the pocket sixes of Thanh Tung Nguyen, ending the Vietnamese player’s run in ninth for TWD 1,758,100 (~USD 56,350).

Chase Cokaliong

Next out was the Philippines’ Chase Cokaliong in eighth for TWD 2,205,300 (~USD 70,680). He opened ace-queen under the gun, didn’t believe Joyce’s button three-bet, and four-bet ripped it in. Joyce snapped with Cowboys, and an unhelpful board ended Cokaliong’s tournament journey.

With seven left, Gerald Karlic started to come alive, constantly applying preflop pressure with three-bets, squeezes, and even a five-bet shove with ace-seven against Jun Obara. His timing paid off shortly after when he picked up aces and got Wice to three-bet jam king-nine suited. Wice turned a flush draw but bricked the river, sending him out in seventh for TWD 3,001,000 (~USD 96,185) as everyone else locked up six-figure paydays.

Alex Wice

Joyce still held the chip lead but seemed more than content letting Karlic steamroll the table, applying maximum ICM pressure to those in the middle while Punsri hung on with a short stack. Punsri looked in trouble when he folded down to two big blinds, but he immediately doubled through Karlic with queen-high and picked up some breathing room. That turned into a pay jump when Japan’s Obara busted in sixth for TWD 4,045,300 (~USD 129,950). Obara first lost a chunk on a failed hero call against Karlic, then got it in with ace-eight and couldn’t beat Joyce’s ace-king.

Punsri wasn’t done yet. He found pocket queens to double through Joyce despite a sweaty runout as Joyce flopped a pair and a flush draw. But after Dung forced him off the best hand with a turn shove later on, Punsri eventually ran out of lives. His ace-jack ran into Joyce’s queens, and while an ace in the window gave him hope, the queen right behind it squashed all of that, and Punsri was out in fifth for TWD 5,229,000 (~USD 167,600).

Punnat Punsri

Four-handed, Karlic went into overdrive with his aggression, raising almost every hand and firing away in multi-way pots. He built himself up to almost half the chips in play, but a big pot against Dung, where a river card kept Dung alive, completely shifted the momentum and put Dung in front for the first time.

Before long, Dung, Karlic, and Joyce were all within about ten big blinds of each other. Then the poker gods shone favorable on Joyce as a massive cooler went in his favor. Holding aces, he limp-raised from the small blind against the ultra-aggressive Karlic. A few more clicks between the two later and the stacks went in creating the biggest pot of the tournament thus far. Karlic had pocket queens, and after a clean runout Joyce was back as the chip leader, while Karlic was left with dust.

Gerald Karlic

While Karlic was so short, Lipp and Dung may as well have been sitting out, since Joyce began to run over them, knowing that they had to play exceptionally snug and wait for Karlic to bust. Karlic’s ride in the APT High Roller Championship came to a close soon after when he got his five big blinds in with ace-six. He was in good shape against Joyce’s jack-five, although two pair of the turn for Joyce sent Karlic to the rail in fourth for TWD 6,517,300 (~USD 208,890).

Three-handed, Joyce found himself in every poker player’s dream scenario: playing for over USD 500,000 with a monster chip lead. He put the pressure on as Lipp and Dung tried to outlive each other. Eventually, they clashed with nearly identical stacks in a pivotal flip. Dung’s ace-ten smashed the flop for trips, leaving Lipp's pocket fives drawing thin. No help arrived, and Lipp exited in third for TWD 7,957,100 (~USD 255,035).

Nguyen Huu Dung

Heads-up began with Joyce holding a 3:1 lead, but Dung closed the gap immediately after a few failed bluffs from Joyce. They went to dinner with Joyce’s lead down to less than 2:1. Whatever Joyce ate clearly worked, because when play resumed he came out firing and quickly pushed Dung's stack down to under ten big blinds.

Joyce had a first chance to close it out when the two got all in with raggedy aces, but the runout resulted in a chop pot. Two hands later, the opportunity came again. Dung jammed eight big blinds with ace-five, and Joyce called with king-nine of spades. A king-high flop was all it took this time, and Joyce sealed the win. He claimed the title, the trophy, and the TWD 11,935,700 (~USD 564,710) first-place prize.

Toby Joyce

As the APTC series heads into its final day tomorrow, follow the APT blog for live updates, chip counts, and all action from Taipei.

Toby Joyce

Toby Joyce has the won the APT High Roller Championship for TWD11,935,700 (~USD 564,710), and the prestigious Rose Gold Lion Trophy.

Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.

Nguyen Huu Dung

Hand #147: Nguyen Huu Dung jammed from the button for 1,200,000 and Toby Joyce made the call from the big blind.

Nguyen Huu Dung: A 6

Toby Joyce: K 9

Dung was ahead with ace-high, but with the way Joyce had been running, the atmosphere in the air felt like he needed a lot of run good to win this pot.

The dealer fanned out a flop of T K 2 to propel Joyce into the lead with a pair of kings.

A 7 came on the turn and Dung was looking for a Barry Greenstein ace on the river to keep the tournament heads-up.

The river card came the 4 and Joyce was the winner of the APT High Roller Championship, while Dung had to settle with TWD 11,935,700 (~USD 382,555) for finishing as the runner-up.

Nguyen Huu Dung

Hand# 140: Nguyen Huu Dung with Q 8 limped and Toby Joyce went all-in with 5 5 and wont the pot.

Hand# 141: Joyce shoved all-in with K T and took the pot down.

Hand# 142: Joyce got a walk.

Hand# 143: Joyce with 5 5 shoved all-in and scooped the pot.

Hand# 144: Dung limped and Joyce shoved all-in. Dung snap-called for his tournament life.

Nguyen Huu Dung: A 6

Toby Joyce: A 5

The board ran T 3 2 3 K and both players split the pot.

Hand # 146: Toby Joyce completed with T 4 and Nguyen Huu Dung checked his option with 6  4 .

Nguyen Huu Dung

Hand #137: Nguyen Huu Dung raised to 320,000 from the button and Toby Joyce defended the big blind.

On the 5 7 Q flop, Joyce check-called a bet of 250,000 by Dung.

A 3 on the turn checked through for the A to come on the river. Another two checks came and Joyce won the pot with Q 4 for a pair of queens. Dung mucked 7 6 for a pair of sixes.

Hand #138: Joyce called from the button with 5 2 and Dung checked his option holding Q 3 .

After seeing the 7 3 T flop, Dung checked. Joyce bet 160,000, the minimum, and Dung called.

Check-check came after a 5 turn and the 2 landed on the river. Dung checked again, and then folded to Joyce's bet of 600,000.

Hand #139 Dung completed from the small blind and Joyce checked his option in the big blind.

Joyce and Dung checked the J 6 4 flop to see a 7 on the turn. Joyce led out for 320,000, and Dung called.

The K on the river didn't slow Joyce down as he led out again, this time for 800,000. Dung pondered for a while and then slammed in the call.

Joyce tabled two pair with J 7 to take down the pot, as Dung only had A 8 for ace-high.

Toby Joyce

Hand# 133: Nguyen Huu Dung opened to 320,000 on the button and Toby Joyce called with A 5 . The flop came 8 Q 6 and after a check, Dung fired 175,000. Joyce called again.

The turn fell 7 and action went check-check. The river A got another check from Joyce and Dung finally fired 800,000. Joyce called and won the pot.

Hand# 134: Joyce limped with K 4 and Dung checked his option with K 5 . The flop came J 2 3 and action went check-check. The turn fell 6 . Dung fired 325,000 and won the pot.

Hand# 135: Dung with T 9 limped and Joyce with K 7 raised to 560,000. Dung called to see a flop. The flop came 6 K 2 . Joyce fired 370,000 and Nguyen folded.

Hand# 136: With T 3 , Joyce completed his bet and Dung checked his option with 5 4 . The flop came K 9 A and action went check-check. Both players knuckled the 2 turn and the J river. Joyce scooped the pot.

APT Higher Roller Championship Heads-up

With full stomachs the players have taken their seats and action has resumed with blinds at 80,000/160,000 and a big blind ante og 160,000.

After just a few hands of heads-up the two players are now on a 60-minute dinner break and will return to finish it out at ~ 21:10 PM.

Nguyen Huu Dung

Hand# 129: Nguyen Huu Dung raised to 250,000 with 8 4 on the button and got a three-bet from Toby Joyce to 600,000 with T T to win the pot.

Hand# 130: Holding T 6 , Joyce completed the blind and Dung, with Q T , checked his option. The flop came J 9 4 . Dung knuckled prompting Joyce to bet 120,000. Dung called.

The turn dropped Q giving both players caught an open-ended straight draw with Dung hitting top pair. Dung checked. and Joyce fired 400,0000. Dung flat-called.

The river A completed the board. After a check from Dung, Joyce looked at his chips and picked up 1,100,000. Dung took his time to consider his options then made the call. Dung won the pot.

Hand# 131: Dung limped on the button with 9 5 and Joyce checked his option with 3 2 . The flop came Q 7 7 and after a check, Dung fired 120,000 and won the pot.

Hand# 132: Joyce opened to 270,000 with 8 2 on the button and Dung with K T called. The flop came T A 6 . After action was passed to him, Joyce fired 165,000 and Dung called.

The turn dropped J and action went check-check through the river A . Dung took the pot down.

The two players have taken their seats and play has resumed with six minutes remaining of the current level.