Flight A Chip Leader Takayuki Akamatsu

Flight A of the APT Incheon 2026 Main Event is a done and dusted.

The opening flight of the KRW 2,500,000 Main Event drew 165 entries (136 unique), packing into the palatial Paradise City, Incheon, and battling it out at the tables over ten 60-minute levels.

With 282 OnLive entries having already competed on Natural8 — with 39 making their way through to Day 3 and the paying positions — this brings the Main Event field up to 447 entries in total, with three live starting flights left to play out over the next two days.

After nearly twelve hours of play at the tables, 70 players were left standing to bag up their chips to take through to Day 2 on August 12.

It was Japan’s Takayuki Akamatsu who closed out the flight with the chip lead, bagging an impressive 241,000 chips. Close behind Akamatsu was China’s Jian Ting Cai with 234,700, and rounding out the podium in third spot was Hong Kong’s Andrei Fong Chi Chan with 200,200.

APT MAIN EVENT FLIGHT A TOP TEN STACKS

A plethora of APT regulars took their seats in the opening flight of the event to try and build a healthy stack to take through to Day 2, but most fell by the wayside.

The likes of APT Manila 2025 Main Event Champion Russia’s Ivan Govorov, his compatriots Maxim Sorokin & Maxim Lykov, Thailand’s Phanlert Sukonthachartnant, APT Manila 2024 Main Event Champion the USA’s Daniel Lee, and Aussie Jennifer Cassell will all be looking to jump in one of the remaining three flights to get a stack to take into Day Two.

Ivan Govorov

However, a good number of notables have got a bag through to Day 2. Thailand’s Napat Chokejindachai (107,600), South African recent WSOP Bracelet winner Adriaan Jacobs (104,700) and Hong Kong’s Kevin Choi are all sitting pretty to make a deep run in the event.

Adriaan Jacobs

Canadian William Li (45,800) will need to show some of the magic he showed taking down the 2025 APT Jeju Classic Main Event if he is going to make a run at the title here, as is China’s Yue Sun (33,700), who will need to spin it up if she is going to make it two titles for the series.

The UK’s Sam Ameen (20,400) and Ireland’s Ryan Plant (19,100) both snuck bags into Day 2, but the British duo might be looking at taking another shot in one of the remaining flights to see if they can get a larger stack through to give themselves an even better shot at the title.

Sam Ameen

Ameen, who has recently just got back into poker, will surely fire another bullet based on his comments earlier regarding his plans for APT Incheon, “I’m going to play everything possible,” he said. “Fire lots of bullets, see how well I can run and see how it goes.”

For a full list of all flight A survivors with chip counts, click HERE.

There are still an additional three live starting flights for the event, starting with flight B, which kicks off at 11.00 AM Monday, August 9.

Players have bagged their chips as Flight A ends. The remaining 69 players are all moving to Day 2.

Stay tuned as a full recap of the day will follow shortly.

Phanlert Sukonthachartnant

A three-way hand was underway with a 12,000 pot sitting beside a 3 8 Q flop. Both Phanlert Sukonthachartnant in the small blind and Troy David Mcfarlane Mclean in middle position checked to Iwasaki Tatsumi on the button.

Tatsumi fired 4,500 and Sukonthachartnant went beyond and made it 10,000. Mclean three-bet to 50,000 effectively putting both players all-in if called. Tatsumi folded while Sukonthachartnant placed his remaining chips in.

Phanlert Sukonthachartnant: Q 7

Troy David Mcfarlane Mclean: 8 8

Sukonthachartnant hit top pair but couldn't beat Mclean's set.

Sukonthachartnant got on his feet as the dealer peeled a 3 turn sealing his elimination by giving Mclean a full house. The river 9 was a formality.

The clock has now been paused and seven more hands will be dealt.

After completion of these hands the surviving players will bag up their chips to take through to Day Two on August 12.

Lukasz Matuszek limped in early position and Lan Te Zhang in the cutoff followed suit. Phanlert Sukonthachartnant on the button had other things in mind and raised to 7,500.

When the action returned to him, Matuszek called while Zhang got out of the way.

The flop dropped 9 T 6 and Matuszek shoved all-in for 6,700. Sukonthachartnant called instantaneously.

Lukasz Matuszek: 5 5

Phanlert Sukonthachartnant: A Q

Matuszek needed to fade two streets to stay alive. He was safe on the next when it fell T but was eliminated the moment an A dropped on the river.

Kazuki Koyama open-jammed all in from early position for 12,400 and action folded to Chunhao Zhang on the button who made the call. The blinds both folded faster than a cheetah on caffeine.

Kazuki Koyama: K Q

Chunhao Zhang: A J

No help at all for Koyama on the 4 3 9 3 runout and he was sent packing.

Wei Zhu

Wei Zhu in the big blind and Dong Han in hijack were waiting for the flop after building the pot to 8,000. It finally came showing K 3 7 .

Zhu checked to Han, who fired 5,600. Zhu called to see the turn 7 .

Action went check, check all through the river J .

Zhu showed 4 4 which was good enough to win the pot.

Seung Jae Park

Seung Jae Park open-jammed all in from under the gun for 18,000 and action folded around to Minkoo Kim in the small blind, who three-bet all in to isolate, which did the trick as the big blind folded.

Seung Jae Park: A J

Minkoo Kim: A K

Just the flop that Park needed came of 4 9 J to catapult him into the lead. Nothing changed on the 2 turn nor the 7 river and Park was sent the pot for a double-up.

Zenya Yamamoto opened to 2,400 from under the gun and Daniel Lee on the button called. Ching Luk Burton Ng in the big blind, took his time to consider his options as he had only 9,700 behind. He called anyway to see the flop.

Ng checked the flop of 3 Q J . Yamamoto continued with 4,000 making Lee fold his hand. Ng, however, went into the tank and before time was up called once again.

The turn produced an A and after action was passed to him, Yamamoto bet the exact amount Ng had left behind, 6,800. Ng pushed everything in putting his life at risk as the penultimate level was ending.

Ching Luk Burton Ng: J 6

Zenya Yamamoto: A 5

Ng had hit the flop with mid-pair but the turn gave the lead to Yamamoto. With a 2 falling on the river, Ng was sent to the rails, hopefully to try again tomorrow.

Yao Chen

Andrei Fong Chi Chan and Yao Chen in the small blind had already built a pot of 25,000. The board was complete showing 9 3 9 J 7 .

Chen checked prompting Chan to fire a near pot sized bet of 22,000 sending the small blind player to the tank. She was visibly frustrated as she threw in a time card for more time.

She finally made the call just to muck, after seeing Fan's nut flush with A 7 .