Series Opens With 404-Strong Korea National Cup Generating KRW 282M (~USD 205K) Prize Pool

APT JEJU 2024 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS | PLAYER LISTS

JEJU, SOUTH KOREA, April 26, 2024 – Welcome to the APT Jeju 2024, with the action-packed 10-day festival featuring 91 events (including satellites) with the series proper comprising a substantial 86 Trophy Events and boasting over KRW 5 billion (~USD 3.7M) in prize pool guarantees.

Running April 26 to May 5 in partnership with Landing Entertainment Korea (LEK) the series is playing out at the world-class Landing Hotel & Casino located in the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa Resort.

While this will be the fourth time the APT has visited Jeju, this marks the first visit of the new era following a seven-year hiatus, with Japan's Katsuhiro Muto the last APT Jeju Main Event champion crowned back in March 2017.

The new era prize pools are over twenty times larger, with the APT Main Event running from April 26 to May 4 and coming with a sizable KRW 2 billion (~USD 1.5 million) guarantee.

In addition to the guaranteed marquee events, the series boasts daily High Roller tournaments and an eclectic selection of mixed games and assorted poker variants, as well as cash games. Highlights include:

KEY EVENTS

• APT Main Event (KRW 2BN/~USD 1.5M GTD): Apr 29-May 4 – KRW 2.5M/~USD 1,875 buy-in
• Korea National Cup (KRW 200M/~USD 150K GTD): Apr 26-27 – KRW 800K/~USD 600 buy-in
• Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8 (KRW 300M/~USD 225K GTD): Apr 27-28 – KRW 1M/~USD $750 buy-in

• APT Super High Roller (KRW 500M/~USD 375K GTD): Apr 27-28 – KRW 13.5M/~USD 10K buy-in
• Sunday Super Stack (KRW 200M/~USD 150K GTD): Apr 28 – KRW 1.1M/~USD 825 buy-in
• Superstar Challenge: Apr 29-30 – KRW 30M/~USD 22.5K buy-in
• Zodiac Classic – Sponsored by Natural8 (KRW 500M/~USD 375K GTD): May 2-3 – KRW 3M/~USD 2,250 buy-in
• Double Stack (KRW 300M/~USD 225K GTD): May 3-4 – KRW 1M/~USD 750 buy-in
• Mini Main Event (KRW 250M/~USD 187K GTD): May 4-5 – KRW 800K/~USD 600 buy-in
• APT High Roller (KRW 650M/~USD 487K GTD): May 4-5 – KRW 7M/~USD 5,250 buy-in
• Micro Main Event (KRW 50M/~USD 37.5K GTD): May 5 – KRW 400K/~USD 300 buy-in

For APT Jeju 2024 Schedule please CLICK HERE

Series Opens With 404-Strong Korea National Cup Generating KRW 282M (~USD 205K) Prize Pool

China's Fei Wang topped the Flight A chip counts of the Korea National Cup

It was the two-day KRW 800,000 (~USD 580) Korea National Cup KRW 200,000,000 GTD getting the series action underway, with the tournament drawing 404 entries in total (268 unique).

With KRW 282,153,600 (~USD 205,150) in the prize pool, the eventual winner walking away with a KRW 55,786,600 (~USD 40,500) top prize, and only the top 14 percent of the two starting flight fields making Day 2, places in the paying positions were fiercely contested.

For Korea National Cup Prize Pool & Payouts please CLICK HERE

Flight A drew 201 entries (162 unique) with China's Fei Wang topping the chip counts after the nineteen 30-minute levels played out, bagging up a stack of 519,000.

Wang was the only player to crack the half-a-million chip mark, with Hong Kong's Ki On Chan the next closest competitor, concluding play with a stack of 465,000.

China's Jie Xu (391,000) bagged the third largest Flight A stack, with All-Star Showdown wild card Hao-Shan Huang (386,000) and Taiwan's Pete Chen (375,000) rounding out the top five with a total of 29 players successful in their endeavors to make Day 2.

Other notables to win their way through included France's Alexandre Viard (184,000), Hong Kong's Edward Yam (170,000), 2019 APT Incheon Main Event champion Dicky Tsang (53,000), and Hong Kong's Alan Lau (40,000) with the latter returning as one of the shorter stacks.

You can read how all the APT National Cup Flight A action played out via the APT Blog.

All tournament information can be found on the Korea National Cup - Flight A tournament page.

China' Baiyu Ni bagged biggest on Flight B of the Korea National Cup

Flight B saw a further 203 entries (170 unique) battle it out at the baize over nineteen 20-minute levels, with 29 players fighting their way through to Day 2.

It was China's Baiyu Ni who bagged the biggest, concluding play with a stack of 513,000 with Ni the only Flight B player to crack half a million putting him second in the overall pecking order coming into the Final Day.

Japan's Manato Goto (387,000), and China's Tao Wang (384,000) rounded out the top three Flight B stacks.

Other notables to make it through included Hong Kong's Timothy Yim (334,000), and Tsz Him Chan (267,000), Thailand's Kiwanont Sukhum (233,000), and New Zealand's Tae Hoon Han (225,000), with the top ten stacks coming into the Final Day as follows:

KOREA NATIONAL CUP TOP TEN STACKS

Read how all the APT National Cup Flight B action played out via the APT Blog.

All tournament information can be found on the Korea National Cup - Flight B tournament page.

For APT National Cup Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT National Cup Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE

For APT Korea National Cup Flight B Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT Korea National Cup Flight B Survivors please CLICK HERE

For APT Korea National Cup Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE

The Final Day gets underway at 11:15am local time on Saturday, April 27 with the 58 survivors returning to play down to a champion.

HIGH ROLLER ACTION

Natural8 Ambassador Danny Tang Triumphs in All-Star Showdown

Natural8 Ambassador Danny Tang took down the invitational All-Star Showdown

The invitational-only KRW 3,000,000 All-Star Showdown was the highlight of the opening day of the series for the watching rail.

Featuring poker superstar Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Natural8 Ambassadors Punnat Punsri and Danny Tang, APT Taipei 2024 Main Event Champion Daisuke Ogita, three-time bracelet winner Anson Tsang, the Philippines' top-ranked tournament player Marc Rivera, poker professionals Dong Chen, and Weiran Pu, and wild card Hao-Shan Huang from Taiwan the tournament is an exciting winner take all format with players starting with a 40 big blind stack.

It was Danny Tang who claimed the entirety of the KRW 23,517,000 (~USD 17,135) prize pool and the Main Event seat on offer, defeating Anson Tsang heads-up.

"I'm feeling good!" said Tang in his post-match interview.

"My first APT trophy since the new era rebranding so yeah, I'm happy," Tang stated immediately after his win.

"I'll be playing all the big stuff, the Super High Roller, the Superstar, the Main Event. I have a final table to play on May 1 [the N8HK X APT Jeju 2024 Final Table]," Tang confirmed when asked about his plans for the rest of the series.

AN EXPLOSIVE START

The fireworks began immediately with Punnat Punsri hitting the rail on the first hand played after running pocket jacks into Daisuke Ogita's pocket kings, with all the chips going in pre-flop and no jack making an appearance.

Just nine hands later on the second level played, Weiran "Kevin" Pu joined Punsri on the rail after running pocket nines into the pocket tens of Danny Tang.

Marc Rivera departed a scant two hands later, defending his big blind with A♦ 5♥ after Anson Tsang moved all-in from the button holding pocket sevens, which held up.

Wild card Hao-Shan Huang

WILD CARD ELIMINATED

One level and five hands later the field was reduced to five, with wild card Hao-Shan Huang moving all-in pre-flop from under the gun with A♦ 4♦ and running into Dong Chen's two black nines.

Tang and Ogita capitalized on their early good fortune to occupy the top two spots at this juncture, with Chen climbing up to the third largest stack after the hand. Grospellier and Tsang brought up the rear, both sitting on the same-sized stacks.

After all that carnage the action slowed and it took a further three 20-minute levels to thin the field further.

It was the short-stacked Dong Chen the man on the chopping block with both Ogita and Tsang looking to swing the executioner's axe. While Chen's K♦ J♣ was leading Ogita's K♠ 7♣, both were trailing to Tsang's A♦ J♦, and an ace-high flop saw Chen depart the tournament.

SHORT-HANDED

Four-handed play lasted all of two hands, with Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier moving all-in on the turn with a flush draw and double gutshot straight draw in a pot against Ogita. Unfortunately for the former Starcraft professional, Ogita held pocket aces and the river bricked out to reduce the field to three.

Ogita's luck ran out a level later with a brutal cooler playing out between the Japanese player and Tang. The duo became embroiled in a pre-flop raising war that saw all the chips go in, Ogita's pocket kings trailing to Tang's aces with the pocket rockets holding.

That took play heads-up with Tang bringing a slender 12-big blind lead into the match against Tsang.

The heads-up battle took nine hands to play out, with Tang edging further in front before the final hand played out. The action started innocuously with a limped pot and a seven-high flop.

However, after Tang check-raised Tsang's flop bet the latter four-bet all in and was quickly called; Tang's Q♠ 7♣ leading Tsang's 9♦ 7♥. No nine appeared on the turn or river to grant Tang his first APT title of the new era and second career APT title – the bonus of a Main Event seat adding the icing to the cake.

You can watch the action as it played out via the All-Star Showdown live stream on the official APT YouTube channel and via the APT Facebook page or read about the tournament in more detail via the APT Blog.

China's Jin Zhou Snags Maiden APT Title in Event #4: Single Day High Roller Freezeout

China's Jin Zhou claims gold and his maiden APT title in Event #4: SDHR Freezeout

The first of the festival's fourteen scheduled high roller tournaments – the KRW 3,000,000 Event #4: Single Day High Roller Freezeout – saw 41 players in action, battling it out for a share of the KRW 107,379,000 (~USD 78,000) prize pool.

The action played out over 26 twenty-minute levels, with China's Jin Zhou the man to claim the KRW 36,508,000 (~USD 26,520) top prize.

Zhou defeated Hong Kong's Wing Po Liu heads-up to snag his maiden APT title, with Liu taking KRW 25,234,000 (~USD 18,320) for his runner-up finish.

China's Xiaohua Fu completed the winner's triumvirate, receiving a KRW 16,107,000 (~USD 11,700) payday for third place. Austria's Daniel Smiljkovic also made a final table appearance, taking KRW 12,349,000 (~USD 8,970) for fourth place.

A total of six players made the money, with the tournament paying out as follows:

SDHR FREEZEOUT RESULTS

For Event #4: SDHR Freezeout Player List please CLICK HERE For Event #4: SDHR Freezeout Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Single Day High Roller - Freezeout tournament page.

OMAHA ACTION

Malaysia's Lance Goh Claims Maiden Tournament Title in Event #3: PL Omaha High

Malaysia's Lance Goh claimed his maiden live tournament title in Event #3: PL Omaha High

The KRW 600,000 Event #3: PL Omaha High kicked off the festival's Omaha action, drawing a 49-strong field comprised of 36 unique players.

This generated a KRW 25,666,200 (~USD 18,660) prize pool, with the top seven places paying out.

The action played out over 23 twenty-minute levels with Malaysia's Lance Goh claiming the accolades and the KRW 8,085,200 (~USD 5,880) top prize.

Goh defeated Japan's Kozo Yamada heads-up to win his maiden live tournament title, with Yamada claiming silver and KRW 5,839,000 (~USD 4,245) for second place.

The UK's Craig Cooper rounded out the winner's podium, taking bronze and a payout of KRW 3,722,000 (~USD 2,705) for third place, with the tournament paying out as follows:

PL OMAHA HIGH RESULTS

For Event #3: PL Omaha High Player List please CLICK HERE For Event #3: PL Omaha High Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Event #3: PL Omaha High tournament page.

All other side event action from Day 1 of the festival will be posted to the APT Jeju 2024 News Section on Saturday, April 27, although all results are available by clicking on the respective tournament in the APT Jeju 2024 Schedule.

For further information, please contact Press@APT.Poker or visit www.APT.Poker.