Takayama became the first Filipino player to tame an APT Mega Lion

• Main Event Cracks 1K Entries; South Korea’s Sung Jin Yun Summits Flight 1A

• Taiwan’s Yu Lin Ting Wins Record Mystery Bounty Hunter; Secures APTC Seat & TWD 2.9M (~USD 93K) Top Prize

APT TAIPEI 2026 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, April 26, 2026 – Run in partnership with with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Club (CTP) across two venues—the cavernous Red Space 多元商務空間 and the Asia Poker Arena—Day 5 of the APT Taipei 2026 saw the arrival of the TWD 70M (~USD 2.2M) GTD Main Event, with the opening Flight 1A drawing 514 entries.

In addition, there were a further two record-breaking events playing down to thrilling conclusions.

The first, saw poker stalwart and two-time Main Event champion Mike Takayama add to his legendary tour status by becoming the first Filipino player to tame one of the APT’s signature Mega Lion trophies, winning his 17th APT title in the richest-ever APT Super High Roller.

The second saw Taiwan’s Yu Lin Ting earn a career-best score in the tour’s richest-ever Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8.

All three marquee events played out at the tournament tables of Red Space and there was a palpable air of excitement around the tournament area as some of the games’ top players rubbed shoulders with keen amateurs and up-and-coming professionals.

Mike Takayama Tames Pewter Lion Claiming APTC Main Event Seat & TWD 9.7M (~USD 312K) Top Prize

John Costiniano and Mike Takayama prepare to duke it out heads-up for the title

The thrilling finale of the tour’s richest-ever APT Super High Roller saw 29 players out of an initial 136 entries return for the Final Day, with the tournament culminating in an epic heads-up battle between a Philippines rising star and one of the island archipelago’s all-time poker legends.

With a record TWD 41,290,960 (~USD 1,323,430) prize pool on the line, in addition to two Asia Poker Championship (APTC) Main Event seats for the top two players, it proved to be a battle for the ages.

It certainly deserved its top billing with young gun John Costiniano and seasoned veteran Mike Takayama duking it out over 17 heads-up hands spanning two 40-minute levels.

The duo pulled no punches, putting on a display that would have made Philippines boxing legend Manny Pacquiao proud.

Two-time former Main Event champion Takayama came into the match with a 15 big blind lead, but it only took Asia Poker Championship Main Event runner up Costiniano four hands to level the playing field.

However, Takayama responded by flopping the nut straight and baited Costiniano into firing two barrels with air to seize a chip lead he would not relinquish.

Despite Costiniano scoring a crucial double up on the thirteenth hand played, four hands later it was all over.

Takayama delivered the knockout blow with pocket aces, with all the chips going in pre-flop in a five-bet pot after the two became embroiled in a raising war.

It proved to be a brutal heads-up cooler for Costiniano, whose ace queen was in terrible shape. Despite a glimmer of hope with a turned gutshot straight draw, there was to be no miracle river, and the two shared a hug before Takayama celebrated his victory.

Costiniano and Takayama share a hug

"Of course I’m so happy, yesterday I was very short stacked; I just tried to be patient so I could reach Day 2. Earlier, with around 24 players remaining, I had around 3bb left.” said Takayama in Tagalog immediately following his win.

“Of course, I’d like to thank my friends and supporters.I’d like to thank my grandma.I really wished that I would win. And also to my wife and family, I’d like to thank them. Even though I’m very stubborn, they still support me."

While only small in stature, Takayama’s presence at any poker table is characterised by his aggressive style, and this win was no different.

“Around bubble time I pushed with AQ. I thought to myself: I didn’t want to think about ITM, I just wanted to grow my stack." he stated.

Costiniano has come within touching distance of winning a Mega Lion trophy three times now, and in addition to his runner-up finish in the APTC, has also finished third in the APT Manila 2024 Main Event.

It’s only a matter of time until he tames one, but today belonged to Takayama, who claimed his first major victory of the APT New Era, earning his 17th APT title in the process.

As has been the case before in his poker career after becoming the first Filipino to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, Takayama is blazing the trail for his fellow countryman, becoming the first Filipino to tame an APT Big Three signature lion trophy.

The TWD 9,760,160 (~USD 312,825) top prize—the richest this tournament has ever awarded—represents the largest cash of Takayama’s lengthy poker career. While his #2 spot on the Philippines All-Time Money List remains unchanged, he now sits a scant USD 6,800 behind the #1 ranked James Mendoza.

“Personally, I just want to focus on what I’m doing.I don’t care about being #1,” said Takayama. “What’s more important is being together with my friends and hard-working Filipinos and new poker players.”

Takayama celebrates with friends and family

A Tough Final Table

It wasn’t just Costiniano that Takayama had to overcome on his way to victory. Start-of-day chip leader Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau came within a whisker of claiming the trophy himself, eventually bowing out in third place.

Hong Kong’s #1 ranked tournament professional Danny Tang was another in the running, although he had to settle for fourth place, with Natural8 Ambassador Chih Wei Fan taking fifth.

There would be no back-to-back Super High Roller titles for Tony Ren Lin, although the garrulous Chinese professional did manage a final table showing, cashing in eighth place.

“The moment I went to the final table, I told myself to be brave. I have to because all my opponents are good players." said Takayama.

While that was certainly the case here, that will also be true at the APTC, which both Takayama and Costiniano now have tickets for.

"Of course, us Filipinos, we have to prepare for such a big event; just one win (like John who got 2nd place last year) would be life-changing." Takayama said candidly.

Back Row (L-R) Ren Lin, John Constiniano, Mike Takayama, Fendy Kosasih, Chih Wei Fan Front Row (L-R) Ethan Yau, Danny Tang, Konstantin Held, Harry Halim

APT SUPER HIGH ROLLER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables to cash but come up short of a place at the final table included Australia’s Dylan Foster (10th for TWD 813,300), triple bracelet winner Yan Shing ‘Anson’ Tsang (16th for 597,800), APT Taipei 2023 Main Event champion Punnat Punsri (18th for TWD 544,900), and former APT High Roller champion Martin Sedlak (20th for TWD 544,900).

For APT Super High Roller Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT Super High Roller Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the APT Super High Roller Final Day tournament page.

You can read about how all the Final Day high rolling action played out via the APT Blog or watch the action as it happened via the APT Super High Roller Final Day live stream on the official APT YouTube channel.

Main Event Cracks 1K Entries; South Korea’s Sung Jin Yun Summits Flight 1A

South Korea’s Sung Jin Yun summited the Main Event Flight 1A chip counts

The TWD 55,000 (~USD 1,700) APT Main Event and its hefty TWD 70 million (~USD 2.2 million) guarantee has arrived, and if the record breaking action in the first three of the festival’s marquee tournaments is anything to go by, it promises to follow the trend.

In addition to the eight figure guarantee (seven-figure USD) the tournament is also awarding a hefty eight Asia Poker Championship Main Event seats.

In addition to the six seats on offer for the top six finishers, there will also be two random draws for a further two seats; one on Day 4 and one when the tournament reaches the paying (ITM) positions, with all players remaining in the tournament at the time of the draws eligible to win.

The opening Flight A got underway at 11am local time (TST) with players competing over ten 60-minutes levels.

By the time the tournament clock ticked into the red, the field had grown to 514 entries (359 unique) – making it the second-largest APT Main Event starting flight in tour history, just behind the 541-entry Flight A of the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event.

Combined with a further 510 OnLive Main Event entries who competed online on Natural8, that brings the total number of Main Event entries up to 1,024 with a further three starting flights left to play out.

Late registration remains open for the first level on the two respective Day 2 flights, so the field is expected to grow further even after the Day 1 flights are in the books.

It was South Korea’s Sung Jin Yun who summited the tournament leaderboard, concluding the action with a stack of 365,100, closely followed by Singapore’s Shun Gui Toh (360,200), with South Korea’s Manwoo Park (348,300) the only other player to crack the 300K chip marker.

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT 1A TOP TEN STACKS

For APT Main Event Flight 1A Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT Main Event Flight 1A Survivors please CLICK HERE

Former APT Main Event champions Shixiang ‘Herald’ Khoo (146,600), and John Tech (88,000) both made it though, as did APT High Roller champions Jason Lau (181,400), and Martin Sedlak (170,700), as well as two-time Superstar Challenge champion Joseph Cheong (115,900).

Other notables to find a chip bag at the end of the evening’s play included India’s Akshay Nasa(206,800), Natural8 Ambassador Chih Wei Fan (101,500), Hong Kong’s Alan Lau (95,000), Taiwan’s Andy ‘Stacks’ Tsai (88,800), Malaysia’s Ben Loo (84,900), and South Korea’s Gab Yong Kim (68,000).

All tournament information can be found on the APT Main Event Flight 1A tournament page.

You can read about how all the action played out via the APT Blog.

Multi-Flight Madness

The award-winning Gold Lion APT Main Event Trophy

With three more starting flights left to play out, there are still opportunities for those unsuccessful in their endeavours to win their way through.

Flight 1B gets underway at 11am (TST) on Monday, April 27, with players competing over six 45-minute levels and four 60-minute levels.

The final two starting Flights 1C & 1D — both boasting six 30-minute levels and four 45-minute levels each — get underway on Tuesday, April 28, at 11am and 6pm respectively local time.

For the first time in tour history there are two Day 2 Flights – Day 2A for the survivors of flights 1A, 1C, & 1D, and Day 2B for the survivors of Flight 1B.

Level length is 60-minutes for both Day 2 flights. Day 2A gets underway at 11am local time, with late registration remaining open for the first 60-minute level of play, closing at 12:15pm.

Day 2B restarts the action at 3pm local time, with late registration remaining open for the first 60-minute level of play, closing at 4:15pm.

Any player who survives Flights 1A, 1C, & 1D can only play Day 2A, and any player who survives Flight 1B can only play Day 2B.

While players who have not played any of the Day 1 flights can buy-in directly to one of the two Day 2s, it is important to note that they can't play two, so it's an either or situation – a player can either buy-in directly to Day 2A, or buy-in directly to Day 2B, but not both.

Both Day 2 flights are scheduled for ten 60-minute levels of play, but the action will conclude on each when the two respective Day 2 money bubbles burst.

ITM for Day 2A is 14.5% of the combined entries from Flights 1A, 1C, 1D and 2A. ITM for Day 2B is 14.5% of the combined entries from Flights 1B and 2B.

Any player that makes it through the two Day 2 flights reaches the business end of the tournament, with all surviving players making it through to Day 3 earning a place in the hallowed money spots. The Day 3 action gets underway at 11:15am (TST) on Thursday, April 30 with ten levels of play scheduled.

Live Streaming & Blog Coverage

All of the Main Event flights will be featured on the APT Blog, with the Main Event live stream on the official APT YouTube channel starting on the two Day 2 flights at 11:45am on Wednesday, April 29.

Taiwan’s Yu Lin Ting Wins Record Mystery Bounty Hunter; Secures APTC Seat & TWD 2.9M (~USD 93K) Top Prize

Taiwan’s Yu Lin Ting claimed a career-best score in the APT’s richest-ever Mystery Bounty

The riddle of who will win the TWD 20,000 (~USD 640) buy-in Event #40: Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8—the richest Mystery Bounty tournament ever to run in the Asian Poker Tour’s 20-year history—has been solved.

The Final Day saw just 216 players return to action from the 1,540-entry field—the second-largest APT Mystery Bounty field ever—all guaranteed a payout of at least TWD 19,600 (~USD 630) from the record TWD 25,872,000 (~USD 829,230) prize pool, split between the the TWD 16,632,000 (~USD 533,080) tournament pool and the TWD 9,240,000 (~USD 296,150) bounty pool.

With the winner claiming a TWD 2,905,800 (~USD 93,135) top prize—the largest this event has ever awarded—and a ticket to the USD 5M GTD APTC Main Event there was all to play for, especially considering the not so small additional factor of the mystery bounties with the biggest bounty coming in at a sizable TWD 1.5 million (~USD 48K).

It was local Yu Lin Ting of Taiwan who claimed the accolades, defeating Japan’s Keisuke Tateda after a brief two-hand battle which Ting came into with an unassailable 7-to-1 chip lead.

In addition to his maiden APT tournament title and the coveted Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8 silver lion silhouette trophy, Ting banked a career-best TWD 2,905,800 (~USD 93,135) score, earning a further TWD 190,000 (~USD 6,090) in bounties after taking ten scalps.

The Taiwanese player will have the chance to increase this still further in November after claiming an Asian Poker Tour Championship Main Event ticket valued at TWD 313,000 (~USD 10,000).

Runner-up Tateda also cashed for a career-best result, earning TWD 1,637,700 (~USD 52,490) plus an additional TWD 60,000 (~USD 1,920) in bounty payouts.

The USA’s Oliwer Sankiewicz rounded out the last of the podium places, earning TWD 1,154,400 (~USD 37,000) plus TWD 40,000 (~USD 1,280) in bounties on his APT debut.

Former APT Summer Series Da Nang 2023 Main Event champion Shixiang Khoo, making his ninth APT final table appearance, earned TWD 393,800 (~USD 12,620) for seventh place, plus a further TWD 60,000 (~USD 1,920) in bounties.

However, it was fifth place finisher Anson Lau of Hong Kong who proved to be the bounty hunting top dog, claiming 11 scalps in total, including the biggest bounty. Lau earned TWD 666,100 (~USD 21,350) for fifth, which was dwarfed by the TWD 1,700,000 (~USD 54,490) he claimed in bounties.

Top L-R Keisuke Tateda, Lin Ting Yu, Shixiang Khoo, Yubin Heon, Renato Villanueva Jr. Bottom L-R Kangwoong Lee, Jinhee Min, Oliwer Sankiewicz, Anson Lau

MYSTERY BOUNTY HUNTER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables who enjoyed deep runs included Flight C frontrunner Kristof Segers (14th for TWD 142,000 plus TWD 60,000 in bounties), Australia’s Justin Tsui (15th for TWD 142,000 plus TWD 70,000 in bounties), India’s Rishi Mehra (29th for TWD 65,000 plus TWD 220,000 in bounties), start of day chip leader Shinyoung Park (38th for TWD 56,000 plus TWD 60,000 in bounties), and Sweden’s Sofia Lovgren (53rd for TWD 46,000 plus TWD 20,000 in bounties).

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Day 2 Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8 tournament page.

You can read about how all the Mystery Bounty action played out via the APT Blog.