Tom Verbruggen

Two years after a breakout peformance saw him win two titles at the APT Taipei Poker Classic in 2024, Tom Verbruggen has done it again by conquering a 141-entry field to win the High Roller - Ultra Stack for KRW 125,713,200 (~USD 94,520) – his best result at an APT event to date.

The Dutchman defeated longtime friend Jun Li heads-up to claim the APT Gold Lion Silhouette Trophy, with Li taking home KRW 85,390,000 (~USD 64,200) for his runner-up finish.

Verbruggen entered the nine-handed final table as the chip leader and endured several swings before taking control. He eliminated Trinh Anh Tuan, Higor Seibel, and Mehdi Chaoui to build an overwhelming lead heads-up, where he needed just three hands to finish off Li.

HIGH ROLLER ULTRA STACK FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Jun Li and Tom Verbruggen

WINNER'S REACTION

For Verbruggen, sharing the final stage with Li made the victory all the more special, given their long history together.

“Jun is a very long-term friend of mine. We started playing poker together in Beijing about seven years ago, in small clubs and bars, so to be heads-up at such a prestigious APT event was beautiful.”

Despite entering the final table with the chip lead, Verbruggen surrendered the advantage at various points before eventually reclaiming it. He also found himself on the right side of several crucial all-ins, something he acknowledged when reflecting on what he described as probably the toughest final table he has played.

"I came in the final table as the chip leader, but lost it along the way after a big setup, aces against ace-king. And yeah, I was fortunate to win almost every hand that was all-in. This is what's necessary to beat a very tough table like this, probably toughest final table that I've played."

Ultimately, the victory delivered a satisfying payoff for a player who had been waiting a long time for another APT title.

“It's amazing. Just so happy. I come to APT all the time. Actually, in my very first APT, I was so lucky that I won two trophies, and I haven't won any APT event ever since. So yeah, it's amazing. Very happy to be here.”

Tom Verbruggen

FINAL DAY ACTION

The High Roller - Ultra Stack finale saw 41 players return to LES A Casino in pursuit of the APT Gold Lion Silhouette trophy, with Jiaxian Pan best positioned to claim the title after ending Day 1 as the chip leader. The remaining field included several of the tour's established stars, with Toby Joyce, Stanley Weng, Ren Lin, Kunal Patni, Daniel Neilson, Yaoyu He and Nevan Chang all boasting APT High Roller titles from previous events.

Ren Lin

Despite a looming money bubble, the action was swift from the start, with several players being sent to the rail within the first level of play. Among the early eliminations were Methavee Taveekitvatee, Yixi Tang, He, and Lin – who managed to get his chips in good holding Cowboys against Chao Ting Cheng's ace-queen, only for Cheng to spike an ace to send Lin out on a bad beat.

Shortly after the first break, Xiubo Li scored a double elimination on the feature with aces to bring on the stone bubble. It took only seven rounds of hand-for-hand play for Vinay Boob to find himself all in preflop with ace-queen against Li, who held a dominated queen-jack suited.

Li flopped the world after picking up an open-ended straight draw and flush draw, and he immediately hit his straight on the turn to leave Boob drawing dead and burst the money bubble.

Vinay Boob and Xiubo Li

With everyone remaining guaranteed a KRW 7,020,000 (~USD 5,280) payout, a steady stream of knockouts paved the path to the final table bubble. Two notable eliminations came from Joyce, who got his aces cracked in brutal fashion and from Pan, who was unable to navigate his chip lead to the final table after losing a race on the river against Pete Chen.

With 10 players remaining, Yuichi Sumida took a stand against Higor Seibel and won a flip to double up. Just a couple of hands later, Verbruggen got caught trying to apply pressure with rags and was called after Ankit Ahuja woke up with ace-jack in the big blind. Verbruggen managed to hit a pair, however, eliminating Ahuja to bring the field down to nine.

Ankit Ahuja

THE FINAL TABLE

Standing L-R: Tom Verbruggen, Jun Li, Xuibo Li, Higor Seibel, Trinh Anh Tuan | Seated L-R: Yuichi Sumida, Hang Xu, Yen Han Chen, Chaoui Mehdi

The final table started off with a bang after Sumida picked up ace-queen and four-bet shoved over a three-bet from Trinh Anh Tuan just four hands in. Unfortunatley for Sumida, Tuan had him dominated with Big Slick and held up to send the sole Japanese player remaining out in ninth.

Tuan continued his run of good fortune after picking up pocket aces against Verbruggen's ace-king. As expected, a preflop raising war ensued, resulting in Tuan all in and doubling into the lead.

In one of the more unconventional hands of the final table, Xiubo Li got aggressive with pocket deuces against Hang Xu, who had flopped top pair holding ace-king. Xu called a shove from Li on the turn and was unable to hit his two-outer on the river, ending his run in eighth.

Xiubo Li

Pete Chen then followed Li out the door in seventh after losing a race with pocket sixes against Mehdi Chaoui's ace-jack.

More than an hour without an elimination saw Jun Li, Chaoui, Verbruggen, and Seibel all double up, with Verbruggen faring the best to take back over the chip lead.

With escalating blinds forcing the action, Seibel found a spot to commit his stack with ace-nine, but he ran into the dominating ace-ten of Verbruggen. A low runout kept Verbruggen's ten-kicker best and Seibel was sent out in sixth.

Higor Seibel

Not long after, Xu was left with crumbs after calling a jam with ace-jack against Chaoui's queens. Despite managing to double up twice, Xu had to settle for a fifth-place finish after running a queen-high flush into Verbruggen's ace-high flush.

A clash between two premium hands in the blinds saw Tuan get all in preflop holding the second-largest stack with pocket tens against Verbruggen's ace-queen. Verbruggen immediately paired his queen on the flop, however – eliminating Tuan in fourth and extending his chip lead even further.

Verbruggen wasted little time putting his newfound chips to work. With plenty of ICM pressure present, Verbruggen amped up his aggression to great success until Chaoui eventually took a stand by shoving over a raise from Verbruggen with king-queen. Verbruggen snap-called with pocket nines and held, bringing the final table down to heads-up.

Jun Li and Tom Verbruggen

Li had a mountain to climb, as Verbruggen held an 8:1 chip advantage over Li at the start of their duel.

However, on just the third hand of heads-up play, Li moved all in preflop with jack-five and was promptly called by Verbruggen holding ace-three.

The flop was of no help to Li, but a five on turn paired his hand – leaving him one card away from the start of a potential comeback.

As it turned out, it was just Verbruggen's day to shine. The river improved Verbruggen to a wheel, eliminating Li and putting an end to the tournament.

Tom Verbruggen

That's a wrap for blog coverage of the 2026 APT Jeju festival! Be sure to check back in extensive coverage of the APT Championship series, which runs from November 13 - 29 in Taipei.

Tom Verbruggen

After eliminating Jun Li in just three hands of heads-up play, the Netherlands' Tom Verbruggen has bested a 141-entry field to take down the High Roller - Ultra Stack for KRW 125,713,200 (~USD 94,520)!

Li earns KRW 85,390,000 (~USD 64,200) as runner-up.

Stay tuned for a recap of the day's action and some words from the champion.

Jun Li

Heads up action ended in a matter of minutes, with the players seeing just three hands.

Hand 208: In the first hand of heads up, Jun Li open-jammed and Tom Verbruggen called.

Jun Li: J 9

Tom Verbruggen: J 9

Players looked likely to chip, but Verbruggen did have the chance of a steal with the diamon flush draw as the 2 5 5 flop came out.

Li was destined to remain in the tounament for at least another hand and picked up half a big blind after the 6 turn and 2 river was placed.

Hand 209: Verbruggen jammed with Q T and Li mucked his 8 3 .

Hand 210: Li open jammed on the button and Verbruggen made the call.

Jun Li: J 5

Tom Verbruggen: A 3

Li was behind this time, and looked to the board for some help.

The Q 2 Q flop was no help for Li, but the 5 turn gave him a pair and put him ahead.

Li had to evade the four on the river, which would see Verbruggen pick up a straight, but he ran right out of luck as the dealer turned over the 4 .

Li ended his run in the high roller in second place, taking home KRW 85,390,000 (~USD 64,200).

Jun Li and Tom Verbruggen

Following the elimination of Mehdi Chaoui, Tom Verbruggen and Jun Li are now heads-up in the High Roller - Ultra Stack.

Each has locked up KRW 85,390,000 (~USD 64,200), but both will have their eyes set on the KRW 125,713,200 (~USD 94,520) top prize.

The Dutchman holds more than an 8:1 chip lead over Li, so Li has plenty of work to do if he wants to take the title.

Mehdi Chaoui

Hand 207: Tom Verbruggen raised to 600,000 from the button before snap-calling Mehdi Chaoui's shove for 3,000,000.

Mehdi Chaoui: K Q

Tom Verbruggen: 9 9

Verbruggen was ahead but had to fade Chaoui's overcards, and the king on the T K 7 flop put the short stack in front.

The 8 turn gave Verbruggen an open-ender, but it was the 9 river that delivered a set to score the knockout.

Chaoui was sent to the rail in 3rd place for KRW 56,310,000 (~USD 42,340), setting up heads-up play between Verbruggen and Jun Li.

Tom Verbruggen

Hand 200: Tom Verbruggen open-jammed with K Q in the small blind and took the big blind off Chaoui.

Hand 201: Verbruggen open-jammed with K 2 on the button and scooped the blinds with Jun Li mucking A 6 in the big blind.

Hand 202: Verbruggen got a walk in the big blind with K J .

Hand 203: Verbruggen opened to 700,000 with J 4 from the small blind and picked up the big blind.

Hand 204: Verbruggen folded 3 2 on the button, Mehdi Chaoui moved all in with J T from the small blind and Jun Li mucked his Q 3 from the big blind.

Hand 205: Mehdi Chaoui moved all in for 2,800,000 with A K on the button and picked up the blinds.

Hand 206: Jun Li raised to 2,000,000 with T T on the button and took the blinds.

Hand 194: Jun Li raised to 600,000 from the button, and Chaoui Mehdi defended the big blind.

The dealer fanned the T 7 A flop, and Mehdi checked. Li fired 500,000, and Mehdi stuck around.

The K hit the turn, and Mehdi check-folded to Li's bet of 1,100,000.

Hand 195: Tom Verbruggen jammed from the button and collected the blinds.

Hand 196: Verbruggen got a walk in the big blind.

Hand 197: Verbruggen raised to 750,000 from the small blind and collected the big blind.

Hand 198: Verbruggen jammed from the button and collected the blinds.

Hand 199: Li limped, and Verbruggen raised to 850,000, forcing a fold from Li.

Trinh Anh Tuan

Hand 193: Trinh Anh Tuan limped from the small blind before big blind Tom Verbruggen raised to 1,000,000. Tuan then three-bet jammed for 7,500,000, and Verbruggen snap-called.

Trinh Anh Tuan: T T

Tom Verbruggen: A Q

The Vietnamese player was flipping for his tournament life, while a win for the Dutchman would put him firmly in the driving seat heading into three-handed play.

The Q window card made it plain sailing for Verbruggen on the 8 Q 3 flop, vaulting him into the lead.

The 9 turn gave Tuan a gutshot, but the 6 river bricked, sending him out in 4th place for KRW 46,520,000 (~USD 34,980).

Hand 188: Jun Li got a walk in the big blind with T 6 .

Hand 189: Mehdi Chaoui opened with 8 8 in the cutoff and picked up the blinds.

Hand 190: Tom Verbruggen open-jammed T 9 from the small blind and picked up the big blind.

Hand 191: Verbruggen opened Q 2 on the button and Jun Li defended A 9 from the big blind.

The 4 T 9 flop saw Li pick up middle pair and check, Verbruggen bet 325,000 and Li called.

A 4 was turned, and Li checked. Verbruggen took his time before checking behind and a Q fell on the river giving Verbruggen top pair.

Jun checked, Verbruggen bet 1,300,000 and Jun mucked his hand.

Hand 192: Verbruggen opened to 600,000 from the cutoff with A 7 and Trinh Anh Tuan called with A 9 called from the big blind.

The K 2 9 flop saw Tuan pick up middle pair and he faced a 425,000 bet from Verbruggen after opting to check.

Tuan called and the 5 was turned. Both made relatively quick checks to the 7 river and Tuan bet 700,000. Verbruggen made the call having picked up a pair of sevens on the river, but swiftly passed the pot to Tuan.

Trinh Anh Tuan

Hand 187: Trinh Anh Tuan raised to 1,900,000 from the cutoff and Mehdi Chaoui shoved from the small blind. Tuan claled all in for 2,900,000 total and hands were revealed.

Trinh Anh Tuan: A 5

Mehdi Chaoui: A Q

Tuan would need help to stick around, and the 5 T J flop did the trick after pairing his five.

Neither the 4 turn nor 2 river changed anything, awarding Tuan the double-up.