APL MAIN EVENT (26,000 TWD)

The first of six flights for the APL Taipei Main Event has officially wrapped up, with the initial 132-entry field trimmed down to just 20 survivors after a marathon 14-hour session. Leading the pack is local contender Chao Hao Ting, who bagged a commanding 665,000 chips (83 BB) to set the early pace for the series.

Chao’s late surge began with a critical double up early in the bubble rounds at the expense of Wesley Chen. He closed the night by scoring the final knockout of the day, eliminating Carter Chan on the bubble to seal his position at the top of the leaderboard.

Chao is closely trailed by South Korea’s Hyungsoo Lim with 611,000 (76 BB), followed by Japan’s Seiji Kikuoka with 567,000 (71 BB). The top three hold a significant lead over the rest of the field, putting themselves in prime position for a deep Main Event run.

With two days of rest ahead for the Day 2 qualifiers, those who fell short still have multiple chances to punch their ticket, with four more starting flights remaining on schedule. Don’t miss your shot at a piece of the NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 700,800) guaranteed prize pool and a chance to make APL history!

APL Taipei Main Event

Date: June 11-16, 2025

Buy-in: NT$ 26,000 (~US$ 865)

Guarantee: NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 700,800)

Day 1A: 132 entries, 20 qualified

Day 1B: June 11, 2025

Day 1C: June 12, 2025

Day 1D: June 12, 2025

Day 1E: June 13, 2025

Day 1F: June 13, 2025

Day 2: June 14, 2025

Day 3: June 15, 2025

Final Table: June 16, 2025

Fifteen hands into bubble time, action on Table 8 folded down to the small blind, where Chao Hao Ting open raised all-in. Carter Chan on the big blind, eagerly committed his remaining 137,000 and found himself in a coinflip situation.

The flop came a crushing 2♣ 6♥ 6♠ , giving Chao a full house and leaving Chan drawing dead at an instant. The 5♠ turn and T♠ river were mere formalities, bringing the day to a close with 20 players advancing to Day 2.

Cho Ho Fan flicked in his last 12,000 right on bubble time and was called by both Hyungsoo Lim and Yu Han Jeon behind.

Action on board 3♠ 6♥ 2♦ 9♦ A♥ was checked to showdown, revealing Ho's top two pair shortly, widely ahead for the triple up.

On the 14th hand of bubble time, Carter Chan opened to 18,000 from utg and was called by Chao Hao Ting on the big blind.

Chan continued for 10,000 on flop A♥ 6♥ 5♣ and followed with another 40,000 on turn 9♥ , only to face a check jam from Chao by the second barrel. After a brief pause, Chan reluctantly folded, preserving his stack for the next spot.

Chao Hao Ting is going nowhere after a gutsy all-in for his entire 178,000 against Wesley Chen right on bubble time paid off big time.

A crucial flip, the board A♦ Q♥ 6♣ A♠ 8♠ ran in favor of Chao's overcards, earning him a huge double just as the day is about to close.

The tournament clock has been paused to make way for bubble time. Only 20 players are guaranteed a spot into the next stage, leaving only one more elimination on the table.

Nearing bubble time, a preflop confrontation between Avneesh Munjal on the cutoff and Sangbeom Lim on the big blind landed both stacks in the middle, with Lim covering Munjal's 120,000 chip count.

Board Q♥ 3♥ K♥ 7♣ A♦ was a slam dunk win for Lim, eliminating Munjal just a few spots short of making Day 2.

Kim Kiyoung opened 15,000 utg and Seiji Kikuoka completed his big blind. On flop Q♦ 8♦ 3♠ , a back and forth between the two landed Kim's entire 171,000 in the middle, revealing a top pair clash moments later.

Kim A♠ Q♥

Kikuoka Q♣ 9♦

Kim well ahead, unfortunately suffered a terrible beat as the runout 7♦ 9♠ landed Kikuoka two pair to turn the tables and deliver his elimination.

A three way raised pot led by Seiji Kikuoka from utg saw the aggressor continue for 32,000 on flop 5♦ T♥ 8♠ . Only Chen Cheng Chun found a reason to continue, but likewise gave it up on turn 7♦ as Kikuoka went for another 24,000.

Jihwan Oh defended his hijack open and called a 36,000 three bet from Chao Hao Ting on the small blind. With less than half the pot behind Oh, Ting bet all-in on flop J♠ 2♠ 6♥ , leaving Oh to happily flick in the rest of his chips with top pair K♠ J♣ .

Chao looking to catch up with 8♦ 8♥ , found no eights on runout 2♦ Q♠ , putting a dent on his towering stack.

Chen Cheng Chun bumped up the stakes to 42,000, leaving only hijack raiser Kim Kiyoung continuing to flop 6♦ 6♥ 6♠ . Chen checked his option, prompting Kim to bet 25,000. Chen made the call with no hesitation, and went ahead and led 42,000 on turn Q♣ . Kim decided it was smart to give up the fight and slipped his hand back to the dealer.

Facing an open and a call, Cheng Hsiu Li pushed all-in for his remaining 31,000 and was called by both Korean opponents Jihwan Oh and Haram Joo. Oh continued for 31,000 on flop K♠ 5♦ 6♣ , yet quickly folded after Joo demanded for his 12 big blinds behind, awarding Joo the side pot uncontested.

At showdown, Cheng's ducks was unable to get past Joo's K♦ Q♦ on runout T♥ 4♥ , sending him out of the Main Event Day 1A running shortly after.

Down to nine big blinds, Yu Han Jeon's positive momentum came right on time as he gladly put his tournament life at stake with nothing short of the best hand in the deck. Cutoff raiser Shih Li Hsuan found himself priced in to make the call, and was in for a roller coaster of emotions as board landed K♣ 6♦ 6♠ K♥ . The river A♠ however, turned the tables back in Yu's favor, keeping his Main Event hopes alive.

Attempting to secure the 80,000 already in the middle, Cheng Hsiu Li on the small blind, took a stab with a 20,000 turn bet on 8♥ 8♣ 6♣ A♥ . Chao Hao Ting however, wouldn't let that pass and shot out a small raise to 40,000, enough to earn him the pot straight away.

Cheng Hsiu Li on the button, called a preflop open from Jihwan Oh, and faced a 10,000 cbet on flop 2♥ 9♠ J♠ . Cheng responded with an all-in for 35,000 more, leaving Oh up for a gamble.

Cheng K♠ 8♠

Oh 6♥ 6♣

Drawing to several outs, Cheng managed to book one on runout 7♣ 3♠ , earning him a clean double for his completed flush.

Chao Hao Ting opened utg and was met with one call from Jihwan Oh on the button.

On board Q♥ 6♥ 8♣ A♦ , Chao checked both streets to his opponent, pushing Oh to double barrel - 11,000 and 22,000. Chao was up to the test, and arrived at showdown shortly after Oh finally decided to check back river 6♣ .

Chao showed A♥ 5♥ , splitting the pot as Oh showed a similar two pair A♣ 3♣ .

The money bubble is looming with only seven more eliminations to go before today's Day 1A flight comes to a close. Only 20 players out of the initial 132-entry field are geared to advance to Day 2, all in for a share of the NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 700,800) guaranteed prize pool

Running thin, Shao Chi Chang open raised all-in his remaining 53,000 utg+1 and found a call from Yutang Wang on the big blind.

Chang at risk, failed to improve on board 4♥ 9♠ 7♦ 6♥ Q♣ , ending his Day 1A run entirely.

Struggling to gain traction, Wu Chiayun open shoved his remaining 37,000 on the cutoff and was challenged by Seiji Kikuoka right on the big blind.

Up for a race, the board 4♣ 6♠ 4♠ 7♠ kept Kikuoka ahead all throughout, with a final J♥ on the river sealing Wu's fate in today's Day 1A charge.

Shih Li bumped up the stakes in early position to 9,000 and was joined by Cheng Hsiu Li on the button. On flop J♦ 4♠ 8♦ , Shih checked to his opponent, prompting Cheng to go for a bet of 9,000. Shih however, pulled a raise to 30,000, more than enough to get Cheng to lay it down.

Shao Fu Wang on the small blind, went with 9♠ 9♣ for his last twelve big blinds and was looked up by button raiser Wu Chiayun with 4♦ 4♠ .

Wang in great form, easily bagged the win as board 5♥ K♦ 8♥ 8♣ K♥ delivered no bad beats, earning him a full double.

Haram Joo opened utg and called a 20,000 three bet from Anton Widjaya seated two spots over.

The flop landed 4♣ 6♣ Q♠ , where Joo opted to check call a 10,000 cbet from his opponent. On turn 6♦ , Widjaya kept the pressure on with a 35,000 barrel, and Joo again cautiously tossed in the call.

The river 3♥ saw Widjaya slow down and check back, prompting Joo to reveal his 8♥ 8♠ , good enough to take down the pot as Widjaya mucked without a fight.

Mohit Bohra began with an open in middle position, quickly met with a raise from chip leader Seiji Kikuoka to 21,000. Bohra came back with a four bet to 65,000, and Kikuoka decided to just complete.

With a hefty pot already up for grabs, Bohra went ahead and stuffed his last 99,500 on flop 3♥ 3♠ 8♦ . Kikuoka took a minute before making the call with Q♦ Q♠ , finding himself well ahead of his opponent's A♦ K♦ for another big pot.

Bohra missed to pair up his overcards on either turn 6♥ or river 8♣ , costing him his Main Event run at today's Day 1A games.

Sangbeom Lim opened in early position, followed by a 15,500 three bet from Pien Tse Hsiang on the hijack. Han Seunghyeon chimed in from the small blind, and Lim completed for a three way pot.

Action on flop 6♦ 4♠ 3♠ was checked to Pien, leaving him to push his entire 80,000 in the middle. Han snap called, while Lim on the other hand found no reason to continue.

Drawing slim against Han's top set, Pien gunned for a miracle and luckily found one right on his lap as runout 5♠ 8♠ landed two more spades to give him a flush and turn the tables.

First to act Hyungsoo Lim kicked off the action with a 6,000 open and was joined by Wesley Chen on the cutoff.

On board 5♦ K♥ 9♦ 8♥ Q♦ , Lim went ahead and led all three streets - 5,500, 15,000, and 25,000, convincing Chen to finally surrender by the last barrel.

Haram Joo opened in early position and was met with a 20,000 button three bet from Carter Chan. Yunfan Yang on the big blind, decided to take the spot and jam, prompting Joo to reshove and successfully push Chan out of the pot.

Yang dominated, stepped off the arena just as board 3♦ 2♦ Q♦ 9♥ 4♥ offered him no salvation.

A three way raised pot led by UTG Seiji Kikuoka saw the Japanese runner continue the aggression with a 5,000 cbet on flop 7♥ 4♠ 2♣ . Only Wu Chiayun on the button made the call, revealing turn 2♥.

Kikuoka checked this time around, prompting Wu to fire a bet of 7,000. Kikuoka took the chance to pad the pot, shooting out a hefty 31,500. Wu completed, and tank called another 52,500 on river Q♠ , only to muck as Kikuoka revealed full house 7♦ 7♣ .

Action folded around to Cho Ho Fan on the button, who opened to 5,000. Things escalated quickly as Chia Wei Hsu responded with an all-in for 71,500, followed by a lesser shove of 30,500 from Liu Chen Jung in the big blind. With both opponents committing their stacks, Ho made the final call, setting up a three-way showdown.

Board 8♠ 5♣ 2♦ 8♦ 7♠ saved Chen from the brink of elimination having rolled trip eights, while Ho claimed the side pot to cut his losses.

Wesley Chen defended his cutoff open and called Jaewook Shin's 15,000 raise on the button. On flop 8♠ 7♠ 5♥ , Chen called Shin's cbet, putting out another 13,000. Action slowed down as both players checked turn Q♠ and river T♠ , revealing Chen's 6♠ 6♣ a few minutes later, good for the pot.

Dicky Tsang didn’t waste a second, jamming his entire 64,000 stack from the big blind against an utg raise from Junhee Park. Park snap called and tabled the best hand in the deck, and easily delivered Tsang's bust with a boat on board A♥ 5♥ J♦ 9♥ 5♦ .

Ravn Teo completed his open vs Kuo Kai Ma's 12,500 three bet and read a flop of 2♠ 7♣ 3♥ . Action checked to turn 6♦ , where Teo decided to take a stab for 13,000. Ma put in the call and shortly arrived at showdown after no more bets went in on river K♦ .

Ma showed A♥ Q♣ , good enough to ship the pot.

Jeonghun Park opened to 4,000 and shelled out 8,000 more following a raise from Avneesh Munjal two seats down the line. Munjal continued for 11,000 on flop 8♠ 2♥ 9♥ , yet decided to let go of the spot after Park was willing to commit his entire 74,500.

A blind vs blind preflop battle between Cheng Hsiu Li and Carter Chen brewed a nice pot of 40,000. On flop 8♣ K♠ 6♣ , Cheng check called a half pot bet from Chen but gave it up shortly on turn 2♦ as Chen gunned for another 46,000.

This season's APL Main Event is off to a good start with a total of 132 entries turning up for the initial flight. Action will play down to 15% of the field, leaving only 20 runners by the end of the night, all secured a piece of the NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 700,800) guaranteed prize pool.

Meanwhile, Day 1B is still in progress, offering latecomers another shot at advancing. A♠ with today's Day 1A, late registration remains open until just before Level 12, keeping the door open for more entries to pour in.