APL MAIN EVENT (26,000 TWD)

APL Taipei Main Event Day 1E has officially drawn to a close, with 61 players securing a seat into Day 2. It was a packed field that saw 409 entries rally to secure a spot into the next stage. The NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 700,800) guarantee was breached late in the afternoon, sizing a prize pool clearly worth the attention.

With today marking the final chance to qualify, total entries for this season's Main Event soared to a massive 1,178, nearly doubling its previous turnout. Of those, 177 players are secured a paycheck in tomorrow's battle.

Topping the list is South Korea's Jaehyung Park, who bagged a towering 1,124,000 (140 BB) stack, placing him firmly ahead of the field. On his tail is compatriot Uhsang Ahn with 1,098,000 (137 BB), followed by Hong Kong's Pak Leong Mak with 789,000 (98 BB), all of which currently take up the top three spots across the Day 2 order.

All Day 1 survivors will converge for Day 2 tomorrow, which kicks off at 11:00 a.m. sharp. Stay tuned as SMP brings you all the live updates, chip counts, and can’t-miss moments straight from the tournament floor!

APL Taipei Main Event

Date/s: June 11-16, 2025

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

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

Entries: 1,178

Prize pool: TBD

ITM: 177 places

Day 1A: 132 entries, 20 qualified

Day 1B: 78 entries, 12 qualified

Day 1C: 223 entries, 33 qualified

Day 1D: 131 entries, 20 qualified

Day 1E: 409 entries, 61 qualified

Day 1F: 205 entries, 31 ITM

Day 2: June 14, 2025

Day 3: June 15, 2025

Final Table: June 16, 2025

One by one they dropped, leaving no time to enter hand-for-hand. With 61 players guaranteed a seat, Chae Chang Seog became the unfortunate final elimination in today's Day 1E games.

The hand played out fast as action folded to the blinds, and Chae jammed his last 84,000. Yau Xin Chu made the call and found himself slightly behind when the cards were revealed. But luck swung Yau’s way as the board J♣ T♥ 5♥ K♥ T♣ gave him two pair, sending Chae to the rail as the stone cold bubble.

On another table, a similar scenario played out as action folded to the blinds. Jae Young Choi shoved for 82,000, and Huan Yu Chen made the call from the big blind.

No sweat for Chen, who instantly closed the door with a full house on board J♠ K♣ 6♦ Q♠ Q♥ , sealing Choi’s fate and scooping the pot in quick fashion.

Fresh off the break, Tae Joon Cho's seat wasn't even warm yet when he shoved 52,000 on the small blind. Yau Xin Chu on the big blind, made the call, putting his opponent at risk.

A coinflip, Tae found none of his overcards appear on board 6♣ 3♣ 6♠ J♦ K♥ , eliminating him from the Main Event flight.

The money bubble is looming with only seven more eliminations to go before today's Day 1E flight comes to a close. Only 61 players out of the 409-entry field are geared to advance to Day 2, all in for a share of the eight-figure NTD prize pool.

Another preflop race landed on the felt, this time at Table 11 and Hyungyu Park (92,000) at risk against Yanzhi Wang.

Park poised for a double up, instead bowed out as the board 6♣ 4♠ 2♠ 6♠ 8♠ offered Wang the nut flush to turn the tables.

Action folded down to the hijack, where Chien Hung Chi raised all-in for 69,000. Jung Miae was up to the challenge, tabling A♦ K♣ once the rest folded. Chi dominated with A♥ Q♥ , headed out shortly just as board 8♣ 9♦ 4♠ 4♦ 3♣ rolled on the felt.

First to act Po Yu Su pushed his 62,000 past the line and was followed by another shove to his left, from Huan Yu Chen. All else folded, leaving the two to showdown.

Su in trouble, managed to outflop Chen on board J♦ 2♦ 4♥ Q♠ , but was left in pieces after the river showed up a T♦ to complete Chen's nut straight.

A classic pocket pair clash unfolded on Table 3, with Kiyoung Kim’s 9♦ 9♠ up against Zhang Po Chieh’s T♥ T♣ in a 33 big blind showdown.

Zhang at risk, stayed well ahead on board A♦ K♣ K♠ 2♥ Q♥, securing the double and giving him some breathing room to navigate the rest of the evening.

Lester Wee on the button, called a 45,000 shove two seats before, and was up for a 20 BB flip.

Board 9♠ 9♣ 2♦ 5♣ 3♣ held out for the pocket pair, earning Wee the boost.

Sunkyum Kim open jammed 56,000 utg+1 and was looked up by Ingeun Jho on the small blind.

Jho dominated, booked the loss after missing to improve on board 2♣ 7♣ 5♦ T♦ 4♣ .

Jaehyung Park opened 8,000 in early position and shelled out 20,000 more following a raise from Jiwon Choi on the big blind.

On flop J♦ 5♥ 8♣ , Choi led out for 12,000, only to be met with a quick raise to 30,000 from Park. Choi made the call, and the turn 9♥ brought more heat.

Park fired a hefty 90,000, prompting Choi to move all-in for 201,000. Park snap-called and turned over top set J♥ J♠ , leaving Choi’s T♥ T♣ drawing thin.

The river 5♠ sealed the deal, and with no help arriving, Choi hit the rail as Park scooped the monster pot.

Facing an open and two calls, Uhsang Ahn squeezed to 45,000 on the button. The initial raiser got out of the way, but both Minkwan Chae and Zhi Yu Wang completed to see a flop. The board ran out 8♦ 6♠ 3♦ , and after both Chae and Zhi checked, Ahn wasted no time firing 55,000. That was all it took to get both to fold, earning Ahn the 40 BB pot without further contest.

Han Jae Jun opened 6,000 in early position and was joined by both players on the blinds.

On flop 8♥ 4♥ 5♣ , Poyuan Chen on the big blind went ahead and shoved his last 27,000 in. Han re-raised all-in to isolate, pushing the small blind out of the way.

Chen 6♥ 5♠

Han A♦ A♥

Drawing to a couple outs, Chen found none on runout A♣ 2♣ , ending his run at today's Day 1E showing.

Sumit Sapra open jammed his last 11 big blinds on the hijack and was challenged by Sungki Kim two seats over.

Drawing slim, Sapra bowed out shortly as board A♦ Q♥ 9♥ 2♣ 9♠ missed to save his dominated pocket pair from heading to the muck.

Vying for a pot of 38,500 across completed board 8♣ 2♠ T♠ J♦ A♠ , Ingeun Jho led out a half pot bet on the big blind. Chi Fan Hsu on the button, moved all-in for Jho's 85,500 behind and received a call shortly, taking them to showdown.

Hsu tabled the nut straight K♠ Q♣ , but wasn't good enough to beat Jho's rivered flush Q♠ J♠ .

Third to act, Jooree Kim open ripped 41,500 and was called by Jeong In Jae on the small blind.

Kim well ahead, locked in the double up as board 5♠ 6♣ K♣ 7♦ J♠ left her ace-queen high good for the takedown.

Mean Huang kicked off the action with a 5,000 open in early position, called by Naohiro Matsuda behind. Zhi Yu Wang on the button, sent out an 18,500 three bet, and both completed.

Action checked to turn Q♥ 4♠ T♣ Q♠ , where Huang led 5,500. Matsuda responded with a raise to 16,500, forcing Wang out of the way, and Huang stuck around with the call.

On river 6♠ , Matsuda moved all-in, leaving Huang with no hesitation to put his last 40,000 on the line.

Matsuda revealed trip queens A♦ Q♣ , utterly crushed by Huang's rivered flush J♠ T♠ for the 70 BB pot.

Day 1E registration is officially closed with a massive 409 entries added to the APL Taipei Main Event tally, the largest single flight turnout so far. Of those, 190 players are still in the running, but only the top 15% will make the cut to Day 2. It’s going to be a long grind ahead as the field battles down to just 61 survivors.

Meanwhile, Day 1F is still in full swing, giving latecomers one last shot. Just like Day 1E, late registration stays open until the start of Level 12, leaving the window wide open for more players to jump in before the final cutoff.

A preflop back and forth between Shen Syu Ho and Changhyun Kim landed the latter's entire 82,300 in the middle, running at risk over a flip.

Unfortunately for Kim, none of his overcards spiked a pair on board 7♦ 9♣ 2♥ 2♦ 6♣ , sending him off to the rail.

With 32,000 already in the middle and a board showing Q♥ 2♥ 4♦ 2♦ , Ng Pui Cheng fired 12,000 on the turn after facing a check from the player UTG. The call came, and action proceeded to river 7♣ , where Ng put his opponent all-in for his remaining 17,300. After a brief pause, the call was made, revealing Ng’s top pair K♥ Q♠ holding strong against his opponent's 8♥ 8♠ .

The APL Taipei Main Event is surging past expectations, with the massive NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 700,800) guarantee already shattered. A whopping 981 entries have been recorded so far, and more still pouring in.

Late registration for Day 1E remains open for another 30 minutes, while the final flight, Day 1F, is now in motion for those still eyeing a spot in Day 2.

APL Taipei Main Event

Date/s: 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: 78 entries, 12 qualified

Day 1C: 223 entries, 33 qualified

Day 1D: 131 entries, 20 qualified

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

Eunjung Sim lit up with a 3,200 open mid position, joined by Fok Sum Him Ricky on the button along with the big blind.

Sim continued for 3,200 on flop J♦ 5♣ 5♠ and was followed by a raise from Fok to 9,000. Big blind opted out, while Sim completed.

Both players checked turn 4♣ to river 6♦ , where Sim tapped the table once more. Fok took the chance to shove, and left his opponent unable to continue entirely.

Hong Yu Huang shoved 47,600 against Jinwoo Jeon's utg open, and saw player on the small blind take a gamble, calling off his 41,200 stack. Jeon opted out and left the two to a heads up showdown.

Needing to connect, player at risk missed out on board J♥ 4♦ 9♠ Q♠ Q♦ , sending him out of the Day 1E games while Huang picked up the pot.

After coming painfully close to making Day 2 of the APL Taipei Main Event, Jiwon Kim found himself as the Day 1D bubble boy. Kim shared his thoughts on how the day played out, the frustrating table dynamics he faced near the money, and how he mentally handles the sting of bubbling.

SMP: How was your overall Day 1D experience at the tables?

Kim: Yesterday, I actually fired two bullets. On the first one, I busted pretty quickly. But on the second bullet, I managed to chip up quite well. I started with 40K and built it up to around 240K. Then I lost a few spots, and my stack dropped to around 200K. That was when our table broke. There were only three tables left, so we were getting really close to the money.

I got moved to a new table, and it was kind of a weird spot. There was this guy from Hong Kong who tanked for 10 minutes every hand. I think he was just stalling because the chip leader at the table was applying pressure, and he wanted to tank his way into the money.

The player on my left was also an interesting one. The spots got really awkward. The chip leader would raise, the guy on my left would flat with only 10 big blinds, and I’d defend the big blind. Then on the flop, after both of us checked, he would lead for just one or two big blinds. I’d call with a pair, and then the original raiser would also call. So I was always kind of stuck in the middle with tough decisions. There were three or four hands like that, and it was really annoying.

Eventually, I lost a bunch of chips and was down to about 90K. From there, my stack just kept getting shorter. I kept folding, waiting for a good spot. On the stone bubble, I had Queen-eight of clubs and only eight big blinds. I shoved, but maybe I should have folded.

SMP: Bubbling is tough. What’s your usual way to reset mentally?

Kim: Honestly, I think I have a pretty strong mentality when it comes to busting or bubbling. If you play enough, it’s just something that happens pretty often. People even know me as the bubble boy, because I’ve bubbled a lot, like final table bubbles or soft bubbles. I don’t know why. It’s really disgusting, but usually by the next day, I forget about it.

SMP: Does being the bubble affect your game the next day?

Kim: Not really. I don't really care. If it was the final table bubble of a main event, then maybe it would affect my mentality. But a Day 1 bubble? No, I can still reset and play the next day.

SMP: Given the same spot today, would you play it the same way?

Kim: I asked myself that same question. My friend also asked me, if I could go back in time, would I do it differently? Honestly, I think I’d still make the same play. It felt like the right decision at the time.

Despite the Day 1D heartbreak, Kim isn’t dwelling on the past. He’s already jumped back into the mix for Day 1E, aiming for redemption and another shot at bagging for Day 2.

Three stacks landed in the middle with Iat Man Leong covering both opponents - UTG+1 (5,800) and Yuan Chun Liu (57,200).

Liu's nutted pair reigned supreme over board 8♠ 3♦ 4♦ Q♥ 9♥ , sweeping the table clean.

Gyeong Byeom Kim set the pace to 2,500 from the hijack, followed by a 7,000 three bet from Hong Yu Chen a seat after. Kim clapped back with another raise to 17,500, and picked up the pot uncontested.

Wei Jen Wang, down to just ten big blinds, pushed all-in with J♥ J♣ and was in a strong spot to double up against Jeonghun Park’s 8♠ 8♣ .

The board ran 9♠ T♠ T♥ 5♥ Q♠ , giving Wang the boost he needed to keep his tournament hopes alive.

Even the best players hit the rail sometimes but in Taipei, there's no shortage of delicious ways to bounce back. We asked a few locals and regulars at the APL Main Event what their go-to post bustout comfort food is. From steamy bowls of noodles to late night hotpot, here's what hits the spot after a long day at the tables.

Wei Jen Wang:

I usually go to Liu Mama Noodle. It's a traditional noodle place here in Taipei. Very local taste, and I like it a lot. Sometimes, I also go eat Shabu Shabu hotpot. It’s warm and good after a long day.

Lee Jongwon:

I like to eat dim sum or go to hotpot near the venue. The soup and noodles in Taipei are really good. It makes me feel better after busting out.

Hsuan Yu Lai:

There are many good restaurants in Songshan and Ximen. But for me, I like to just go to the convenience store or eat hotpot nearby. It's open very late, like until 2 am, so even if I finish game late, I still can go and eat something hot.

Hoe Guofeng:

There’s this one sandwich shop near my hotel. It’s very wholesome. I always go there for breakfast. It’s simple and very basic, but they just do it really well. They make authentic Taiwanese sandwiches, and you can really taste the care they put into it. When I eat there, I forget about losing. It helps me clear my mind and just enjoy the moment.

Even after a tough bustout, players at APL Taipei know just where to go for a pick-me-up. Whether it’s a steaming bowl of noodles or a classic street-side snack, the local eats hit the spot and help turn the day around.

A four way raised pot read a flop of 2♣ 3♥ 4♥ . Player on the small blind took initiative and bravely ripped 31,500 . Guofeng Hoe, seated next to him, made the call while the rest stepped aside.

When the cards were tabled, Hoe revealed A♥ 5♣ for a flopped straight, dominating the small blind’s A♦ 4♦ top pair.

With only a chop left to hope for, the board bricked out 7♦ 9♠ , landing Hoe the pot and leaving one out of the Day 1E running.

With an open and two calls ahead, Sangjun Jung pulled a squeeze on the cutoff for 8,500. Initial raiser folded, Yoon Young Jin called, and Lam Vu shoved the rest of his 40,000 starting stack. Jung pushed likewise, while Yoon bowed out, leaving the two to showdown.

Vu a huge favorite to win, locked in the clean double as board T♥ 6♥ 7♠ 8♥ K♣ left his ace-queen high ahead.

Po Chun Shen opened 2,000 on the hijack, joined by Hyunsup Kim two seats away.

Action on board 7♥ 5♣ 3♠ K♣ saw Po check call two streets - 2,000 and 3,400, arriving shortly on river 4♣ . Po checked a third time around, and decided to waive the white flag after Kim fired the final blow of 12,000.