APPT National ($1,000)

Flight A of the APPT National concluded at ITM of nine players led by Korea's Sungheon Hong with a stack of 387,000 (77 bb), setting the bar for the next flights. Hong was a dominant presence throughout, climbing to the top early and never once facing elimination. One of his key knockouts came after registration closed, when his AK out-kicked 2023 APPT Cambodia Main Event champion Chao Ting Cheng’s KJ.

The nine survivors now enjoy a day’s break before returning on Wednesday, May 7 for the next stage of the tournament. All are guaranteed a piece of the prize pool, which is on pace to smash its $150,000 guarantee.

Still to come are Flight B and Flight C (Turbo), offering the last opportunities to join the race for the first PokerStars shard trophy of the 2025 APPT season.

After a series of aggressive raises throughout the orbit, Maxim Sorokin finds himself in the big blind and facing a 10,000 open from Hoa Thinh Nguyen. Sorokin makes the call, then both players check down a dry board of 4♣ Q♦ J♥ 2♥ 7♦ where Sorokin leads out 10,000. Nguyen tosses in the call then mucks to Sorokin's J♦ T♦ second pair.

Amit Kaushik looked to steal one on the button holding Q♥ 5♥ but Hoa Thinh Nguyen defended his big blind by calling the raise. The flop came all clubs 4♣ T♣ 8♣ and Kaushik fired 5,000, with Nguyen check-calling.

Action heated up on the A♣ turn with Kaushik staying aggressive with a 16,000 bet, and Nguyen again check-called. The A♥ river saw Nguyen check once more while Kaushik sized down to 5,400, trying to buy the pot. Nguyen wasn’t fooled and made the call tabling J♦ 7♣ for a flush to expose Kaushik's bluff.

Karan Sitlani and Hoa Thinh Nguyen head to the flop 5♠ J♥ 4♥ with a pot of 20,000 in the middle. From the big blind, Nguyen checks to Sitlani who fires a bet that's quickly called. The 9♠ finds the turn where Nguyen changes gears, leading out 13,000. Sitlani calls to take them to the river 3♦ . No brakes for Nguyen as he jams it all for 31,000, the pressure works as Sitlani folds to give up his stake in the pot.

c gets dealt Q♦ J♦ and opens 2500, several spots over hijack Hoa Thinh Nguyen three-bets 7000, Konishi defends to go heads up to the flop 3♥ J♣ 7♦ . Konishi checks then calls Nguyen's 5000 c-bet. The turn 9♠ is checked through to complete the board with the K♦ river. Konishi leads out 2800, Nguyen pays to see, and soon mucks.

Hoa Thinh Nguyen and Dongwk Yeom face off on the river T♥ 5♥ 4♥ J♠ 5♦ with around 15,000 already in the pot. Nguyen checks to Yeom who value-bets 9000, Nguyen calls then mucks to T♠ T♣ full house.