APT National Cup

APT Taipei Poker Classic kicked off today with Flight A of the APT National Cup at the Asia Poker Arena, which drew 654 entries (565 unique) throughout the day, with only 90 players managing to make it to Saturday’s Final Day.

Ireland’s Brendan Luke Mcmanus climbed to the top of the leaderboard and amassed an impressive stack of 877,000 for the Final Day.

The American player Alexander Charron bagged up the second-biggest stack in the field amounting to 753,000 chips. Charron is no stranger to APT events and has previously finished third in an event at APT Da Nang in 2022 for a prize of just over $2,000.

The player following Charron is Taiwan’s Rui Lu, who has accumulated 717,000 chips, making her the third-highest stack in the field. Lu, who is a regular on the APT circuit, has final tabled an event right here at APT Taipei earlier this year.

Other notables including Kuan Yu Lin (141,000), Hung Yueh Chang (63,000), and Chia-Hung Lin (41,000) also made it to the Final Day on Saturday.

The top ten stacks in Flight A can be found below:

Flight A of the APT National cup has ended and the survivors are currently bagging up their chips. A full recap of Flight A's action will follow shortly.

It’s on the bubble time now.

Yu Chen from middle position and Su Yu Han on the button were all in preflop with around 238,000 chips in the pot.

Yu Chen J♦ J♣ Su Yu Han A♦ K♣

A flop of J♥ 2♣ 7♠ rolling out, improving Chen to a set of and leaving Han’s big slick a slim chance to win the pot.

The board-pairing 7♥ slammed on the turn and upgraded Chen to a full house, shutting down Han's hope of winning. A bricky 4♦ slid on the river to complete the board.

With no one busting out of the hand-per-hand play, players were getting anxious to end the day. It finally happened in an all-in hand involving Lai Wan Yun with big slick A♦ K♥ and Kong Chung Lam Allan with 6♣ :2h.

With a J♥ 7♣ 4♠ 6♦ 5♥ board, a loud cheer from the floor erupted as Tournament Director Lloyd Fontillas announced the elimination of Yun.

Japan’s Ogasawara Takumi was all in from the button and was called by Hong Kong’s Mui Chiu Lit from middle position.

Ogasawara Takumi K♥ K♦

Mui Chiu Lit A♦ T♣

The runout came J♥ 4♣ 8♣ 9♦ 2♦ and the pot shipped to Takumi who remained alive in the tournament.

With 14% in-the-money, hand-per-hand play had started and it has been one all-in after another with players hoping for someone to bust so that all could move forward to Day 2.

Chainani Dhanesh with A♠ Q♣ went against A♣ Jd: from Chan Ting Fung. The board went K♥ Q♥ 7♦ Q♦ 2♥ giving Dhanesh trips.

An audible sigh of dismay was heard around the floor, as hand-per-hand play continued.

It was a classic battle between pockets when we arrived at the table to see Chung Chung En all-in with K♥ K♦ versus Lee Chien Tse's ladies Q♣ Q♦

AsEn stood up hoping his Kings held, the dealer revealed a board of 9♥ 6♣ 4♥ 5♣ 9♠ . En sat back down with a huge smile behind a doubled stack leaving Tse crippled.

Everyone folder to Lim Xin Ann who raised in cut-off position for 12,000. Sun Ka Ho at small blind who three-bet to 32,000. Staring at Ho to get a read, Ann eventually called to see a flop.

The flop came down J♦ 6♥ 2♥ and Ho passed the action to Ann who bet 12,000. Ho called. Both players checked the turn and river that showed Q♣ K♥

Ho tabled pockets T♣ T♦ , after which Ann showed his two-pair with K♦ Q♦

One three-way all-in hand just played out resulting in a double knockout.

Lee Yuan Hsu from the small blind, Himathongkom Pongspak from under the gun, and De Hao Lai from the hijack shoved all in preflop, piling up the chips in the middle around 160,000.

Lee Yuan Hsu K♦ K♣

Himathongkom Pongspak A♣ Q♠

De Hao Lai 8♠ 8♥

A dry board rolled off 4♥ 9♥ 2♣ 4♠ 9♦ , sending Pongspak and Lai to the rail. Hsu scored a double elimination.

Lee Tsung Ying had all his chips in the middle of the pot when we arrived. Lin Tzu-De was taking his time fixing his chips into tall stacks then finally pushed it all-in as well. Tzu-De had Ying's A♦ Q♠ dominated with his A♣ K♠ .

The window card was a K♥ followed by 6♥ 8♣ , making Ying stand up from his chair. The Q♦ on the turn didn't help Ying at all and the 6♣ river sealed Ying's fate for this tournament.

Sripirom Nantawit puts Srisinghasongkram Chakrit all-in for his tournament life.

Sripirom Nantawit A♥ 6♥

Srisinghasongkram Chakrit A♦ 8♠

The dealer delivered a board of Q♠ 9♠ 2♥ 6♣ 7♥ pairing a six with Nantawit, and Chakrit eliminated.

Lai Wan Yun shoved all in from under-the-gun for 33,000, followed by a call from Ma Erwin Lee from middle position.

Lai Wan Yun A♦ A♣

Ma Erwin Lee K♦ K♠

A runout of 5♠ 6♦ T♣ 5♦ 7♥ means Lee's cowboys failed to lasso the pot from Yun's bullets.

Kim Donggeon kicked action off with a bet of 1,500 from early position, which Kim Kiyoung called from middle position. Welgama Wimalaratna Anouk three-bet shoved all-in from the button which was called by Donggeon, with Kiyoung getting out of the way.

Kim Donggeon A♦ Q♦

Welgama Wimalaratna Anouk A♠ Q♣

A clean board rolled off 7♥ 6♥ 3♣ K♥ 4♥, and both players chopped the pot.

Arriving at the table, we found Kataoka Toshio shoving his short stack with A♣ 8♦. Wu Tun Jung, whose stack covers the all-in easily, called with Q♥ J♥. The board ran out T♣ 4♦ 4♠ 8♥ 5♠ giving Toshio a pair and a double up.

We caught a hand with Kang Wongyu and Wan Ka Yu all-in against Yuan Chien Chang. Chang held the bullets A♣ A♥ while Wongyu, already standing far from the table held 8♥ 8♣ and Yu with Q♣ Q♦ praying he could crack the aces.

The board showed 9♣ 4♥ 3♦ J♣ 6♥

Chang's aces held eliminating Wongyu. Yu still hoping he had at least a chip and a chair while the dealer counted his chips, had to walk when it was confirmed without a doubt that he was covered.

Huang Jun Han opened to 2,500 and was called by Lin Yu Yung, Lo Ka Hei and Himathongkom Pongsapak.

Han bet 3,000 on the 2♥ 3♣ 9♦ flop and was followed by a string of folds from Yung, Hei and Pongsapak, leaving Han chips up with just one street value.

Actions started pre-flop with Kuroda Yosuke going all-in for 8,500 against Cheung Ting Pong Robert who was hoping to add some chips to his short stack. Yosuke held K♣ 3♥ to Roberts suited one-gapper 2♥ 4♥ .

The board ran out 8♥ A♣ K♠ J♠ K♦ doubling Yosuke up.

Yosuke once again went all-in pre-flop with Q♥ 9♥ and saw a caller this time in Kakuichi Chihiro who held K♦ 3♦ . The board ran out J♠ Q♦ 6♦ 3♠ 8♠ . With his pair of Queens, Yosuke lives to see another hand.

With the board spread K♣ 3♠ 7♦ K♥, Thailand’s Piyawongpingyo Prad shoved all in for his last 19,000 chips. Chourkittisopon Aphiwit made the call to put Prad at risk.

Piyawongpingyo Prad A♥ 4♣

Chourkittisopon Aphiwit A♣ 7♣

Aphiwit took the lead with two pair. A meaningless 5♥ landed on the river and showed Prad the exit.

Action started with Tu Yu Sheng opening to 3,000 from the button, with only Wang Jia Hao and Lo Ka Hei from the blinds sticking around.

The trio saw a J♠ T♦ 9♠ flop. Both Hao and Hei check-called after Sheng put in a continuation bet of 5,000.

A 3♠ slid in on the turn, and Hao and Hei checked over to Sheng who shoved all in for around 25,000, sending Hao into the tank, eventually mucking his hand. This was followed by a snap-fold from Hei.

Trying to survive until the end of the day, we found two short-stacked players in Kurushima Hiroya and Sturmann Malte all-in preflop. Hiroya held J♠ J♥ while Malte had K♦ T♣ .

A 7♥ 3♣ 9♣ J♦ K♠ board followed giving Hiroya a set on the turn and eliminating Malte from the tournament.

We found Chan Yu Hoi and Fok Sum Him Ricky all-in pre-flop. Ricky flipped over K♦ K♠. Hoi resigned to his fate showed Q♥ Q♣ . Hoi started packing his bags and was preparing to leave as the dealer dealt a board of 8♠ 9♥ T♦ T♠ J♦

With his back turned ready to leave the floor, Hoi didn’t see that he actually won the pot with a Queen-high straight. The dealer had to call him back to show him he had won the hand which prompted Hoi to happily retake his seat to continue the tournament.

Players are on break for 15 minutes.

Five players were in a hand on a flop of J♥ 5♥ T♣ . Two players checked to Kim Dongeon in middle position felt it was time to push some players out of the pot by betting 6,500. After Sripirom Nantawit, directly to the left of Dongeon, folded, Kim Kiyoung raised to 12,500 making the other 2 players fold to Dongeon who called to see the turn.

Both players checked to the turn of 9♥ to see the river for free. The 7♣ river induced a raise of 13,500 from Dongeon and after some consideration, Kiyoung decided to call.

Dongeon flipped over 5♠ 5♦ to show a set on the flop against Kiyoung’s top pair with A♣ J♦ .

Sun Ka Ho raised to 2,500 from the hi-jack and only Tsoi Wang Yam from the cut-off and Yu Chin Yu in the big blind stuck around to see the flop.

On the flop of 3♣ 8♦ T♥ , Ho fired a barrel of 3,100 which Yam folded and Yu shoved all in to put himself at risk.

Sun Ka Ho Q♥ Q♦

Yu Chin Yu 9♦ 7♥

Ho picked up the lead with his ladies, and even when a board-pairing 8♠ fell on the turn, the situation didn’t change much for Yu, but he was still holding a straight draw and hoping to spike a jack on the river. Unfortunately, an anticlimactic 3♥ delivered on the river, sending Yu out of the exit.

We arrived at the table with Lam Ka Ho all-in for his tournament life against Ho Siu Benson.

Tabled cards showed: Ho: K♦ 8♦ Benson: A♥ J♦

The board unfurled 8♣ 2♦ A♦ Q♣ T♦

The river gave Ho a flush, saving him from getting eliminated.

The action starts with Jaruplavath in the utg min-opening to 1,600, Tsung calls utg+2, before Li on the button squeezes to 7,800, only Tsung calls.

Flop comes T♠ 2♠ 4♥ and after Tsung’s check, Li c-bets 6000, which quickly gets called.

The 9♥ on the turn brings another flush draw, though both players elect to see a free river, which brings in the backdoor flush with the 5♥ . Now Tsung bets out 12000, which Li reluctantly calls. Tsung shows top-top A♣ T♥ which is enough to take down the pot and leave Li with only 20 big blinds, while Tsung chips up nicely.

We caught the action with Chiang Wai Chin putting in a huge bet of 12,000 on a board that showed 7♠ 4♥ 5♥ 2♠ against Yu Daesun Samuel who called the bet after counting his chips.

The river of 5♦ made Chin check to Samuel who bet 12,000. Chin tanked for quite some time before folding his hand.

A♠ Chin folded, Chin mentioned he had big pockets. After Chin stated that he had big pockets, Samuel jocundly said, “Really? Give me your voucher and I’ll tell you my hand.”

With around 12,800 in the middle, Hong Kong’s Chong Ho Yin bet 4,000 from the big blind on the board of 8♥ Q♥ 6♥ Q♦ and sent Japanese Ikuta Kazuki from early position in the tank. Kazuki puts in a call after thinking for a long time only for Taiwan’s Wu Chia Yun to move all-in. Yin folded after around 30 seconds of thinking but Kazuki snaps call.

A T♥ fell on the river and both players flipped over:

Ikuta Kazuki A♥ Q♠

Wu Chia Yun 6♠ 6♣

Kazuki shows turned trips but it wasn’t enough to beat Yun who tabled pocket sixes for a full house.

On a flop of Q♥ 4♥ 2♦ Vu Le Khac Huy fired 2,500 chips from middle position, and Allen Chan made the call from the cut-off. The rest of the table folded, and they went to a heads-up.

A 8♠ fell on the turn which triggered no bets from both players and they checked through to see the T♣ river card, leaving Huy with a missed flush draw as he tabled A♥ 3♥ for ace-high. Chan flipped K♥ 2♥ for a pair of twos to win the hand.

Under-the-gun opens to 1,800, Yeh Su Lung on the button makes it 5,500, James Cantelo in the big blind cold calls and we go heads up to the flop 5♣ 5♠ 3♣ .

Here Cantelo takes the initiative and donk jams his remaining 15,300 chips. Yeh does think about his decision for a minute, but with his K♥ K♣ there is no getting away on this low paring board. And usually, he should have the best hand, but the Aussie Cantelo turns over 9♦ 5♦ , meaning Yeh is only drawing to two outs. The turn J♥ and river 2♦ leave Yeh crippled with 4000, while Cantelo scoops a nice pot.

Poker influencer Greg from “Greg goes all in” will once again accompany this APT series with his humor and good vibes. Of course, his sunglasses will not be missing here either.

A board came 3♣ A♣ 9♦ K♦ and around 6,100 chips in the middle, Wong Song Ngai check-called after Lee Kun-Han bet 3,600.

The bricky 4♦ landed on the river, and both players checked through to show their hands. Han tabled A♥ 8♥ against A♠ 5♠ from Ngai. Both players paired an ace, but Han’s kicker eight secured the pot for him.

One heads-up just played out between Taiwan’s Chen Kuan Wen and his countrymate Ho Chung Yi.

With a board running Q♥ 4♦ 5♦ J♦ 6♣ and around 9,000 chips in the middle, Wen fired a bet of 4,500, sending Yi into the tank. Yi eventually elected to call after a long time.

Wen flipped 5♣ 5♥ for a set which Yi quickly threw his cards in the middle and folded.

We caught Lo Cheng Yen with a bet of 6,500 on the flop of T♥ 4♥ 7♦ with two other players – Tian James on the big blind and Hsu Bin Fu under-the-gun. James called but Fu folded.

The turn of Q♦ made Yen shoot another 8,000 into the pot. After a bit of a thinking, James shoved all-in to which Yen immediately called. Both players turned over their cards to show Yen with Q♠ T♠ for a two pair and James holding 8♦ 6♦ hoping for a redraw.

The river of 3♦ was exactly what James was hoping for, leaving Yen short stacked with only 7,500 behind.

Players are now on their first 15-minute break.

Tu Yu Sheng raised to 900 from under the gun and this was followed by a string of folds from every player until Tse Cryus Tak Yin made the call from the big blind.

A flop of J♥ J♠ 2♠ ran out for paired jacks which Sheng bet 600, and Yin stuck around to see the turn.

The 6♥ slid on the turn which both players checked through. A 9♠ dropped on the river and both players went to a showdown. Sheng won the hand with ace-high.

Tu Yu Sheng A♦ T♦

Tse Cryus Tak Yin Q♠ 4♥

Six-handed utg opens to 1200 and gets four players who are looking to play a family pot before Huang Po-Yuan in the big blind plays the spoilsport and squeezes to 7.5k off his 19k stack. Utg, utg+1, and sb call.

On a 7♠ 6♠ 2♥ flop the preflop aggressor wastes no time and jams all-in. Two opponents quickly fold, however, Lin Chung Hung in the small blind, does put in the remaining 11.5k. Though, judging from his facial expression, it’s the pot odds which entices his call, not his strong hand. Turns out this is correct, as he shows 5♣ 3♣ against Po-Yuan’s Q♣ Q♥ . The board does not bring in Hung’s gutshot and Po-Yuan almost triple up his stack.

Action started with Sripirom Nantawit who raised to 600 from under the gun, which was called by Liao Hung Yu from middle position. Lai Wan Yun then fired a reraise of 2,400 from the button. Nantawit made the call, but Yu got out of the way.

Both players saw the flop spread J♦ T♠ 2♠ and decided to slow down by checking through.

With the 8♦ delivered on the turn, Nantawit bet 2,000 with Yun making the call to see the 5♦ river card. Nantawit fired a bet of 2,700 which forced Yun to fold, giving up the pot to Nantawit.

We pick the action up on the turn where Shao Hung Yu puts Tsoi all-in for his remaining 12k. Tsoi only thinks for a few seconds before making the call with A♦ K♠ on A♣ J♦ 7♦ 5♦. It looks like a chop as Yu has the same hand, A♥ K♦, but by having the A♦ Tsoi does have the freeroll which, to his delight, he hits with the 4♦.

Pre-flop, Ikuma Jacob raised to 800 on the button but was re-raised by Lertsurapakdee Akekachat in the small blind to 1,500. Jacob called for a heads-up.

Dealer unfurled a flop of 6♠ K♠ 3♠. With action on the initial raiser, Jacob fired a bet of 800 which Akekachat called.

The action was the same on the turn, with Akekachat calling Jacob's bet of 2,300 on a turn of 5♦.

Both players checked the river of 8♦. Without waiting for Akechat to show, Jacob turned over K♣ T♦ to win the pot.

The APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 has only just begun and the Asia Poker Arena is already packed. Excitement is in the air and everyone is hoping for a good start to the series.

With the flop reading 6♥ A♠ J♥, Vu Le Khac Huy bet 500 from the cutoff and Kim Seongwoo made the call from the small blind.

A J♠ fall on the turn which Huy fired a bet of 900 before Seongwoo mucked his hand to secure his last 6,200 chips.

The rest of the action folded, leaving Hong Kong’s Chiu Tsun Yin from the small blind and Taiwan’s Lin Tzu En from under the gun went in the heads-up.

The flop ran out 4♦ 3♥ 9♦ , and Yin check-raised to 4,500 after En bet 1,600 which took only a few seconds for En to shove all-in and got snap-called by Yin.

Chiu Tsun Yin K♦ 5♦

Lin Tzu En 7♦ 7♥

En was a little ahead with his hockey sticks against the king-five of Yin. The A♥ hit on the turn, but En still needed to fade many cards to prevent Yin, who was still holding flush draw, from winning the pot. The help came for Yin on the river as a T♦ landed and shipped the pot his way.

Yum Ping Li found himself going against the flow of people as players were flowing in.

From middle position Ang Choon Yeh raised the blinds to 300 and got called by Yum Ping Li at cut-off.

Flop came down T♦ Q♣ 8♥ . After passing the action to Li, Yeh called Li’s bet of 300.

Yeh did another check-call to Li’s 1,300 bet when the turn revealed J♥ .

At an A♣ , Li went all in for his remaining 6,500 after Yeh checked. Yeh calmly called the bet and flipped over Q♠ K♥ . Li disgusted showed Q♥ 9♠ as he stood and left the floor.

Shuffle up and deal has been announced, and the cards are in the air for the first flight of the APT National Cup.

Welcome to APT Taipei which will play out at the bustling Asia Poker Arena, with the APT National Cup kicking off the 11-day poker bonanza.

On the first day, the APT National Cup will open three flights with a buy-in of TWD 10,000 and a guaranteed prize pool totaling TWD 10,000,000.

Flight A will kick off at 11:00 am local time with 30,000 starting chips for every player and the clock set as 30 minutes. Only 5% of players from each flight will advance to the Final Day on Saturday, September 28.

Flights B and C will follow up on the same day so if players fail to make it through Flight A, they can jump into Flight B and C, which start at 5:30 pm and 9:00 pm respectively.

If you are still indecisive about which tournament to play, take a look at the full APT Taipei schedule here.