APT National Cup

It’s only Day 1 of the APT Taipei Classic 2024 and the series is already in full swing. Throughout the day people were queuing to jump into the APT National Cup at Asia Poker Arena. Day 1B drew 597 players, 84 of which were lucky enough to have made into the money. Together with the survivors of Flight A and C, these players return on Saturday to battle it out for the trophy.

Taiwan's Sheng Hung Lo comes out on top with an impressive chip stack of 907,000. With this stack, he has a strong chance of surpassing his personal best cash, which he set earlier this year in Taipei with a TWD 50,000 payout.

Japan's Takashi Matsumoto finished second in this flight with a chip count of 689.000, followed by Chunkit Wong and Mao-Lun Yu who both ended the day with 658,000.

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

Unlike Flight A, this bubble burst did not take long to bust. Early position opens, Yiwei Wu called in middle position, as well as, Yu on the button.

Flop came Jack-Two-Four. It checked around to the button who put out a small bet. The original raiser folded, but Wu stuck around. Turn brought the Queen and it checked around. On the King river Wu tried to get to a cheap showdown by betting one big blind, however, Yu did put all the pressure on the Wu and jammed all in. Yu used up all his time banks before deciding to not believe Wu and call. Wu showed King-Queen for two pair, however, this was not enough to beat Yu’s straight with Ten-Nine .

This means the remaining 84 players all make it to day 2 and are in the money. Congratulations players!

A full recap of Flight B's action will follow shortly.

We are currently on hand-for-hand play at the Day 1B flight of the National Cup.

With around ten players remaining before the bubble, table chip leader Takashi Matsumoto opened to 20,000 from early position. Mao-Lun Yu, another big stack, called, and they went heads-up to the flop.

The flop came down Q♦ 5♦ 4♥ . Matsumoto made a continuation bet of 25,000, which Yu called. The turn brought the 6♦ , completing a flush draw, and both players checked.

The river revealed the 6♣ . Matsumoto then placed a hefty bet of 70,000, applying significant pressure on Yu. After a minute of deliberation, Yu decided to call, only to see Matsumoto reveal 8♥ 7♥ for a straight.

Lian Henry shoved all-in for his remaining 82k with A♠ Q♥ from under-the-gun, and the table folded around to Yuasa Tatsuki in the cut-off. Yuasa wasn’t messing around and rejammed for slightly more with J♥ J♠ , setting up a classic flip.

The flop comes A♦ 8♦ 7♦ —great news for Henry, as he hit his ace, but with neither player holding a diamond. The 3♦ turn added some chop potential, but Yuasa was down to just one lonely jack to win outright.

And wouldn’t you know it, the poker gods delivered on the river with the J♣ ! Yuasa spikes his set, sending Henry packing in the cruelest of ways. Tournament life can be rough, and Henry just got a front-row seat to that harsh reality.

Naoto Takemura open jams his remaining 45,000 from the cutoff with A♥ 8♣ , Sakunchai Keng-anantanon in the small blind re-jams slightly less with T♣ T♦ and big stack Chun Po Shen also came along with K♥ Q♦ .

A T♥ in the window secured Keng-anantanon a triple up, as the board ran out T♥ K♣ 3♠ 8♠ 6♣ . Additionally, the K♥ sent the Japanese Takemura home.

Chiu Hung Yi opened the action from early position and got not one, not two, but three callers from the hijack, BTN, and SB. We headed to the flop: K♦ 8♣ 2♣ . Yi continued strong, firing 19k, with the hijack and BTN tagging along. The player in the small blind decided enough was enough and folded.

The turn brought the 4♥ , and Yi wasn’t slowing down, betting 45k to put both the hijack and BTN all in. After some serious deliberation, the HJ, Tess Ying Wong tank-called her last 22k, while the BTN, Kang Wong Yu, snap-called his last 9k.

The cards hit the table, and we saw something you don’t see every day—no one had a pair! Yi showed A♥ 9♥ , the hijack had A♣ 9♣ for a flush draw, and the BTN? He was hanging on with 6♣ 7♣ —7-high and a worse flush draw.

Then, boom! The river dropped the 6♦ , and in a shocking turn of events, the BTN scooped the main pot with a pair of sixes! Hijack Wong managed to chop the side pot with her ace-high, keeping her tournament dreams alive.

With the blinds on the rise, the action is heating up! Japanese player Motegi Riku opened to 8,000 from middle position, and sitting next to him, Chao Din decided to go all-in for his 45,500 chips. It folded back to Riku, who, with a comfortable chip stack and not much more to call, made the call with Q♥ J♣ .

Din flipped over A♣ K♥ and was looking pretty solid after the flop came down K♠ 9♦ 9♣ . But then, up came the T♦ on the turn, giving Riku a straight!

The river Q♠ sealed the deal, sending Chao Din to the rail. With a chuckle, he shrugged and said, “That’s poker!” Can't argue with that.

Chalakool Thanapong found himself in a classic race situation, all in with A♦ J♥ against Fu Sheng-Kuang's pocket threes 3♠ 3♥

The board rolled out K♥ Q♦ 8♣ Q♠ , and the lojack was sweating for dear life, hoping his pair of threes would somehow hold up. But as the poker gods would have it, the river dropped the A♥, delivering a knockout blow to the lojack. That lucky ace sent him packing, while Thanapong chips up nicely.

In early position, Ma min-opened to 4,000. Meanwhile, in two seats over, Japanese player Tsuchiya decided to spice things up with a 3-bet to 9,000. But Ma wasn’t having any of that and shot back with a 4-bet to 17,000. Tsuchiya made the call.

The flop came K♣ 8♥ 7♣ , and Ma, the preflop aggressor, wasted no time with a continuation bet of 7,000. Tsuchiya quickly called.

The turn revealed the A♥ , and just like that, Ma went all-in for 31,000. After spending a bit of time in the tank, Tsuchiya decided to throw in the towel and let his cards go.

It all kicked off with Kang Minwoo opening from the button, followed by a 3-bet from Ku Su Wei in the BB. Minwoo wasn't backing down, making the call. The flop comes T♣ 3♥ 3♣ , and Wei keeps the pressure on with a small 4,000-chip bet, which Minwoo calls without much hesitation.

The 9♦ hits the turn, and Wei cranks it up to 15,000. Minwoo looks like he's got a tough decision but eventually tosses in the chips.

The river peels the J♥ , and this time Wei pumps the brakes with a check. Minwoo takes his time, then shoves in the rest of his stack—22,000. Cue a long stare-down from Wei, who finally calls, revealing A♠ 5♠ for ace-high.

But Minwoo can't hide his grin as he flips over K♦ Q♦ for a rivered straight, scooping up the pot while Wei is left wondering what on earth just happened.

Wei down to just a few big blinds, busts just minutes later.

Michl opened up the action from middle position to 3,000. Chueh defends his big blind. No action on the Q♣ 8♥ 3♦. flop. The big blind then leads the 7♥ turn for 3,500, which gets a call from Michl. River brought the 9♦ and Chueh once again fired, this time for 10,000. Though to no success, Michl snapped and won with Q♠ J♦ against Chueh's 4♦ 5♥ .

Five players limped into a pot and looked down on a flop of K♦ 9♠ 5♦

After two checks, Lee Hucheoi in early position seized the moment with an 800-chip bet into a 2,400-chip pot. The cut-off obliged with a call, but on the button, Lam Chun Leung sensed weakness and sprang into action with a raise to 2,200. Hucheoi, unfazed, called, setting up a heads-up showdown.

The turn brought the 4♠ , and Hucheoi took an unexpected line, donking out for 2,200. Leung, looking perplexed but determined, raised in position to 5,000. Hucheoi, however, wasn’t backing down, firing back with a slick 3-bet to 10,000. The tension at the table rose as the pot swelled.

The river delivered the 7♦ , completing a potential flush draw. Hucheoi opted for a cautious down-bet of 3,500. Leung, sensing an opportunity, quickly called. Leung revealed 3♦ 6♦ , taking down the 34,600-chip pot with a rivered flush, leaving Hucheoi to wonder what could have been.

Players are now on their first break of flight B. So far 375 players have registered for this flight.

Hsing Chien Lin opened under-the-gun to 1,200, receiving calls from three players behind him. The flop came Q♦ 8♥ 4♦ and was checked to Lian Herry on the button, who bet 1,500. Hsing called, and Wan Cheng Hao in middle position also called.

The action slowed on the 9♥ turn, with all three players checking. The river brought the 9♠ , and Hsing led out with a bet of 5,000 into a pot of around 12,000. Both players called. Hsing revealed top pair, Wan showed 8♠ 8♦ for a full house, while Lin had runner-runner trips with his J♥ 9♣ .

Dutch poker sensation Thijs Hilberts, known for his impressive cash rate in tournaments, has entered Flight B of the National Cup. After arriving from Australia this morning, he dives straight into the action in Taipei without taking any time to acclimatize.

Wata Kenju, the winner of Event #42 at the previous APT, is sporting what must be his lucky charm: full Grab gear, complete with a helmet, at the poker table. This level of commitment is impressive, especially considering that the brand doesn’t exist in his home country of Japan or in Taiwan.

We join the action on a flop of 6♣ 3♠ A♠ , with 1,100 chips in the middle.

Chien, under-the-gun, leads out with a bet of 600. Thanapong, seated in the hijack, responds by min-raising to 1,200. Chien calls.

The turn brings the 6♥ , increasing the pot to 3,500. Chien donk-bets the pot, and Thanapong quickly calls, inflating the pot even further.

The river is the Q♠ , completing the flush. Chien, visibly frustrated, checks. Thanapong wastes no time, betting 10,000 into the pot.

Chien, seemingly unhappy with the situation, folds, allowing Thanapong to scoop up a big pot early in the flight.

We pick the action up on the turn where Thai national Ittiphuritat Witoon bet 2,000 into a pot of 2,900 on A♣. 2c: J♠ A♥ . Lin Tzu En next to him on the button called and the players saw a river 5♣ . With his bet of 7,000 Ittiphuritat, put more pressure on Lin, who did not give in and made the call with 4♣ 4♠ . The aggressor showed 9♦ 8♥ , resulting in Lin winning the pot with an excellent call.

Shuffle up and deal has been announced, and the cards are in the air for Flight B of the APT National Cup. This flight will have 20-minute blind levels.

Good evening from Taipei.

Join us today for Flight B of the TWD 10,000 buy-in APT National Cup, starting at 17:30 local time and playing down to just 14% of the field. Players who make Day 2 are also in-the-money.

Flight A attracted 758 entries (654 unique), with 92 players making it through to Saturday's Day 2.

Stick around for the latest updates throughout the tournament!