Main Event

Abraham Abdulla Ceesvin sits atop the chip leaderboard with 4,570,000 chips moving into Day 4 in the biggest and richest poker tournament in Taiwan. Ceesvin, who has had 3 APT titles under his belt, will fight fiercely to add one more title to his name and to grab the APT Lion trophy along with the coveted top prize of TWD 14,413,200 (~$453,430).

Following closely in chip count is Natural8 Ambassador and APT Super Highroller Event Champion Eric “6poker” Tsai with 3,765,000 chips. Tsai is a formidable opponent who will not make it easy for Ceesvin's quest to be the last man standing.

Of the 301 players that returned for Day 3, 295 are in the money but only 47 players will be moving on, with several big names still in the running. All the remaining players are guaranteed a cashout of TWD 230,000 (~$7,235) but their eyes are all on the top prize.

Notable players that still remain are Konstantin Held (2,715,000), APT Superstar Challenge 2024 Champion Chih Wei Fan (2,010,000), Dhanesh Chainani (1,910,000), Dominik Nitsche (1,540,000), Dylan Foster (550,000), and Tsz Him Chan (525,000).

Chip leaders from previous flights, Keigo Kubo, Jae Wook Shin and start of the day leader Andrew Ong are among those fighting it out with the crème de la crème in poker to reach the final table and become champion.

The top 10 chip stacks are as follows:

Day 3 was planned to include 25 levels of play or until 48 players remained. With the latter happening sooner, everyone could head to the Marque Taipei to enjoy the Player’s Party. Former APT Main Event champion Shixiang Khoo was the one who ended Day 3 a few minutes into the last level, going all-in with pocket jacks against the opponent’s Ace-Queen that spiked a Queen on the river. He took home TWD 230,000 for his 49th finish.

Other notables who weren’t able to make it to Day 4 were: former APT High Roller Champion Thanisorn Saelor (69th), former APT Main Event Champion Punnat Punsri (70th), Former Zodiac Classic Champion Jun Li (90th), Sunday Super Stack Champion Ravn Teo (116th), Joshua McCully (92nd), two-time APT Main Event champion Lester Edoc (133rd), Mystery Bounty Champion Isaac Phua (214th) and Natural8 Ambassadors Hua-Wei Lin (165th), Kitty Kuo (243rd) and Kunal Patni (264th) among other prestigious names.

A full APT Main Event Day 3 Survivor List can be found by CLICKING HERE

A full APT Main Event Day 4 Seat Draw can be found [by CLICKING HERE].

A full list of APT Main Event payouts can be found by CLICKING HERE

Day 4 will start at 11:00 am on Friday, October 4, and play down to the final table. There will be a feature table that will be streamed live (with a 30-minute delay), which you can access via the APT social media channels or by following the links below.

Youtube

Twitch

Day 3 is finished and 47 players are bagging their chips as we speak. A full recap of the day will follow shortly.

Former APT Main Event champion Shixiang Khoo will not be adding a second Main Event title to his poker resume this series, falling in one of the last hands played to conclude the Day 3 action.

Khoo told us his tale of woe at the cage while collecting his TWD 230,000 (~USD 7,240) 48th place cash.

The Singaporean made his last stand with pocket jacks, opening to 15 big blinds from the cutoff, leaving himself 2.5 big blinds behind with a player on the button flat calling with ace-queen.

Khoo committed the last of his chips on a seven-high flop, with his opponent making the call and spiking a queen on the river to end the APT Summer Series Da Nang Main Event champion's hopes of a repeat win.

Kazumasa Higuma opened to 60,000 from middle position, and Dylan Foster called from the big blind.

Foster checked the action to Higuma on the 7♦ T♣ 7♠ flop, and Higuma fired 70,000 which Foster called.

A K♦ rolled off on the turn, and both players checked it through to see the 7♥ river which Foster check-called after Higuma fired a barrel of 285,000.

Higuma tabled K♠ A♣ for a full house, forcing Foster to fold his hand.

In middle position, Ti Yi Tsai, the 2nd biggest stack on Table 14, opened for 60,000 to be called by Dominik Nitsche, the table chip lead on his left. Both players knowing that they could get crippled if they went on an all-out battle checked the all the way to the river on a board of 3♠ Q♦ 7♣ 5♣ T♠

The initial raiser showed 9♥ 9♠ to which Nitsche folded his hand.

Junghyun An was all in for around 75,000 chips from the small blind, and Brendan McManus called from under the gun.

Junghyun An A♦ K♥

Brendan McManus A♣ Q♠

The dry board rolled out 2♠ 9♠ 4♣ 7♦ 3♦ , giving An a glimmer of hope and staying alive in the tournament.

We arrived at the table with all the players interrogating Brendan McManus from Ireland about his poker history. Everyone, however, went silent when he opened for 60,000 from hi-jack position to be three-bet by Chih Wei Fan for 135,000. McManus called to see a flop of 4♥ K♣ 3♣ . Both players checked the flop to see the T♣ McManus check-called Fan's 50,000. The river 4♦ was checked by both players at which point the Irish man showed his J♣ J♠

Jui Tai opened action for 60,000 in middle position and got one customer in Daniel Neilson on the small blind. Flop ran A♠ 5♠ 6♠ Neilson check-called Tai's 30,000 bet and did the same thing on the J♠ turn for Tai's bet of 100,000. The river Q♥ was cheked by both players and Neilson scopped the pot after showing his flush with T♠ 9♠

Brendan McManus opened to 50,000 from early position only to be three-bet to 125,000 by Man Hang Tse from middle position. However, McManus didn’t get out of the way instead, he four-bet to 700,000, and Tse shoved all in for around 375,000, putting his tournament life at risk. McManus made the call.

Brendan McManus A♥ K♦

Man Hang Tse A♠ A♣

A clean board rolled off Q♥ 8♥ 4♦ 5♣ 9♥ , securing the hand for Hang and shipping the pot his way.

Players are on a 15-minute break.

Joshua McCully used to sit on Table #10 Seat #5 when he got eliminated by Zefirelli Noordin on Seat 7. We walked by Table 10 and felt déjà vu when we saw Noordin once again in all-in situation with the current occupier of Seat #5 Ka Ho Fung

Noordin 9♥ 9♦

Fung 8♥ 8♦

The board ran 6♠ 6♦ 3♠ 9♣ 8♣ giving Noordin a set on the turn busting Fung out of the tournament.

At feature table, Devid Berlin limped in from under the gun, and Dominik Nitsche three-bet to 100,000 from the hijack which Berlin called.

Both players saw 4♣ 9♥ 7♦ and checked through to see the 2♥ turn which Berlin bet 75,000, and Nitsche called. With the K♣ sliding on the river, Berlin check-folded after Nitsche fired out chunky 325,000 chips.

Dominik Nitsche A♥ K♥

Devid Berlin 3♥ 3♦

Nitsche’s big slick received help on the river which would crush Berlin’s pocket three if he made the call.

This hand is 30 minutes delayed.

Chih Wei Fan raised to 50,000 on the button, and Zhanpeng Ma called from the big blind.

Ma checked the action to Fan on the 5♦ T♠ 2♦ flop, and Fan bet 25,000 which Ma raised to 90,000, making Fan muck the hand.

At the feature table, Im Heesoo shoved all in preflop from the button for 320,000, and Dominik Nitsche called from the small blind.

Im Heesoo 8♠ 8♥

Dominik Nitsche T♦ T♣

A clean board rolled off 3♠ 7♦ Q♠ J♣ 7♥ , changing nothing for the snowmen from Heesoo whose tournament life just ended.

This hand is 30 minutes delayed.

On Lap Chan immediately opened the action under-the-gun with 50,000. Everyone folded to the small blind Sio Fat Lau who made the call . Chi Ho Kevin Tse at big blind got out of the way for the dealer to flop 3♦ T♦ 8♣

Action passed back to the initial raiser who bet another 50,000. Lau paid the price to se the turn 6♦ and check-min-raised Chan who initially fired 100,000. Chan called but got a shove from Lau on the river 6♣. Chan folded.

Dylan Foster raised to 50,000 from middle position and was called by Jung Hyun Woo from the big blind.

Both players saw the runout of 4♦ 7♦ 2♣ J♠ T♠ and checked through.

Foster folded his hand and said, “I knew it.,” after seeing Woo table T♥ 5♥ for a pair of tens.

Nguyen Trung Quan opened to 40,000 on the button and was called by Konstantin Held from the big blind.

Held check-called on the 4♠ 8♥ 2♠ flop after Quan fired a barrel of 50,000.

A 9♦ slid on the turn, and Held checked the action to Quan who fired out 125,000 to which Held made the call. With a board-pairing 9♠ falling on the river, Quan fired 225,000 after Held checked. Held thought for a while and called.

Quan tabled suited K♠ T♠ for an unbeatable flush, making Held muck his cards.

We got back to Table 10 after a few minutes and found Zefirelly Noordin once again in a showdown with Joshua McCully. McCully went all-in with mid-pockets 8♥ 8♦ and encountered Noordin with K♣ K♥ .

The dealer dealt Q♦ 5♠ 4♣ A♠ 2♠ eliminating McCully in the process.

We arrived at the table with Yang Lei K♠ J♠ all-in for his tournament life against Gilsoo Kim 8♠ 5♣ . The dealer dealt a flop of 5♠ 2♣ 8♥ giving Kim a two-pair on the flop. The A♣ turn made Lei stand up and start picking up his chips. He said his goodbyes to the table as the dealer dealt the 4♠ river.

We found Joshua McCully all-in once again with all his 65,000 chips in the middle of the felt with Zefirelli Noordin his sole caller. McCully was holding J♣ J♥ while Noordin held 5♥ 5♣

The board ran 9♦ 8♣ K♥ 9♣ J♦ giving McCully a set on the river.

Rene Von Reden initiated action by raising to 30,000 in middle position to be three-bet by Thanisorn Saelor for 100,000. Von Reden made the call to see a flop of 3♣ 4♠ 7♠ . Von Reden check-called the flop when Saelor fired 70,000. The turn J♥ got an all-in from Saelor after it got checked by Von Reden.

The moment the shove was made Von Reden leaned back on his chair with a huge smile which wiping his cards on the felt. He finally folded to which Dylan Foster chanted "Show the Kings! Show the Kings! Show the Kings!"

Saelor showed one card - the A♠ .

Players are on a 15-minute break.

Konstantin Held raised to 32,000 from under the gun, and Yi Wei Peng shoved all in for around 390,000 which Held made the call.

Konstantin Held A♣ K♣

Yi Wei Peng K♠ Q♣

A J♣ 3♣ 5♥ 2♥ 2♣ board spread, improving Held to a flush and ending the tournament life of Peng. Held now accumulated over two million chips.

We picked up the action with a huge pot on the middle of the felt and two players heads-up, Shao Hua Tsai at small blind and Kosuke Miyoshi under-the-gun, on a board of 5♥ 8♥ 4♠ 8♠ .

Tsai passed the action to Miyoshi who immediately announced all-in. Tsai, with only 450,000 behind had to throw in a time bank card to think about what he should do. He finally decided to give up on the hand with a shake of his head as he looked at the amount of chips Miyoshi was scooping towards his side.

We arrived at the table pre-flop with action folded to super short stacked Joshua McCully all-in at the button with K♥ 8♦ versus Shinya Maeda on small blind trying to build his own stack halfway through Day 3 with A♦ 3♥ Board ran Q♣ 9♣ T♣ 8♦ J♦ giving McCully a straight.

A♠ the dealer gets his chips from Maeda, McCully said, "Perfect timing," when he was asked if he doubled up by the floor.

Konstantin Held opened to 32,000 from under the gun, and this was followed by a string of folds from each player. Held won the hand with his dominant stack at the felt.

Jennifer Cassell opened to 53,000 from the cutoff only to be jammed by James Tian from the big blind for 86,000 which Cassell called after using up all her time bank cards and saying, “My hand is good, I just don’t wanna waste my bank cards.”

Jennifer Cassell A♥ Q♠

James Tian K♦ 6♥

Cassell picked up the lead on the T♦ A♦ 7♥ flop for the top pair. After the 4♥ turn fell on the turn, Tian looked for a king on the river. Unfortunately, help didn’t come as the J♣ slid on the river to complete the board.

Punnat Punsri opened to 24,000 from early position, and Tsz Kit Chau called on the button.

Both players saw the 7♠ 9♣ 7♣ flop and checked through to see the turn.

An A♠ fell on the turn, and Punsri checked the action to Chau who bet 35,000, making Punsri fold.

Chi-Ying Lin shoved all in from middle position for 112,000, and Motoyoshi Okamura elected to call, putting Lin at risk.

Chi-Ying Lin J♥ 8♥ Motoyoshi Okamura A♠ Q♥

The 4♠ A♣ 5♣ flop improved Okamura for top pair, and Lin was announced eliminated with a board-pairing 5♥ sliding on the turn. A J♦ hit on the river to complete the runout.

Dominik Nitsche opened for 25,000 at the button to be called by both small and big blinds Cheng Huang and Yen Lo Chun-Ting, respectively. The flop came down to Q♠ 7♦ 3♦ and both blind positions passed action to Nitsche who shot out 27,000. Huang called but Chun-Ting folded.

Now heads-up the turn was 5♦ which Huang checked once again. Nitsche wanting to finish this hand behind a massive stack bet out 136,000 into the pot. Huang immediately folded.

We picked up the action with Kwai Fun Ying on cut-off, the only caller of a 30,000 raise from Cheng Yen Lo who opened from hi-jack. Flop came down to A♦ 6♥ T♣ and the initial raiser passed the action to Ying who shot out 30,000 to be called by Lo.

Both players saw the A♣ for free and the on the river J♠ after a check from Lo, Ying went all-in and Lo folds.

Today must be one of the most memorable poker days for Shane Pearce. He started the day with just 150,000 and, after half of the levels were played today, he is up to way over one million chips.

He's had Aces or Kings alone at least six times already today. His most recent victim was Yasuhiro Waki who got it in with J♥ 6♥ flush draw on Q♦ T♦ 5♥ against Pearce's K♥ K♣ . The turn 8♦ brought additional straight-outs to Waki, but the 4♦ sealed his fate.

Sheng Lu jams over the top of Chih Wei Fan's open. It gets called and Lu isn't in bad shape with A♠ 8♠ up against Fan's dominated spades of K♠ 9♠ .

Flop is looking good for Lu K♦ T♣ 8♦ , turn even better 3♣ but then Lu's fate is sealed when Fan hits a K♣ on the river.

The Main Event is on a 15-minute break with 167 players still in the hunt for the title. Chips are being counted, bluffs are being replayed in everyone’s heads, and the tension is rising as players get knocked out.

Stick around—players will be back at the tables soon, and the action is only going to heat up from here! Stay tuned for more live updates.

Napat Chokejindachai, a contender for the nicest guy award, has been busted. In a classic flip situation, he could not hold with J♥ J♦ against Motoyoshi Okamura's A♥ K♦ .

Ravn Teo, who just won his first title earlier this series in Event #22 "Sunday Superstack", had Royal Flush and got paid on the river. Sitting in the big-blind, he called a flop and turn bet by early-position opener Robert Glasspool on A♥ Q♦ 7♠ T♦ and donked out on the K♦ with A♦ J♦ . Glasspool tanked for a couple minutes and then decided to throw in a call, decimating his stack.

Hilberts found himself in a tough spot when he check-jammed in a three-way pot on a A♠ 4♠ K♦ board, holding A♣ 4♣ for two pair.

Unfortunately for him, Kevin Tse quickly snapped him off with a flopped set of K♣ K♠ . No miracle two-outer appeared, and Hilberts hit the rail.

Just a brutal cooler!

Adom Issahakain in early position check-jammed all in on the turn after a bet from Anusorn Asiralertsiri in the hi-jack on a J♠ T♠ 8♦ board. Asiralertsiri called with 9♣ 9♠ , but Issahakian had him crushed with A♣ A♦ .

The rockets held up, and Asiralertsiri was sent packing.

Pitchayapha Thanarattrakul got it in with 9♠ 9♣ on the Q♦ 9♦ 8♠ flop against Sum Li Wang's monster draw J♦ 8♦ . The 3♦ gave Wang a flush, but another 3♠ boated the Thai up.

Jen Chen opened from the lo-jack and got shoved on by Tomoki Lida in the small blind. Chen made the call with A♠ T♣ , but Lida’s Q♦ Q♥ were ahead.

The board ran out J♥ J♣ 3♦ K♥ 6♣ , and Lida's queens held strong, scooping the pot.

Joris Michl moved all-in from under-the-gun for 104,000 and got looked up by On Lap Chan in the big blind. It was Michl’s T♦ T♥ up against Chan’s A♣ T♣ .

An ace showed up in the window, and just for good measure, another one landed on the river. With that, Michl's Main Event journey came to an end as he was sent packing. Tough break!

Chan stacked up to ~390K after the hand.

After losing a big pot shortly before, Natural8 ambassador Kunal Patni only had five big-blinds left which he put in the middle from early-position. Ho Chi Yeun next to him tried to isolate him and jammed himself, covering everyone at the table. Vinay Gautam in middle-position woke up with J♥ J♣ and also put his ten big-blind stack in.

And we were off to the races: A♥ 8♦ for Kunal Patni, A♦ K♠ for Ho Chi Yeun, and J♥ J♣ for Gautam. The board ran out 8♣ 7♠ 5♥ Q♣ T♠ and Gautam took down a nice one.

It is game time once again, and all 295 remaining players are now back in their seats and cards are in the air.

Everyone remaining in the field is guaranteed a TWD 77,000 (~USD 2,425) payday, but it is the TWD 14,413,200 (~USD 453,960) top prize and award-winning Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy that all are gunning for.

Following the bubble carnage the 295 remaining players are on a one-hour break to recover their senses, with the action resuming at 2:20pm local time.

This gives the floor time to bring the 56 Natural8 Onlive players into the thick of things and there are some big names and familiar faces joining the Main Event action.

Notables coming in with decent sized stacks include Germany’s Dominik Nitsche (942,500), former APT Main Event champion and Natural8 Ambassador Punnat Punsri (790,500), Superstar Challenge champion Chih Wei Fan (766,000), Belgium's Kristof Segers (456,500), Hong Kong's Rob Glasspool (403,500), Natural8 Ambassador Kannapong "Tent" Thanarattrakul (313,000), Taiwan's Justin Chi Jen Chu (254,500), Australia’s Josh McCully (192,500), and compatriot John "Bert" Perry (73,000) to name but a few.

Stick around and we'll bring you more exciting live coverage just as soon as play resumes.

At the feature table, Manapat Chuchaisri limped in from the cut-off and decided to call Kelvin Lee’s raise from the small blind, who started with a healthy 50 bb stack.

The flop came down J♠ 6♠ 7♣ , and that's when things got wild. Lee bet out, Chuchaisri raised, and Lee went for it—shoving his remaining stack. Chuchaisri snap-called, showing a flopped set with 7♦ 7♠ , leaving Lee’s overpair Q♥ Q♣ in rough shape!

The board ran out 4♥ 7♥ , giving Chuchaisri quads!

Lee busted out in 296th place, just missing the money bubble. The remaining 295 players are officially in the money!

Shane Pearce is having a great day at the felt today, but the Aussie had to sweat it big time on the stone bubble. Pearce got it in with K♥ K♣ against Thijs Hilberts' Q♥ Q♣ .

The flop came down J♥ T♦ 9♣ , giving the Dutchmen an open-ended straight draw. Lucky for Pearce the board brick out and he doubled-up.

Shortly after, he won another big pot after having A♣ J♣ against Masafumi Iijima's A♦ K♦ on J♥ 8♦ 4♣ A♠ 2♣ board.

Pearce is now in prime position to run deep in this huge Main Event.

We all know the feeling of being a short stack on the bubble of a tournament. Sweating the bubble does not feel good. Sadly, Cao Yi Yun's tournament run has just ended. She was down to peanuts and it folded around to her in the small-blind. With Q♠ J♠ she took the risk, knowing doubling up here would probably mean a min-cash. Collin Ho in the big-blind called with 4♥ 3♣ .

Yun sent out a prayer and the flop - had her dead. 7♥ 6♠ 5♥ .

Timothy Chung opened from the small blind, and Jung Woo defended in the big blind. The flop brought T♣ A♠ 9♠ , and Chung fired a 24,000 continuation bet, which Woo called.

On the 2♦ turn, Chung slowed down with a check, and Woo took the opportunity to bet 38,000. Chung check-called again.

Both players checked the 3♠ river, and Woo took down the pot with Ax 4x, proving top pair was enough!

On the turn, Mitsuoka check-jammed against Hin Kwo Lai's bet with two pair K♠ :9: on K♥ J♣ 9♥ 7♣ and Hin Kwo Lai called with K♣ T♣ and needed to hit one of his many outs to keep his tournament dreams alive. Sadly, for him, the board bricked out much to the delight of Mitsuoka.

On the turn in a three-bet pot Ben Gur was put in an extremely tough spot. His opponent Hin Yui Mok from Hong Kong bet 75,000 into a pot of around 110,000. The board read J♣ 5♦ 4♠ 4♥ and calling the turn bet would surely mean an all-in on the river for Gur as he had around 120,000 behind.

After tanking for multiple minutes the clock was called on him and the floor came over counting down the seconds. Gur let the time run out and his hand was dead. He revealed Q♣ Q♥ . Mok showed A♦ A♣ meaning Gur made a great fold shortly before the bubble.

Joris Michl was in trouble after shoving 42,000 preflop with 4♦ 4♣ , only to be called by Kiong Goh’s T♣ T♠ .

The flop came A♠ 9♦ 7♦ , offering no help to Michl. However, the turn 6♦ gave him a flush draw, and just when it looked like he was headed for the rail, the 4♠ river came through, completing his set and giving him a much-needed double-up just before the bubble!

Day 3 of the APT Taipei Main Event has officially begun! Cards are in the air, and the players are ready to battle it out with chips flying across the tables. A♠ the tension builds and stacks rise and fall, stay tuned for live updates throughout the day.

Today marks Day 3 of the APT Main Event, with the final 301 players returning to the tables. Only six people need to bust out until the remaining 295 players are in the money!

There were 1,991 entries in this event (1,103 unique), creating a prize pool of TWD 86,011,200 (~USD 2,724,460), the biggest prize pool ever for a poker tournament in Taiwan. The player who is crowned champion on Saturday will take home a whopping 14,413,200 (~USD 453,960), as was as the coveted main event APT trophy!

Starting today as chip leader is Singapore's Andrew Ong who managed to bag up 582,000 chips chips at the end of Day 2. Largely due to a hand he played right at the end of the day, where he was all-in three-ways with his A♠ A♣ , vs A♦ K♦ & Q♦ Q♥, where he scooped a huge pot.

A full APT Main Event Seat Draw can be found HERE:

There will be a feature table that will be streamed live, with a 30-minute delay, and you can tune into it via the following channels.

Youtube

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