Main Event

The record-breaking APT Taipei Main Event APT Taipei Main Event has reached the final table with Singapore's Dhanesh Chainani holding the chip lead going into the final day of play after he bagged up 18,300,000 chips. From the 1,991 entries, just nine remain in their quest to take home the monstrous TWD 14,413,200 (~$449,070) winner's purse and the title of the biggest and richest international poker tournament ever to play out in Taiwan.

There were 47 players that started the penultimate day and it took less than eight levels of play to reach the final nine with a lot of action in between. Several high-profile players were still in contention at the start of the day with Hong Kong's Tsz Him Chan (46th), Daniel Neilson (44th), Dominik Nitsche (26th), Konstantin Held (25th), Dylan Foster (19th), and Natural8 ambassador Eric Ting Yi "Six Poker" Tsai (17th) all failing to make the final table.

Chainani, who started the day with close to two million chips, consistently improved his stack throughout the day. A failed river bluff by Keigo Kubo against Chainani's straight as well as a winning with 9♣ 9♠ against McManus' A♥ J♠ with only two tables left were among the most memorable hands that helped him to secure the chip lead going into the final table. For the Singaporean, it will be his 22nd APT final table. An impressive number! But no doubt, this will be the biggest one of his career.

Following him second in chips will be his fellow countryman Abraham Ceesvin, winner of APT Korea 2023 Event #2 Single Day Highroller. After finishing day 3 as the chip leader he could uphold his hot run in this tournament in day 4 and will be bringing 13,750,000 chips to the final table.

Taiwan's Chih Wei Fan sits fourth in counts with 8,500,00 in chips. He will be trying to win his second APT trophy in this series after winning the APT Superstar Challenge for TWD 8,590,525. Wei is closely followed by Day 1D chip leader Jae Wook Shin with 8,325,000 chips. The final table will resume with 39 minutes left to play in blind level 32 with the blinds being 100,000/200,000.

The stacks for the final table can be found below.

The payouts for the final table can be found below.

Join us tomorrow for the final day of the APT Taipei Main Event where we will crown a new champion. The action gets underway at 11 am local time and live updates will be posted here. The action will also be streamed live (with a 30-minute delay) and you can tune in by clicking through the following channels.

Youtube

Twitch

With the final table made, Day 4 of the APT Main Event has ended. Players are bagging chips as we speak. A full recap of the day will be posted shortly.

The second time had finally come for Ting Hao Wu. With 7 big blinds left, Wu went all in with K♥ 9♠ under-the-gun. Dhanesh Chainani at button made the call after action was passed to him with K♠ J♦ which dominated Wu's hand.

The board displayed 9♣ J♥ 7♠ 3♠ T♠ eliminating Wu, in the process making the final table for the APT Main Event.

With action folded to Ting Hao Wu at the button, he decided to choose this spot to jam his chips with Q♦ 7♠ . Current chip leader Dhanesh Chainani with J♦ 9♠ at the big blind made the call knowing that the call will have a chance to eliminate and will also not make a dent to his chipstack.

The board A♣ Q♣ 4♦ :6: 8♦ gave Wu a much needed double up. With a positive attitude, Wu scooped up his chips and announced that the next round will be coming.

In this exciting hand Chih Wei Fan opened from the button and got called by Man Lok Chan in the big-blind. The flop came T♣ 7♥ 4♠ and the action took it's course.

First, Chan checked to Fan who put out a continuation-bet of 325,000. This was answered by Chan with a raise to 900,000. After spending some time in the tank, Fan in turn put out a three-bet of 2,200,000, leaving himself around 3,700,000 behind. This was enough to make Chan fold and for Fan to chip up nicely shortly before the final table.

With just over ten big-blinds, Kosuke Miyoshi from Japan moved all in on the button with A♣ 2♦ . Lok Chan Man in the small-blind called with Q♥ Q♣ . Miyoshi could not hit his ace on J♥ 9♣ 4♣ T♦ J♠ and was eliminated in 11th place.

Players are on a 15-minute break.

Man Lok Chan woke up with cowboys K♠ K♣ at cut-off after action was folded to him and opened for 325,000. Nguyen Trung Quan, unknowing what he was about to run into, three-bet 900,000 with his A♥ J♥ at the button. The blinds got out of the way and action went back to Chan who put the pressure by making a four-bet of 1,800,000. Quan jammed his chips and got a snap call from Chan.

The flop unfurled 4♠ 9♣ T♥ . The turn 8♠ gave at-risk player Quan some outs but the 3♣ river ended it for him.

Dhanesh Chainani raised to 325,000 from the hijack, which only Ting Hao Wu and Junichi Hashimoto called from the button and the big blind respectively.

The Q♦ 4♣ 8♠ flop rolled off before Hashimoto checked the action to Chainani who bet 500,000. Wu and Hashimoto stuck around.

Hashimoto and Chainani checked after seeing a 9♦ fall on the turn to which Wu fired 875,000, and Hashimoto made the call, but Chainani folded. A♠ the 4♠ slid on the river, Hashimoto check-called after Wu bet 1,750,000.

Ting Hao Wu K♣ Q♥

Junichi Hashimoto Q♣ J♠

Wu’s king definitely did a good job on this hand as he tabled king-queen against Hashimoto’s queen-jack.

Chih Wei Fan opened the action at hi-jack with A♣ 9♦ and when action came back to the small blind, Miyoshi Kosuke shoved all-in with A♦ T♦ . Chip leader Fan made the call and saw the board, T♥ 5♥ 8♣ 4♣ A♥ giving Kosuke a two-pair on the river.

Kazumasa Higuma opened to 350,000 from middle position, and Dhanesh Chainani three-bet to 850,000 from the hijack, which Higuma made the call.

Higuma checked on the flop of 8♥ 5♥ 5♣ , and Chainani fired 515,000. Hashimoto then shoved all in to put himself at risk.

Kazumasa Higuma K♦ 9♦

Dhanesh Chainani A♠ K♠

The clean runout spread 8♦ 4♠ , showing Higuma the way to exit and delivering the pot to Chainani who might be the new chip leader now.

Rene von Reden opened to 600,000 at middle position with K♥ 8♥ and got a jam from the small blind Miyoshi Kosuke, who was holding 5♥ 5♠ after action was passed to the latter. Von Reden called to see the flop J♣ 3♠ 8♠ .

Despite hitting the eight on the board, Von Reden, at risk, watched anxiously for the turn 8♣ and river K♣ . Catching a boat, Von Reden allowed himself to sit back with a huge smile on his face.

Jie Chen only had seven big-blinds left and put them all in from early-position with A♥ 4♥ . Unfortunately, for him, Dhanesh Chainani in the big-blind got dealt A♠ 8♥ , called and held on J♦ 7♥ 6♣ 8♣ J♥ Jie Chen finished in 14th place.

Wu opened from early-position and Higuma in the cut-off put his remaining four big-blinds in the middle. Wu called and was ahead with A♣ T♥ against Higuma's A♦ 2♣ . The Japanese needed to get lucky to keep his tournament dreams alive, and indeed he hit a deuce on the flop, which was enough to double him up. The board read K♠ 6♥ 2♠ 7♣ J♣

Sio Lau opened from the cut-off and Dhanesh Chainani called from the small-blind. Brendan Luke Mcmanus in the big-blind after that jammed his 30big blinds all in. The original opener folded, but big stack Chainani decided to call it off.

Chainani revealed 9♣ 9♠ and was up against Mcmanus' A♥ J♠ . The board ran out Q♠ T♣ 6♠ 7♦ 2♠ , busting Mcmanus in 15th place.

Man Lok Chan raised the blinds 250,000 under-the-gun with A♦ K♦ . Action folded to the small blind Man Kit So who jammed for 1,400,000 which got called by Chan. A classic flip, the board unfurled with a window card for A♠ 4♠ 7♣ 7♥ K♥ eliminating Man So Kit at 16th place.

Sio Fat Lau raised to 315,000 on the button, and Kazumasa Higuma three-bet to 1,080,000 which didn’t deter Lau who fired a barrel of 2,000,000 to which Higuma shoved all in.

Sio Fat Lau K♠ K♥

Kazumasa Higuma 9♠ 9♦

The moment a flop of 7♦ 9♣ A♣ spread, Higuma screamed for feeling just one step away from victory as he flopped a set of nines.

A Q♣ delivered on the turn, giving Lau a flush draw. Higuma was hoping to fade a club on the river, but luck wasn’t on his side as Lau received help from the T♣ river card completing his flush, leaving Higuma on the edge of elimination.

Dhanesh Chainani opened from the cut-off, Brendan McManus on the button and Jae Wook Shin called along.

On 7♦ 4♦ 4♣ Chainani continuation-bet and only Shin called.

An A♠ appeared on the turn, inclining the preflop aggressor to put out another bet. Shin called once more.

The river was the 3♣ and now Shin took the initiative and bet out 1,600,000 into a pot of around 2,700,000. This bet was good enough for Shin to take down the pot.

Action folded to Rene von Reden in small blind who completed the blinds. Chi Wei Fan in big blind just checked to see a flop of 7♥ 5♥ A♠ .

Von Reden fired 120,000 for spiking the 7♥ and got called by Fan to see a turn 7♠ which gives Von Reden a trips.

Now secure that he was ahead, Von Reden shot out 310,000 just for Fan to fold his hand.

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.

Live updates will be synchronized with the stream to ensure no spoilers are leaked

Youtube

Twitch

There are 16 players remaining and they are now on a 30-minute break for a redraw.

Action folded to the small blind, Andy Chen shoved all-in to be called by short-stacked big blind Rene Von Reden. Both players tabled their cards with Chen holding A♣ Q♠ against Von Reden's J♠ T♠ . Von Reden spiked a Jack on the 3♠ J♣ 8♠ flop and no Ace or Queen came out for Chen on the turn and river of 8♥ 5♠ .

A♠ Von Reden scooped his chips, Eric Tsai busted on the other table giving Von Reden another happy prize jump.

From middle-position Eric Tsai opened A♣ J♦ and got called by Chih Wei Fan in the big-blind. On A♠ K♠ 3♥ Tsai bet two big-blinds. Fan called and the turn brought the 5♦ . Fan checked and Tsai continued with a two-third pot bet. After using one time bank Fan called.

With the 2♦ came a total brick on the river. Fan checked, and Tsai went into the tank and used a time bank on his part. He had just under pot size left in his stack and eventually decided A♣ J♦ is good enough to go for value and jammed all in. Fan, covering Tsai, called quickly, revealing K♥ 5♥ for a turned two pair. That was an unfortunate way for Tsai to bust, but you got to give him credit to go for full value there.

At feature table, Dhanesh Chainani raised to 240,000 on the button, and Kazumasa Higuma called from the big blind.

Both read the A♦ 7♥ 9♠ flop, and Higuma checked the action to Chainani who bet 125,000. Higuma made the call.

A T♥ fell on the turn which Hijuma checked, and Chainani bet 275,000. Hijuma then fired out 700,000, forcing Chainani to fold at the end.

Dhanesh Chainani K♠ K♥

Kazumasa Higuma K♦ 7♦

This hand is 30 minutes delayed.

We caught the action on the flop of T♠ 6♥ 8♠ with Sio Fat Lau all-in. Not knowing what to do, Chi Hi Yeung put all his time bank cards at the middle of the felt. He finished all the cards before finally calling the all-in putting his tournaxment life at risk.

Lau showed T♥ 8♣ for a two-pair on the flop against Yeung's A♦ T♣ . Still with outs Yeung waited patiently for the turn and river but didn't get any one of them when K♠ and 4♠ came out, respectively.

Players are on a 15-minute break

Jie Chen raised to 50,000 from the small blind, and Dhanesh Chainani called from the big blind.

Chen bet 100,000 on the 9s Jc Th flop which Chainani snap-called.

Both players read the 5s turn and checked it through to see a 6h fall on the river, which Chen fired 410,000 chips, forcing Chainani to fold.

We rushed to the table after we heard Andy Chen shouting at the top of his lungs, "Let's go! Let's go! Dylan Foster, on his feet as well, was all-in for his tournament life, with Aces A♠ A♦ against Chen's Q♥ T♥

The flop came 7♣ 6♥ 8♣ giving Chen a gutshot straight draw. The 9♣ completed the straight for Chen busting Foster out of the tournament. The A♥ river just came too late for Foster.

Keigo Kubo's Main Event dreams have evaporated along with his stack, with Singapore's Dhanesh Chainani the man applying the heat.

It was Kubo who opened the action that led to his demise, making it 200,000 from the hijack, and Dhanesh Chainani called from the big blind.

Both players saw 2♣ 6♣ 3♠ and checked through.

The 8♠ slid in on the turn, bringing in a second potential flush draw and making the already wet board even wetter – just like the weather here in Taipei currently.

After Chainani fired out 275,000, Kubo raised to 750,000. However, this did not deter Chainani who didn’t get out of the way, instead he fired out 2,175,000, with Kubo making the call.

Chainani checked over the 3♥ river to Kubo who then shoved all in for around 1,975,000 chips, and received a quick call.

Keigo Kubo 7♠ 5♠

Dhanesh Chainani 5♦ 4♦

Kubo tabled seven-five against Chainani's five-four flopped straight. That timely catch boosts the Singaporen's stack up to over seven million, while Kubo's tournament is now over and the Japanese player headed to the rail to collect his TWD 551,000 (~USD 17,350) 20th place payout.

We got to the table with Rene von Reden all-in against Andy Chen. .As the dealer was about to deal the flop, Von Reden stood up ready to exit and said, "I feel like I'll lose this one."

Von Reden: K♦ K♠ Chen: 9♣ 8♦

Von Reden's kings held when the dealer displayed a board of 8♠ A♠ 4♥ T♠ 3♥ Sio Fat Lau said as Von Reden sat back down, "Your feeling is off."

Junichi Hashimoto called Jui Tai's all-in at small blind after he opened action with a 210,000 raise at the button. Tai had Hashimoto dominated with A♦ J♣ against Hashimoto's A♣ 7♣ but the flop of 7♥ 2♠ T♠ changed that all. The turn of 6♥ and river of K♣ didn't change anything for Tai making leave the floor.

The one openly celebrating this hand wasn't Hashimoto though. Once the hand was done, Foster declared "I did it! 11 bullets in the profit! I did it!" Since now he's one prize jump higher.

Abraham Ceesvin opened for 120,000 to be called by Dhanesh Chainani at cut-off and Brendan McManus in the big blind all to see a flop of 7♣ 2♥ 8♠ . With action passed to him, Ceesvin continued the pressure with 225,000 which Chainani calmly called.

McManus got out of the way for the two to see an expensive turn of K♣ . Ceesvin didn't let up and fired another 575,000 into the pot which Chainani once again called after a few seconds of thought. Chainani showed his 9♥ 9♠ after both players checked the river K♥ . Deciding not to show Ceesvin mucked his hand.

Fat Lau Sio opened to 170,000 from middle position, sending Von Reden into the tank from the big blind. Reden eventually shoved all in for around 700,000 which Sio called.

Von Reden K♦ J♠

Fat Lau Sio T♣ T♦

The Q♥ 2♦ 3♣ flop kept Sio’s lead at the felt for his pocket tens. A board-pairing 3♥ slid on the turn, giving Von the slim chance to win the pot. Fortunately, Reden spiked the J♦ on the river, delivering a bad beat to Sio for pairing a jack with the board.

Brendan McManus opened to 175,000 on the button, and Yu Chung Chang three-bet to 500,000 from the small blind which McManus called.

Both checked through the A♣ 9♣ 5♦ flop to see the 8♦ turn card which Chang bet 275,000, and McManus shoved all in for around 5,500,000 chips. Chang consumed all his timebank cards before he elected to call, putting himself at risk.

Brendan McManus A♦ A♠

Yu Chung Chang Q♦ Q♥

McManus tabled pocket aces for a set, picking up the lead against the pocket queens from Chang. A bricky 8♦ fell on the turn, announcing the end of his tournament life before the 9♦ river came to complete the board.

Junichi Hashimoto min-raised Dylan Foster's all-in to isolate the player. A♠ everybody else got out of the hand, Foster tabled K♥ T♠ against Hashimoto's A♣ K♣ . Foster hit his ten on a flop of 4♥ T♦ 4♠ . After the board completed into the turn Q♣ and river 5♥ , Foster started telling himself, "Happy Boy! Happy Boy!"

We arrived at the table with Eisuke Katsuren A♠ 5♦ all-in for his tournament life against Dhanesh Chainani A♥ T♥ Chainani spiked a T♣ on the flop which made Katsuren stand up and start packing his bags. Katsuren wasn't even interested on the turn Q♥ and the river J♥ and just quietly headed out to get his 23rd finish cash prize of TWD 465,000.

Players are on a 30-minute break for a redraw of the remaining 24 players.

At feature table, Junichi Hashimoto raised to 125,000 from under the gun which Chan Man Lok called on the button, and Kao Kuo Wei shoved all in for 850,000 from the big blind. Lok got out of the way, and Hashimoto called to put Wei at risk.

Junichi Hashimoto 9♠ 9♥

Kao Kuo Wei A♠ Q♣

A 7♣ 3♥ 7♠ flop gave Hashimoto the lead for two pair, and Wei still needed an ace or queen to stay alive. A clean runout came 5♦ 2♠ which gave no help to Wei and ended his tournament.

This hand is 30 minutes delayed.

With a flop running 5♣ 7♣ A♠ and around 250,000 chips in the pot, Man Kit So bet 90,000 from the cutoff, and Andy Chen three-bet to 250,000 from the small blind which So made the call.

Chen fired 525,000 after the A♣ hit on the river, and So called to see a 6♣ . Andy shoved all in and got snap-called from So.

Man Kit So A♥ 7♥

Andy Chen 5♦ 5♥

So tabbed ace-seven for picking up unbeatable trips of aces against trips of fives from Chen who never thought he would lose this hand.

Supanat Rojsukthavorn bet 125,000 from middle position which only Chih Wei Fan from the cutoff and Ting Yi Tsai from the big blind called.

Three players saw the K♠ 3♦ 4♥ flop rolled off and checked through.

Rojsukthavorn bet 100,000 as a 4♠ fell on the turn, and Fan stuck around to see the T♥ which Rojsukthavorn fired out 200,000, but Fan didn’t get out of the way instead, he raised to 1,000,000, forcing Rojsukthavorn to fold.

We got to the table with Tomoki Terahima shouting "Three! Three! Three!" in an three-way all-in situation with Man Hang Tse and Dominik Nitsche.

Tse A♣ J♦ Terahima Q♣ Q♥ Nitsche 9♠ 9♦

The flop showed T♣ 2♣ 7♠ . to which Terahima continued his chant on the turn 2♥ and finally on the river 2♦ he screamed "Yes!" Tse quietly left the table while Terahima celebrate his full house with no three.

A long discussion between Dylan Foster and Chih Wei Fan required the dealer to call the floor and not just anyone but 'Tournament Director Lloyd Fontillas himself to settle the issue between Foster and Fan.

The issue involved declaring a raise and taking some time before stating the amount or putting the chips in. TD Fontillas ruled that if a player announces a raise and hesitates, then it becomes an automatic min-raise. The discussion continued as hands were happening so to make sure everyone was clear on the issue, TD Fontillas announced it over the mic for everyone to hear.

Players are having the 15-minute break.

Chih Wei Fan opened to 100,000 from the cutoff, and Andy Chen three-bet to 325,000 from the small blind. Fand snap-called.

Both players checked through the flop of 8♠ Q♠ 3♥ .

The 6♠ hit on the turn before Chen bet 175,000 and Fan stuck around to see the 2♣ river card which they checked through. Chen flipped A♥ 2♥ for a pair of deuces, making Fan muck his hand.

It all started with Sio Fat Lau when opened for 150,000 in middle position to be called by Rene von Reden at button. What happened next was a flurry of chip shoving and jamming that got Von Reden a 1 hand penalty.

After Von Reden called the raise of Lau, Shu Leung Yau at small blind took his time to think of what to do, in the process sacrificing one of his time bank cards. Finally he announced all-in for his tournament life, which was immediately followed by Hoi Ting Lee's jamming of his chips. It happened so fast that von Reden folded out of turn and Lau complained that it was still his turn to act. Lau asked for a count making Lee anxious as he would also be at risk if Lau called. Before the count finished, however, Lau said all-in as well

Lau K♠ K♦ Lee Q♥ Q♠ Yau A♦ J♦

Lau stood up from his seat to clearly see the flop 8♥ 6♥ 7♣ . The turn K♥ made Lau do a fist with a "Yes" under his breath. The river K♣ evoked a louder "Wow!" and a fast draw of his mobile to take a picture of his quads.

Lee was left with 7 big blinds and Yau was eliminated from the tournament.

Chih Wei Fan opened to 100,000 on the button only to be jammed by Dominik Nitsche for around 1,135,000 from the small blind, forcing Fan to snap-fold.

Rene von Reden opened under-the-gun for 100,000 to be called by Brendan McManus in small blind. Flop came down 3♣ A♦ K♦ and Von Reden shot out another 150,000 when action was passed to him.

Once again McManus made the call. Both players checked the turn 6♦ to see the river of Q♣ where McManus led out with 600,000. Von Reden considered his action but made a one-chip call.

Von Reden mucked when McManus showed Q♦ T♦ for a flush.

Action folded to the small blind Chih Wei Fan who raised to 120,000 to be called by Dominik Nitsche at big blind to see a flop of T♥ J♥ T♠ . Fan shot out another 75,000 and Nitsche paid to see the turn of J♠

Fan continued his aggression by betting 150,000 and Nitsche calmly picked up his chips to put it in a pot. Finally the river of 7♦ made Fan think long enough to throw in a time bank card wondering what hand Nitsche could possibly have. Finally Fan checked anxiously and Nitsche checked behind him. Nitshce waited for Fan to show his hand of 4♥ 3♦ then followed suit showing K♥ 6♦

Kuo Wei Kao opened to 80,000 from the hijack and was called by Andrew Ong from the big blind.

Kao bet 125,000 on the 7♥ 6♠ 2♣ flop after Ong check-called to see the board-pairing 2♠ turn. Ong checked the action to Kao who bet 300,000, giving Ong the difficult situation. Eventually, Ong mucked his hand.

Eric "6Poker" Tsai was engaged in an all-in situation with Tien Nguyen in a classic battle between Aces versus Kings with almost 2,000,000 chips in the pot. Tsai's aces held adding more chips to the already humongous stack in front of Tsai.

With around 875,000 chips in the middle and the board running out 4♥ A♠ 4♠ 3♥ 2♦ , Nguyen Trung Quan fired a barrel of 825,000 from the cutoff, forcing Andrew Ong to fold after using three timebank cards.

Ruizi Lin raised to 80,000 from the cutoff and was called by Min Sung Lee from the big blind.

Lee check-called the K♣ 2♥ 9♠ flop after Lin bet 70,000.

Both players saw 3♦ fall on the turn before they checked through to see the 6♦ river. Lee fired 280,000, and Lin stuck around after tanking for over a minute.

Lee tabled K♦ T♠ for the top pair, and Lin mucked his hand.

Chih Wei Fan raised to 80,000 from the cutoff, and Kosuke Miyoshi called from the big blind.

Both saw the suited flop spread 4♥ K♥ T♥ , and Miyoshi checked the action to Fan who bet 60,000 chips, making Miyoshi fold.

.As players were bagging their chips yesterday, Junghyun An looked at us and showed his small stack of 260,000 and said, "I can't believe I made it to Day 4. Watch me tomorrow, ok?"

Sure enough, we were there when he went all-in at big blind . Action folded to the small blind Yu Chung Chang who completed before An jammed.

An: A♠ K♠

Chang: K♣ 6♦

The dealer flopped a board A♥ J♣ 5♣ 3♠ Q♥ and as An scooped his chips, he looked at us with a huge grin, "I can't die!"

We arrived at the table with Dylan Foster all-in at small blind with K♥ Q♠ dominated by Eisuke Katsuren at cut-off with A♣ Q♦ . Foster spiked a king when the dealer flopped K♦ 2♥ 7♠ . The turn J♦ and river 5♣ didn't give Katsuren the much needed Ace doubling Foster up in the process.

Play for Day 4 of APT Main Event has started.

Good Morning from Taipei.

47 players are remaining in contention for the richest-ever APT Taipei Main Event.

Singapore’s Abraham Abdulla Ceesvin leads the board with 4,570,000 chips, but with Ting Yi Tsai (3,765,000), Kosuke Miyoshi (3,425,000), Keigo Kubo (3,295,000), and Chi Ho Yeung (3,190,000) chasing after him.

The play kicks off at 11:00 local time and players will play down until the final table. .As always, live updates can be found right here and there is a streamed feature table which you can access by following the links below.

Youtube

Twitch