7 Max Championship (80,000 TWD)

Shiina Okamoto was among a sea of early eliminations in level 14. Other names that returned to Day 1, but didn't make it through the first level of the day include:

Short-stacked Hyosung Kim shoved his last 52,000 in the middle from the button and was matched by small blind Anusorn Asiralertsiri.

Hyosung Kim: J♦ J♣

Anusorn Asiralertsiri: A♦ Q♦

Board completed: J♥ K♦ 2♥ 7♠ 9♥

Kim flopped a set and while Asiralertsiri had a Broadway draw the never materialized, doubling Kim.

Players were already three-ways and on the turn with a pot of around 60,000. Xin Ann Lim was already all in and at risk from the cutoff. The board read 5♦ 3♦ Q♠ 7♥.

Jongkwan Lee was sitting under the gun and had moved all in - putting his remaining 36,500 in the middle. Action was on Xiang Zhang, who was sitting to Lee's direct left, to either call or fold. Zhang had Lee significantly covered.

Lee used a time bank before flicking in a single chip to call.

Xin Ann Lim: A♠ J♥

Jongkwan Lee: K♥ K♦

Xiang Zhang: 9♥ 9♣

Lee was looking to hold and was well ahead. Only an Ace would save Lim but it didn't come in as the dealer placed the K♣, only improving Lee further.

Lim was left to walk away from the tournament area, being one of the first eliminations of the day.

A pot of 28,000 was in the middle with a flop that showed T♦ T♣ A♣

Duan Chao was seated on the cut-off and tapped his option over to Chien-Hua Lo, who had position on the dealer button.

Lo counted off 10,000 and pushed it past the betting line. Chao made the call and the dealer opened a 2♥ on the turn.

Chao check-called again for 17000 to open a 3♥ on the river.

Chao checked again and Lo fired 41,000. This time, however, Chao counted make the call, surrendering the pot to Lo.

Shuffle up and deal has been announced, and the remaining 107 players have resumed play in the final day of the 7-max event.

The 7-Max Championship event of the APT Championship 2025 is a testament to the continuous growth and evolution of the APT in promoting poker throughout the region. It is the first event of its kind introduced in the schedule, and it did not disappoint, bringing in 313 total entries to produce an astounding TWD TWD 21,634,560 ( ~USD 702,420) prize pool.

Big names took to the felt with WSOP bracelet winners like Joseph Cheong, Samuel Mullur, and Shiina Okamoto, APT champions like Biao Ding, Daniel Neilson, Abraham Ceesvin, Punnat Punsri, Danny Tang, and Kitty Kuo.

Play ended after the 13th levels with 107 players bagging to return to Day 2 to compete for the 39 spots that will have a taste of the payout pie. Those who make the money will be guaranteed at least TWD 147,000 (~USD 4,770) with the focus, of course, on the champion's loot which includes the historical title of being the first 7-Max Championship winner, a seat worth USD 10,000 for the APC Main Event happening in a few days and a cash prize of TWD 4,279,560 (~USD 138,950).

You can view the complete payouts HERE.

Entering Day 2, sitting on the chip leader throne is India's Akshay Nasa, who accumulated 488,500 chips. Not that far behind is Jesse Wigan of the United Kingdom with 451,000. Rounding up the podium is Japan's Kyosuke Nagami with 402,000.

These were the top ten chip counts:

You can view the complete chip counts and seat draw HERE.

The field is still stacked with some international crushers with a lot of poker still left to play. Keep it glued here for all the live recaps and updates for the event.