APT Main Event (2,600,000 KRW)

APT Jeju 2025 kicked off on September 26 in the Landing Casino at Jeju Shiwaworld Resort, Jeju, South Korea, and will continue to run for 10-days until its conclusion on October 5.

Two days of poker have already pushed the series into new heights with 5 varied records already broken so far. If that is any indication of the festival's trend, the crown jewel APT Jeju 2025 Main Event also looks poised to also add some of its own record-breaking achievements.

Coming in with a very generous KRW 2.2 billion (~USD 1.5 million) guaranteed prize pool, today's Flight A of the Main Event already attracted 397 entries, crushing the attendance record of 285 during last year's APT Jeju 2024 Main Event Flight A and also crushing the Main Event Flight A of APT Incheon earlier this year, which logged 285 runners.

Of course, it is still only the first flight with three more Day 1 flights scheduled in the next few days. In the end, what will matter most will be the big number at the end of all starting flights and the prize pool that will generate.

So far, today's field was trimmed down to 147 runners, who were able to complete ten 60-minute levels and still bag a stack to continue their journey into Day 2 this coming Wednesday, October 1.

Ending the day, sitting at the chip leader throne of Flight A was Maxim Sorokin of Russia with a very healthy 369,300 chip stack. Sorokin is an old school APT regular, having cashed during the early era of the APT, back in 2011 during APT Cebu.

Sorokin cashed twice during APT Incheon 2025 last month, but his most significant accomplishment was a 2015 Wynn Classic victory, in the USD 2,000 NLH event, where he pocketed a career best USD 101,619.

Just a breathe away was China's Zu You Wang who managed to bag 328,900 along with compatriot Xiang Yu Yu who rounded up the top three with 325,700.

Only the top three broke the 300K chip count mark.

Here are the top ten chip counts:

Some of the notables who also made it through Flight A outside of the top ten were the likes of Fabian Gumz (192,600), Dylan Foster (179,200), Thanisorn Saelor (167,000), John Matsuda (127,200), Punnat Punsri (121,500), Natural8 Ambassador Hua Wei Lin (120,000) and Monika Agnieszka Hrabec (90,600)

147 players of 397 Flight A entries have reached the end of Level 10 and are now bagging their chips to carry on to Day 2.

Stay tuned for a short recap of the day's highlights.

Bin Wu was all in and at risk for his remaining 37,500 from early position. He was called and covered by Kunal Patni from the small blind.

Bin Wu: A♣ 2♣

Kunal Patni: Q♥ Q♠

Patni was looking strong and wanted to evade seeing an Ace or clubs, but Wu went from strength to strength as the 7♥ A♠ 6♣ A♦ 4♣ runout secured him the late double up - just before bagging for Day 2.

Wenyuan Yin had all his chips almost all-in save for one solitary 500 chip. Making the call against his almost all-in was ZhenYi Huang.

ZhenYi Huang: A♣ K♥

Wenyuan Yin: 4♦ 3♦

Board 9♦ 5♣ 7♠ 9♠ 8♥

When the chips were being shipped Huang's way, Huang asked for the remaining 500 chip as well. But Yin seemed reluctant like it may still make a miracle.

In lost-in-translation language - the bottom line that I understood was that it was explained to him that the tournament director had announced "Last 4 hands for the night."

And it seemed like he didn't want to bag that one chip, so he gave it to Huang anyway and walked away to maybe re-enter at another opening flight.

Yidum Zhang was all in for his remaining 21,500 and already stood from the table. He had been called off by Xiang Yu who had around ten times his stack.

Yidum Zhang: A♥ J♥

Xiang Yu: A♣ Q♣

Yu was ahead, but Zhang picked up some flush draw outs on the 9♥ 7♥ K♦ flop.

The 6♠ was turned and Zhang awaited the river.

When the 5♥ was peeled, Zhang celebrated with a subdued fist clench, as he was saved by the flush.

A handsome pot of 25,000 had formed in the middle care of small blind Hugues Girard, big blind Chzhen Evgenii, hi-jack Michael Liang and button Lee Wee Liew.

All players checked the flop of 4♦ 6♣ 9♣ to see a 3♠ on the turn.

Girard led out for 9,000. Evegenii shvoed all-in and only Girard stayed around.

Chzhen Evgenii: T♣ 4♣

Hugues Girard: Q♣ 8♣

Evgenii was ahead with third pair and both were on a flush draw. Evgenii begged the dealer "no more clubs."

The dealer obliged with a 6♠ , giving Evgenii a very crucial double up.

Maxim Sorokin opened to 3,000 from the cutoff and Bizhen Li three-bet to 12,000 from the small blind.

Sorokin four-bet to 25,000 and Li called, taking the players to the board.

The flop came 7♥ 3♥ 5♠ and Li bet-called a jam from Bizhen, with Li at risk of elimination.

Li's remaining stack stood at 63,800, whereas Bizhen was sitting with almost triple that.

Bizhen Li: T♣ T♠

Maxim Sorokin: A♦ 7♣

Sorokin had flopped top pair, but Li was ahead with pocket tens.

The 3♠ turn and 3♦ river didn't change anything, and Li secured his double up.

A sizable pot of 30,000 was spread out beside a board that showed 7♠ J♥ Q♥ T♣

Van Quoc Vo checked his option from middle position to cut-off Hua Wei Lin, who also checked behind.

The dealer then gave a 9♥ on the river. Vo tapped over to Lin, who fired 25,000 this time. Vo mucked almost immediately.

A♠ soon as the hand ended, the floor director came with a bunch of trays requesting everyone to stack up and prepare for a collapsing table.

I was doing a quick chip count from the action and Kunal "Retired Fish" Patni was knid enough to shout out "134!" referring to the stack of Ms. Lin.

Amazingly, he wasn't that far behind. It sat on 135,500

Action was caught after the cards were dealt. Chen Huang was already stood up at the table after being eliminated from the tournament in a brutal knockout.

A player recalled how they got all the chips in pre-flop with a number of back and forth raising before Huang's stack was all in, and he was at risk for around 76,000 on the button. His opponent was Martin Sedlak had him just covered from an early position.

Chen Huang: A♠ A♦

Martin Sedlak: K♠ K♥

Sedlak needed some luck, but things only got worse for Sedlak on the 9♦ 8♦ 6♦ flop, which brought in the nut flush draw for Huang.

The K♦ turn saw Sedlak hit the set, but it also improved Huang further, bringing in his diamond flush.

The only card good for Sedlak now was an eight. The table saw the 8♠ fall on the river, stripping Huang of his stack and securing Sedlak the pot.

The table were in awe of the runout and Sedlak remarked "I have never take a picture of the run out in my life before, but I have to."

Sedlak sat back with a sizeable stack after the hand but Van Quoc Vo was also at the same table and has a monster stack.

Hi-jack ZhenYi Huang and button Takato Ariake had a pot of 24,000 in front of them with a board that showed 5♦ J♣ 8♦ 9♣

Huang fired 13,000 and Ariake made the call.

The dealer peeled a T♣ on the river.

Huang shoved all-in Ariake called immediately and was excited to turn over Q♥ J♥ for a straight.

However, Huang showed K♥ Q♦ for an straight that went up to the king, sending Ariake out of his seat.

Small blind William Teoh (on bullet 2) and cut-off Niklas Warlich were looking at a three-betted pre-flop pot of 9,500 when the flop arrived J♥ Q♦ 3♣

Teoh continued for 4,000 and was called by Warlich and a T♣ appeared on the turn.

Both check-checked to show a 3♦ on the river.

Teoh fired 10,000 and Warlich took a moment to stare at the board, noticed nothing changed, and then mucked his hand.

Jun Li opened for the minimum and called the all-in of big blind Tao Zhang for around 14,000.

Jun Li: A♠ 4♠

Tao Zhang: A♥ K♠

Board: 7♠ J♥ K♦ 8♠ 6♥

Zhang was ahead pre-flop, pulled even further after flopping top pair, but the turn sweated him out a bit with Li getting some flush outs.

However, Zhang could breathe a sigh of relief on the river to successfully double up and stay away from criticial condition.

Shangjing Lu raised the small blind to 3,000 and Ming Dong defended the big blind.

The K♦ A♣ 7♣ flop saw Lu continue for 1,600 and Dong made another call.

A K♣ turn saw Lu bet 3,500 and Dong raise to 9,000.

Lu re-raised to 24,000 and Dong took a moment to consider before mucking his hand, passing the pot to Lu.

With 15,000 in the pot and the flop of 4♥ 8♦ K♠ spread across the board Yizhi Lin checked from under the gun to Mengqing Lou on the button who bet out for 4,000.

Lin made the call and the dealer peeled off the 6♦ for the turn card. Both players checked to see the J♥ come om the river. It went check-check again and Lin reluctantly tabled 5♣ 6♣ which was good and he was shipped the pot.

Meng Wu was already all in and at risk of busting out of the tournament with their cards face up. Wu was in the cutoff and all if for his last 7,000 and up against Yeow Chong in the hijack, who had him well covered.

Meng Wu: K♣ 5♣

Yeow Chong: 8♠ 8♦

Wu needed to hit to stay alive, and the A♠ 6♥ A♦ flop didn't bring him in much hope.

This all changed when he saw the K♠ turn, and he secured the double on the 10d river.

Cards are back in the air after the players have returned from their dinner break.

There will be two more levels of play for the day and then the remaining players will bag up for the night.

The remaining 180 players are on a 75-minute dinner break. They are expected to return at 21:00 p.m. and will play two more levels before bagging for Day 2.

Late registration is open until the end of play today.

The chips were in the middle and the cards were out.

Jaemoon Seok was at risk for some change, showing A♥ K♦

versus the T♠ T♣ of table chip leader XuanZhi Zhao.

Board ran: T♦ 2♣ 4♠ 8♥ 9♠

Zhao flopped a set and had Seok up and leaving his seat even before the river was dealt.

Junjie He opened the hijack to 2,000 and Zhihua Yang jammed for 11,500 from the small blind.

He snap called, and the players flipped their cards.

Junjie He: Q♥ J♦

Zhihua Yang: A♥ J♥

Yang flopped well as he picked up top pair on the A♠ 5♣ 6♥ board.

The K♣ was turned, which brought in more outs with the gutshot straight draw, but He missed on the 4♠ river and went down to 8,000 chips.

A few hands later, He was seen walking away from the tournament area after getting in his final four big blinds.

Liang Wei raised from middle position to 2,000 and found calls from Ting Chen on the button and Ziwei Huang in the small blind.

Daniel Lee sat in the big blind then announced all in for his last 9,300 and was called by all three players.

The flop came 9♣ 8♦ 8♣ and the blinds checked to Wei who fired out a 10,000 continuation bet. The blinds both folded and Wei flipped over his K♣ K♠ which was way ahead against Lee's 5♣ 5♠.

The turn brought the 7♣ and Huang let out a moan as he announced that he had mucked pocket sevens and would have hit his set. No five on for Lee on the A♠ river and he was sent to the rail.

With the board reading 5♥ A♦ K♦ 5♠ and approx 4,000 in the pot Yashiro Naoki bet out for 3,000 from the big blind and was called by Trung Hieu in the cut-off.

The river saw the T♣ peel off and now Naoki bet out for 8,500 and again Hieu made the call but instantly mucked his cards on seeing Naoki table Q♦ 5♦ for turned trips and Naoki was shipped the pot.

Zhihua Yang opened to 2,400 and Qing Liu three-jammed for 10,900 from middle position. Yang asked for a count before he called and the players went to showdown.

Qing Liu: K♣ J♣

Zhihua Yang: K♠ Q♠

Yang was looking strong, but Liu flopped a flush as on the: 4♣ 9♣ 8♣ board.

There was no improving Yang and Liu secured the double up after the 6♦ turn and 7♣ river was placed.

Yang took a tumble after doubling up Liu.

David Erquiaga opened to 2,000 from the cut-off. Button Yixi Tang then jammed for his last 9,500.. Erquiaga made the call.

David Erquiaga: Ax 9x

Yixi Tang: 7x 7x

Erquiaga paired his ace on the flop and improved it to trips on the turn, holding on to send Tang to the rail.

On a flop of 6♦ 5♣ 6♣ and the pot standing at approximately 3,500 Dimitri Urban checked it over to Yizhi Lin who bet out for 2,500. Urban made the call and the dealer rolled off the 3♥ for the turn card.

Urban checked again and now Lin bet out for 5,000. Urban called and the river brought the 8♠.

The action went check-check and Urban flipped over his K♠ J♣ hoping he might be good but no such luck as Lin tabled 4♥ 4♠ for third pair which was good and he was pushed the pot.

Players were already heads up on a 9♠ Q♠ 6♦ 7♥ turn, and Jinnan Zhao had moved all in for his remaining short stack from the big blind, putting himself at risk for his tournament life.

The action went to Wei Hang Chen in an early position, who made a quick call.

Jinnan Zhao: A♥ 4♥

Wei Hang Chen: Q♣ 9♣

Zhao was hoping to see a spade on the river but missed as the 3 was dealt.

Chen had flopped two pair, and wasn't going anywhere, and he stacked up his chips after busting his opponent.

I - the alleged good luck charm of John Matsuda - arrived to see a board of 2♠ J♣ 3♦ A♦ and a pot beside it worth around 25,000.

Action was on big blind Meng Wu who check-called the 8,000 bet of button John Matsuda to open a 5♦ on the river.

Both players checked.

Wu tabled A♠ 6♥ for top pair and a so-so kicker while Matsuda showed a proper A♥ Q♣ to earn the handsome pot.

In the following hand Quan Cui opened for 1,600 and then called the three-bet of Matsuda on the cut-off for 4,500.

Both players were given a flop of 4♠ 5♦ K♠

Cui check-called the 5,000 bet of Matsuda to see a 4♦ turn.

Cui again check-called - this time for 14,500 to open a 7♣ on the river.

Cui checked and called for all is remaining chips when Matsuda moved all-in.

Cui showed K♥ Q♥ for top pair king while Matsuda peeled open A♦ A♥ for a better pair of aces, sending Cui out of his seat.

A♠ Cui left and Matsuda started stacking, Tom Verbruggen said - "I saw the writer (referring to me) and that's why you won."

I asked both of them, "Should I just stay here?"

Verbruggen replied, "NO! Go for dinner for about 2 hours!"

Shengbo Yue raised from under the gun to 1,600 and found a call from You Wang in middle position. David Erquiaga in late position then three-bet to 7,500.

Yue countered with a four-bet to 24,000 which almost covered Erquiaga. Wang got out of the way and Erquiaga threw in the rest of his chips and was all-in.

David Erquiaga: A♥ A♠

Shengbo Yue: 9♣ 9♦

Just the flop Erquiaga wanted of Q♦ 5♣ A♣ and the turn of A♦ made thigs even rosier making Erquiaga quad aces. The irrelevant 2♦ came on the turn and Erquiaga was shipped the pot for a full double up and more.

Peng Deng opened to 1,600 from under the gun and Yue Sun three-bet to 4,200 from early position.

The 5♥ J♣ K♠ flop was Deng check. Sun bet 3,700 and Deng folded.

Sun has been slowly climbing in chips throughout the day and will be looking to claim her fourth trophy after recently securing her third title last month in APT Incheon In the Hyper Turbo - Women's Event.

Small blind John Matsuda and button Erdun Xu had built a pre-flop pot of 26,000.

The excitement was palpable when the dealer flopped 9♥ Q♠ J♣

Matsuda led out for 5,500 and Xu shoved all-in for what seemed like 20,000. The dealer didn't even count because Matsuda shoved a stack to snap-call.

The counting would be later. Business first.

Matsuda showed J♦ J♠ for a set of jacks and was surprisingly behind the K♠ T♠ of Xu which flopped a straight.

The dealer then threw a T♣ on the turn and a T♥ on the river to give Matsuda a full house while a frustrated Xu could do nothing but secretly mutter bad words to the poker gods as he vacated his seat.

I turn to Matsuda and say, "Wow!"

Matsuda - who is a good friend - said in our native Filipino "Dumating ka kasi." which translates to "Because you arrived."

Tom Verbruggen, seated next to Matsuda - heard the explanation from Matsuda himself - "Every time he arrives, I get lucky. If he hadn't stopped here, that would've gone brick-brick."

Hi-jack Hongbo Pan and button Ludong Wang had a pot of 24,000 in front of them with a board that read J♦ 2♣ J♣ 7♦

Pan tapped his option over to Wang, who fired 5,500. Pan paused for a moment before counting off a replica of chips to call.

The dealer showed a T♠ on the river.

Pan checked and Wang decided to check behind.

Pan acted first to show A♣ K♦ , playing the pair of jacks with an ace-king kicker while Wang shook his head and mucked.

Chih Cheng Chan opened the action by raising to 2,000 from middle position. Shuang Qiu three-bet to 5,500 from the cutoff and Chan called.

The 3♣ 3♠ 9♦ flop was checked by Chan and Qiu bet 3,500. Chan snap called and the players went to the turn.

A 7♣ was turned and Chan checked. Qiu bet 7,200 and Chan made another quick call.

The 3♥ river created a set on the board and both opted to check to showdown. Chan turned over A♠ 9♣ for a full house, which caused Qiu to muck his hand.

There was around 12,000 in the pot with a board that showed: 4♥ Q♦ Q♠ 7♠.

Jie Qi had pushed in 8,500 and Zhihua Yang shoved enough to ask for the rest of Qi's chips. Qi snap-called and pushed in a total of 19,500.

Qi: A♦ Q♥

Yang: A♠ A♣

Yang's disappointment was compounded when the dealer dropped the 8♣ on the river to complete Qi's double-up.

A number of players jumped into the field during the break, with Martin Sedlak among those who are on their second bullet of the day.

The remaining 207 players take a short 15-minute break. Play will resume at 17:45 p.m.

The next break will be the dinner break after Level 8 has been completed.

Players were already heads up on the turn with the board reading 6♥ K♦ 4♦ 9♥. The pot stood at around 8,000.

Action was on Hugues Girard from early position, who bet 4,100 and Natural8 Ambassador Hua Wei Lin raised to 10,000 from middle position. Girard took some time before making the call.

The 2♥ completed the board and Girard moved all in, well covering Lin's 30,000 remaining stack.

Lin flicked her hand into the muck and passed the pot to Girard, who after the hand, had built up a healthy stack.

The pot had around 20,000 chips roughly stacked beside a complete board that displayed: 9♥ Q♣ 8♦ 5♦ 6♠.

Po Lam Lun led out for 8,500 and Qingen Zhang counted off the chips to call.

Lum flipped over: 9♠ 9♣ for a set of nines while Zhang surrendered and unopened to the dealer.

Big blind Zhongmin Xia and UTG+1 Xiao Liu were looking at a board of 5♠ J♥ 7♦ 5♥ beside a pot of a little over 10,000.

Xia led out for 5,000 and Liu called immediately.

The dealer showed a T♣ on the river.

Xia slow-checked and Liu also tapped, egging Xia to show first.

Xia peeled open A♣ J♣ for a pair of jacks while Liu mucked his hand.

The flop showed T♣ T♠ 2♠ with around 10,000 chips beside it.

Action fell on cut-off Tae Hoon Han who checked his option to button Jiabao Cai.

Cai didn't shy and threw in 4,500 with Han making the call to show a 5♥ on the turn.

Han tapped again and Cai threw in 20,000. Han tanked and wondered what dinner options would be if he busted early and eventually folded his hand.

Kailun Hu was all in and at risk in the big blind on a 9♦ 5♣ K♠ flop. Action was on the only other player in the hand, Jiahao Chen who was sitting under the gun.

Chen called, and the players flipped their hands.

Kailun Hu: K♣ Q♣

Jiahao Chen: Q♥ Q♦

Hu was looking at a top pair and was sitting even more comfortably after seeing the K♥ turn, giving him trip kings.

Chen couldn't improve on the river, and Hu collected the pot after the dealer placed the A♠.

Hugues Girard opened to 1,000 from middle position and Guodong Zhuo defended the big blind.

Players were taken to the: K♥ 9♣ 8♣ flop and Zhuo opted to check. Girard bet 1,700 and Zhuo called.

The 5♣ was turned and Zhuo check-raised to 7,000 after facing a 2,000 bet from Girard.

Girard mucked his hand and Zhuo added some chips back onto his stack after previously taking a tumble.

Michael Wang was seen stacking up his newly build stack after eliminating his opponent, Jiahan Wen.

The action wasn't seen, but Wang was sitting behind his pocket-Aces, which were just being collected in by the dealer, having just sent Wen to the rail.

Wang has already had a successful summer in Las Vegas at the World Series of Poker having collected a WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship and just two weeks before, that he won the $1,600 No Limit Hold'em Wynn Summer Classic Event.

There was a pot of around 16,000 in the middle and a complete board that showed T♥ T♣ 9♥ Q♥ 7♥

Yun Xun led out for 8,500 and button Juncai Han shoved all-in for his last 23,600. Xun snap called and immediately opened Q♦ Q♠ for a full house.

Han peeled open his A♥ thinking he still won and he had to read the board again to see the full house, finally accepting that he had to leave his chair.

Guodong Zhuo opened to 1,100 from under the gun and Yanlin Wu defended the big blind.

The players saw a 2♠ 5♥ T♦ flop and Wu checked. Zhuo bet 1,000 and Wu stuck around.

Both checked the 3♦ turn to see the 2♣ river. Wu bet out 4,200 which saw Zhou muck his hand.

The flop showed 7♣ K♣ 6♣ and there was a pot of 6,000 beside it.

Big blind Yanlin Wu led out for 3,400 and button Xian Li re-raised to 10,000.

Wu made a brief dramatic pause and then stacked all his chips and put it out in front of him. The dealer counted off 22,300 in total.

Li took a look at his cards and the board and made a decisive fold.

The board was complete and it read 2♦ K♣ 6♠ Q♦ 4♥ . Around 22,000 worth of chips were scattered around it.

Daniel Lee shoved his last 11,000 in the middle and was called by Na Ye.

Lee turned over K♦ T♦ for a pair of kings while Ye showed Q♥ T♥ for the losing pair of queens.

Yang Yang limped from middle position and Vladislav Smotrov raised to 1,500 from the cutoff. Yang called, and the players looked to the board.

The dealer placed the 2♣ 6♣ 3♣ and Yang check-raised to 7,000 after Smotrov bet 3,000.

Smotrov paused before folding, leaving him among the short stacks halfway through Flight A of the main event.

I didn't catch the hand, but I heard "Seat Open!" and saw Thailand's Thanisorn Saelor in a hurry to exit his seat.

A few moments later I see him with a ticket headed to the table just beside.

Another bullet fired.

Ming Dong opened to 1,100 from middle position and Yuan Liu called from the hijack. Wenbao Zeng also called from the cutoff and Haoxiang Zhao defended the big blind.

The Q♣ Q♦ 5♣ flop saw Dong bet 1,700 and Liu raised to 3,500. Dong was the only caller, taking the players heads up to the 6♥ turn.

Dong checked, Liu bet 7,000 and Dong called.

Dong bet out 35,000 on the 7♣ river, which put Liu in for his remaining stack.

Liu moved in his stack to call with little hesitation.

Yuan Liu: A♣ 2♣

Ming Dong: 7♠ 7♦

Liu flipped his Ace-High flush, but Dong had picked up a boat on the river, sending Liu to the rail.

The 193 players in Flight A of the main event take their second break of the day.

Play will resume at 15:30 p.m. local time (KST).

There was 9,000 in the pot beside a flop that showed: A♥ T♣ 9♦.

Small blind, Yita Choong, and UTG, Dave "Spade" Erquiaga, checked to see a 3♥ turn.

Choong check-called the 2,000 bet of Erquiaga to reveal a J♥ river.

Choong checked again as Erquiaga fired 4,500. Choong then raised it all-in for 33,000.

The other players on the table had left their seats and taken the break while Choong and Erquiaga still stayed on. Erquiaga tanked and eventually pushed a chip to call.

Erquiaga showed A♠ Q♣ for a pair of aces while Choong showed: K♥ T♥ for the nut flush.

Kunal "Retired Fish" Patni was walking by and said, "Wow, big double up!"

Choong then said, "Lucky river. I'm not skilled. I'm lucky."

Tingjia Cao was in the hijack and heads up against Bin He in the big blind on a A♣ 6♥ 5♣ flop. The pot stood at around 2,400 and action was on He.

He bet 1,000 and Cao called.

The 5♦ was checked by both to get to the 4♦ river.

He bet 3,200, Cao raised to 12,000 and He made a swift call.

Cao quickly flipped over his hand and showed 8♦ 7♣ for the straight, and He nodded, then threw his hand into the muck.

Jian Ping Cai opened to 1,000 from middle position and Niklas Warlich three-bet to 3,000. Cai called taking them heads up.

The Q♦ 3♦ T♦ flop was check-called by Cai after Warlich bet a small bet.

Another queen came on the turn, Cai checked after seeing the Q♥ and Warlich bet 8,000.

Cai used a time card before finding a fold, and Warlich started to rebuild.

Sishu Peng opened for 1,000 in early position and Yang Yang made the call on the lo-jack.

Zhang Hao then three-bet to 5,000 on the cut-off. Action fell back to Peng who four-bet to 10,000.

Yang stepped out of the way and Hao moved all-in for his last 24,600. Peng threw in a chip immediately.

Sishu Peng: K♦ K♥

Zhang Hao: J♠ J♥

Board: Q♣ 5♥ 6♠ 9♠ A♠

Peng's kings held and Hao was sent out to the rail.

Yuan Liu opened from middle position and Tom Verbruggen three-bet to 2,200 from the hijack. Haoxiang Zhao four-bet to 6,000 on the button, and only Verbruggen made the call.

The J♦ 6♠ 4♠ saw Verbruggen move all in for his remaining 14,300. Zhao used a single 30-second time card before moving in a stack to call.

Tom Verbruggen flipped over his A♠ Q♠, sitting with two over cards and a nut-flush draw.

Haoxiang Zhao took a little time before peeling his pocket kings K♣ K♥

Verbruggen saw no help on the 4♥ turn or T♥ river and was eliminated early in Level 4.

Juncai Han had opened for 800. Monica Hrabec three bet to 2,500. Han called.

Flop arrived 2♣ 3♣ 3♠

Han check-called the 2,000 bet of Hrabec and both were shown a 6♠ on the turn.

Once again, Han check-called, but this time for 5,300.

The river brought out a K♥

Han checked and Hrabec fired a third barrel for 15,000.

Han threw in a time bank, stared at a board that was going to change, peeked at his cards, wondered if dragons really flew the Earth at one point in history, then pushed his cards towards the muck.

The pot had ballooned to over 24,000 beside a board that showed: K♣ 7♦ 7♣ 2♥.

Yi Ding fired off 8,000 and Fabian Gumz made the call almost instantly.

The dealer peeled off an 8♠ on the river and Ding slowed with a check, Gumz cautiously checking behind as well, showing Q♠ Q♣

Ding mucked.

Shuofei Geng opened to 700 from early position, and Yue Sun called from the hijack. San Hon Pang also defended the small blind, taking the players three-ways to the flop.

The flop came: 5♣ 7♦ 7♥, and Pang checked. Geng bet 700 and Sun called.

A 9♠ was turned and Geng checked. Sun bet 3,100 forcing Geng to muck his hand.

The board showed 7♦ 7♣ Q♥ 5♣ beside a pot of 6,000.

Action was on Kailun Hu, who fired 2,200. Yan Li made the call from the cut-off.

and a Q♦ showed on the river.

Hu fired another 5,000 and Li threw in a chip immediately.

Hu threw his hand in the muck in surrender and Li didn't even bother showing anything as she stacked her chips.

That's what you call "win at showdown without showdown", or in some cases - "you got caught bluffing."

There was nearly 10,000 chips in the middle beside a board that showed 6♥ 7♥ 6♠ 2♦ 7♣

Peng Deng fired a bet of 6,000 and Ziwei Huang snap called by throwing in a chip.

Almost immediately, Deng threw his cards in the muck while Huang flipped over J♠ J♥ to make it official.

There was a pot of around 13,000 beside a complete board of 3♦ 8♠ K♣ J♣ 3♥

Tingjia Cao had pushed a stack in the middle and declared "All-In", covering the remaining stack of Bin He.

He tanked, but eventually shoved a chip forward to brave the call or his tournament life.

Cao flipped over Q♦ T♦ for a busted straight draw while He showed A♥ K♥ for top pair, which was enough to win the pot.

Eimantas Plekavicius opened from early position to 700 and saw Junqiang Lyu call from middle position.

Jie Zhang three-bet from the cutoff to 2,100 and Dajia Chen four-bet to 6,000 from the small blind.

Plekavicius used a time bank card, before five-betting to 11,700. The action folded around the table allowing Plekavicius to pick up without seeing a flop.

Lyu, who was sitting to his direct left, towered over the table after building his chips to over three-times starting stack.

Tingjia Cao opened the hijack to 600 and saw two calls from Martin Sedlak in the small blind and Van Quoc Vo in the big blind.

The J♥ T♦ J♠ flop was checked by Sedlak, and Vo bet 2,500.

Cao checked his hand, before throwing his hand into the muck. Sedlack wasn't far behind and also mucked his card, leaving Vo to tower over the table.

Vo is no stranger to the APT circuit and shipped the High Roller Turbo event, as well as the Poker Classic event in Taipei last year (Feb 2024).

During the break, we took a quick scan around the room and took a random look at some stacks.

Apart from the massive stack of Van Quoc Vo, these are by no means the top chip counts of the flight.

The remaining 117 players are on their first 15-minute break of the day. Play will resume at 1:15 p.m. local time (KST).

Players were heads up and already on a: 5♦ 4♣ 4♦ flop. Tomoya Nakanishi had moved all in for around 30,000 and action went to Kailun Hu, who was sat directly to the left of Nakanishi. Hu called and covered his opponent.

Tomoya Nakanishi: K♦ 5♣

Kailun Hu: T♥ T♦

Nakanishi had flopped two pair, but Hu turned over his pocket tens for a better two pair.

The brick 7♠ turn and 2♠ river couldn't save Nakanishi, and he was eliminated just before the first break of the day.

There was plenty of action for early position, after they opened to 500, and saw four players call behind, going five-ways to the: 5♣ 4♣ 8♥ flop.

The small blind checked, and Ziwei Huang bet 1,200 from the big blind. Jishui Hao called from middle position and Sishu Peng called from the hijack.

The three remaining players saw the 5♠ turn and Huang bet 4,000. Hao called and Peng raised to 10,000. Both players called behind.

A 7♦ fell on the river and action checked around to showdown.

Huang showed his hand first: 5♦ 4♦, sitting comfortably with a boat.

Hao had a closer look at Huang's hand and the board before mucking his cards, as Huang said "Full house".

Hao and Peng mucked their cards, leaving Huang to chip up early in level 2.

Maxim Sorokin of Russia has been seen at the opening flight of the Main Event. Sorokin is old school APT regular, having cashed during the early era of the APT back in 2011 during APT Cebu.

Sorokin cashed twice during APT Incheon last month, but his most significant accomplishment was a 2015 Wynn Classic victory in the USD 2,000 NLH event where he pocketed a career best USD 101,619.

Sorokin has over USD 680,000 in total live earnings.