APT Main Event (2,600,000 KRW)

Flight D of the APT Jeju 2025 Main Event has just drawn its curtain after 10 levels of play. There was a total of 157 entries (126 unique) that bought-in or KRW 2,600,000 (~USD 1,860) for a seat, a stack of 40,000 chips and the opportunity to grab a chunk from the KRW 2.2 billion (~USD 1.5 million) guaranteed prize pool.

Only 63 survivors were able to end the day with a stack of chips ready to be bagged for a continuation of their journey for Day 2. Sitting at the top of the leaderboard is Chao Ting Cheng of Taiwan with a very healthy stack of 332,100.

Cheng was able to build his stack by winning a monstrous three-way all-in when his ace-king suited toppled the ace-nine suited of **Daichi Terai ** and the queens of Lin Zhou.

Second-ranked in chips of Flight D was China's Liu Ziwen with 216,000 followed closely by compatriot Li Shaoming with 215,700.

These are the top ten chip counts of Flight D:

Other notable names to make it through to Day 2 via Flight D were the likes of WSOP bracelet winners Joseph Cheong (110,600) and Michael Wang (109,000) and WPT champion Anton Lu (60,200).

The remaining 63 Flight D survivors will be shuffled into Day 2 along with the 147 Flight A qualifiers, the 174 of Flight B and the 134 of Flight C, bringing the total Day 2 qualifeers to 516 from all the live flights.

There are 234 more on-live qualifiers who will be joining the Main Event on Day 3 and are already guaranteed a min-cash from the yet-to-be-determind total prize pool since last-minute registration will still be open before Day 2 lets cards fly on 11AM local time.

Those last minute-registrants will be part of APT history as it will push the 1,265 total of live entries from the four flights even further. Of course, once again, there are still 234 online entries to be counted. Once the final number is determined - the APT can officially announce that it will be the largest attendance of ANY main event ever held in Korean soil.

So far, this Main Event has already broken the Korean APT record as the biggest APT Main Event held in Korea. Now, it's time to bust the records from all other festivals.

Everything will be determined tomorrow when Day 2 resumes.

The surviving 63 players are now bagging for Day 2.

Stay tuned for the full end of day recap, which will be posted shortly.

Chau Chan Sheung is still alive!

The dealer was shipping chips his way. Sheung had A♥ 7♦ against A♠ J♣ of an undetermined player.

Before the dealer scooped the board, there were 4 diamonds on the board and one of them was a J♦ , which accounts for the jubilance of Sheung as he stacked his survival stack.

I didn't catch the entire hand or board, but Gtyis Lazauninkas had Kx Qx in front of him and Jieming Xu had an Ax 9x in front of him while the chips were being sorted.

The board did show a Kx somewhere just before the dealer wrapped everything up.

The important thing was that a whole bunch of chips was shipped the way of Lazauninkas and Xu was left with soggy fries.

Moments later, the dealer would announce "Seat Open" and Xu would be seen running away from the table.

The floor has announced that the remaining players will play seven more hands before bagging for Day 2.

Action was followed from when Dajia Chen jammed for his remaining 12,500 from the cutoff and Pingfeng Wu had made the call from the big blind.

Dajia Chen: Q♥ J♠

Pingfeng Wu: A♦ 8♣

Not much changed on the 6♣ K♦ 5♥ flop, and both missed again on the 4♠ turn and 9♥ river.

Chen left the tournament at the start of Level 10, just 45 minutes from bagging for Day 2.

Zhe Li and Jinnan Zhao had a 15,500 pot in front of them beside a flop that showed 7♠ Q♠ 4♥

Small blind Li led out for 5,100 and Zhao matched to open a T♥ on the turn.

Li tapped over to Zhao who fired 13,000 - around half the stack of Li.

Li tanked, wondered why helium does that to your voice when you breathe it in, then mucked his hand.

Players were already on the 4♥ 3♣ 5♥ flop with a pot of around 8,000. Wenbin Xu was on the button and Poseidon Ho in the small blind.

Ho moved all in for his remaining 23,000 and Xu made a quick call.

Poseidon Ho: A♥ 7♥

Wenbin Xu: 9♠ 9♣

Xu was ahead with pocket nines but Ho had plenty of outs, as had picked up a gutshot straight draw and a heart flush draw on the flop.

The dealer peeled the 6♦ turn, which brought in the straight for Ho.

Xu couldn't recoup and the 8♣ river was placed, securing Ho his double up.

Wenbin Xu opened to 2,500 on the button and saw Poseidon Ho and Yixi Tang defend the small and big blind respectively.

The Q♥ 5♥ 3♣ flop saw the blinds check to Xu who bet 4,000. Both remaining players called and action continued three-ways to the 2♦ turn.

Ho checked, and Tang bet out 15,000. Xu used up his shot clock time and a 30-second time bank card before folding. Ho made a quick fold behind.

Despite loosing some chips in the hand, Xu was sitting with a sizeable stack and in contention for bagging top of the counts at the end of the day.

Whatever happened between a raise and a three-bet didn't matter anymore. In the end, three players had all their chips in the middle to make what was probably the biggest pot of Flight D so far.

Without any fuss...

Lin Zhou Q♠ Q♣

Daichi Terai: A♣ 9♣

Chao Ting Cheng: A♦ K♦

Flop arrived A♠ T♣ 2♦ , giving both Terai and Cheng top pair to overtake the queens of Zhou.

The turn comes 5♠ and Terai is begging the dealer for a nine. The river spat out a 4♥ giving Cheng the check-mark.

After a thorough chip count, Zhou realized he was covered.

Terai - already knew he was covered - but was still busy speaking into his camera to record his moment on the vlog.

Cheng meanwhile stacked his chips as the flight chip leader.

A number of notable players all took their seats at Table 36 today but many have since fallen.

The day started with Michael Wang and Guy Taylor being neighbours. Guy Taylor survived 7 levels, but busted and instantly rebought into the last entry flight of the main event.

Jason Lee Cooper's run at Table 36 was also short-lived, as he entered later in the day in Level 7 but got moved to Table 36 during Level 8. He was eliminated after around 15 minutes of being at the table. Cooper re-entered the tournament shortly after.

Gytis Lazauninkas bought in and sat in Seat 9 on the table. He got moved from the table but got placed back at Table 36 when he recently rebought into the tournament.

Currently, Michael Wang is the only player to avoid the same fate. There is just one more level left to play so time will tell if he can break the curse.

146 players have entered Flight D so far with 86 still with stacks to play and a seaet to keep warm.

However, some have been crossed off the roster and didn't seem to fire another bullet - so far.

Among the recently fallen were: Zong Jin Sui, Xixiong Jiang, Yong Zhao, Rui ZHang, Chen Guang, Yong Fatt Lee, Ledong Zhou, Zeyu ZHeng, Chengcai Pan, Huang Haoyu, Kentaro Oe and Jiangpi Jin.

Gytis Lazauninkas opened for the minimum and Kohei Suzuki three-bet to 10,000 on the button.

Action folded to Lazauninkas who shoved in with his fresh starting stack. Suzuki snap called.

Kohei Suzuki: A♦ K♣

Gyti Lazauninkas: 7♦ 7♣

Flop came K♦ J♠ 6♦ giving Suzuki top pair to over take Lazauninkas.

The run out came 9♥ 9♣ , completing the elimination of Lazauninkas.

Not to worry, Lazauninkas fired another bullet and is seated at another table by the moment of this post.

Action started with the hijack opening to 2,100 and the cutoff called. Zixiong Jiang three-bet to 8,000 on the button and RuoXi Li four-bet to 21,000 from the big blind. Jiang was the only taker, and the players went heads up to the flop.

The 2♠ A♣ 3♥ flop prompted Li to bet 13,000. Jiang moved all in for around 23,000 and Li called.

RuoXi Li: 6♥ 4♠

Zixiong Jiang: A♠ Q♠

Jiang had flopped top pair and Li was hunting the straight.

The dealer peeled over a 5♠ turn and the table were all in shock. A couple of players took out their phone to take a picture of the board, and Jiang stood from his seat.

Li pulled in the pot after the 2♥ was placed, and Jiang was eliminated just before the last level of the evening.

Fei Gao committed his last 4,000 plus chips in the middle with everyone folding to big blind Masaru Watanabe. There wasn't much to add and Watanabe made the call.

Gao showed J♦ J♣

Watanabe tabled a 7♠ 2♣ which brought a chuckle from the table.

One player said, "You win! Natural 9!"

Flop arrived 5♠ 6♥ J♥ which gave Gao a set and he could finally breathe again.

The runout completed K♦ 5♣ completing Gao's double-up and reviving his dying stack.

There was 14,500 in the pot before the flop with Kei Wing Ng and Chengcai Pan the two players competing for it.

The dealer flopped J♥ K♠ 5♥

Ng checked his option from under the gun and Pan pushed in 5,000.

Ng called and a 5♣ appeared on the turn.

Ng called and Pan added a little more sting to his bet to 14,000.

Ng took a while before taking his cards from under the card protector and giving it back to the dealer.

Under the gun opened to 2,200 and middle position called. Qinggen Zhang also called from the hijack and Michael Wang three-bet to 17,000.

Action folded back around to Zhang who used a 30-second time bank before moving his 26,200 stack into the middle, going all in.

Wang made a snap call, only just covering Zhang, and the players flipped their cards.

Qinggen Zhang: 2♦ 2♠

Michael Wang: A♥ 9♥

Wang hit the K♦ T♠ 9♠ flop, and there was no help for Jin as the K♥ turn and 8♠ were placed.

Zhang stood from the table and Wang sat back, having essentially doubled up his stack.

Xia Li was already all in for around 21,400 from the hijack and was up against Chuhua Jin on the button.

Xia Li: K♦ J♣

Chuhua Jin: 10h 10c

Li picked up a King on the 9♠ 7♦ K♥ flop, and was ahead.

The 8♦ turn brought in a sweat of the straight for Jin.

Luckily for Li the river came the 3♣ and they secured the double.

Anton Lu of Australia is a familiar face in the APT. Lu has over USD 1.7 million in total live earnings with a good chunk of that coming from two WPT titles, which include a WPT Prime Taiwan Super High Roller and a WPT Australia World Championship Road To Vegas event.

Lu has also made his mark in the APT, winning the NLH - Turbo - 8 Max during APT Phu Quoc.

Lu appeared in one table, busted... reappeared in another seat with a fresh stack, then busted and now he's back again.

I don't know how many bullets you have, but Lu's got a full clip.

Thank you for boosting the prize pool!

The remaining 102 players take a short 15-minute break. Cards will be back in the air at 10.15pm.

Tianchi Tang had moved all-in for his last 10,800 and Xian Li threw in the chips to call.

Tianchi Tang: A♠ K♦

Xian Li: 5♠ 5♣

Board ran 4♠ 3♦ 4♦ Q♠ 4♣

The river had given Li a full house, eliminating Tang from his seat.

The chips were all-in and the cards were out.

Yanzhi Li: A♣ K♣

Ze Yang: A♠ J♠

Flop came 7♦ 6♠ 7♠ and the once dominated ace-jack had outs with a flush.

The 3♦ turn didn't change the status, but the J♥ river made the difference, giving Yang a pair to knockout Li.

Before stepping away from the table, Li playfully picked up the river card and slammed it on the table like Hulk Hogan did to Andre The Giant back in the day.

A pot of 18,000 had formed in the middle with a board that showed Q♠ 7♠ A♥ 6♥

Chunhua Jin had a bet of 7,000 in front of him and across the table Ziwen Liu had the all-in button in front of him with a chip count of 24,900.

Jin spent a time bank token, stared across to Liu and eventually threw in his cards in desperate surrender.

Mc Yeldarb Mantos opened to 1,600 from middle position and DanQiu Chen called on the button. Freddy Sedigh defended the small blind and Ledong Zhou defended the big blind.

The four players saw the 2♠ 9♣ 4♦ flop and action checked around to the K♦ turn.

Mantos bet 2,500 and all three players came along for the ride to the river.

The 2♣ was placed and action checked around to showdown.

Sedigh remarked "I have a nine" and showed 9♠ 8♥. Zhou showed K♠ 8♦ for a pair of kings, which was enough to scoop the pot.

Wenxing Wang opened to 1,600 from middle position and saw four calls.

Jason Lau called from hijack, followed by Bin Leng in the cutoff, Hui Wang on the button and Shota Nakanishi in the big blind.

The five players saw the A♠ 9♦ 7♣ flop and action checked around the table.

A 3♥ was turned and Lau bet 5,400 and saw everyone fold, taking the near-family pot.

Jason Lau is back. Of course, we're not surprised. Lau is a grinder with over USD 420,000 in total live earnings and has a serious trophy collection which include an APT High Roller Rose Gold Trophy which he won back in APT Phu Quoc 2024.

Joseph "sublime" Cheong has also taken a seat. Cheong was just fresh off a 5ht place win in the previous day's Baby Superstar Challenge. Of course, his more notable APT achievements is being a two-time Superstar Challenge winner and a four-time APT title holder. Let's not forget that he has a WSOP bracelet to his name as well.

Shota Nakanishi has also taken a seat. Nakanishi is also a WSOP bracelet holder and has been crushing the Japan poker circuit to give him a total live earnings of over USD 850,000.

Jing Lin and Daichi Terai had a flop of K♣ 3♣ 8♦ in front of them with a pot of 10,500.

Lin checked to Terai, who fired 5,000 from the hi-jack. Lin counted off the chips and made the call.

The dealer showed both players a 6♣ on the turn. Lin checked and Terai checked.

The river showed a Q♠ and once again both checked.

Lin peeled open 7♦ 6♦ which had the table staring at it and starting at the board and staring back at the cards for a double take. Even Terai was caught staring before the dealer reminded him to show his cards.

Terai flashed A♥ Q♥ for a rivered pair.

Lin just smiled and riffled his dwindling stack.

Meanwhile, Terai scooped the chips, stacked them and turned to his videographer a few feet away to address his vlog audience.

Masaru Watanabe opened to 1,200 from under the gun and Antoine Priniotakis called from middle position. Fei Gao also called from the cutoff and Zhu Jia called the small blind.

The 5♥ 6♠ J♦ flop was checked to Watanabe who bet 2,000. Gao was the only caller.

A 4♣ was turned and Watanabe bet 4,000. Gao made another call, taking them to the 2♠ river.

Both players checked to showdown and Wantanabe flipped over 8♠ 8♦, for a pair of eights.

Gao took the pot after showing Q♠ J♠, having flopped top pair.

The pot had bloomed to 50,000 beside a complete board of 3♣ 9♦ 2♥ T♦ 5♣

It was a battle of the blinds between small blind Jason Lau and big blind Bin Leng.

Lau checked his option to Leng, who declared all-in with Lau immediately shoving a stack behind.

Lau showed A♥ 9♣ for a pair of nines with an ace kicker, outshining the Q♠ 9♦ of Lau, sending him to the rail.

Chi Tang opened to 1,100 from the hijack, and Kentaro Oe in the big blind was the only caller.

The A♥ 5♠ 7♠ flop was checked to the 9♠ turn.

Oe bet out 2,000 and Tang paused, before giving up his hand.

Oe was down to one of the shortest stacks, but this hand helped him rebuild his stack.

There was 12,000 chips scattered around a board that showed 2♥ 8♣ 9♥ 3♣

Kentaro Oe and Seyed Javad "Freddy" Sedigh were involved in the hand.

Sedigh check-raised the 7,000 bet of Oe to 17,900. Oe thought for a minute before counting off the chips to make the call.

The river showed a 2♠

Sedigh led out for 15,000, covering the remaining stack of Oe.

Oe mucked his hand and tapped the table.

Sedigh flipped over 8♥ 8♣ to show a full-house while explaining, "You made a good fold. I want to show you because you made a good fold. You deserve to see."

The pot stood at around 4,000 with three players in the hand. Kei Wing Ng was in the bing blind and had checked the Q♠ 6♠ J♥ flop, followed by Haoyu Huang who was under the gun.

Poseidon Ho was sitting in the cutoff and raised to 1,500. Ng called and Huang folded, taking them heads up to the turn.

A 5♣ prompted a check from Ng, Ho bet 3,000 and Ng called.

The A♥ river saw Ng take around 30-seconds to check, a Ho checked behind.

Ng showed Q♦ 10c, and Ho showed a single Q♣ :X: but left Ng to take the pot.

Andrew Han opened to 1,000 from early position and Chunhua Jin three-bet to 2,700 from the cutoff. Han called, and the players went to the flop.

The 7♦ 4♠ Q♣ fell and Han check-called a 2,600 bet from Jin.

A 2♥ was turned and Jin bet 6,300. Han took some time before calling.

The A♠ completed the board and Han changed the momentum by moving all in for his remaining 30,500. Han stared at the clock and watched it count down, waiting his opponents to decision.

A♠ the time ran out, Jin checked his hand, and threw it into the muck.

Han stood and flashed his 7♣ 5♣ hand, before pulling in the pot and leaving it unstacked to run off for a break.

Xinze Li and Seyed Javad "Freddy" Sedigh had a healthy pot of 20,000 in front of them with a complete board that showed T♠ 2♥ 9♦ Q♦ T♦

Small blind Li led out for 2,200 and Sedigh then bumped it up to 12,000.

Li tanked for a moment, threw in a time bank token, stared at the board, peeked at his cards, wondered again if the dinner set came with any dessert or just the ice cream, then counted the chips to call.

Sedigh showed K♥ J♣ for a straight while Li mucked his hand and counted what was left of his stack.

Players take their first 15-minute break of the day. Action is expected to resume at 8:15 pm local time (KST).

Oliver Lirio was on the cut-off while Xu Yicheng sat on the button. Both players were staring at a board that showed Q♦ K♠ 7♥ 2♣ 4♥ with a pot of around 18,000 piled near it.

Lirio checked and sort of coerced Yicheng to just check without saying anything.

It's just the way the table is tapped and the experience of a player who has seen the tap too many times to know what it means.

Yicheng nodded his head, tapped and waited for Lirio to open his cards.

Lirio peeled open K♣ T♦ for top pair. Yicheng mucked and tapped the table "nice hand"

Huang Haoyu and Guoqiang Feng had a pot of 16,500 in front of them beside a board that shoed 7♥ J♠ 8♠

Fend tapped his option over to Haoyu, who didn't hesitate to pick up a 5,000 chip and chuck it in front.

Feng looked at his cards , mucked and resumed his TV series from his pocket TV perched in front of him.

A♠ the tables on the floor fill up in the final entry flight, some more familiar faces have entered the field.

The UK's Guy Taylor has been spotted sitting directly next to Michael Wang, making table 36 a tough one to crack.

This is not the first time these two have faced each other, as they have both been seen on the European circuit and went head-to-head during a previous Main event in 2024.

73 players have registered so far with 68 remaining.

The early busts include: Jieming Xu, Zhen Man, Liqiang Gao, Ho-Kuen Li and Long Jin.

Weiping Wang and MC Mantos were looking at a regular pot of 5,500 beside a board that showed 6♣ 9♣ T♠ K♣ 4♣

Mantos tapped over to Wang, who fired two 5,000 chips for 10,000. The dealer had to confirm - "What's your bet?"

And Wang pointed to the two chips.

Mantos gave "that look" and then folded.

Xinyu Shu threw a 500 chip into the pot from the button, but then proceeded to top it up to 600 which was the minimum raise size. The small blind folded, and Bin Leng defended the big blind.

Both checked the 9♠ 9♣ J♦ flop to get to the 6♥ turn, and Leng bet out 1,600.

Shu called, and the players were dealt the 8♣ river.

Leng moved a stack worth 7,000 into the middle, and Shu used a time bank card before calling.

Leng showed Q♦ 9♥ for trip nines, and Shu mucked his hand.

Small blind Wenbin Xu and button Jing Lin were competing for a pot of around 15,000 looking at a board of 4♦ 7♣ 3♠ 2♦ 8♣

Xu checked his option and Lin didn't hesitate to fire 10,000. Xu took a look at the board then gave Lin a stare down while seated inches from each other.

If stare downs could kill, Lin would've have been dead ten times over, but he maintained his poise and his poker face.

Eventually, it's the cards that would do the talking and it looked like Xu didn't have enough mustard on his, so he mucked and gave up the pot to Lin.

Yan Zhang opened to 600 from under the gun and action folded to Lirio Oliver who called from the hijack. Yang Yu also defended the small blind.

The A♠ 5♣ 4♣ flop was checked around to Zhang who bet 900. Lirio folded and Yu called.

Yu checked the 6♦ turn and faced a 2,000 bet by Zhang.

Yu paid to see the 2♦ river and both checked to showdown.

Zhang showed A♦ K♣ for top pair, but Yu showed 4♦ 3♦ for a straight to take the pot.

Seyed Javad Sedigh and Hung Han Chen were looking at a pot of around 35,000 and completed board that showed:

9♦ 3♠ 5♠ 5♥ 4♦

Action was on Sedigh, who fired out 13,000. Chen took some time to think, threw in a time bank, stared down Sedigh and mucked his cards.

A♠ I walked around to get a chip count, Sedigh looked at me and said "My name is Freddy. Please remember that. What is said here (pointing to the player card) is not my name. My name is Freddy!"

Well, I can't fix anything about that with the registration people, but I can take note of that here.

Jia Zhu and Taiki Tsuji were looking at a bord of T♦ 8♦ Q♣ 7♣ and a juicy pot of around 15,000.

Action was on Zhu who shoved his chips all-in. Tsuji made the snap call..

Zhu showed J♣ 9♠ for a straight while Tsuji opened T♠ T♥ for a set.

The 3♦ river did not improve Tsuji and Zhu's straight was paid in full. Tsuji, meanwhile, was left with crumbs.

Hung Han Chen opened to 400 from early position and both the blinds defended, with Chen Shouyi in the small and Kentaro Oe in the big blind.

The 2♣ 7♦ 9♣ from was bet by Shouyi to 700 and Oe raised to 2,500. Chen called and Shouyi folded, leaving the players to go heads up.

Oe checked the K♥ turn and Chen upped the stakes to 7,000. Oe stuck around and called to see the Q♣ river.

Action was then checked to showdown, with Oe showing T♦ 9♠ for a pair of nines, but Chen flipped over his pocket Aces A♦ A♥, scooping up an early pot.

Michael Wang raised to 300 from early position.

Shouyi Chen three-bet to 900 on the button. Small blind Jing Lin made a call and big blind Wenbin Xu defended.

Wang four-bet to 4,300.

No more callers.

Big scoop. No flop. No showdown.

If the table doesn't know, Michael Wang has over USD 9 million in total live earnings and is a three-time WSOP bracelet holder.

So far, 21 players have jumped into the final flight of the main event.

Some familiar faces such as Michael Wang and Andrew Han have taken their seats.

Han has had recent success in Jeju after winning the No Limit Hold'em - Mini High Roller at the Korea Poker Cup Series in June of this year.

And we're off! Tournament director got on the mic and just announced

"Dealers of Main Event Flight D, shuffle up and deal!"

The APT Main Event continues tonight at 6 p.m. local time at the Landing Casino in Jeju Shinhwa World with the Turbo Flight D, which comes with a KRW 2.6M (~USD 1,850) buy-in.

With late registration closed for Flight C (5:30pm), players have the option of jumping into this final Day 1 flight before Day 2 commences tomorrow.

Already, the tournament has drawn huge numbers: Flight A attracted 397 entries, Flight B delivered 427 entries, and Flight C added 284 more to the tally. Added to the 234 online entries, the total field has already climbed to 1,342 — and there’s still time to grow, with registration open until the end of Day 2's opening level on Monday, October 1, closing at the end of the first level of the day at 12:15pm (KST).

With the prize pool already well past the guarantee, this year’s Main Event has already surpassed last year's APT Jeju 2024 records, which saw 1,089 entries and Flight D promises to push the totals even higher.

Players will start with 40,000 chips and face ten levels: the first six levels last 30 minutes each, before extending to 45 minutes from Level 7 onward. Re-entry is permitted, and stacks can be forfeited and re-entered until registration closes.

Cards are in the air at 6.p.m. local time (KST) so stay with us for live updates all evening, as the final stacks are bagged for Day 2.