APT National Cup (12,000 TWD)

The opening day of APT Taipei 2025 set off fireworks early, with the multi-day National Cup event smashing expectations right out of the gate. A guaranteed TWD 10 million (~US$307,000) prize pool proved no match for the poker-hungry crowd, as 2,161 entries across three Day 1 flights blew the total prize pool up to a jaw-dropping TWD 21,264,240 (~US$656,000) - more than doubling the original guarantee.

The National Cup wasn't just big - it was historic. APT records tumbled left and right, as Flight A set a new benchmark with 821 entries…o nly for Flight B to outdo it immediately with 844 entries. By the end of the day, the National Cup had officially become the richest opening event in APT history.

From the thousands who entered, 302 players made it through to the National Cup Day Final, all chasing glory. Leading the charge was the United Kingdom’s Jason Cooper, who returned as the lone millionaire stack with 1,125,000 chips after topping Flight A. Right behind him was Thailand’s Sopanut Intharachalit (743,000) from Flight B, and Taiwan’s Chien Yu Lin (680,000) from Flight C.

But Day 2 proved that big stacks don’t guarantee a big finish. After over 8 hours of intense action, none of the three starting chip leaders survived to the final table. Cooper fell in 39th place, Intharachalit in 26th, and Lin in 20th.

The final table began with Huan Chen taking a slight lead, sitting behind a healthy stack of 13,800,000 chips, with Shi Rong Wang snapping at his heels with 13,400,000.

Here are the final table chip counts:

Chen made the first big move at the final table, knocking out Sung Sik Eum in 9th place and boosting his chip count to 20 million - owning nearly a third of all chips in play. But Wang wasn’t going anywhere. After winning a monster pot against Chen with a perfectly timed set, Wang flipped the script and climbed into the chip lead. He kept the pressure up, taking out Weilin Chiang in 8th place.

Chin Liao joined the elimination party by busting Cheng Chih Cheng in 7th, but soon after, he handed all his chips over to Wang and bowed out in 6th.

Meanwhile, short-stacked Tian Lee got a little breathing room when he sent Yi-Chun Liu out in 5th. However, Lee’s comeback didn’t last—he ran into Wang’s wall of chips and exited in 4th.

Huan Chen, hungry for redemption, pulled off a crazy bad beat to bust Shao Wang in 3rd place, setting the stage for an epic heads-up battle.

When the heads-up duel began, Wang held a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead, 41 million to Chen’s 23 million. Chen scrapped and clawed his way back into contention, but every time he closed the gap, Wang found a way to yank it wide open again - especially after a pivotal monster pot swung Wang's way.

In the final hand, Chen shoved all-in on the flop, but Wang made a snap-call holding two-pair against Chen’s single pair. No miracles on the runout this time.

Shi Rong Wang clinched the win and was crowned APT National Cup Champion, bagging an eye-watering payday of TWD 3,804,240 (~US$ 106,612) plus a seat to the upcoming APT Championship Main Event to be held in Taipei again towards the end of the year.

Cheng Cheng Chih shoved his last 1,675,000 all-in from the small blind and big blind Liao Chin Kai defended.

Cheng Cheng Chih: K♦ J♠

Liao Chin Kai: K♣ 5♣

The board completed 8♥ 4♠ 8♦ 2♥ Q♠ giving Chih a crucial double-up and denting the stack of Kai.

In the following hand, Chih risked his 3,850,000 all-in from the button and big blind Wang Shao Fu defended.

Cheng Cheng Chih: A♥ 3♣

Wang Shao Fu: 9♦ 9♠

The board completed J♦ 5♥ J♣ 2♠ T♦ to eliminate Chih in 7th place.

The action was picked up on the turn with a board showing T♥ 3♦ K♣ 8♥ and around 400,000 chips in the middle.

Cheng Chih Cheng checked from the big blind, and Zhen Jia Hong bet 300,000, sending his opponent into the tank. After around 2 minutes, Cheng made the call.

The 5♦ hit on the river, where the action went check-check. Cheng quickly tabled K♦ J♣ for a flopped pair of kings, forcing Hong muck his hand.

It seems the strategy at this table is all-in or fold.

Cheng Cheng Chih opened from early position to 60,000 and Ip Hon Leung shoved all-in for 570,000. The blinds folded and when action came back to Chih, he gave his hole cards a long look before finally throwing it into the muck to award the pot to Leung.

In the hand that followed, Liao Chen Hsi opened on the button for 60,000 and big blind Wong Chun Yan shoved all-in for 400,000. Hsi snap-folded.