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.

Huan Chen completed the blinds and Shi Rong Wang checked the big blind for both players to see a flop of 6♠ T♣ 5♠

Wang checked his option and Chen fired 1,800,000 in the middle.

Wang then raised it to 4,500,000. Chen threw in a time bank before deciding to shove all-in. Wang snap-called without even counting the chips.

Wang flipped over 6♥ 5♥ for two pair while Chen showed 5♦ 4♦ and needed a lot of help.

The 3♣ on the turn gave Chen some outs with an open-ended straight draw, but the Q♠ on the river failed to improve Chen and sent him out as the runner-up of the National Cup.

Shi Rong Wang was, of course, crowned as the National Cup champion.

Huan Yu Chen limped in from the button and Shi Rong Wang checked in the big blind.

Both saw a flop of 2♦ Q♥ 6♠ , and Wang checked to Chen who led out for 1,500,000. Wang came along for the ride.

The 6♣ hit on the turn, where Wang checked again, and Chen fired another chunky bet of 2,000,000 this time. This didn’t deter Wang from making the call.

Wang kept his strategy and checked over the J♥ river to his opponent. Chen then delivered another barrel of 5,000,000. Wang came along.

Wang tabled Q♠ 9♥ for a flopped queen to overcome Chen’s bluff with T♣ 2♣ .

Shi Rong Wang held an almost 2-to-1 advantage over Cheh Huan Yu. Rong had around 44,000,000 chips to the 21,000,000 of Chen.

Of course, this is poker and anything can happen.

Shi Rong Wang shoved all in from the mall blind for around 30,000,000 and Tian Yu Lee called off his last chips around 4,800,000.

Tian Yu Lee: A♣ 4♥

Shi Rong Wang: 7♣ 7♦

Wang held the lead with pocket sevens on the flop of 6♣ T♠ J♥ , and Lee was looking for an ace to stay alive. However, the runout rolled off 8♥ Q♣ , sending Lee to the rail in fourth place for a payday of TWD 952,000 (~USD 29,383).

Shi Rong Wang raised to 2,000,000 from the hijack, and Chin Kai Liao shoved his remaining chips for 1,200,000 from the big blind.

Chin Kai Liao: K♥ 8♥

Shi Rong Wang: 7♣ 7♦

It was another flip, and Liao received many outs on the flop of Q♠ 2♥ J♥ , offering him a flush draw. The turn showed a 2 , and Wang still needed to fade a heart in next card to collect another elimination.

Unfortunately for Liao, the river bricked out a T♣ , finishing his run in sixth place for a payday of TWD 645,000 (~USD 19,907).

Weilien Chiang shoved all in from the hijack for 4,400,000 and Shi Rong Wang also moved all in with a covering stack.

Weilien Chiang: A♥ 8♦

Shi Rong Wang J♣ J♦

Wang held the lead with pocket jacks and Chiang was looking to spike an ace to keep his tournament run going.

Unfortunately for Chiang, the dealer announced bad news with a board of Q♦ 4♥ T♣ 2♦ 3♥ , ending his run in eighth place for a payout of TWD 351,000 (~USD 10,833).

Chen Huan Yu opened from mid-position to 1,000,000 and Wang Shi Rong defended his big blind.

The flop showed J♥ 3♠ 4♦ and Rong check-called Yu's 2,100,000 bet to open a 8♦ turn.

Both players checked to open a 5♦ river.

Rong led out for 6,000,000 and Yu made the call. Rong showed J♣ J♠ for a set while Yu showed A♦ 8♣ for a pair of eights, handing the huge pot over to Rong along with the chip lead.

When it folded to Ka Wai Leung on the button he shoved his 4,700,000 into the middle with just the blinds to get through. The small blind folded, but Shi Rong Wang asked for a count from the big blind. After a bit of tanking, Wang made the call with the covering stack.

Ka Wai Leung: Q♦ T♦

Shi Rong Wang: 7♦ 7♥

Leung needed to find a queen, ten or some diamonds if he was to have a chance of maming the final table. The 5♣ 8♥ 4♣ flop provided no help to Leung, but the Q♥ turn catapulted him into the lead with top pair. However, a brutal 7♠ on the river gave Wang the winner with a set of sevens, ending Leung's tournament in eleventh-place.

Action folded to the blinds. Small blind Wang Shi Rong matched the 300,000 blinds and big blind Tammel Tarmo shoved all-in for his last 2,800,000. Rong snap-called.

Wang Shi Rong: A♠ K♥

Tammel Tarmo: A♦ 6♥

The board came K♦ 2♠ Q♦ T♦ K♠ to send Tarmo out in 13th place.

Weilien Chiang raised to 320,000 from middle position and Shi Rong Wang three-bet to 650,000 from the hijack. Chiang called.

A flop spread 3♣ T♦ 9♣ , and Chiang checked to Wang who bet 200,000. Chiang cranked it up to 2,000,000, but this didn’t deter his opponent from moving all in for 1,335,000. Chiang tagged along.

Weilien Chiang: Q♠ T♥

Shi Rong Wang: A♣ 5♣

Chiang held the lead while Wang received a flush draw from the board.

Soon, the turn delivered good news to Wang with a Q♣ , completing his flush.

Chiang was looking for another queen or ten to take down the hand; however the river bricked out a 8♠ , shipping the pot to Wang.

Action folded to Wang Shi Rong on the button who shoved all-in for 2,000,000. Small blind Tse Man Hang risked his last 900,000 and made the call.

Wang Shi Rong: 9♥ 8♥

Tse Man Hang: A♠ 8♠

The flop came 2♥ 9♦ 7♣ and Hang stood up from his seat in surrender. However, the poker gods were kind enough to throw a 5♣ turn and a 6♣ river to give both players the same straight to split the pot.

Wang Shi Rong opened from the hi-jack to 200,000. Big blind Kim Ryan Shyun Yuan defended his big-blind risking his last 1M chips all-in. The dealer didn't even have time to count when Rong announced "Call!"

Kim Ryan Shyun Yuan: A♥ Q♦

Wang Shi Rong: A♦ K♠

The flop peeled open 9♦ J♥ T♠ to give Yan outs with an open-ended straight. However the A♣ turn and 4♣ river failed to improve Yuan and he had to exit his seat and end his National Cup journey.

Action folded to Liu Yi-Chun on the button and made a raise to 180,000. The blinds folded and she scooped the blinds to improve her stack.

In the following hand, Yi-Chun raised to 160,000 from the cut-off. Big blind Wang Shi Rong used up a time bank token before three-betting to 450,000. Yi-Chun used a time-bank of her own before signalling for the all-in triangle.

Rong folded immediately and tapped the table to acknowledge the good play.