APT Main Event (55,000 TWD)

The 2025 APT Taipei Main Event has come to a dramatic close inside the Red Space venue in Taipei, Taiwan, as Japan's Akira Takasugi cemented his name into the history books by conquering the largest and richest APT Main Event ever held in the tour’s 19-year history.

Takasugi outlasted a record-shattering field of 2,547 entries, collecting the lion’s share of the massive TWD 121,033,440 (~$3.7 million) prize pool, along with an APT Championship Main Event seat valued at TWD 350,000. For his efforts, the Japanese pro earned a life-changing TWD 19,009,440 (~$586,710) and the glory of lifting the most sought-after trophy on the APT calendar.

The final table was packed with storylines — from comebacks, coolers, and cracked aces, to relentless aggression and a clinical closing out display from Takasugi. After a seven-hour rollercoaster, it was Takasugi who proved to be the best, defeating Iat Man Leong heads-up to claim the title and secure the most prestigious victory of his career.

*Plus an APTC Main Event Seat worth TWD 350,000

Final Table Action

The final table started off rather slow, as expected, with everyone playing snug and hoping to ladder up the pay jumps. But after about 40 minutes of nerve-racking poker, Rintaro Kagawa put Leong virtually all in on the river. Leong eventually called with a rivered boat and was thrilled to see he got there against Kagawa's turned Broadway straight. That pot catapulted Leong into the chip lead and left Kagawa near the bottom of the counts.

An hour later, the only female player and only former APT Main Event champion left in the field was out in ninth for TWD 1,500,000 (~USD 46,300). Dang Thi Hue got the majority of her short stack in preflop with ace-ten, then committed the rest on the flop with second pair. Kagawa had outflopped her with a pair of queens holding king-queen, and no help from the dealer meant the end of Hue’s run.

Now Kiwanont Sukhum of Thailand occupied the bottom spot, but that quickly changed when his pocket tens held in a flip against Nishant Kumar's Big Slick — and suddenly Kumar was the one on life support.

When the blinds crept up, Wayne Lam kept the pressure on, steadily chipping up while the rest of the finalists jostled for position. Kumar nearly tripled his stack when he jammed his three big blinds over an open with pocket fives. Owen Chong over-jammed behind with ace-queen to isolate, but the safe runout kept Kumar alive — and put Chong into the danger zone.

Next to hit the rail was Chong — and in brutal fashion. He shoved ace-four of hearts and was called by Kano Shinichiro, who had the same hand in clubs. A chop looked almost guaranteed, but a three-club flop left Chong drawing dead, with just a bad beat story and TWD 1,969,000 (~USD 60,770) for his eighth-place finish.

Still unable to recover from the early cooler, Kagawa was out next in seventh for TWD 2,721,500 (~USD 84,000). His ace-queen couldn’t improve despite flopping a flush draw versus Shinichiro’s pocket nines.

Yet again, Sukhum found himself as the short stack — a spot he’s clearly studied well. He survived an all-in against Lam when his ace-queen made two pair versus Takasugi’s queen-jack.

But the very next hand, Sukhum called off his twelve big blinds from the big blind after Takasugi shoved from the small. Sukhum's queen-ten was dominated by king-ten, and this time Sukhum couldn’t pull off another escape. He was out in sixth, banking TWD 3,564,000 (~USD 110,000).

Kumar had shown he wasn’t afraid to get aggressive, but after losing a flip earlier, he was forced to tighten up. Still, he doubled up to ten big blinds with ace-five against Leong’s king-ten. Just a few hands later, he jammed over Leong’s open with ace-seven of spades — only for Shinichiro to wake up with pocket aces in the blinds.

Shinichiro looked comfortable — that is, until two spades came on the flop. The turn was clean, but a rivered spade gave Kumar life and sent his rail into a frenzy.

With five players left, the stacks evened out. It felt like whoever made the move to take control would end up lifting the trophy. Takasugi showed no fear — raising and barreling relentlessly to take the chip lead, a spot he wouldn’t give up again.

The stalemate finally broke when Leong jammed queen-jack from the small blind and Kumar — maybe feeling invincible after cracking aces — called off with slightly fewer chips holding pocket fives. A jack on the flop sealed Kumar’s fate. He bowed out in fifth for TWD 4,419,500 (~USD 136,400).

With APT Championship tickets worth TWD 350,000 up for grabs for a podium finish, the jump from fourth to third meant more than just money. Takasugi knew this, and he leaned on the pressure, building up to half the chips in play.

His aggressive play paid off again when he rivered a flush against Shinichiro’s trips, leaving the Japanese player with under ten bigs. Shinichiro moved all in shortly after with ace-nine, but ran into Takasugi’s pocket queens. No help came, and Shinichiro was out in fourth for TWD 5,292,500 (~USD 163,350).

Down to three, Leong and Lam were virtually tied behind Takasugi’s mountain of chips. Lam was next to fall, and in a particularly nasty way.

Takasugi opened the button — as he had been doing nonstop — and Lam jammed two sevens from the small blind. Leong woke up with pocket queens and had a chance to take the tournament heads-up. A seven in the window gave Lam a glimmer of hope, but a queen followed right behind it, giving both players a set. No miracle came, and Lam had to settle for third and TWD 6,867,000 (~USD 211,950).

Heads-up began with Takasugi holding a 2:1 chip lead, which he quickly stretched to 4:1 thanks to relentless aggression — and a little run-good.

Eventually, Leong found a double with ace-ten against Takasugi’s queen-ten to narrow the gap, but it didn’t shift the momentum. Takasugi just went right back to grinding, slowly bleeding Leong down to ten big blinds.

In the final hand, Takasugi jammed king-six, and Leong made his stand with queen-deuce suited. Both flopped a pair, but Takasugi held the lead, and the river bricked out. Just like that, Takasugi was crowned APT Taipei 2025 Main Event Champion.

He shook hands with Leong — who earned TWD 10,133,000 (~USD 312,750) for his incredible runner-up finish — before sprinting to his rail to explode in celebration.

When asked by the APT announcer if he had anything to say to the world watching him win the Main Event, Takasugi kept it simple:

“I am the best.”

What a champion!

In a tournament filled with twists, talent, and tension, it was Takasugi who had the final say — etching his name into APT history as the champion of its biggest Main Event ever.

Hand 71 When it folded to Akira Takasugi in the small blind he shoved, putting Kiwanont Sukhum to the test for his last 6,900,000 in the big blind. Sukhum called and the cards were revealed.

Kiwanont Sukhum: Q♦ T♦

Akira Takasugi: K♠ T♣

Sukhum shook his head after seeing he was dominated by Takasugi's king-ten. The board ran out 2♦ 8♥ 9♥ K♥ 6♣ to give Takasugi the winning hand with a pair of kings.

Sukhum had to settle for a sixth place finish, earning himself TWD 3,564,000 (~USD 110,000) for his efforts.

Hand 70 Kiwanont Sukhum shoved for 3,300,000 from under the gun and Akira Takasugi called from the blind.

Kiwanont Sukhum: A♦ Q♦

Akira Takasugi: Q♣ J♣

Sukhum had Taksugi dominated as the daeler put out a flop of Q♥ A♠ 8♠ giving Sukhum top two pair. The 7♠ turn meant Takasugi was drawing dead, as an irrelevant J♠ landed on the river.

Sukhum survived again.

Hand 48 Wayne Lam made it 1,000,000 from early position with A♦ K♠ and Iat Man Leong called from the hijack with 5 5 .

Lam bet 1,400,000 on the 3♦ K♥ 8♦ flop and Leong called.

The Q♦ checked through and the J♣ rolled off on the river. Two more checks followed and Lam took down the pot with top pair.

Hand 49 Leong made it 1,000,000 from early position with A♦ 2♦ , and then folded after Kiwanont Sukhum three-bet jammed for 6,800,000 from the big blind.

Hand 50 Sukhum called from the small blind with K♦ T♥ and Lam chekced his option holding K♥ 5♠ .

Sukhum bet 500,000 on the 2♦ Q♠ 7♥ flop and Lam called to see the 6♦ hit the turn. Sukhum checked and Lam bet 1,200,000. Sukhum folded.

Hand 51 From under the gun, Leong came in with a min-raise and Kano Shinichiro defended his big blind.

On the 6♦ T♣ 8♠ flop, Shinichiro check-called a bet of 650,000 from Leong.

The two players checked the 9♦ turn and J♠ river. Shinichiro turned over Q♦ T♦ for a straight to win the pot, as Leong mucked A♣ T♠ .

Hand 41 Kano Shinichiro shoved for 7,200,000 from early position with Q♥ Q♣ and won the pot.

Hand 42 Nishant Kumar made it 6,500,000 from early position with just 500,000 behind. When it folded to Kiwanont Sukhum in the small blind, he called for his last 2,250,000. The big blind folded and the cards were flipped over with Sukhum at risk.

Kiwanont Sukhum: T♥ T♣

Nishant Kumar: A♥ K♣

Sukhum needed to win this race to stay in the Main Event. The board ran out 2♠ 7♦ Q♣ 5♦ 8♥ , keeping the pocket tens of Sukhum ahead the entire way, earning him the much-needed double up.

Hand 43 Lam jammed from the small blind with K♦ 2♠ and Shinichiro folded 6♦ 6♣ in the big blind with 7,450,000 behind.

Hand 19 Kiwanont Sukhum made it 800,000 to go from middle position with 9♠ 9♣ and won the pot.

Hand 20 Kano Shinichiro made it 800,000 from the cutoff with A♠ 5♥ and the entire table folded.

Hand 21 Nishant Kumar raised to 800,000 with A♣ 7♥ from the button and Owen Chong three-bet to 2,300,000 from the small blind with A♥ 9♣ . Kumar four-bet to 3,800,000 and forced Chong to fold.

Hand 22 From the cutoff, Kumar made it 800,000 and won the pot.

There will be a charged atmosphere inside Taipei’s Red Space venue as the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event charges into its final day. Nine poker warriors, forged through four days of relentless battles, take their seats to claim the richest title in Asian Poker Tour history. With a TWD 19,009,440 (~$586,710) payday for the champion at stake, today is where history will be made.

Hong Kong’s Wayne Lam leads with 17,925,000 chips, and is positoned advantageously to set himself up to take home the lion's share of the TWD 121,033,440 (~$3.7 million) prize pool. Japan’s Rintaro Kagawa trails closely with 17,825,000, hungry for his biggest score. Malaysia’s Owen Chong is sitting pretty in third with 15,375,000, while Vietnam’s Dang Thi Hue, a former Main Event champion, sits with 4,700,000, ready to defy her short stack.

Lurking in the middle, Japan’s Akira Takasugi (10,775,000), India’s Nishant Kumar (10,525,000) and Macau’s Iat Man Leong (10,075,000) bring average stacks into today's proceedings, and may be trying to lader up a few spots before making their move for the title. Kano Shinichiro (8,450,000) sits in seventh, but it far enough clear of the bottom of the pack to use patience to his advantage.

Everyone has locked up at least TWD 1,500,000 (~$46,300) for making it this far, but the top prize and trophy are now within touching distance. Play resumes at 11:15 AM and will continue until one of these players is the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event champion. There’s forty-nine minutes remaining in Level 34 where the blinds will be 150,000/300 with a big blind ante of 300,000.

*includes APTC Main Event seat valued at TWD 350,000

All the action from the Red Space venue in Taipai, Taiwan will be streamed on a30-minute delay, ensuring fans can follow the action without spoilers. Live updates will remain in sync with the broadcast to provide a seamless experience.