APT Main Event (55,000 TWD)

Day 2 of Taiwan’s largest-ever international poker tournament — and the richest APT Main Event in history — has come to a thrilling close. Leading the charge into Day 3 is Hong Kong’s Nicholas Go, who topped the counts with 1,281,000 chips, followed by Kuo Hui Chen aka Kitty Kuo with 1,280,000, near exact stacks.

A total of 830 players returned for Day 2, all vying for a place in the money. By the end of play, 375 players had secured seats for Day 3, each guaranteed a payout of TWD 85,000 ($2,620). But with a top prize of TWD 19,009,440 ($586,710) and an APTC Main Event seat up for grabs, the real battle is just beginning. Among those advancing are 76 online qualifiers from N8, who also made it into the money.

Following Go are Taiwan’s Yu Chun Wu with 932,000 and South Korea’s Juyub Lee with 871,000.

The bubble burst within the first hour of play, thanks to the high concentration of short stacks. The unfortunate bubble boy was David Berlin from Lithuania, who went all-in on a completed board after pairing his ace-king on the flop. However, Taiwan's Chun-Yu Wu had rivered two pair with queen-three suited, leaving Berlin just shy of a cash.

Go started the day with the second-largest stack, but vaulted into the lead after a dramatic hand against Germany’s Rene von Reden. Go held pocket aces against von Reden’s kings, and a flopped set sealed the elimination of the German in stunning fashion. After narrowly missing an APT Lion Trophy in the Superstar Challenge — where he finished runner-up — Go is now firmly in contention for redemption, and the ultimate prize.

Other notable contenders include Super High Roller champion Quang Minh Nguyen (602,000) and Superstar Challenge winner Biao Ding (119,000). While not among the top stacks, both players are riding hot streaks and could easily become factors late in the tournament.

A number of APT champions have also advanced to Day 3. Among them are John Matsuda (815,000), Tom Henricus Verbruggen (448,000), Daniel Neilson (444,000), Martin Michael Sedlak (349,000), David Erquiaga (149,000), John Tech (95,000), and Lester Edoc (44,000). Though some are short-stacked, their experience, discipline, and tournament instincts could prove pivotal as the field tightens.

Adding to the already stacked field, a number of well-known names have also qualified online, including Kitty Kuo (1,279,436), Abraham Ceesvin (321,928), Thanisorn Saelor (117,718), Punnat Punsri (114,256), Sean Ooi (105,748). Their presence ensures the road to the final table will be anything but easy.

Day 3 resumes at Level 18 and will play through 10 levels or until the field is reduced to 48 players — whichever comes first. Before cards go in the air, APT will raffle off an APTC Main Event seat worth TWD 350,000 to all players who entered the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue live updates straight from the tournament floor and get closer to crowning the next APT Main Event Champion.

The hand was already underway with the tournament dealer throwing Nicholas Go a one-hand penalty for acting out of turn.

Action happened with Sergeev Aleksandr limping under the gun and Zhiyu Wang on the button raising to 15,000. Go in the big blind, snap called out of turn which was what got him the one-hand penalty. But Johnson Lim went all-in in small blind. After much discussion with the tournament director, Go folded his hand and left the table.

Aleksandr mucked his hand but Wang made the call, putting Lim at risk and taking both players to showdown.

Johnson Lim: A♠ J♥

Zhiyu Wang: K♦ K♥

With a 70% chance to win Wang seemed very confident of winning the hand, giving Lim a friendly tap of the table for good luck. But Lim started packing when the flop came T♥ T♦ 6♣ . The runout of 9♠ and 3♠ didn't help him at all. He finished packing as the deal completed and left table as Wang scooped the pot.

Two tables away, Nicholas Go could be heard shouting, "Aces vs. Kings! Aces vs. Kings!" Getting the attention of media.

The action was picked up with both Go and Rene von Reden on their feet with their cards and chips in the middle of the felt for a showdown.

Nicholas Go: A♠ A♦

Rene von Reded: K♠ K♣

After getting media attention, Go started calling out cards that would not crack his aces. Other players were excitedly commenting that they haven't seen pre-flop betting that had reached six-betting and seven-betting which apparently happened before the showdown.

Von Reden could just look on at everyone, smile at all the kerfuffle and video everything on his phone. The dealer, finally, flopped 5♣ 6♥ 3♥ .

The ruckus continued and so did the dealer with a 4♣ turn giving von Reden more outs, including a chance to split the pot if the board made a straight. Go started shouting louder.

Finally, the river A♥ gave Go a set sealing his victory and evoking a loud cheer from the player, "I'm the new chip leader!"

Von Reden left the table as the players continued to talk about the hand.

Changgyu Choe opened to 3,200 from early position, with Christian Cheng making the call from middle position. After it folded to Nicholas Go in the small blind, he squeezed to 18,000. Choe folded, but Cheng called to see a flop.

The flop came a monotone J♦ 3♦ 8♦ , and Go led out with a continuation-bet of 15,000. Cheng took his time, eventually making the call.

The 4♣ hit on the turn, and Go fired again, this time for 25,000. Cheng, with about 60,000 remaining in his stack, went deep into the tank. He stared down Go, who remained focused on the board. After a long pause, Cheng reluctantly folded, and Go showed just the Q♦ .

Just over twelve hours ago, Go was battling heads-up for the APT Superstar Challenge title. Despite holding the chip lead briefly, he ended as the runner-up to Biao Ding. Go walked away with a career-best score of TWD 9,244,000 (~$286,210) and now is seated in Day 2 of the Main Event with one of the biggest stacks in the room, surely oozing with confidence after such a good result in one of the toughest tournaments.

All eyes are firmly on the Red Point Center’s Red Space for the TWD 55,000 Main Event Day 2 as a historic record has been written in the book, marking monumental achievement for the future. After four opening flights, the event has drawn a game-changing field of 2,407 entries, smashing the previous benchmark of 2,350 entries set at 2023 Hanoi Billions and writing a new chapter in APT history.

With late registration open until the start of Day 2, the turnout is expected to surge even higher, giving hopefuls one last chance to jump into this record-shattering Main Event. The TWD 70,000,000 guarantee has been already beaten easily and the prize pool will be finalized later today.

After navigating through three intense days of starting flights and outlasting thousands of entries, 897 survivors will come together for the first time at the venue to battle it out in Day 2.

Sitting atop the leaderboard is Taiwan’s Wu Chun Yu, who bagged a dominating stack of 469,200 chips from Flight A. He is the only one player so far to break the 400,000-chip mark. Second in chips is Hong Kong’s Nicolas Go with 338,900, also from Flight A. Rounding out the podium positions in third is Taiwan’s Sing Wen Chen, who ended the flight with 330,000 in chips.

These top stacks will face stiff competition from the likes of former APT Main Event champion Rene Von Reden (245,900) and Daniel Lee (146,000), both making strong bids for another champion title.

Other notables still in contention include two-time APT titlist Daniel Neilson (136,000), APT Phu Quoc 2024 High Roller champion Jason Lau (129,400), multiple APT titlist Kyosuke Nagami (39,000), Australia's Alexander Lynskey (81,700), multiple APT titlist John Tech (52,100), Japan's Shinya Maeda (46,100), and APT host and double title winner Gregory Liow (33,700).

Cards get underway at 11:15 a.m. local time with blinds resuming at 800/1,600 and a 1,600 big blind ante. The top objective for players today is to play through 60-minute levels and thin down the field until reaching the money bubble.