APT Main Event (55,000 TWD)

Day 3 of the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event has concluded with competition stopping when the target of the final 48 survivors was reached after an electrifying day of poker here at the Red Space venue in Taipei, Taiwan.

The day began with 375 players already locked in for a minimum payout from the record-breaking prize pool of TWD 121,033,440 (~$3.7 million), the largest in APT history. The field, which represents the largest ever Main Event turnout in APT’s 19-year history, also marks the richest Main Event to date.

Ending at the top of the chip counts after nine hours of intense play was Natural8’s ambassador and Taiwan’s own Kitty Kuo, who amassed a staggering 7,575,000 chips. Kuo, who won the APT Main back here in 2021, will return tomorrow in the best position to claim the record-breaking top prize of TWD 19,009,440 (~$586,710), that also comes with a signature APT Gold Lion trophy and an APTC Main Event seat worth TWD 350,000.

Kuo, an OnLive qualifier, wasted no time making her mark in the Main Event. Early on, she sent David Erquiaga and Kit Kwan Chun in back-to-back hands and quickly climbed the chip counts. During the penultimate level of the day, she surged into the chip lead after her pocket aces held against Shinya Maeda's two kings, never relinquishing her top spot thereafter.

Starting Day 4 in second place will be Taiwan's Huang Mu Shiang with 5,205,000 chips, closely followed by Wayne Lam in third with 5,175,000. Further down the leaderboard is Nicholas Go, who brings through an average stack of 2,350,000 chips. Go, who has already gained plenty of experience under the lights this series, finished as the runner-up in the APT Superstar Challenge, and has the chance to go one better here in the Main Event.

Day 3 concluded with the elimination of Jason Chan. He three-bet shoved his short stack into the middle with jack-ten and ran into the aces of Andrew Ong. There was no miracle runout for Chan and he was last to bust the day.

Some other notables who will be taking theirs seats on the felt include India's Nishant Kumar (2,615,000), APT regular Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss (2,100,000), Peter Kiem (1,095,000), the 2024 APT Taipei Main Event runner-up Abraham Ceesvin (1,025,000) Poland's Dawid Smolka (970,000), and short stacked Zhen Dong (345,000).

A highlight of Day 3 was the raffle draw for a coveted APT Championship ticket worth TWD 350,000. One Main Event player was drawn from the field with still 185 players remaining. The lucky draw was awarded to China’s Chung Ching Cheung.

The fourth day of the tournament kicks off at 11:15 AM local time with one minute remaining on Level 26, where blinds will be 25,000/50,000 with a big blind ante of 50,000. Everyone has already secured TWD 307,500 (~$9,490) for their efforts, but all eyes are now on the bigger prize. The goal for the day is to play down to the final table of nine.

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

Play resumes tomorrow at 11:15 AM local time and will play until a final table of 9 is reached.

Ryan Kim opened the action with a raise to 60,000 from under the gun, and the action folded around to Duc Linh Dinh in the big blind. Dinh took his time, burning through a few time bank chips before deciding to three-bet to 220,000. Kim opted to smooth-call, and the two went to a flop.

The flop came down K♣ 7♥ K♥ , and Dinh led out with a bet of 125,000. Kim responded by raising to 300,000, which Dinh quickly called.

Dinh knuckled the table when the 9♦ hit on the turn. Kim fired 400,000 into the middle, and Dinh called again.

With 1,900,000 now in the middle, the dealer revealed the :8d on the river. Dinh checked, and Kim slid out a stack of T-100,000 chips, putting Dinh all in for his last 600,000. Dinh leaned forward, tossing in all his time bank chips and staring at his neighbor. Dinh agonized over the decision for a while before deciding to make the call

Duc Linh Dinh: T♠ T♥

Ryan KIm: A♣ K♦

Kim had flopped trips with ace-king and got maximum value from Dinh’s pocket tens. Dinh went to collect his payout, while Kim moved up to around 4,500,000 chips.

Ryan Kim opened to 50,000 from the hi-jack with Sorawit Suriyakarn calling on the button. Small blind Kaihung Hu went all-in for his last 74,000 .

The floor director ruled that Kim and Suriyakarn were forced to just call despite Kim's intention of re-raising.

The flop arrived J♣ 7♦ 7♣ and Kim bet out 80,000. Suriyakarn folded and two players were left for a show down.

Hu opened A♥ K♣ while Kim showed A♣ Q♠ The turn threw a K♥ to seal the deal for Hu's triple up while the 3♠ river was just a formality.

Teng Kuei Hsu made it 40,000 to go from under the gun and Abraham Ceesvin called in the hijack. Ryan Kim also came along from the big blind.

The trio checked through the monotone flop of J♥ 6♥ 7♥ to see an 8♥ fall on the turn, where the action checked to Ceesvin, who fired out 50,000. Only Hsu tagged along.

When the 3♦ hit on the river, the action went check-check.

After Hsu revealed T♣ T♥ for a flush, Ceesvin directly tossed his cards into the muck.