![South Korea [KOR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/kr.svg "South Korea [KOR]"){kind=small}
South Korea, Incheon
Blind level
Level 11: 700 / 1,400 ante: 1,400
Entries
505/1,211
Total Chips
48,440,000
Average
95,921
LIVE UPDATES BY APT
Level 11: 700 / 1,400 ante: 1,400
60 minutesRemaining Players: 507/1187
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Xiaoyang Qian opened to 3,000 from late position and was looked up by Shota Nakayama on the button.
The flop came 5♦ 8♣ Q♣ and Qian continued for 2,500. Nakayama made the call and the dealer peeled off the 7♠as the turn.
Qian checked to Nakayama, who bet out for 10,000. Qian thought briefly and mucked his cards to hand the pot to Nakayama.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
SN Shota Nakayama ![Japan [JPN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/jp.svg "Japan [JPN]"){kind=small} Japan | 61,200(44 BB) | -7,600 |
XQ Xiaoyang Qian ![China [CHN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/cn.svg "China [CHN]"){kind=small} China | 28,300(20 BB) | -28,000 |
Alen BakovicThawat Jirundon on the button opened to 2,800 and Alen Bakovic in the small blind called to see a flop.
The dealer fanned out T♦ 2♥ 7♦. After a check, Jirundon looked at his short stack then looked at the clock that showed fifteen minutes left to the end of level 11. He then proceeded with a 2,500 continuation bet. Bakovic went beyond and made it 8,000. Jirundon called.
Bakovic led out with 13,000 on the 6♣ turn sending Jirundon to think about his options. He looked at his stack and the clock once again before throwing his hand in the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
AB Alen Bakovic ![Canada [CAN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/ca.svg "Canada [CAN]"){kind=small} Canada | 77,000(55 BB) | -18,000 |
TJ Thawat Jirundon ![Thailand [THA]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/th.svg "Thailand [THA]"){kind=small} Thailand | 32,000(23 BB) | -21,500 |
Alen Bakovic was not fortunate enough to make it through via one of the four opening flights at Paradise Casino but he jumped back into the action today and already more than doubled up his stack, then won more pots without showdown.
One table over in the casino area, Daniel Neilson three-bet to 7,000 and Kyung Min Lee then reraised to 43,000. Neilson tossed forward his time banks to the dealer with a smirk, took a few seconds and then called all-in.
Daniel Neilson: A♠A♦
Kyung Min Lee: 5♦ 5♣
The slowroll with the aces was not punished on the 9♣ 4♦ 2♦ Q♦ T♥ board and Neilson doubled. Lee was left with around 9,000 and busted, then re-entered.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
AB Alen Bakovic Canada | 95,000(68 BB) | 55,000 |
DN Daniel Neilson ![Australia [AUS]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/au.svg "Australia [AUS]"){kind=small} Australia | 79,000(56 BB) | 39,000 |
KM Kyung Min Lee ![United States of America [USA]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/us.svg "United States of America [USA]"){kind=small} United States of America | 40,000(29 BB) | 40,000 |
Dmitrii AndreevIn a family pot, Shih Hsun Lee limped from under the gun, as did Shinya Maeda on the button, Shujiang Zhu in the small blind, and Dmitrii Andreev came along for the ride from the big blind as well.
The flop came 5♠2♦ A♠and it was checked to Maeda on the button, who took a stab at the pot with a bet of 3,400.
Zhu made the call only for Andreev to pump it up to 7,000. Lee, sat in the next seat, then re-raised to 36,000. Maeda and Zhu got out of the way quickly and Andreev went into the tank before he made the call.
The turn brought the 8♥ and Andreev checked it to Lee, who thought for a while before he moved all in. This sent Andreev deeper into the tank and he used two time banks before he released his cards to send the pot to Lee.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
SH Shih Hsun Lee ![Taiwan [TWN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/tw.svg "Taiwan [TWN]"){kind=small} Taiwan | 148,300(106 BB) | 83,900 |
SM Shinya Maeda Japan | 102,200(73 BB) | -17,500 |
DA Dmitrii Andreev ![Russia [RUS]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/ru.svg "Russia [RUS]"){kind=small} Russia | 59,600(43 BB) | -24,800 |
SZ Shujiang Zhu China | 19,200(14 BB) | -36,700 |
Half-way through the first level of the day, the clock shows a total of 506 players out of 1,280 entries remaining and last year's overall attendance has been all but reached.
Among those to enter recently were Pete Chen, William Li, Liyang Ge, Chunhao Zhang, and Sumate Aramkul.
On the wrong side of variance were Shunsuke Mitsugi, Nan Zhu, Hisashi Yamanouchi, Andrew CHoi, Hai Ha Tran, Chang Liu, and Masayuki Suzuki, among others.
Action was picked up with two players in an all-in situation.
Masao Araki: A♠A♦
Daisuke Ariyama: K♦ K♥
It was a classic battle between rockets blowing up on cowboys and such was the case on the T♥ 5♣ 8♥ 2♣ 9♥ board. A♠the dealer pushed the pot to Araki, Ariyama looked displeased running into aces so early in the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
MA Masao Araki Japan | 93,000(66 BB) | 53,000 |
DA Daisuke Ariyama Japan | 25,000(18 BB) | -48,300 |
Nozomi OtaNozomi Ota raised to 2,800 and then reluctantly called the all-in of Kotaro Nakayama for 26,500 total.
Kotaro Nakayama: 8♣ 8â™
Nozomi Ota: 2♠2♦
The superior pocket pair was ahead on the K♦ K♠T♠flop and T♣ turn, though, a split pot was now possible with another card of nine or higher. Instead, the river brought the 2♣ and Nakayama busted with a bad beat story to tell.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
NO Nozomi Ota Japan | 180,000(129 BB) | 31,100 |
KN Kotaro Nakayama Japan | busted | -40,000 |
Ryuta NakaiKenichi Kobayashi opened to 2,900 in hijack and Ryuta Nakai called from the big blind.
The dealer flopped 8♦ 5♦ 2♣. Nakai led out with 3,100 and Kobayashi called.
The turn produced 7♣ and Nakai cranked up the heat with 17,000. Kobayashi continued to hang on to see the river which fell Q♣.
Both players checked prompting Nakai to show his bluff with 4♠3♥. Kobayashi tabled 9♠9♣ then scooped the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
KK Kenichi Kobayashi Japan | 124,000(89 BB) | 1,500 |
RN Ryuta Nakai Japan | 52,000(37 BB) | 12,000 |
Jun LiHeads-up to the flop of 9♣ 8♦ 3♥ with about 10,000 sat in the pot and Jun Li check-called Sugai Yusuke's 2,500 bet.
The dealer rolled off the 2♣ as the turn and Li checked to Yusuke once again, who fired a second bullet of 7,000. Li flat-called once more.
The action went check, check on the A♣ river and Li tabled A♠9♦ for two pair and was pushed the pot when Yusuke mucked his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
YS Yusuke Sugai Japan | 237,300(170 BB) | 17,500 |
JL Jun Li ![United Kingdom [GBR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/gb.svg "United Kingdom [GBR]"){kind=small} United Kingdom | 103,200(74 BB) | 23,400 |
The chips found their way into the middle preflop and it was a flip for Akira Abe against Jinze Li.
Akira Abe: A♦ K♦
Jinze Li: Q♥ Q♣
The Q♦ T♦ 6♠flop gave Li top set whereas Abe had the gutshot royal flush draw. He improved on the 7♦ turn and the 5♠river secured his double for 34,200.
Naoto Takemura opened to 3,000 first to act and was called by Masanori Yanagimoto in the hijack. Ka Yu Yeung then squeezed to 12,000 from the small blind, and Takemura responded by shoving for approximately 65,000 total.
Yanagimoto quickly got out of the way and Yeung burned up a time bank before sending his cards into the muck as well.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
NT Naoto Takemura Japan | 80,000(57 BB) | 27,000 |
KY Ka Yu Yeung ![Hong Kong [HKG]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/hk.svg "Hong Kong [HKG]"){kind=small} Hong Kong | 45,000(32 BB) | -29,300 |
MY Masanori Yanagimoto Japan | 37,000(26 BB) | -3,000 |
Tatsumi IwasakiThree ways to the 6♠6♦ 2♦ flop, Li Ying Fang bet 6,000 and was called by Michel Molenaar and Tatsumi Iwasaki. The 9♦ turn was checked and Iwasaki then led the 3♠river for 18,500 when both opponents had checked to him.
Only Fang called and mucked upon being shown the J♦ T♦.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
TI Tatsumi Iwasaki Japan | 109,000(78 BB) | 57,500 |
MM Michel Molenaar ![Netherlands [NLD]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/nl.svg "Netherlands [NLD]"){kind=small} Netherlands | 108,000(77 BB) | -14,500 |
LF Liying Fang Taiwan | 31,000(22 BB) | -34,100 |
Ka Yu Yeung made it 2,500 to play from under the gun and was looked up by Yizhou Nie in the small blind.
The flop came 3♥ J♣ 8♥ and Nie checked to Yeung who continued for 2,200. Nie made the call and the dealer flipped over the 5♥ as the turn.
The action went check, check for the players to see the 3â™ roll off as the river.
Nie led out for 7,000 and after a short tank Yeung raised to 22,000. Nie then went into the tank briefly he mucked his hand to send the pot to Yeung with no showdown.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
YN Yizhou Nie China | 83,600(60 BB) | -5,200 |
KY Ka Yu Yeung Hong Kong | 74,300(53 BB) | 17,000 |
The cards were on their backs preflop and Kyung Min Lee was all-in and at risk preflop against Kyota Imai.
Kyung Min Lee: K♣ K♥
Kyota Imai: Q♥ Qâ™
The board ran out A♥ J♣ 7♥ 2♥ Q♣ and the queen on the river sent Lee packing with kings again – just like during the last hands of Flight D.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
KI Kyota Imai Japan | 120,000(86 BB) | 40,200 |
KM Kyung Min Lee United States of America | busted | -40,000 |
Half an hour prior to the start, there were already more than 50 new players registered and by the time the cards were in the air that number grew further.
Among those to enter with a fresh stack of 40,000 were Martin Sedlak, Shunsuke Mitsugi, Kazuyuki Tanemura, Kyung Min Lee, Xinhao Hu, Jason Lim, Lok Wing Cheng, Bin Duan, Mingzhe Zhou, Daniel Lee, Ryan Plant, Daijiro Fukuoka, Aleksei Istomin and Hon Cheong Lee to name all but a few.
Cards are in the air for Day 2 of the APT Incheon 2026 Main Event.
Stay tuned for all the action as play continues in the day until the money bubble is burst.
With all four Day 1 starting flights now completed, the APT Incheon Main Event has drawn 1,177 entries, including 282 OnLive entries, at Paradise City Casino Resort in Incheon, South Korea. The turnout has pushed the event well past its KRW 1.5 billion (~USD 1 million) guaranteed prize pool, with the current prize pool standing at KRW 2,542,320,000 (~USD 1,815,940).
A total of 419 players have secured their seats for Day 2 and will return today, August 12, at 11 a.m. KST, with their sights set on surviving the day and reaching the money. Registration, however, remains open until the start of Level 12, meaning the field and prize pool are still set to grow.
Leading the Day 2 field is Flight B chip leader Shawn Lee of Singapore with 329,000, followed by Hong Kong's Ka Lok Lam with 304,900. Close behind is Japan's Higuchi Junichi, the Flight C chip leader, with 294,800.
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
SC Shawn Cheng Hong Lee ![Singapore [SGP]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/sg.svg "Singapore [SGP]"){kind=small} Singapore | 329,000 |
KL Ka Lok Lam Hong Kong | 304,900 |
JH Junichi Higuchi Japan | 294,800 |
SN Shota Nakanishi Japan | 287,000 |
TM Takuya Miyaura Japan | 282,900 |
JF Joe Fujitsuka Japan | 270,500 |
TA Takayuki Akamatsu Japan | 241,000 |
JC Jianting Cai China | 234,700 |
JP John Perry Australia | 228,300 |
DZ Dajie Zhuo China | 228,000 |
The remaining field is packed with poker luminaries and former APT champions, setting the stage for a fiercely contested Day 2.
Two-time APT Champion Tony Ren Lin of China (104,800) has enjoyed an impressive year, winning both the APT Superstar Challenge and Super High Roller at APT Jeju, while also making deep runs at the World Series of Poker. With a healthy stack and plenty of momentum behind him, Ren Lin is well positioned to add another APT title to his resume and another Gold Lion to his collection.
Also still in contention is 2024 APT Super High Roller champion Jason Lau of Malaysia (108,600), who will be looking to add the APT Incheon Main Event title to his list of accomplishments and make another deep run on the APT circuit.
Junjie HeLast year's APT Incheon Main Event champion Junjie He of China (88,500) sits further down the chip counts but remains firmly in the hunt. He will be looking to defend his title and become a back-to-back champion at this stop.
Adding even more firepower to the field are former APT Main Event champions William Li of Canada (45,800) and Ivan Govorov of Russia (37,800), as well as other APT champions including Thailand's Phanlert Sukonthachartnant (56,200), Vietnam's Trung Quan Nguyen (88,500), and Ireland's Toby Joyce (60,400).
The tournament has already seen 39 players qualify for Day 3 in the money, with several prominent names from the Asian poker scene among them. Newly crowned APT Super High Roller champion Jeremy Chan, APT Taipei 2023 High Roller champion Phachara Wongwichit, and APT Taipei 2023 Main Event champion Punnat Punsri have all secured at least a min-cash.
Day 2 will resume at Level 11, with blinds at 700/1,400 and a 1,400 ante, with levels running for 60 minutes until the field reaches the money. Players will receive a 15-minute break after every two levels.
From Day 2 onward, the APT Main Event will also be streamed live on the APT YouTube channel, bringing the action to viewers around the world.
With a massive prize pool, a stacked field, and several former champions still chasing another Gold Lion, Day 2 promises plenty of drama. Who will rise to the top, who will see their title hopes fade, and who will emerge as the next player to etch their name into APT history?
Stay tuned as we bring you all the thrilling poker action and memorable drama straight from the tournament floor.