The exciting APT Taipei 2024 Main Event festivities at the Asia Poker Arena and Chinese Mahjong League has come to an end with Japan’s Daisuke Ogita crowned as the tour’s newest champion. Ogita topped the 1,182 entry field and bagged the country’s richest payout at NTD 12,944,020 (~$409,730). The Japanese runner displayed an impressive performance, eliminating five out of his eight opponents to lock in the biggest share of the NTD 72,232,020 (~USD 2,287,160) prize pool.
Daisuke Ogita emerges as APT Taipei 2024 Main Event champion
Having grinded several days of action across the Main Event arena, only nine players returned to the felt for the final games with France’s Safwane Bahri holding down the lead. Each runner in contention for the title was already guaranteed a minimum payout of NTD 959,000 (~USD 30,360) but remained to have their eyes set out for the NTD 12,944,020 (~$409,730) top payout.
Happily starting the day with 25% of the chips in play, Bahri found his luck run down after losing half his stack within the first orbit. Bahri doubled up two opponents – Li Wei Sun and Chi-Jen “Justin” Chu whilst paying off Jung Chuan “Ivan” Liao’s premium pocket kings, to plummet him down to one of the shortest stacks.
The first casualty of the day however, saw Singapore’s Steve Ng shove all-in with king-queen right into Daisuke Ogita’s pocket kings. With no help on the board, Ng exited in ninth place while Ogita propelled to chip lead status from here on out. By this time, Bahri had to risk it all with ace-king but found no salvation after Guo Zhang Xi tabled pocket aces. Headed for the exit in 8th, Bahri bid his Main Event dreams goodbye in one quick flash and took home NTD 1,236,000 (~USD 39,125) in consolation.
With much at stake, three players found their stacks rush to the middle beginning with Pitipong Posri who shoved with ace-jack, Chu with the same hand, and the last to call Seungmook Jung with pocket queens. A great spot for the Korean runner, Jung locked in the triple up, crippling Posri along the way to bust the latter the following hand.
Six players left in contention, Sun scored another double up with his pocket kings beating Liao’s ace-king to eventually send Liao out in following just a few orbits later. In spite of the double up, Sun was shortly crippled down after he called off with pocket deuces against Chu’s shove which left him with one big blind and a fifth place elimination not long after.
After watching his opponents closely throughout the earlier levels, chip leader Ogita ramped up the aggression and maneuvered his big stack, fiercely putting ICM pressure on the remaining four. Jung eventually stood his ground and called off with pocket eights after Ogita open shoved with king-ten. At risk for his tournament life, Jung found himself at the losing end of the flip and knocked out in fourth place. Stacking over nearly 80% of the chips in play at this point, Ogita dominated the final rounds and relentlessly devoured the two remaining stacks. First to go was Chu who lost a flip with pocket nines, earning Xi a NTD 2.2 Million (~USD 69K) pay jump.
Heads up saw Xi at a 1:8 disadvantage and relinquished his run for the title in seven short deals. Xi settled for a runner up finish, gaining him his first event tournament score listing an impressive NTD 7,620,000 (~USD 241,205). Ogita on the other hand, claimed his career best cash of NTD 12,944,020 (~$409,730) along with the award-winning 24K Gold APT Lion Trophy for his striking run. His latest win bumps up his total live earnings to over $1.8 Million and shoots him five places up the country’s All Time Money List to 7th in rank.
“This is the first APT for me, and I have met many friends here; Asian players are very friendly and enthusiastic,” Ogita told APT following the win.
“I’m worried my plane might crash after winning this award-winning trophy, as I used up so much luck. I’d like to thank my family for letting me be here. To the players, thank you for playing with me, and to all my family and friends in Japan, thank you for watching and cheering for me. It was such a good run.”
Date: March 3 to 9, 2024
Buy in: NTD 70,000 (~USD 2,200)
Guarantee: NTD 65,000,000 (~USD 2,050,000)
Prize pool: NTD 72,232,020 (~USD 2,287,160)
Entries: 1,182 (737 unique)
ITM: 175 players
Flight A: 265 entries / 95 advanced
Flight B: 260 entries / 118 advanced
Flight C: 280 entries / 144 advanced
Flight D: 166 entries / 86 advanced
Natural8 OnLive: 154 players
APT Taipei 2024 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Flag | Prize (NTD) | Prize (~USD) |
| 1 | Daisuke Ogita | Japan | 12,944,020 | 409,730 |
| 2 | Guo Zhang Xi | Taiwan | 7,620,000 | 241,205 |
| 3 | Chi-Jen “Justin” Chu | Taiwan | 5,360,000 | 169,665 |
| 4 | Seungmook Jung | South Korea | 4,016,000 | 127,120 |
| 5 | Li Wei Sun | Taiwan | 3,077,000 | 97,400 |
| 6 | Jung Chuan “Ivan” Liao | Taiwan | 2,275,000 | 72,010 |
| 7 | Pitipong Posri | Thailand | 1,734,000 | 54,890 |
| 8 | Safwane Bahri | France | 1,236,000 | 39,125 |
| 9 | Steve Ng | Singapore | 959,000 | 30,360 |
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