APT Championship Main Event Gets Underway; Calvin Lee and Roman Hrabec Take Down Huge Wins

Super High Roller Championship

As the APT Championship Main Event Freezout is now firmly underway, Roman Hrabec completed a dominant wire-to-wire performance to win the inaugural Super High Roller Championship , topping the 81-entry field for TWD 13,398,721 and a Main Event seat. The TWD 777,000 event set a new APT benchmark as the largest USD 25K field and the richest non-Main Event prize pool in tour history at TWD 59.5M.

Six players returned for the Final Day with Hrabec already out in front, and he stayed in control from the first shuffle. He picked off four opponents on his way to the title, starting with Manuel Fritz in sixth. Hikaru Hishinuma briefly slowed him down with a well-timed bluff, but a turned full house swung it back, and she exited shortly after. Alex Wice removed Axel Hallay in fourth, though Hrabec remained the clear force at the table. Danny Tang battled hard and even pulled off a sharp bluff to stay afloat, but ace-king couldn’t beat Hrabec’s jacks and he bowed out in third.

Heads-Up Action

Hrabec held a 2-to-1 lead over Wice when heads-up play began, and the match ended in seven hands. Wice’s king-jack suited ran into Hrabec’s queens, sealing a career-best APT title for the Czech pro and another deep run for Wice, who collected TWD 10.36M for second.

The victory pushes Hrabec past USD 13.3M in live earnings and adds the first-ever Rose Gold Lion trophy to his cabinet. With barely a pause, he jumped straight into the TWD ~50K Superstar Championship as the festival rolled on.

#1007 Super High Roller Championship (777,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$1,907,680

Total Prize

NT$59,519,521

Entries

81

ITM

15

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$13,398,721 $429,450	RH Roman Hrabec Czech Republic
2	NT$10,361,500 $332,100	AC Alexander Chalermklao Wice Thailand
3	NT$7,697,100 $246,700	DT Daniel Tang Hong Kong
4	NT$5,920,900 $189,770	HA Hallay Axel Leopold Baldie France
5	NT$4,322,200 $138,530	HH Hikaru Hishinuma Japan
6	NT$3,197,300 $102,480	MF Manuel Fritz Austria
7	NT$2,516,400 $80,650	BD Biao Ding China
8	NT$2,060,500 $66,040	PH Poseidon Ho Taiwan
9	NT$1,776,300 $56,930	HJ Hannes Jeschka Germany

Check the 15 Payouts & Results ...

Superstar Championship

Calvin Lee completed a start-to-finish run to win the Superstar Championship , turning his Day 1 lead into the largest first-place prize in APT history. The TWD 1,553,000 event drew 39 entries (33 unique) and built a TWD 57.8M prize pool, the second-largest of the festival.

Lee bagged the top stack after Day 1 and kept hold of the momentum on the final day. The money bubble burst with Punnat Punsri and Bao Qiang Ho falling short, and the final table moved quickly once the seven payouts were locked in. Wice hit the rail first, followed by Stephen O’Dwyer , then Webster Lim and Vincent Huang as Lee and Daniel Neilson pulled away.

Dylan Linde bowed out in third after losing a key race, setting up a heads-up match with Neilson holding nearly a four-to-one lead. Lee worked his way back through a series of small pots before winning a crucial two-pair versus bluff spot that shifted the match for good. A few hands later, Lee’s two pair held to seal the title and a record TWD 18,726,503 score.

Lee’s Reaction

“It means a lot, this is the biggest event APT has in the new era, and winning against such a tough field means a lot.”

“I’d like to dedicate this to my mom, who flew in from Seoul. This is her second or third time seeing me play. The first time she came, I finished second — now I got first, so that’s kind of cool.”

Superstar Championship Final Table Result

Sunday Women’s Event

Taiwan’s Chu Ling Hsu claimed the Women’s Event title after navigating a steady final table that saw her chip stack grow at all the right moments. Known locally for a solid, composed style, Hsu brought experience into the event despite being relatively early in her live career.

She now holds $67,021 in recorded live earnings, with a previous best live cash of $12,631. Her results have been building since her first logged scores in 2023, including victories at USOP Taiwan and ASPT Taiwan, along with a final-table finish at the AJPC Samurai Circuit. This win adds another highlight to her resume and pushes her up the Taiwan All-Time Money List to 304th.

It marks her third live win and continues a consistent trend of deep runs across regional events in Taipei.

Women’s Event Result

APT Championship Main Event Freezout: Day 1

The APT Championship Main Event Freezeout got underway in style at Red Space 多元商務空間, and Day 1 quickly proved why this tournament has become one of the most anticipated on the calendar. The TWD 311,000 (USD 10,000) buy-in event smashed past its TWD 156 million (~USD 5M) guarantee shortly after play began, marking the largest guaranteed tournament ever held in Asia. By the end of the day, the field had grown to 595 entries, locking in a top prize of over USD 1 million.

Play started promptly at 11am, with 74 players already seated. The tables quickly filled with high-profile names, including APT Taipei 2025 Super High Roller champion Quang Minh Nguyen , Mystery Bounty winner Sofia Lovgren , former APT Main Event champion Dicky Tsang , and APT regular David “Spade” Erquiaga . Soon the lineup swelled with legends of the game: ten-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel , five-time bracelet winner John Juanda , APT all-time money leader Joseph Cheong , Punnat Punsri, and high-stakes specialist Steve O’Dwyer getting back involved.

By the end of Day 1, 343 players survived to continue on Day 2. Taiwan’s Chia Wei Kuo led the way with a stack of 434,100, with Japan’s Eisuke Katsuren (329,500) and Nobuaki Sasaki (283,300) close behind. Taiwan #1 ranked player James Chen (245,800) and the USA’s Michael Wang (220,100) also finished in the top ten, setting up a competitive Day 2.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Day 1 of the APT Championship 2025 delivered plenty of highlights, with strong runs from Calvin Lee, Roman Hrabec, and the Main Event leaders keeping the action flowing throughout the day. With several records already set and the field narrowing, the remaining players now face a long road ahead as Day 2 is currently underway. The remaining players now face the next challenge as the tournament advances.