14,059 Entries as Lee and Liao Close APT Incheon

APT Incheon 2026 has closed the doors on the largest and richest Asian Poker Tour festival ever held in mainland South Korea.

The ten-day series attracted 14,059 total entries, with 2,329 unique players representing 45 countries and regions. More than KRW 15.96 billion (~USD 11.4 million) was awarded across 103 trophy events and three satellites at Paradise City Casino Resort .

Those figures continued an extraordinary run for the Asian Poker Tour , with eight consecutive stops now setting at least one new festival record.

There were still eight titles waiting to be decided on the final day. Chang Hwan Lee claimed the last Mega Lion of the festival in the APT High Roller, while Taiwan’s Po Hao Liao recorded the biggest score of his career in the Ultra Stack.

Chang Hwan Lee Flies High in APT High Roller

Lee began the final day of the KRW 5 million APT High Roller as the chip leader and finished it holding the Rose Gold Lion Trophy.

The Japanese player outlasted 222 entries from 154 unique players to collect KRW 199,870,000 (~USD 142,765). He also received an APT Championship 2026 Main Event seat worth approximately USD 10,000.

Lee defeated Jun Li heads-up, leaving the British player one place short in the same tournament for the second consecutive year. Li received KRW 134,570,000 (~USD 96,120), while Walter Lau collected KRW 94,880,000 (~USD 67,770) for third.

#92 APT High Roller (5,000,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$685,030

Total Prize

959M KRW

Guaranteed

500M KRW

Entries

222

ITM

31

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩199,870,000 $142,865	CL Changhwan Lee South Korea	2,169.18
2	₩134,570,000 $96,190	JL Jun Li United Kingdom	1,533.84
3	₩94,880,000 $67,820	CS Chun Shing Lau Hong Kong	1,252.38
4	₩76,930,000 $54,990	KS Konstantin Solovev Russia	1,084.59
5	₩60,860,000 $43,505	ML Maxim Lykov Russia	970.09
6	₩46,210,000 $33,030	HN Hiroyuki Noda Japan	885.56
7	₩33,740,000 $24,115	MS Martin Sedlak Germany	819.87
8	₩24,670,000 $17,635	WK Wai Kiat Lee Malaysia	766.92
9	₩20,410,000 $14,590	SW Shotiwan Wattanalarp Thailand	723.06

Check the 31 Payouts & Results ...

Lee revealed after his victory that running four companies leaves him with little time to work on his tournament game. Instead, he studies GTO while travelling between business commitments.

“I can mostly study only once or twice a month,” Lee said. “Before a tournament, I use my laptop on the flight to study GTO.”

That preparation helped him overcome a field packed with professional players.

“There were so many professional players, so it was a very tough game for me,” Lee said. “I tried to be patient and respect their actions because everything they did had an intention.”

Lee discussed his preparation, near misses in Jeju and plans for the APT Championship in his full winner interview .

Po Hao Liao Captures Maiden APT Title

Liao produced the other major result of the final day by winning the KRW 700,000 Ultra Stack .

The tournament attracted 588 entries across its opening flights and built a prize pool of more than KRW 339 million, comfortably surpassing the KRW 150 million guarantee. A total of 84 players returned for the Final Day already guaranteed a payout.

Liao entered the finale with one of the larger stacks and completed his run by collecting KRW 65,639,878 (~USD 46,553). The victory gave the Taiwanese player his first APT title and surpassed his previous largest recorded live score.

Masayuki Suzuki finished runner-up for KRW 40,860,000 (~USD 28,979), more than four times his previous career-best result. Jie Zheng took third for KRW 29,240,000 (~USD 20,738) after falling short of his second APT title.

#90 Ultra Stack (700,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$242,560

Total Prize

339.6M KRW

Guaranteed

150M KRW

Entries

588

ITM

84

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩65,639,878 $46,885	PH Po Hao Liao Taiwan	1,805.11
2	₩40,860,000 $29,185	MS Masayuki Suzuki Japan	1,276.40
3	₩29,240,000 $20,885	JZ Jie Zheng China	1,042.18
4	₩22,620,000 $16,155	HF Hirotaka Fukatsu Japan	902.55
5	₩17,820,000 $12,730	SI Shoma Ishikawa Japan	807.27
6	₩13,950,000 $9,965	TS Tsuyoshi Sakamoto Japan	736.93
7	₩10,320,000 $7,370	TK Takahiko Kondo Japan	682.27
8	₩7,100,000 $7,370	YJ Young Jun Choi South Korea	638.20
9	₩5,590,000 $3,990	TK Takahiro Kumaido Japan	601.70

Check the 84 Payouts & Results ...

Higashi Wins Final Micro Main Event

Japan’s Atsushi Higashi earned the largest score of his poker career by winning the KRW 400,000 Micro Main Event .

The final Main Event-style tournament of the festival attracted 309 entries, with Higashi collecting KRW 19,857,910 (~USD 14,083) and his first APT title.

The top of the results belonged entirely to Japan. Takeshi Ida received KRW 13,180,000 (~USD 9,348) as runner-up, while Satoshi Honda earned KRW 9,640,000 (~USD 6,837) for third.

Senoo Makes His Last Chance Count

The name of the tournament proved accurate for Shunsuke Senoo, who used one of the final opportunities of the festival to secure his maiden APT title.

Senoo topped the 79-entry KRW 3 million Last Chance High Roller to collect KRW 56,308,000 (~USD 39,935). The payout was also the largest recorded tournament score of his career.

Kyohei Tobita finished second for KRW 40,030,000 (~USD 28,390), with Shinya Maeda earning KRW 26,210,000 (~USD 18,589) in third.

#102 High Roller - Last Chance (3,000,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$146,260

Total Prize

204.8M KRW

Entries

79

ITM

11

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩56,308,000 $40,220	SS Shunsuke Senoo Japan	1,091.39
2	₩40,030,000 $28,590	KT Kyohei Tobita Japan	771.73
3	₩26,210,000 $18,720	SM Shinya Maeda Japan	630.11
4	₩20,170,000 $14,400	PP Piet Pape Germany	545.69
5	₩15,970,000 $11,400	PW Phachara Wongwichit Thailand	488.08
6	₩12,490,000 $8,920	DB Duan Bin China	445.56
7	₩9,830,000 $7,020	KW Kaiwen Wei United States of America	412.51
8	₩7,680,000 $5,485	NA Ngamsiri Asiralertsiri Thailand	385.86
9	₩5,840,000 $4,170	KT Kei Takazawa Japan	363.80

Check the 11 Payouts & Results ...

Five More Champions Close the Festival

The final afternoon at Paradise City provided several more opportunities for players to leave Incheon with a trophy.

Wang Zhiyu earned his first APT title in the KRW 700,000 PL Omaha High . Wang topped a 29-entry field to win KRW 6,197,987 (~USD 4,396), denying earlier festival winner Masato Shimizu a second title.

Zicong Jiang had already finished third in another event and made a deep Mini Main Event run before finally breaking through. The Chinese player defeated 111 opponents in the Turbo Double Stack to earn his first APT trophy and KRW 9,152,867 (~USD 6,491).

Thailand’s Anusorn Asiralertsiri was the only player among the closing side-event champions who had already tasted APT victory. He topped the 77-entry Turbo High Roller for KRW 28,039,600 (~USD 19,886) and the second APT title of his career.

Sze Mei Lau narrowly missed her second trophy of the festival after finishing runner-up, while Superstar Challenge champion Punnat Punsri added a third-place finish.

The last Omaha title went to Daisuke Yamazaki, who won the Turbo NL Omaha Hi-Lo 5 Card . Yamazaki collected his maiden APT trophy and KRW 4,390,947 (~USD 3,114) after overcoming 37 entries.

APT Incheon Rewrites the Record Book

The final trophies brought an end to a festival that produced new benchmarks throughout its ten days at Paradise City.

The APT Incheon Main Event attracted 1,393 entries from 807 unique players, creating a KRW 3,008,540,000 (~USD 2.15 million) prize pool. It became the largest and richest international poker tournament held in mainland South Korea.

Hong Kong’s Stephen Pang survived an exciting heads-up battle to win the Gold Lion and KRW 411,180,000 (~USD 293,700) following a three-handed deal.

Pang’s standalone winner recap covers his two victory laps and the heads-up comeback that almost denied him the title .

The largest field of the festival came in the Mini Main Event , where 1,427 entries generated a KRW 1,078,812,000 (~USD 770,580) prize pool. Japan’s Toru Sakiyama collected KRW 189,982,000 (~USD 134,739) and an APT Championship seat after recording the biggest result of his career.

Records also fell in the Korea National Cup, Zodiac Classic and High Roller Ultra Stack. The Heads-Up tournament became the largest ever held by the APT, while the Sunday Super Stack established new tour records for a South Korean edition of the event.

Overall entries increased by 13.6 percent compared with APT Incheon 2025, while the total prize money grew by 4.4 percent. Since 2023, the festival’s entries have more than doubled.

After 14,059 entries and more than KRW 15.96 billion in prizes, the last Lion has finally left Paradise City.

All facts, figures and images courtesy of the Asian Poker Tour.

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