Thailand’s Pakorn Duangtrakan Solves Mystery as Main Event Kicks Off at APT Incheon

APT Incheon 2026 reached its first Sunday with a maiden champion, a new country record, and the start of the two biggest tournaments seen at Paradise City so far.

Thailand’s Pakorn Duangtrakan converted one of the shorter stacks at the Mystery Bounty Hunter final table into the first live tournament title of his career, while Japan’s Takayuki Akamatsu topped the opening flight of the APT Main Event.

Over in the Super High Roller, the relatively unknown Reoma Ogawa found himself leading a field containing several of Asia’s most successful high-stakes players. Not bad for someone who entered the day with less than USD 2,000 in recorded tournament earnings.

The side events were hardly quiet either. The Sunday Super Stack set a new APT country record, Qibang Cheung collected another runner-up finish and Ziwen Liu reached his third podium in as many days.

Pakorn Duangtrakan Solves the Mystery

The KRW 900,000 Mystery Bounty Hunter, sponsored by Natural8 , brought 122 players back from an original field of 868 entries from 32 countries.

They were competing for KRW 395,808,000 (~USD 284,140) in regular prize money, with another KRW 260,400,000 (~USD 186,935) waiting inside the bounty envelopes.

Duangtrakan began the nine-player final table as the third-shortest stack but worked his way into heads-up play against Japan’s Nishikido Nobuhiro.

The pair agreed to an ICM deal before continuing for another KRW 2,938,000, the title and the trophy. Nobuhiro held the chip lead at the time of the agreement and therefore received a slightly larger regular payout despite ultimately finishing second.

Duangtrakan won the final battle to collect KRW 59,981,000 (~USD 43,059) in regular prize money and another KRW 12,950,000 (~USD 9,300) from seven bounties.

The combined haul of KRW 72,931,000 (~USD 52,359) was the largest recorded score of his career and came with his maiden live tournament title.

Nobuhiro received KRW 60,117,000 (~USD 43,156) from the main prize pool and added KRW 6,300,000 (~USD 4,520) through eight eliminations. Mystery Bounty tournaments do not always produce the tidiest-looking payout tables, but the trophy still went home with Duangtrakan.

Third-place finisher Tetsuya Tsujisaka collected KRW 32,000,000 (~USD 22,970) and found another KRW 25,000,000 (~USD 17,950) in bounty prizes.

Russia’s Anton Kozko may have finished eleventh, but his trip to the bounty chest proved especially worthwhile. Kozko found the largest bounty of KRW 30,900,000 (~USD 22,180) and collected KRW 38,880,000 (~USD 27,910) overall.

#10 Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 (900,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$471,075

Total Prize

656.2M KRW

Guaranteed

300M KRW

Entries

868

ITM

122

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩59,981,000 $43,059	PD Pakorn Duangtrakan Thailand	2,403.16
2	₩60,117,000 $43,156	NN Nishikido Nobuhiro Japan	1,699.29
3	₩32,000,000 $22,970	TT Tetsuya Tsujisaka Japan	1,387.47
4	₩24,000,000 $17,230	RP Ryan Park United States of America	1,201.58
5	₩18,920,000 $13,580	SR Simon Ranke Germany	1,074.73
6	₩14,160,000 $10,165	SP Siwat Pattanaputisak Thailand	981.09
7	₩9,960,000 $7,150	ZM Zhijie Ma China	908.31
8	₩7,000,000 $5,025	FK Fuga Kagohara Japan	849.65
9	₩5,550,000 $3,985	KC Kwok Chun Yip Hong Kong	801.05

Check the 122 Payouts & Results ...

Akamatsu Leads APT Main Event Flight A

The KRW 2.5 million (~USD 1,700) APT Main Event officially got underway with its first live starting flight, bringing the field to 447 entries with plenty of opportunities still available to enter.

Flight A attracted 165 entries, including 136 unique players, and played through ten 60-minute levels. Another 282 entries had already participated through the OnLive stages on Natural8, with 39 of those players advancing directly into Day 3 and the paying positions.

A total of 70 players survived the first live flight and will return for Day 2 on Wednesday, August 12.

Akamatsu finished at the top of the counts with 241,000, narrowly ahead of China’s Jian Ting Cai on 234,700.

Hong Kong’s Andrei Chan completed the top three with 200,200, while Yi Wang and Zhentao Long also finished among the five largest stacks.

APT Main Event Flight A Top Ten Chip Counts

Recent WSOP bracelet winner Adriaan Jacobs advanced with 104,700 during what appears to be his first APT festival.

Former APT Main Event champion William Li also found a bag, although his 45,800 leaves him with some work to do when play resumes.

Five-time APT Women’s Event champion Yue Sun advanced with 33,700, while Ryan Plant secured 19,100.

Sam Ameen also made it through with 20,400 after returning to poker following an extended break. Ameen had already made his intentions clear earlier in the day.

“I’m going to play everything possible,” he said. “Fire lots of bullets, see how well I can run and see how it goes.”

His Flight A stack may not be large enough to stop those extra bullets from being fired just yet.

Among those unable to advance were APT Manila Classic 2025 Main Event champion Ivan Govorov , Maxim Sorokin and Maxim Lykov .

Flight B begins at 11am on Monday, August 10. Flights C and D follow on Tuesday, with late registration remaining available until the end of Level 11 on Day 2.

Ogawa Leads Star-Studded Super High Roller

The KRW 15 million (~USD 10,600) APT Super High Roller attracted 58 entries from 48 unique players, creating a prize pool of KRW 801,705,000 (~USD 575,525).

Only 14 players survived the opening 16 levels, with Ogawa finishing as the only player above two million chips.

The Japanese player bagged 2,335,000 and will return with 78 big blinds. Ogawa has just two recorded tournament cashes worth a combined USD 1,968, meaning even the KRW 31,510,000 (~USD 22,620) minimum payout would multiply his recorded earnings more than tenfold.

There is still a considerable obstacle in the way. Only eight players will be paid, leaving Ogawa and the remaining field six eliminations away from the money.

Natural8 ambassador Chih Wei Fan sits second with 1,950,000 after a day that required more than one attempt.

Fan was reduced to just a few big blinds during his first entry after a large river bluff ran into Takumi Eguchi’s quad sixes. He later re-entered, rebuilt and ended the night with 65 big blinds. It was not the most direct route to second place, but the chips all count the same once they are in the bag.

The Netherlands’ Michel Molenaar is third with 1,620,000, while Sutthi Denvitaya and Yuya Arito complete the top five.

APT Super High Roller Day 1 Chip Counts

The eventual champion will collect KRW 236,325,000 (~USD 169,650) in cash and a seat in the APT Championship Main Event worth another KRW 13,930,000 (~USD 10,000).

The final day begins at 11:15am on Monday and will be streamed on the official APT YouTube channel with a 30-minute delay.

Sunday Super Stack Sets Korean Record

Day 3 produced another record for the Asian Poker Tour , this time in the KRW 500,000 Sunday Super Stack.

The tournament attracted 505 entries, setting a new APT country record for the event and becoming the second-largest Sunday Super Stack held during the APT New Era.

Japan’s Naoki Matsumoto outlasted the field to collect KRW 39,878,080 (~USD 28,282) and the first APT title of his career.

Fumiya Kotani earned KRW 25,180,000 (~USD 17,858) as runner-up, while Mongolia’s Munkhgerel Baatar turned his first recorded live tournament cash into a third-place finish worth KRW 18,030,000 (~USD 12,787).

After the Korea National Cup set new Incheon records on Day 1, the tour managed to add another one before the opening weekend had even finished. At this rate, the APT may need to add a separate page to its website just to keep track of them.

Cheung Collects a Third Runner-Up Finish

Japan’s Hattori Masato won the KRW 3 million PL Omaha High Roller for KRW 26,856,000 (~USD 19,047), securing his maiden APT title.

British professional Qibang Cheung finished second for KRW 18,510,000 (~USD 13,128).

It was Cheung’s third runner-up finish in two days after coming second in two Omaha events on Saturday. He entered the festival chasing his ninth APT title and has now come within one opponent of winning it on three occasions.

Cheung is clearly doing almost everything right. The final step is proving slightly less cooperative.

Elsewhere, Do Yoon Kim won the Turbo High Roller for KRW 30,968,000 (~USD 21,963), while Toni Ravnak collected the fifth APT title of his career in the Turbo Double Stack for KRW 19,742,592 (~USD 14,002).

Liu was unable to win a third title in three days but still reached another podium, finishing third in the Fixed Limit Omaha Ultimate Hi-Lo – Cry Me A River. After two victories and a third-place finish, it has been a reasonably productive opening weekend.

Main Event and Super High Roller Continue Monday

The APT Main Event moves into Flight B at 11am on Monday, with another ten levels scheduled as players chase a place in Day 2.

The Super High Roller returns at 11:15am with Ogawa leading the final 14 and the money bubble only six eliminations away. The final table will be streamed live as the field plays down to the latest APT Lion Trophy winner.

The KRW 4.5 million (~USD 3,100) High Roller Ultra Stack also begins on Monday and will play through to its final day on August 11.

Three days into APT Incheon 2026, the Main Event has arrived, the Super High Roller is approaching its final table and yet another tournament record has been added to the books.

Be sure to check back to Somuchpoker regularly for the latest news and updates from Paradise City.

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