Life-Changing Victory For Shi Rong Wang At APT National Cup In Taipei; Mystery Bounty Sets New Record

Asia-Pacific
Live Poker
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Recap
04/27/2025

Up until the Asian Poker Tour’s arrival in Taipei for its second stop of the year, Taiwanese player Shi Rong Wang only had a handful of small wins at local daily tournaments. However, that has all changed, and in a huge way. Wang dominated the final table of the record APT National Cup, defeating Huan Yu Chen at heads up, to lock up a massive payout of NT$ 3,804,240 (~US$ 106,612). Truly an outstanding victory for this young aspiring player.

Shi Rong Wang wins APT National Cup - Photo by APT
Shi Rong Wang wins APT National Cup – Photo by APT

APT National Cup – Event Recap

The APT National Cup was the first key event of the Asian Poker Tour’s – APT Taipei 2025 festival. With the anticipation of a massive influx of players, the event was moved to Red Space, a newly erected venue able to comfortably accommodate the large crowds.

APT Taipei 2025 - APT National Cup - Photo by APT
APT Taipei 2025 – APT National Cup – Photo by APT

The decision was indeed the right one. Throughout opening day, the lines were long and the tables were quickly filled, drawing a record 2,161 entries (1,265 uniques) across three flights. With the exception of China, rare is it to see this many unique players for a single day entry event in Asia. With buy in at NT$ 12,000 (~US$ 365), the proposed NT$ 10M guarantee was but a memory as the prize pool ballooned to a record NT$ 21,264,240 (~US$ 656,000).

  • Buy-in: NT$ 12,000 (~US$ 365)
  • Guarantee: NT$ 10,000,000 (~US$ 307,000)
  • Entries: 2,161 (1,265 uniques)
  • Prize pool: NT$ 21,264,240 (~US$ 656,000)
  • ITM: 302 players

Shi Rong Wang’s Fast Road To Victory

Day 2 saw the return of 302 players with Wang wedged in the middle sitting on a comfortable 34 bb stack. After bobbing up and down, he picked up momentum when he eliminated Tammel Tarmo in 13th place then caught a lucky river to knock out Ka Wai Leung in 11th place. When the final table was set, Wang was just 1 bb behind the leader Huan Yu Chen.

APT National Cup final table - Photo by APT
APT National Cup final table – Photo by APT

Both players went on a tear before their inevitable heads up clash. Wang took out three players, while Chen eliminated two. When heads up play began, Wang held a commanding lead, 55 bb  to Chen’s 26. Despite Chen’s best efforts to shift the momentum, the duel was short-lived. Wang sealed the victory with two pair on the flop, completing his incredible run to capture the coveted title and six figure USD top prize.

You can check out the full action via the Live Updates.

Key Events

Mystery Bounty Hunter - Photo by APT
Mystery Bounty Hunter – Photo by APT

Running alongside the APT National Cup final day was another key event on the floor – the Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8. Once again, it was another staggering turnout at the festival, drawing 1,724 entries across three flights. With buy-in at NT$ 17,000 (~US$ 545), the prize pool climbed to a record breaking NT$ 16,050,577 (~US$ 490,000). This easily cruised past the NT$ 15M guarantee and the previous event high by a very big margin.

Joseph Cheong - Photo by APT
Joseph Cheong – Photo by APT

Also lighting up the room was Day 1 of the APT Super High Roller which featured a jaw-dropping NT$ 330,000 (~US$ 10,100) buy in. The demand was high with 122 entries for a prize pool of NT$ 36,690,420, equivalent to over US$ 1.13 Million.

Big names such as Joseph Cheong, Alexander Lynskey, Dominik Nitsche, Manig Loeser, Chih Wei Fan, Charlie Chiu, Nevan Chang, Nguyen Trung Quan, Chun Keat Liu, Neel Joshi, and Calvin Sungwon Lee (who recently won the High Roller event at Korea Poker Cup) all made the cut into Day 2.  You can watch the final day action via the Live Stream.

Other Events

Also taking up space on the floor were ten side events that crowned ten happy winners. The most popular was the Hyper Turbo Home Game Atomic Pineapple 5 Cards with 127 entries. The Women’s Event drew a healthy crowd as well of 98 entries. Here’s a look at all of the day’s winners.

#13 PL Omaha High - High Roller (65,000 TWD)
PL Omaha High - High Roller

Jun Hao Wu Wins PLO High - High Roller

Jun Hao Wu could possibly the most active live circuit player from Singapore. Since borders opened after the pandemic in 2022, Wu has been on a mission to capture as many wins and be the top player from his country. Now 5th on the Singapore All Time Money List, Wu's hunt earned him his first title at the APT Summer Series Hanoi in 2023 and two more at APT Incheon on the following months which included a career high takedown at the Superstar Challenge.


Less than two weeks ago, Wu captured another High Roller title at Poker Dream Malaysia and now another at the ongoing APT Taipei festival at the PL Omaha High - High Roller event. Wu topped the 26 entries to claim the lion's share of the NT$ 1,460,160 (~US$ 44,860) prize pool for a payout of NT$ 613,160. This sends him closer to US$ 900K in live earnings.

Total Prize USD
$44,860
Total Prize
NT$1,460,160
Entries
26
ITM
4
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$613,160
$18,835
JH
Jun Hao Wu
Singapore [SGP]Singapore
2NT$409,000
$12,565
LM
Lok Ming Chan
Hong Kong [HKG]Hong Kong
3NT$263,000
$8,080
OC
Owen Chong
Malaysia [MYS]Malaysia
4NT$175,000
$5,375
#14 NL Hold'em - Freezeout (35,000 TWD)
NL Hold'em - Freezeout

Zichuan Huang's One Bullet Takedown At First Freezeout Event

The first Freezeout event of the series attracted a healthy crowd of 62 players, each one contributing NT$ 35,000 (~US$ 1,070) to the pot. This built up a prize pool of NT$ 1,874,880 (~US$ 57,600). It was an all international affair at the final table with nearly every player representing different flags. In the end, it was China that prevailed with Zichaun Huang unbeatable, defeating Jian Yang Teh at heads up. Residing in the USA, this was Huang's first ever live title of his career which came with a payout of NT$ 547,380 and a lion trophy to commemorate the achievement.

Total Prize USD
$57,600
Total Prize
NT$1,874,880
Entries
62
ITM
9
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$547,380
$16,815
2NT$393,500
$12,090
JY
3NT$256,000
$7,865
TH
Tsz Hin Lou
Hong Kong [HKG]Hong Kong
4NT$193,000
$5,930
5NT$150,000
$4,610
KC
Ka Chun Tsui
Hong Kong [HKG]Hong Kong
6NT$116,000
$3,565
YZ
7NT$92,000
$2,825
CB
Chung Brian
United States of America [USA]United States of America
8NT$71,000
$2,180
9NT$56,000
$1,720
EH
#16 Dealer's Choice (15,000 TWD)
Dealer's Choice
Total Prize USD
$17,870
Total Prize
NT$581,641
Entries
47
ITM
7
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$182,641
$5,610
2NT$132,500
$4,070
3NT$84,500
$2,595
DA
4NT$64,000
$1,965
FM
Furniss Mark
Australia [AUS]Australia
5NT$49,500
$1,520
CH
6NT$38,000
$1,165
YT
7NT$30,500
$935
MW
Michael Wookju Chung
Korea (Republic of) [KOR]Korea (Republic of)
#17 Women's Event (8,000 TWD)
Women's Event
Total Prize USD
$19,270
Total Prize
NT$627,231
Entries
98
ITM
13
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$164,231
$5,045
ZH
2NT$115,500
$3,550
3NT$76,000
$2,335
4NT$60,000
$1,845
ZY
5NT$48,500
$1,490
6NT$37,500
$1,150
MF
7NT$30,000
$920
8NT$23,000
$705
AC
9NT$17,500
$540
SK
Check the 13 Payouts & Results ...
#18 Turbo - PL Omaha Hi-Lo - Cry Me A River (Triple Board, Lowest River Card Kills Its Board) (10,000 TWD)
Turbo - PL Omaha Hi-Lo - Cry Me A River (Triple Board, Lowest River Card Kills Its Board)
Total Prize USD
$12,090
Total Prize
NT$393,615
Entries
48
ITM
7
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$124,115
$3,815
JA
Jaehyoun Ahn
Korea (Republic of) [KOR]Korea (Republic of)
2NT$89,500
$2,750
3NT$57,000
$1,750
4NT$43,500
$1,335
5NT$33,500
$1,030
6NT$25,500
$785
7NT$20,500
$630
#19 Hyper Turbo Home Games - Atomic Pineapple (Get 5 Cards, Discard 1 After Betting Preflop, Flop, Turn) (3,500 TWD)
Hyper Turbo Home Games - Atomic Pineapple (Get 5 Cards, Discard 1 After Betting Preflop, Flop, Turn)

Min Yen Tsai Wins Fun Hyper Turbo Atomic Pineapple

The largest side event of the day was the Hyper Turbo Home Games - Atomic Pineapple where players get 5 Cards, and get to discard 1 after betting preflop, flop, and turn. Excitement was at a high all throughout with a total of 127 taking part for a prize pool of NT$ 355,640 (~US$ 10,925). In the end, it was a happy moment for CTP regular Min Yen Tsai who captured his first ever festival title.

Total Prize USD
$10,925
Total Prize
NT$355,640
Entries
127
ITM
17
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$88,640
$2,725
MY
2NT$60,500
$1,860
CH
3NT$39,500
$1,215
4NT$32,500
$1,000
CH
Chun Ho Lau
Hong Kong [HKG]Hong Kong
5NT$26,000
$800
6NT$20,500
$630
7NT$16,000
$490
8NT$12,000
$370
KI
9NT$9,000
$275
CS
Cephas Siu
United States of America [USA]United States of America
Check the 17 Payouts & Results ...
#20 Hyper Turbo - NL 8 Game (8,000 TWD)
Hyper Turbo - NL 8 Game
Total Prize USD
$6,880
Total Prize
NT$224,011
Entries
35
ITM
5
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$82,511
$2,535
JG
Jarryd Godena
Australia [AUS]Australia
2NT$57,000
$1,750
3NT$36,500
$1,120
4NT$26,500
$815
5NT$21,500
$660
CH
#22 Super Hyper Turbo (8,000 TWD)
Super Hyper Turbo
Total Prize USD
$16,320
Total Prize
NT$531,226
Entries
83
ITM
11
#PayoutPlayer
1NT$145,226
$4,460
2NT$104,000
$3,195
3NT$68,000
$2,090
KH
Kevin Hendry
United States of America [USA]United States of America
4NT$52,500
$1,615
CK
Chun Kit Ho
Hong Kong [HKG]Hong Kong
5NT$41,500
$1,275
CL
6NT$32,500
$1,000
LG
Lee Gwanghun
Korea (Republic of) [KOR]Korea (Republic of)
7NT$25,500
$785
8NT$20,000
$615
LK
9NT$15,000
$460
LH
Lok Hei Li
Hong Kong [HKG]Hong Kong
Check the 11 Payouts & Results ...

APT Main Event

At the time of posting, the APT Main Event was in full swing, with registration open until the start of Day 2. For the first time in the tour’s history, a monumental NT$ 70,000,000 guarantee has been set which comes to roughly US$ 2.1 Million. Buy-in is NT$ 55,000 (~US$ 1,700) with a total of four starting days. According to the brand 700 players have already qualified via Natural8.

Follow the action via the Live Updates.