APT Taipei 2024: Main Event eclipses NTD 65 Million (~USD 2M) guarantee; Sean Ooi, Sparrow Cheung, and Edward Yam claim High Roller events
An action frenzy scene landed once more at the Asia Poker Arena and Chinese Mahjong League with the exciting 2024 APT Taipei currently underway. Day 7 of the twelve day schedule saw the brand’s largest prize pool guarantee wrap up its final two Main Event flights, adding a collective 446 entries to the tally. Midway through Flight D saw its numbers eclipse the ambitious NTD 65,000,000 (~USD 2,050,000) guarantee, making this season’s festivities another record-breaking moment for the tour.
On the side lines, Malaysia’s Sean Ooi and Hong Kong’s Sparrow Cheung claimed High Roller events while Edward Yam bagged a second series trophy at the Hyper Turbo – High Roller. Read up on these highlights below.
Main Event eclipses NTD 65 Million (~USD 2M) guarantee, Chen Yu Hung leads
Committed to its rocketing success, the Asian Poker Tour is taking the tournament scene by storm with an even bigger Main Event at the center of this season’s festival. The NTD 65,000,000 (~USD 2,050,000) listed pot smashed through four qualifying rounds and its share of online qualifiers to eclipse the guarantee by the last flight. A total of 442 runners return to the felt for Day 2 with Flight A chip leader Chen Yu Hung leading the pack.
Flight C and D welcomed 144 and 86 additional runners respectively, and saw New Zealand’s Thomas Ward bag the biggest stack of the day. Ward’s 154 big blind chip count however, stands just at 4th across the overall counts, followed by Flight C chip leader Kaiya Shono rounding up the top ten. Also making it through are several seasoned APT champions including two-time Main Event winners Mike Takayama (187,400) and Lester Edoc (148,000), and APT Summer Series Da Nang Main Event champion Shixiang Khoo (48,500).
Day 2 plays down to the money or ten levels – whichever comes first, where 175 players are geared to receive a piece of the NTD 72,232,020 (~USD 2,287,160) prize pool. Minimum payout is listed at NTD 111,000 (~USD 3,510) while top prize posts a massive NTD 12,944,020 (~USD 409,580) along with the fan favorite APT golden lion trophy.
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
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
Top Chip Counts
| Position | Name | Flag | Chip Count | BB |
| 1 | Chen Yu Hung | Taiwan | 331,800 | 207 |
| 2 | Jun Obara | Japan | 312,100 | 195 |
| 3 | Zhonghuan Dai | Singapore | 246,400 | 154 |
| 4 | Thomas St John Ward | New Zealand | 246,200 | 154 |
| 5 | Jonald Garcia | Philippines | 243,700 | 152 |
| 6 | Chin Wen Tseng | Taiwan | 237,900 | 207 |
| 7 | Moonho Seo | Korea, South | 227,600 | 142 |
| 8 | Zi Wei Tung | Taiwan | 226,700 | 142 |
| 9 | Kok Wei Teoh | Malaysia | 225,900 | 141 |
| 10 | Kaiya Shono | Japan | 218,900 | 137 |
APT Taipei 2024 Day 2 Chip Counts & Seat Draw
Zhi Jian Sean Ooi clinches maiden APT title in Event #63: Single Day High Roller
High roller fields, while relatively smaller, require a ton of skill with its contenders showing up to be some of the fiercest amongst the industry. Malaysia’s Zhi Jian Sean Ooi displayed just so and managed to lock up his maiden APT title in Event #63: Single Day High Roller. Ooi coursed through a decorated and pro-heavy 89 entry field which included the likes of Thailand’s Phachara Wongwichit, Hong Kong’s Dicky Tsang, and Philippines’ David Erquiaga, John Tech, and Christopher Mateo.
Multi event winner Bao Qiang Ho also made another final table appearance while in search of his third APT Taipei victory but bowed out a few places short of the title. In the final games, Ooi battled Hong Kong’s Tung Wing Wong in heads up play and defeated the latter to claim the NTD 2,039,700 (~USD 64,540) top prize.
Date: March 5, 2024
Buy in: NTD 100,000 (~USD 3,160)
Entries: 89
Prize pool: NTD 7,769,700 (~USD 246,160)
ITM: 13 places
Event #63: Single Day High Roller Full Payouts
| Place | Name | Flag | Prize |
| 1st | Zhi Jian Sean Ooi | Malaysia | NTD 2,039,700 |
| 2nd | Tung Wing Wong | Hong Kong | NTD 1,430,000 |
| 3rd | Kok Wei Teoh | Malaysia | NTD 944,000 |
| 4th | Dingxiang Ong | Singapore | NTD 742,000 |
| 5th | Jae Sung Lee | South Korea | NTD 598,000 |
| 6th | Chumpon Naisanthat | Thailand | NTD 466,000 |
| 7th | Bao Qiang Ho | Singapore | NTD 369,000 |
| 8th | John Perry | Australia | NTD 287,000 |
| 9th | Chao Ting Cheng | Taiwan | NTD 218,000 |
| 10th | Yosuke Nakazawa | Japan | NTD 179,000 |
| 11th | Kim Wah Chiu | Singapore | NTD 179,000 |
| 12th | Natalie Teh | Malaysia | NTD 159,000 |
| 13th | Jun Obara | Japan | NTD 159,000 |
Sparrow Cheung bags career ninth APT win
A dedicated live tournament player, Hong Kong’s Sparrow Cheung booked another impressive triumph at Event #67: Turbo – High Roller, bumping up his career total to a whopping nine APT titles. Cheung started the series strong with at least three final table appearances within the first two days but was yet to close out a trophy win. On his fourth high roller final table, Cheung finally emerged victorious, padding his $2.4 Million total live earnings further with an additional NTD 621,340 (~USD 19,660) in prizes.
Date: March 5, 2024
Buy in: NTD 30,000 (~USD 950)
Entries: 86
Prize pool: NTD 2,252,340 (~USD 71,365)
ITM: 11 places
Event #67: Turbo – High Roller Full Payouts
| Place | Name | Flag | Prize |
| 1st | Sparrow Cheung | Hong Kong | NTD 621,340 |
| 2nd | Seunghun Ko | South Korea | NTD 440,000 |
| 3rd | Ho Koon Leong | Singapore | NTD 288,000 |
| 4th | Chien-Chih Weng | Taiwan | NTD 222,000 |
| 5th | Leo Pang | Hong Kong | NTD 176,000 |
| 6th | Conor Grimsley | United Kingdom | NTD 137,000 |
| 7th | Takao Shimizu | Japan | NTD 108,000 |
| 8th | Phachara Wongwichit | Thailand | NTD 84,000 |
| 9th | Kanata Hongo | Japan | NTD 64,000 |
| 10th | Dicky Tsang | Hong Kong | NTD 56,000 |
| 11th | Jin Hoon Lee | South Korea | NTD 56,000 |
Edward Chun Ho Yam joins series multi event winners
As difficult as it may be to win a tournament, the list of multi event winners throughout the twelve-day series continues to grow, with its latest addition being Hong Kong’s Edward Chun Ho Yam. Yam followed his victory in Event #7: Turbo – High Roller and third place finish in the Super High Roller event, with another APT series win in Event #70: Hyper Turbo – High Roller. A good week for the tournament regular so far, Yam’s fourth final table appearance added another NTD 281,875 (~USD 8,930) to his run, bringing up his total series cashes to over NTD 5 Million (~USD 159K) as of writing.
Date: March 5, 2024
Buy in: NTD 25,000 (~USD 790)
Entries: 35
Prize pool: NTD 787,500 (~USD 24,910)
ITM: 5 places
Event #70: Hyper Turbo – High Roller Full Payouts
| Place | Name | Flag | Prize |
| 1 | Edward Chun Ho Yam | Hong Kong | NTD 281,875 |
| 2 | Seungmook Jung | Korea, South | NTD 195,000 |
| 3 | Wi-Yu Chuang | Taiwan | NTD 124,000 |
| 4 | Hon Cheong Lee | Hong Kong | NTD 90,000 |
| 5 | Tuck Wai Foo | Malaysia | NTD 73,000 |
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