Past Champions In Contention At Record APT Taipei 2025 Main Event; Nicholas Go, Kitty Kuo Lead Day 2 Finish

Another action-packed day of flips and flops and heartbreaks at the record-breaking APT Taipei 2025 Main Event as nearly 1000 players pulled up seats at Day 2, all chasing a share of the massive NT$ 121,033,400 (~US$ 3.77 Million) prize pool. After nearly ten hours, the final 375 players were locked in with Wu Chun Yu landing the final blow, eliminating David Berlin on the bubble to close out the day’s action.

ITM Players Determined At the Record Breaking APT Taipei 2025 Main Event

The Asian Poker Tour set new benchmarks at APT Taipei 2025, drawing a monumental 2,547 Main Event entries and generating a massive NT$ 121,033,440 (~US$ 3,777,500) prize pool, both the largest in APT history. A field of 830 players advanced to Day 2 made even larger by the 140 late entries, all setting their sights on one goal, securing one of the 375 prized spots in the money.

Now that the ITM qualifiers have been established, the survivors are now guaranteed a minimum return of NT$ 85,000 (~US$ 2,650). For the eventual champion, a jaw-dropping NT$ 19,009,440 (~US$ 593,300) awaits.

Buy-in: NT$ 55,000 (~US$ 1,700)
Guarantee: NT$ 70,000,000 (~US$ 2.1 Million)
Entries: 2,547
Prize pool: NT$ 121,033,440 (~US$ 3,777,500)
ITM: 375 places

Top prize: NT$ 19,009,440 (~US$ 593,300)
Minimum payout: NT$ 85,000 (~US$ 2,650)

Day 1A: 542 entries / 203 advanced
Day 1B: 506 entries / 22d2 advanced
Day 1C: 486 entries / 240 advanced
Day 1D: 344 entries / 176 advanced
Day 2: 140 entries
Natural8: 529 entries

Nicholas Go And Kitty Kuo Top Day 2

Bubble crusher Wu, who started Day 2 as the chip leader, held strong throughout and ended the day third in chips with 932,000 (155 bb). Seizing the overall lead into the next stage was Nicholas Go with 1,281,000 (213 bb) who began the day one spot below Wu. At his heels was Natural8 online qualifier APT Taiwan Main Event champion  Kitty Kuo with 1,280,000 (213 bb), a near exact stack with just 1K separating them. 

Day 3 Qualifier
Day 2 Live Updates

Past Champions In Contention

Among the many notables that advanced were APT Main Event champions Dinh Duc Linh (681,000 – 113 bb), Gyeongbyeong Lee (650,00 – 108 bb), Kannapong Thanarattrakul (344,000 – 57 bb), Dicky Tsang (311,000 – 51 bb), Thi Hue Dang (304,000 – 50 bb), Mikiya Kudo (168,000 – 28 bb), Soo Jo Kim (145,000 – 24 bb), Sparrow Cheung (133,,000 – 22 bb), Punnat Punsri (115, 000 – 19 bb) all of these players remaining serious threats for another title. Filipino APT champions John Tech and Lester Edoc also survived, however holding on with 16 BB and 7 BB, respectively.

Also moving forward were notables John Matsuda, who’s coming off a red-hot 2024 filled with deep runs and titles, and Taiwanese favorites Hua-Wei Lin and Chen An Lin, all three ranked in the upper crust of the counts. Vietnam’s Quang Minh Nguyen – who is fresh off the APT Super High Roller victory high – continued his momentum with a healthy 100 bb stack, while Daniel Neilson made the most of the bubble phase pressure to finish the day with around 73 bb.

Other survivors were Korean StarCraft legend Yohwan Lim—better known as BoxeR—bagged up 47 bb. BoxeR is looking to add a Main Event trophy to his APT Championship title. Having just championed the Superstar Challenge, Biao Ding, made the Day 2 cut with 20 bb. 

Day 2 gets underway at 11:15am on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at Red Space. Follow the action via the Live Updates. There is also a Livestream Feature Table to catch some of the live action.