APT Taipei 2025 Live Poker Festival Shatters Records Across the Board

The expectations were high for the latest Asian Poker Tour stop in Taiwan as the previous editions in Taipei City had brought with it numerous country and prize pool records. Yet, a new dimension was reached during the latest installment from April 25 until May 4, 2025 with absolutely incredible figures. It has become the pinnacle of live poker events outside of the Triton Super High Roller Series and the partnership between the APT and the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP Club) was further strengthened.

APT Taipei 2025: Biggest Festival In Asian Poker Tour History

Since previous APT Taipei stops had tested the limits of the Asia Poker Arena, both brands decided to move this festival to a brand new venue just around the corner and Red Space featured more than 120 tables. Even that was at times not enough, as some of the tournaments on the vast schedule had to be cancelled.

When all trophies had been awarded and the dust had settled, all events had produced an earth-shattering 22,909 total entries with a total of NT$ 612,341,874 in prize money – which equals approximately ~US$ 20,011,170. This is certainly a new territory not only for the APT and CTP Club, but also for live poker history in Taiwan as well. CTP’s David Tai told SoMuchPoker,

This has been an incredibly successful series, with a strong turnout of international players and many records broken. We’re thrilled to have a brand new, larger venue, and we believe that the upcoming APTC at the end of this year will attract even more international participants. We warmly welcome everyone to visit Taiwan.

Just to put things into perspective, this has been the largest and richest APT Series of all times during the 19 years it has been running. It also surpassed all previous records for a live poker festival on Taiwanese soil in spectacular fashion across 118 trophy events and six live satellites held at the brand new Red Space in the city center of Taipei City.

According to the APT, four tournaments generated seven-figure US$ prize pools with as many attracting four-figure entry fields. No less than 16 tour records were broken in the process.

APT Taipei Sets The Stage For APT Championship

However, while the record books have been rewritten just now, the new incredible figures may only last until November when the largest live poker operator in the Asia-Pacific region returns for the biggest project to date. Chief Executive Officer of the APT Fred Leung added,

APT Taipei 2025 had tremendous results by setting new all-time records for the Asian Poker Tour — including the largest field (2,547 entries), largest poker festival (22,909 entries), and awarded prize money (US$ 19M+).  It lays a great foundation for the inaugural APT Championship 2025 which launches this November.

From November 14 to 30, 2025, the APT Championship is set to take place and the crown jewel on the schedule will feature a NT$ 165,000,000 guarantee (~US$ 5 Million). Unlike other APT Events, the NT$ 350,000 (~US$ 10,700) buy-in APTC Main Event will be held in a Freezeout tournament and several winners have already received their entry ticket for this must-play live poker event in Asia later this year already. Seven champions in Taipei and five players in a live satellite at Red Space were added to the list.

Key Event Winners And Massive Turnouts

One of these winners emerged right away in Event #1 APT National Cup, which saw the action explode on the opening day of the series with a new attendance record in the opening flight. The tournament ended up with a massive field of 2,161 entries for a total prize pool of NT$ 21,264,240 (~US$ 656,304) and Taiwan’s Shi Rong Wang came out on top for a cash prize of 3,454,240 (~US$ 106,612) and the APTC Main Event ticket. 

The next key event on the list was the cherry on top, what everyone had been waiting for. Thanks to 2,547 entries, the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event produced a gargantuan prize pool of NT$ 121,033,440 (~US$ 3,735,600). It became not only the largest APT Main Event in history but also in Taiwan itself with almost one fifth of the festival’s overall prize pool contributed. Japan’s Akira Takasugi banked a top prize of NT$ 19,009,440 (~US$ 586,710), which rivals the figures of many other international tournaments.

Event #12: Mystery Bounty Hunter  Sponsored by Natural8 surpassed the guarantee by more than half, while Event #24: Sunday Super Stack doubled it thanks to 386 entries. Slightly behind that attendance figure was the High Roller Ultra Stack but the 354 entries brought with them three new APT records. South Korea’s Chang Hwan Lee collected NT$ 4,465,700 (~US$ 137,830) for his efforts.

The victory of John Juanda showcased that even some of live poker’s biggest names take part in the APT stops these days and he won the brand’s largest Single Day High Roller so far after coming out on top of 230 entries in Event #69. It was a nice payday of NT$ 3,571,700 (~US$ 110,238) to further add to Juanda’s poker legacy, which now spans multiple decades.

Other high-roller tournaments such as the Zodiac Classic sponsored by Natural8, the Baby Superstar Challenge and the APT High Roller all followed suit. In the latter, Vietnam’s Nguyen Trung Quan defeated a field of 415 entries and boosted his bankroll with NT$ 7,586,600 (~US$ 247,930) for the efforts throughout two days to collect one of the larger prizes throughout the two weeks in Taipei City.

Lower stakes tournaments also had tremendous participation figures as well. Near the end of the series, for example, the Mini Main Event more than doubled the guarantee with 1,760 entries to generate a prize pool worth NT$ 38,016,000 (~US$ 1,162,530). Local player Hung Te Lee was crowned the champion for NT$ 6,515,000 (~US$ 201,080) and the APTC Main Event ticket.

Several two-time champions were crowned, many of which had plenty of travel hours all the way to Taiwan such as Canada’s David Spencer, Jarryd Godena from Australia and the UK’s Craig Cooper. The most successful player in terms of trophies was Qibang Cheung, who triumphed in three mixed game tournaments of different poker variants with smaller field sizes.

APT Heads To Korea For Two Stops

The Asian Poker Tour will be heading two South Korea for the next two stops. From August 1 to 10, 2025, APT Incheon takes place at the Paradise City Casino. It is followed by APT Jeju from September 26 until October 5, at the Landing Casino inside of the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa World. 

APT Announces Two Stops In Korea