APT Taipei 2026: Record Entries, $19M in Prizes & a Seventh Straight Festival Record
The Asian Poker Tour has wrapped its second festival of the 20-Year Anniversary season, and the numbers confirm what the poker world suspected: APT Taipei 2026 is now officially the largest non-Championship festival in the tour’s two-decade history. Seven consecutive record-breaking festivals. The streak continues.
26,009
$19.1M USD
51
“We believed the Asian Poker Tour had the potential to grow into something much bigger — and that was from the very beginning of the ownership change in 2022,” says APT CEO Fred Leung. “At the same time, seeing it become reality is still an incredible sense of accomplishment. The results are a reflection of alignment in vision and years of work from our team.”
Growth by the Numbers
APT Taipei has become one of the most consistent growth stories in Asian poker. The 2026 edition posted a 13.5% increase in total entries and a 9.6% rise in unique players compared to the same edition last year. The overall prize pool of TWD 598,932,533 (~USD 19.1 million) places it just behind APT Taipei 2025 and APT Championship 2025 in terms of money distributed, the slight dip from last year’s USD 20M peak reflects currency movement rather than any drop in participation, which hit all-time highs.
| Festival | Prize Pool (USD) |
|---|---|
| APT Taipei 2023 | $7,649,917 |
| APT Taipei 2024 | $12,244,579 |
| APT Taipei Classic 2024 | $12,180,057 |
| APT Taipei 2025 | $20,011,170 |
| APT Taipei 2026 | $19,134,681 |
Records Broken
Four tour records and two international records fell over 12 days. The headline act was Event #1: APT National Cup – Sponsored by DeepRun , which drew 2,940 entries — the largest field in APT history — generating the richest opening event prize pool the tour has ever seen: TWD 28.9 million (~USD 927K). Flight E alone attracted 956 entries, a new single-flight record.
The Mystery Bounty Hunter became the richest in APT history. The Super High Roller surpassed all previous non-Championship editions. The High Roller Ultra Stack set new Taiwanese records for both prize pool and top prize.
The festival also broke entirely new ground with two international records in combined mind sports events: the first-ever poker/Chinese Chess hybrid tournament, and a 31-entry poker/Go event — a world record for the format. Innovation, Leung says, is now a core pillar of what APT delivers.
“Our team is very willing to try new things. If they don’t work, then we’re fine with pivoting to something else. But when it does work, we’ll invest more into it — especially if we believe it can be a unique selling point for the tour,” he explains. “When we first introduced mixed games, it began with modest fields of 10–30 entries. The number of mixed game tournaments and field sizes have grown immensely and become an expectation of the modern day APT.”
Top Events by Prize Pool
| # | Event | Prize Pool (TWD) | Prize Pool (~USD) | First Prize (TWD) | First Prize (~USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Event #54 APT Main Event | 111,862,080 | ~$3,576,387 | 16,640,100 | ~$532,003 |
| 2 | Event #45 APT Super High Roller | 41,290,960 | ~$1,320,311 | 9,760,160 | ~$312,165 |
| 3 | Event #133 Mini Main Event | 39,968,640 | ~$1,278,996 | 6,988,540 | ~$223,533 |
| 4 | Event #124 Zodiac Classic – Natural8 | 35,691,840 | ~$1,141,340 | 5,457,040 | ~$174,465 |
| 5 | Event #149 APT High Roller | 34,110,720 | ~$1,090,743 | 6,526,320 | ~$208,682 |
| 6 | Event #1 APT National Cup – DeepRun | 28,929,600 | ~$924,947 | 3,548,400 | ~$113,469 |
| 7 | Event #40 Mystery Bounty Hunter – Natural8 | 25,872,000 | ~$827,304 | 2,905,800 | ~$92,946 |
| 8 | Event #73 High Roller Ultra Stack | 25,855,200 | ~$826,767 | 4,955,000 | ~$158,440 |
| 9 | Event #29 Single Day Super High Roller | 23,400,000 | ~$748,317 | 7,371,000 | ~$235,670 |
| 10 | Event #75 Superstar Challenge | 19,696,950 | ~$629,958 | 7,247,750 | ~$231,724 |
USD conversions based on approximate rate of TWD 31.27 per USD at time of festival.
Four-Figure Fields, Seven-Figure Pools
Five tournaments cleared 1,000 entries. Four generated seven-figure USD prize pools. The centrepiece was the Main Event : Hong Kong real estate agent Walter Lau outlasted 2,354 entries — the second-largest Main Event field in APT history — to claim TWD 16,640,100 (~USD 532K) and the Gold Lion trophy. An unprecedented eight APT Championship 2026 Main Event seats were distributed throughout the tournament.
The Mini Main Event (1,542 entries) and Mystery Bounty Hunter (1,540 entries) both cracked four figures. A late surprise came from the Labor Day Monster Stack : 2,135 entries competing for a TWD 6 million (~USD 191K) prize pool on the festival’s final day.
The Big Three: Lion Trophy Results
Mike Takayama made history in the Super High Roller, becoming the first Filipino player ever to win an APT Big Three Lion trophy. He defeated compatriot John Costiniano heads-up for a career-best TWD 9,760,160 (~USD 312K) — the largest non-Championship Super High Roller top prize in APT history — plus an APT Championship Main Event seat. Costiniano also received a seat as runner-up.
India’s Ritwik Khanna claimed the Rose Gold Lion in the APT High Roller after a stunning comeback, banking a career-best TWD 6,526,320 (~USD 209K) and an APT Championship seat.
A Truly Taiwanese Crowd
With 3,890 unique players from 51 countries and regions, the global reach is wide, but the home crowd dominated. Taiwan accounted for 42% of all unique players with 1,647 entries. Japan was a distant second with 638 players (16%), followed by Hong Kong at 352 (9%).
Top 10 Nations by Unique Players:
- 🇹🇼 Taiwan: 1,647 players (42%)
- 🇯🇵 Japan: 638 players (16%)
- 🇭🇰 Hong Kong: 352 players (9%)
- 🇰🇷 South Korea: ~8%
- 🇹🇭 Thailand: ~6%
- 🇸🇬 Singapore: ~3%
- 🇺🇸 United States: ~2%
- 🇲🇾 Malaysia: ~2%
- 🇵🇭 Philippines: ~2%
- 🇨🇦 Canada: ~1%
Seven Series Straight – And Counting.
APT Taipei 2026 extends the tour’s record-breaking run to seven consecutive festivals, stretching back to APT Manila Classic 2025. Whether measured by entries, unique players, or individual event records, the direction is unmistakable. APT Incheon is next on the calendar, with Leung hinting that the 20-Year Anniversary celebrations have further surprises in store across the remainder of the year.
The real landmark, however, comes later in 2026 when APT Championship returns to Taipei — and Leung’s expectations go well beyond simply matching last year’s USD 34 million prize pool.
“APT Championship is meant to represent the best of the tour, so expectations are naturally high,” he says. “Those expectations aren’t just about getting bigger and beating last year’s numbers. Our expectations always include raising the overall player experience — which is a challenge we place upon the team after each and every series we complete. It’s our obsession to improve that gives me confidence we have the right crew to make APT Championship one of the most significant poker events on the annual global poker calendar for years to come.”
Data and images courtesy of the Asian Poker Tour.
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