APT Taipei Classic 2024 Launches With A Bang As Five Champions Find Glory On Opening Day

The Asian Poker Tour continues to prove why it is a leading brand in the region as APT Taipei Classic 2024 kicked off to a jam-packed house. Despite a five-month break since its last festival, which is a lengthy gap for most tours, the highly anticipated Taiwan stop is already living up to the hype.

The festival’s opening event, the APT National Cup saw the line stretching up the steps and spilling onto the sidewalk. By the time registration closed, the event had roared to an impressive 1,680 entries, setting the stage for an earth-shaking series with head-turning prizes.

In addition, that wasn’t the only event on the opening day menu. Players with varying table interests were also accommodated with a High Roller Freezeout event, Women’s Event, and a few non-Hold’em variants on offer. By the end of the first day, five champions emerged and 235 players moved on to the final day of the opener. Here are the highlights.

APT Taipei Classic 2024

For those just getting wind of this festival, APT Taipei Classic 2024 runs from September 27 to October 7 at the Asia Poker Arena and Chinese Mahjong League in Taipei City, Taiwan. Through the years, this stop has become increasingly popular with players from all over the world marking their calendars since its announcement.

Among those that eagerly awaited opening day were early goers: multi-decorated Thai pro Punnat Punsri, WSOP bracelet winners Konstantin Held, Motoyoshi Okamura, Abhinav Iyer, Dicky Tsang, Lok Ming Chan, and contingents from Hong Kong and Australia alongside a huge Taiwanese force.

1,680 Pour In For APT National Cup

At the APT National Cup, the three entry flights built a 1,680 strong turnout for a prize pool of NTD 14,353,920 (~US$ 454,375). With each flight playing down to ITM, 80 players moved on to Day 2. The eventual winner is guaranteed to turn the NTD 10,000 (~US$ 315) buy in to a NTD 2,519,920 (~US$ 79,820) payday. The player with the best chance of doing so is Taiwan’s Yu Cheng Lee who bagged a towering stack at the last flight.

Buy in: NTD 10,000 (~US$ 315)
Guarantee: NTD 10,000,000 (~US$ 315,240)
Entries: 1,680
Prize pool: NTD 14,353,920 (~US$ 454,375)
ITM: 80 players

While the champion has yet to be determined, all the players will walk away with a minimum NTD 16,000 (~US$ 507). Also joining the leader into the next stage are Carlos Chang, Alan Khoo, Kai Hung Hu, Kunal Patni, and Kun Han Lee to mention a few.

At the time of posting, Day 2 was already underway. Follow the action via the Live Updates.

APT National Cup – Day 2 updates

Lester Edoc Crosses Over To 2M In Earnings

APT events in Taiwan have been a juicy hunting ground for the Filipino pro Lester Edoc. At the previous series, Edoc bagged first and second high roller finishes and ran deep at the Main Event. Returning with the same fire, Edoc outlasted the 87-player field of the Single Day High Roller Freezeout for a payout of NTD 1,085,240 (~US$ 34,375).

Buy in: NTD 55,000 (~US$ 1,725)
Players: 87
Prize pool: NTD 4,134,240 (~US$ 130,860)
ITM: 13 places

This year has been spectacular for the Filipino pro with not only success on the APT felt but other events in the region as well. With this latest win, Edoc crosses over US$ 2 Million in live earnings per Hendon Mob.

Final Table Payouts

Other Winners

Four other players were also minted at opening day. Impressively, the largest side event turnout was the Women’s Event with 129 entries. This may well be a first in Asia, and a welcome sign that more women are taking on the sport. An even happier finish to the event, with a maiden victory for Japan’s Sachiko Uchihara and a payday of NTD 198,144 (~US$ 6,245).

Hong Kong’s Park Yu Cheung aka Sparrow Cheung has a collection of APT trophies and added another at the Limit Triple Draw 2-7 event. Cheung topped the 69 entry field for a payout of NTD 118,038 (~US$ 3,720). At the PLO, Japan’s Abe Yusuke topped the 71 entry field for a payout of NTD 176,624.

Players may recall Australia’s Mark Furniss and his incredible achievement at the previous APT Taipei series where he secured a whopping three mixed event titles. Looks like he is at it again with a takedown on opening day. Furniss knocked it out of the park at the 5-Card PLO (Big O), besting a field of 70 entries to earn a NTD 119,952 top prize.

And to satisfy the hungry late night players was the Hyper Turbo with 29 entries. Adrien Pierre Louis Favre Felix emerged as champion to earn the NTD 138,840 (~US$ 4,375) top prize.