APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024: NTD 65 Million (~US$ 2M) Main Event guarantee breached; Chih Wei Fan, Peter Kiem, and Yita Choong land victories

The ongoing APT Taipei Poker Classic games at CTP Asia Poker Arena welcomed another full house right on day five with its Main Event festivities having wrapped up its qualifying rounds. Two final flights ran its course and saw its NTD 65,000,000 (~US$ 2M) guarantee breached midway through Flight C. Action closed with another 326 runners joining the list of survivors onto Day 2 with USA’s Jacob Ikuma and South Korea's Jae Wook Shin on top of the charts. 

Across the side events, Chih Wei Fan, Peter Kiem, and Yita Choong found themselves more than happy to bank first place payouts, having come out on top of the Superstar Challenge, High Roller - Double Stack, and Single Day High Roller, respectively. Scroll down below for all the highlights.

Main Event prize pool eclipses NTD 86 Million (~US$ 2.7M)

With registration open right before the start of the first Day 2 on schedule, 65 players took advantage of the last chance to enter, bringing up the total entries to 1,991. A record-breaking field, 295 runners are guaranteed a share of the massive NTD 86,011,200 (~US$ 2,722,735) prize pool.

The third Main Event heat, Flight C, garnered an added 368 entries (298 unique) and ran through another ten levels of play. The field whittled down to 195 players remaining by night’s end with USA’s Jacob Ikuma leading the counts (263,000) to rank 14th over the Day 2 charts. Vietnam’s Le Ngoc Minh trailed closely behind with 221,900, enough to carry a well than healthy stack onto the next round.

Joining the list across the flight were Superstar Challenge runner up Daniel Nielson (163,800), New Zealand’s Han Tae Hoon (149,000), South Korean regular Soo Jo Kim (139,300), Hong Kong’s Edward Yam (110,600), USOP ambassador Kyle Bao Diep (37,600), Taiwan’s Chen An Lin (35,900) and European Poker Tour Barcelona champion Stephen Song (27,800), to name a few.

The final qualifier on schedule, Flight D followed later in the evening and drew in another 259 entries (202 unique). By bagging time, South Korea’s Jae Wook Shin stacked the highest with 264,000 in chips, just sitting right above Ikuma across the Day 2 overall pecking order. Notable runners also advancing through are Singapore's Jacky Wang (127,400), Hong Kong's Jeffrey Lo (102,000), USA's Joseph Cheong (88,900), and Philippines’ Florencio Campomanes (82,400), more than double of the 40,000 starting stack.

• Date/s: September 29 - October 5, 2024

• Buy in: NTD 50,000 (~US$ 1,570)

• Guarantee: NTD 65,000,000 (~US$ 2,057,610)

• Total entries: 1,991

• Prize pool: NTD 86,011,200 (~US$ 2,722,735)

• ITM: 295 places

• Natural8 OnLive: 397 entries

• Flight A: 462 entries / 157 qualified

• Flight B: 439 entries / 181 qualified

• Flight C: 368 entries / 195 qualified

• Flight D: 260 entries / 131 qualified

• Day 2 A/C: 414 players

• Day 2 B/D: 312 players

• Day 3 - Thursday, October 3

• Day 4 - Friday, October 4

• Final Day - Saturday, October 5

Top 15 Day 2 Chip Counts

Head onto APT’s official website for the full list of survivors
Backtrack on all the day’s action via SMP Live Updates

Chih Wei Fan overcomes Superstar Challenge from behind

Taiwan’s Chih Wei Fan locked in an impressive finish across this season’s Superstar Challenge games, having overcome a four-player field into the Final Day. Fan came from behind with the shortest stack yet managed to close out the victory in under three hours, having defeated running chip leader Daniel Nielson in heads up play. Reigning in all the glory, Fan banked his best live cash to date amounting to NTD 8,590,525 (~US$ 270,252), the coveted APT Black Lion trophy, along with his second APT career title for his exemplary performance.

“Last year, I lost to Punat’s AA with A5 at this table, and this year I finally lost with 9J to AK in Jeju Island. Now that I’ve achieved this, it feels incredibly significant to me. I believe I’ve grown a lot over these 14 to 15 months, and I’m especially grateful to every opponent who has given me advice or defeated me along the way; they’ve all contributed to my growth.”, commented Fan following his win.

The Final Day saw four runners return to the felt, each in for a cut of the NTD 20,454,525 (~US$ 647,910) prize pool. Nielson led the final rounds, holding down nearly half the chips in play after eliminating defending champion Josh Mccully as the money bubble the night prior.

In great shape to take it down, Neilson kept his advantage all the way to heads up play against Fan. A crucial pot however, quickly turned the tables just minutes in, with Fan cracking Nielson’s {ad}{ac} with {qh}{6c} on board {6d}{qd}{7c}{9d}{8c}. Neilson was left with eleven big blinds following the hand, and eventually crashed the next level. A shortlived battle, the final hand saw Nielson unable to hold up with {10d}{5c} against Fan’s {10c}{8c} on board {jh}{4h}{9s}{8s}{8h}, to finally close the action.

• Date/s: September 30 - October 1, 2024

• Buy in: NTD 800,000 (~US$ 25,100)

• Entries: 27 (23 unique)

• Prize pool: NTD 20,454,525 (~US$ 647,910)

• ITM: 4 places

Superstar Challenge Full Payouts

Relive the action via APT’s official livestream

Peter Kiem clinches High Roller - Double Stack title

A two-day highlight, the High Roller - Double Stack event welcomed 63 players returning to the felt, led by former APT Main Event Champion and bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer. It took nearly twelve hours of play before a champion was crowned, with USA’s Peter Kiem hailed as the last man standing, having defeated Iyer for the title.

An incredible feat, Kiem earned the lion’s share of the NTD 9,434,880 (~US$ 298,660) prize pool, adding a wealthy NTD 2,089,880 (~US$ 66,150) in winnings under his belt. Local fare was in full force with a number of Taiwanese runners locking up deep finishes across the High Roller event, including Chia Yun Wu (8th), Natural8 ambassador Hua Wei Lin (20th), and Eric Tsai (25th), all who fell short of landing the victory.

• Date/s: September 30 - October 1, 2024

• Buy in: NTD 60,000 (~US$ 1,880)

• Entries: 182 (133 unique)

• Prize pool: NTD 9,434,880 (~US$ 298,660)

• ITM: 27 places

High Roller - Double Stack Final Table Results

Yita Choong bags maiden APT trophy at Single Day High Roller

The high roller games have been gaining traction across the ongoing APT Taipei Poker Classic festivities with its third Single Day High Roller event recording an 85-entry field. With only eleven places set to lock in a profit, the money bubble burst twelve hours into the tournament and saw the final table take shape. By the 26th level of play, a champion finally rose up to the podium, with Australia’s Yita Choong securing his maiden APT title. Choong holds down a lengthy list of achievements, and successfully added another NTD 2,019,000 (~US$ 63,910) in cashes to his impressive US$ 2.3 Million career live earnings.

• Date/s: October 1, 2024

• Buy in: NTD 100,000 (~US$ 3,130)

• Entries: 85

• Prize pool: NTD 7,344,000 (~US$ 232,470)

• ITM: 11 places

Single Day High Roller Full Payouts