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

Asia
Live Poker
10/02/2024
APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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.

APT Poker Classic 2024 – Schedule

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.

Jacob Ikuma at APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Jacob Ikuma, Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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.

Jae Wook Shin at APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Jae Wook Shin, Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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

Pos. Player Flag Chip Count
1 Keigo Kubo Japan 420,600
2 Nicholas Go Hong Kong 398,600
3 Yuya Arito Japan 335,400
4 Ee How Ong Malaysia 313,200
5 Chee Yong Sim Malaysia 308,400
6 Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss United States 299,900
7 Ryan Shyun Yuan Kim Singapore 298,500
8 Wongyu Kang Korea, South 288,500
9 Sang Woo Chun Korea, South 284,600
10 Ka Chun Tsui Hong Kong 274,300
11 Chan Je Min Jeremy Malaysia 270,300
12 Chi-Ying Lin Taiwan 269,300
13 Jae Wook Shin Korea, South 264,000
14 Jacob Ikuma United States 261,000
15 Gilsoo Kim Korea, South 259,400

 

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

Chi Wei Fan at APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Chih Wei Fan, Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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.

APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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 AA with Q6 on board 6Q798. 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 105 against Fan’s 108 on board J4988, 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

Place Player Flag Prize (NTD)
1 Chih Wei Fan Taiwan 8,590,525
2 Daniel John Neilson Australia 5,727,000
3 Stephen Kyung Hyun Song United States 3,682,000
4 Charles Waymel France 2,455,000

Relive the action via APT’s official livestream

Peter Kiem clinches High Roller – Double Stack title

Peter Kiem at APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Peter Kiem, Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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

Place Player Flag Prize (NTD)
1 Peter Kiem United States 2,089,880
2 Abhinav Iyer India 1,411,000
3 Tomoki Terashima Japan 971,000
4 Dylan Wayne Foster Australia 792,000
5 Yuu Xin Liu Canada 631,000
6 Ka Chun Tsui Hong Kong 485,000
7 Grant Wang United States 353,000
8 Chia Yun Wu Taiwan 256,000
9 Abraham Abdulla Ceesvin Singapore 211,000

 

Yita Choong bags maiden APT trophy at Single Day High Roller

Yita Choong at APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024
Yita Choong, Photo Credit – Asian Poker Tour

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

Place Name Country Prize (NTD)
1 Yita Choong Australia 2,019,000
2 Tanupat Punjarojanakul United States 1,436,000
3 Phachara Wongwichit Thailand 940,000
4 Jason Park Lun Wong United Kingdom 723,000
5 Yu Chung Chang Taiwan 573,000
6 Ka Shing Leung Hong Kong 448,000
7 Yuji Yaginuma Japan 353,000
8 Asa Gregory Smith United Kingdom 275,000
9 Thanisorn Saelor Thailand 209,000
10 Sorawit Suriyakarn Thailand 184,000
11 Tsz Fai Tong Hong Kong 184,000

Author:Janette Dee