Inaugural APT Championship 2025 Kicks Off With a New Record; Ruiko Mamiya, Bo Hsiang Wang Win First Lions

If there was any doubt that the newest major project of the Asian Poker Tour was going to be successful, the opening days of the APT Championship sponsored by Natural8 at Red Space in the heart of Taipei City quickly put that to rest. The early turnout has already begun to shape the story of what is poised to become the tour’s standout event. Once again, the leading live poker operator in Asia is aiming to rewrite the history books in the region and they are doing so in cooperation with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP Club).

Asian Poker Tour Championship Kicks Off

Hands down, the most-anticipated festival of the year in Asia, the Asian Poker Tour Championship officially commenced on November 14 but the cards were already in the air one day prior with the Asia Gaming Industry Championship Freezeout. A total of 76 players ponied up the TWD 13,000 buy-in. Among the contenders were APT’s Michael Soyza and Victor Chong, the latter of which made it all the way to third place.

Heads-up was a Taiwanese affair between CTP dealer Wang Bo Hsiang and CTP owner Hsing Hsiung “David” Tai. Wang defeated Tai to claim the top prize of TWD 225,109 (~USD 7,285) and his first-ever APT Lion trophy. The founder of Taiwan’s groundbreaking poker club had to settle for TWD 159,000 (~USD 5,145). Other notables in the money included Sasha Guerin, Hua-Wei Lin as well as Seunguk Hwang.

Ruiko Mamiya Wins Record-Breaking National Cup Championship

The biggest story of the first three days of thrilling live poker action at Red Space was the victory of former poker dealer Ruiko Mamiya of Japan in the TWD 15,000 (~USD 495) Event #1 National Cup Championship. Thanks to a gargantuan field of 2,398 entries – the brand’s largest non-Main Event tournament field in history thus far – the tournament drew a massive prize pool worth TWD 29,855,675 (~USD 985,335).

A total of 336 players returned for the final day to battle not only for the cash prize, but also the brand new APT Pewter Lion National Cup Championship Trophy and USD 10,000 APT Championship Main Event entry.

#1001 National Cup Championship (15,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$985,120

Total Prize

NT$29,849,200

Guaranteed

NT$12,000,000

Entries

2,398

ITM

337

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$3,087,700 $101,900	RM Ruiko Mamiya Japan
2	NT$3,025,000 $99,835	KW Kuo Wei Chun Taiwan
3	NT$3,036,000 $100,200	WY Wilfred Yiu Hong Kong
4	NT$1,333,500 $44,010	WF Wing Fai Kwan Hong Kong
5	NT$1,113,300 $36,740	FC Florencio Campomanes Philippines
6	NT$898,000 $29,640	IH I Hsuan Wu Taiwan
7	NT$686,300 $22,650	TH Tsz Him Chan Taiwan
8	NT$495,000 $16,340	KT Kevin Tang Hong Kong
9	NT$377,200 $12,450	SC Shiuan Chang Taiwan

Check the 337 Payouts & Results ...

Mamiya entered the final table third in chips before eventually becoming the first-ever Asian Poker Tour Championship (APTC) female winner after a deal was cut between the final three players. She claimed the biggest slice worth TWD 3,087,700 (~USD 101,905) while third-place finisher Wilfred Yiu from Hong Kong earned TWD 3,036,000 (~USD 100,200). Runner-up Wei Chun Kuo missed out on victory but still earned a hefty consolation prize of TWD 3,025,000 (~USD 99,835).

Notables with deep runs in the event included Florencio Campomanes (fifth place for TWD 1,113,300), King Lun “Alan” Lau (15th place for TWD 250,200), Chao-Ting Cheng (31st place for TWD 111,700), Patrick Liang (32nd place for TWD 94,600) and Tom Verbruggen (36th place for TWD 94,600).

APT Championship Main Event 5M GTD

The expectations are definitely very high for a massive turnout across the board until the end of the festival on November 30, 2025. All eyes will be on the Championship Events, most especially the crown jewel of the schedule, the APT Championship Main Event. The event boasts a huge guarantee of USD 5 Million with a price tag of USD 10,000. Over 500 players are expected to join.

What makes this tournament so special is the fact that it will be held as a Freezeout – players only have one shot at glory . It comes with a deeper structure. Players start deep with 250 big blinds, featuring 75-minute levels for the first two days before increasing to 90 minutes from Day 3 onward.

APTC Main Event: Schedule

• Dates: November 24–28, 2025
• Buy-in: USD 10,000
• Guarantee: USD 5,000,000
• Day 1: Monday, November 24
• Day 2: Tuesday, November 25
• Day 3: Wednesday, November 26
• Day 4: Thursday, November 27
• Day 5: Friday, November 28

*Registration closes at the start of Level 11 in Day 2

International Pros At The Scene

What will be unfolding in the following two weeks is a mammoth schedule of 200 tournaments including 20 Championship Events that will redefine the APT’s record books. Some well-known international poker pros have already made their way to Taiwan and scored wins in the early stages of the festival such as Anthony Hu, Robertus Hollink and 2025 Poker Dream POY Yujian Eugene Zhou on November 14.

#3 Single Day High Roller (60,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$134,214

Total Prize

NT$4,147,200

Entries

80

ITM

11

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$1,140,700 $36,915	AY Anthony Yuan Hu United States
2	NT$811,000 $26,245	RS Ranno Sootla Estonia
3	NT$531,000 $17,185	AA Anusorn Asiralertsiri Thailand
4	NT$408,500 $13,220	KT Kevin Tang Hong Kong
5	NT$323,500 $10,470	KK Kitty Kuo Taiwan
6	NT$253,000 $8,190	DL Daniel Lei United States
7	NT$199,000 $6,440	DA Dinesh Alt Switzerland
8	NT$155,500 $5,030	ML Meng Ling Lin Taiwan
9	NT$118,000 $3,820	JS Joseph Sandaev Australia

Check the 11 Payouts & Results ...

Hu topped a TWD 60,000 Single Day High Roller in a field of 80 entries after defeating Estonian pro Ranno Sootla in heads-up with the likes of Kitty Kuo, Dinesh Alt, Joseph Sandaev and Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung all cashing.

Thailand’s Phachara Wongwichit also added an APT trophy to his resume in a TWD 25,000 Hyper Turbo High Roller for a top prize of TWD 208,800 (~USD 6,075). Danish poker prodigy Johan Schultz-Pedersen, co-founder and CEO of training site Octopi Poker as well as LearnWPT instructor. Schultz-Pedersen has cashed for more than $800,000 prior to this festival and added a score of TWD 1,430,280 (~USD 46,226) for first place out of 86 entries in Event #16 TWD 70,000 Single Day High Roller on November 15.

#10 Hyper Turbo - High Roller (25,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$16,078

Total Prize

NT$496,800

Entries

23

ITM

4

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$208,800 $6,755	PW Phachara Wongwichit Thailand
2	NT$139,000 $4,500	YH Yu Hsiang Cho Taiwan
3	NT$89,500 $2,895	KY Kuan Yu Lin Taiwan
4	NT$59,500 $1,925	SS Songklot Sermsirimongkol Thailand

At the Women’s Events, Yu Lun Huang, Felicia Wong, and Rosali Petit all emerged victorious for their first APT career titles.

The start of the series was certainly not short of big names from abroad with Joseph Cheong, Erik Seidel, Daniel Neilson, and Punnat Punsri joining the action in another Single-Day High Roller the day after. However, it was another Thai player who lifted the trophy as Tanupat Punjarojanakul topped a total of 74 entries for TWD 3,007,660 (~USD 97,300).

#26 Single Day High Roller (165,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$361,060

Total Prize

NT$10,940,160

Entries

74

ITM

11

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$3,007,660 $97,335	TP Tanupat Punjarojanakul United States
2	NT$2,139,000 $69,225	HH Hikaru Hishinuma Japan
3	NT$1,400,500 $45,325	MM Michel Molenaar Netherlands
4	NT$1,077,500 $34,870	PP Punnat Punsri Thailand
5	NT$853,500 $27,620	KN Kyosuke Nagami Japan
6	NT$667,500 $21,600	JC Joseph Cheong United States
7	NT$525,000 $16,990	PH Poseidon Ho Taiwan
8	NT$410,500 $13,285	DJ Daniel John Neilson Australia
9	NT$312,000 $10,095	AT Andreas Tomazou Cyprus

Check the 11 Payouts & Results ...

More closer to the Asia-Pacific region are familiar faces such as Poker Dream three-peat winner Nishant Sharma, Wai Kiat Lee, Bert Perry, Dylan Foster, Alan Pham, Abraham Ceesvin,Christopher Mateo, and Mike Takayama to name a few.