Hirotaka Fukatsu Wins APPT Korea Main Event for KRW 218 Million ($161,000) – More Than Ten Times His Previous Best

Japan ‘s Hirotaka Fukatsu has won the APPT Korea Main Event at Paradise City Incheon , defeating Xueying Zhao heads-up to claim the top prize of KRW 218,166,000 (~USD 160,788), the APPT Shard Trophy, and an APPT Championship package.

Fukatsu outlasted a 782-entry field, climbing from ninth of 14 players on the final day to become champion. The result was more than ten times his previous best live cash of around USD 15,000.

Zhao, who had already finished runner-up in the APPT National earlier in the series , came within touching distance of becoming only the second woman to win an APPT Main Event title, following Young-shin Im’s victory at APPT Cebu in 2010. She collected KRW 136,460,000 (~USD 100,571) as runner-up.

Tong Mu of the United States, who had led the final day chip counts from the start, exited in third for KRW 97,300,000 (~USD 71,710) after his pocket aces were cracked by Zhao’s set of kings in a brutal cooler.

Final Table Results

#42 APPT Main Event (1,800,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$895,160

Total Prize

1.2B KRW

Guaranteed

1B KRW

Entries

782

ITM

111

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩218,166,000 $160,788	HF Hirotaka Fukatsu Japan	374.54
2	₩136,460,000 $100,571	XZ Xueying Zhao China	277.66
3	₩97,300,000 $71,710	TM Tong Mu United States of America	409.62
4	₩75,190,000 $55,415	TN Taisuke Niina Japan	281.49
5	₩57,840,000 $42,628	MS Maxim Sorokin Russia	562.97
6	₩44,500,000 $32,796	CT Chao Ting Cheng Taiwan	371.51
7	₩34,230,000 $25,228	DF Daijiro Fukuoka Japan	975.09
8	₩26,330,000 $19,405	SH Soichiro Hayashi Japan	342.38
9	₩20,250,000 $14,924	AT Andrew Tomoya Matahira Japan	1,194.24

Check the 111 Payouts & Results ...

Fukatsu: “It Still Feels Unbelievable”

Speaking through a translator after his victory, Fukatsu admitted the magnitude of the result had not yet sunk in.

“It feels unbelievable, so I think from here on out it’ll gradually start to hit me that I actually won. But right now, it still feels unbelievable.”

Fukatsu entered the final day ninth of 14 players with just 1,090,000 chips, not too far from the bottom of the counts. He described his approach as focused entirely on the hand in front of him rather than any broader strategy.

“Rather than focusing on winning or trying to get as much prize money as possible, I was just focused on facing and playing each hand right in front of me, one by one.”

When asked whether there was a defining moment where he felt he could win, Fukatsu was measured.

“To be honest, there wasn’t really a specific moment where I felt ‘I might win this.’ Chips going up and down before you even realize it is just a typical thing in poker. I just tried to apply what I’ve learned and studied one by one, faced the game seriously, and as a result, I ended up winning.”

On the prize money, Fukatsu had yet to make any plans.

“I haven’t thought about that at all yet. But I do plan to keep playing poker in the future, so while continuing to devote myself to poker, I want to keep working hard every day so I can win or place high in big events like this again.”

Final Day Action

Fourteen players returned for the final day with Mu leading the counts on 3,485,000, Zhao third on 2,550,000, and Fukatsu ninth with just 1,090,000. Jae Kyung Sim began on life support with 135,000.

The first eliminations came quickly. Sim was forced all in with five-three and ran into Yuki Kawamoto‘s king-queen, which made two pair on the runout. Kohei Ikeda followed when his ace-nine lost to Taisuke Niina’s ace-six, Niina pairing his six on the flop.

Fukatsu then got the double he needed, three-bet shoving pocket queens into Yuma Tominaga‘s pocket tens and holding.

A three-way pot shortly after ended Tominaga’s run in 12th, his tens beaten by Daijiro Fukuoka’s ace-jack two pair, with Fukuoka tripling up and Mu taking the side pot.

Kawamoto departed in 11th, his ace-five open-ender no match for Niina’s pocket queens, and Hiroki Taniguchi fell on the final table bubble when his sixes were counterfeited on the river by Niina’s king.

The Final Table

Mu doubled through Maxim Sorokin with pocket jacks to open the final table before Andrew Tomoya Matahira became the first final table casualty in ninth, ace-king bested by Sorokin’s sevens.

Fukatsu then took the chip lead when he turned two pair with king-queen against Soichiro Hayashi’s pocket aces on a queen-high board, and Hayashi called off his stack on the turn and found no help on the river, exiting in eighth.

Fukuoka then produced one of the day’s most remarkable sequences. He lost a flip to Mu to fall to just 215,000 before posting his big blind and being left with 15,000 chips. He committed the last of it with eight-four, found an eight in the door, and doubled.

He doubled again the very next hand through Fukatsu with jack-ten against jack-four. Back from the dead twice consecutively, Fukuoka eventually ran his pocket tens into Fukatsu’s turned straight to bust in seventh.

Chao Ting Cheng , holding a dominated king-eight, asked for three eights as the dealer ran out the board from his last 100,000, and received them, flopping trips and turning quads. The miracle only delayed the inevitable; Cheng busted in sixth when all three players got it in and Sorokin rivered a flush.

Sorokin himself fell in fifth shortly after, first doubling Niina when his flush draw missed, then losing his remaining chips to Mu’s rivered flush. Niina’s run ended in fourth when he jammed into Fukatsu’s pocket jacks and received no help.

Three-Handed

Zhao doubled through Mu when her ace-jack made a river flush against his ace-ten, then came the hand that ended Mu’s tournament.

He four-bet jammed his pocket aces into Zhao’s three-betted kings, but a king on the flop gave Zhao a set Mu couldn’t catch up. Mu departed in third for KRW 97,300,000 (~USD 71,710).

Heads-Up

Heads-up began with Fukatsu holding just under a 2:1 chip lead. Zhao won a large pot by shoving the turn and forcing a fold, bringing the stacks a little closer to even.

Fukatsu reasserted himself by check-calling three streets before Zhao turned over ten-nine for air against his paired ace, taking his biggest lead of the match.

Zhao twice doubled from near-zero, first with king-five finding a five on the flop, then with seven-five flopping two pair, but Fukatsu quickly clawed back both times.

The end came when Zhao moved all in with queen-six and Fukatsu called with king-ten. The turn gave Fukatsu trips and Zhao couldn’t find the miracle she needed. Fukatsu was champion.

The win also books Fukatsu’s seat at the APPT Championship at Okada Manila this October, the next stop on the APPT calendar.

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