Japan’s Shoichiro Tamaki hails as latest APT Incheon Main Event champion, taking down KRW 271,447,000 (~US$ 206,030) for his win

After six full days of intense action at the Paradise City Casino, the latest Asian Poker Tour Incheon Main Event has crowned Japan’s Shoichiro Tamaki as its newest champion. Tamaki collected an astonishing KRW 271,447,000 (~US$ 206,030) payout following a three-way ICM deal and defeating China’s Tsz To Wan in heads up play. The $1 Million advertised Main Event garnered more attention than expected, bumping up the prize pool to an eye-catching KRW 1,867,347,000 (~US$ 1,411,975) pot.

The prestigious APT has been regularly gracing poker headlines all over the world for taking its games to a whole new level and shattering records festival after festival. This tournament joins the brand’s lengthy list of accomplishments, standing to be another record to beat after coming out to be the country’s largest Main Event to date. Aside from that, the completed APT Main Event saw a huge boost to its previous 540-entry field record from its 2021 APT Korea festivities to now, a total of 930 entries.

Final Table Recap

The final day saw its remaining sixteen players return to the felt with Tamaki in the lead stacking high over 112 BB to start the action. Tamaki surged to the top after he won a crucial flip and scooped up a massive pot against Uzbekistan’s Veleriy Pak at the last level of Day 3. While the Japanese runner only had $413 in total live cashes prior to this series according to The Hendon Mob, Tamaki fared well against his more experienced competitors, cruising to the final table again with the lead less than two hours in.

The final table was set after Adrian Chua was eliminated in tenth place finish for callingoff his remaining six big blinds with against Napat Chokejindachai’s small blind shove. Chokejindachai was ahead with and remained that way all to the end, leaving Chua as the ultimate final table bubble. By this time, Tamaki sat comfortably with a significant lead and nearly 30% of the chips in play to start the final games.

Shortest stacked Raul Martinez Gallego was the table’s first casualty after clashing right into Wan’s big slick and failing to get lucky. It took another two levels before Japan’s Masahiro Adachi followed suit, jamming his remaining ten big blinds with against Tamaki’s open. Tamaki with a premium pair , quickly made the call and left his opponent crushed after he flopped a set and turned a full house for the win. Just a couple hands later, Malaysia’s Jason Lau found himself in the losing end of a flip by the hands of Abraham Abdulla Ceesvin. Lau laddered up to a seventh place finish and collected KRW 45,700,000 (~US$ 34,550) in winnings.

Three orbits of six handed play saw King Wai Cheung meet his demise after his big blind defense with cost him his run for the trophy. Tamaki, as the raiser, fired all three streets on board and scooped up the rest of his opponent’s chips after revealing for the nuts. Cheung exited in sixth place, and Ceesvin on his tail in fifth after the latter’s short stack couldn’t manage to pull a double up againstWan.

With four contenders left in the running, Wan and Tamaki were head to head with the lead but soon saw Chokejindachai catch up after cracking Pak’s with . Pak’s unfortunate turn of events left him with less than four big blinds to go for, as he busted in fourth place moments later. Following Pak’s exit, the three agreed on an ICM deal with Tamaki taking the largest payout at KRW 245,100,000 (~US$ 185,120) and leaving KRW 26,347,000 (~US$ 20,000) along with the golden trophy for the winner.

Considering the deal was in place, it took a couple levels and several back and forths before another elimination was seen at the table. Facing a 20 BB jam from Chokejindachai, Wan made the call with and left the Thai’s drawing thin, to eventually succumb in third place. Heads up play began with Tamaki as the underdog, holding slightly less than his Chinese opponent. However, Tamaki reared fearless with his ramped up aggression, great call downs and timely steals allowing him to overtake Wan a number of hands in.

By the 29th deal, the final hand saw Tamaki call off Wan’s shove on the flop with . Wan with , was in search of a ton of outs, none of which appeared on either turn or river. Wan bricking the runout meant Tamaki clinched his maiden victory as well as KRW 271,447,000 (~US$ 206,030) in total prizes. Wan on the other hand, didn’t go home empty handed as he cashed in on a sweet KRW 211,200,000 (~US$ 160,300) payday starting from winning a seat in an invitation-only event on Natural8.

APT Incheon Main Event Final Table Results

*Denotes deal was made

APT Incheon Main Event Review

Date/s: August 28 – September 2, 2023
Buy in: KRW 2,300,000 (~US$ 1,725)
Guarantee: KRW 1,300,000,000 (~US$ 1,000,000)
Prize pool: KRW 1,867,347,000 (~US$ 1,411,975)

Entries : 930 (564 unique)

ITM: 135 players

Day 1 Results

Flight A: 223 entries / 80 advanced
Flight B: 207 entries / 96 advanced
Flight C: 156 entries / 85 advanced
Flight D: 123 entries / 70 advanced
Online: 171 entries