Kitty Kuo Eyes Second APT Taiwan Main Event Title Leads Final 48

05/02/2025

Natural8 ambassador, Kuo Hui Chen, better known as Kitty Kuo, has taken full command of the record-breaking APT Taiwan 2025 Main Event. After nearly ten hours of play, Kuo closed out Day 3 in a league of her own with 7,575,000 (152 big blinds), which was 48 big blinds ahead of her nearest competitors.

Kitty Kuo Rules APT Taiwan 2025 Main Event Day 3

Kitty Kuo - Photo by APT — Kitty Kuo – Photo by APT

Qualifying via Natural8, Kuo entered the day at par with chip leader Nicholas Go then quickly separated herself from the pack, racking up knockouts, including a cooler against Shinya Maeda. This firmly gave Kuo the chip lead, placing herself in prime position for a shot at a career second APT Taiwan Main Event title.

As for Go, he too successfully navigated the day’s rough ride, closing with a very healthy 2,350,000 (47 bb).

Day 3 Rundown

From a jaw-dropping 2,547 entries that made the APT Taipei 2025 Main Event the largest in tour history, just 375 players returned to the Red Space venue, each one already guaranteed a piece of the massive NT$ 121,033,440 (~US$3,777,500) prize pool. The field was stacked with notables that included former APT Main Event champions, all eyeing another title finish.

Thi Hue Dang - Photo by APT — Thi Hue Dang – Photo by APT

However, by the end of regulation play, only Kuo and Vietnam’s Thi Hue Dang persevered. Thi kept her title hopes alive, but she will need to climb from behind with a short 985,000 (19 bb) bagged.

One of the largest international contingents at the Main Event were players from Thailand with six of them advancing to the next stage. The list included high roller Nopparut Piyatassakorn with a stack of 1,975,000 (39 bb) and Kiwanont Sukhum with 835,000 (16 bb).

Both players are in top form and always run deep at APT events. Piyatassakorn has multiple high roller cashes and is due for a big title while Sukhum has won an APT key event in the past and recently took down the PokerStars Manila Megastack Main Event.

Po Wen Fang - Photo by APT — Po Wen Fang – Photo by APT

Among the locals, a total of eight players – including chip leader Kuo – kept the torch burning for home court. Ranked 6th in chips is Po Wen Fang who seeks redemption with 3,660,000 (73 bb). In September 2022, Fang was denied the APT Taiwan Main Event title falling in 2nd place.

Kai Hung Hu - Photo by APT — Kai Hung Hu – Photo by APT

Several spots down the rung from Fang was Kai Hung Hu with 3,450,000 (69 bb). Hu ‘s portfolio of deep runs includes an APT National Cup at last September’s APT Taiwan festival and just days prior, he placed 3rd at the record-breaking APT Mystery Bounty event.

Other notables keeping their stacks intact were Poland’s Dawid Smolka, Americans Robert Nemeskeris-Kiss and Peter Kiem, Hong Kong’s Chun Yin Lau (runner-up of the 2025 MPT Macau Poker Open Main Event), and Singapore’s Abraham Ceesvin.

You can read up on the Day 3 action via the Live Updates.

End Of Day 3 – Chip Counts
Day 4 – Seat Draw

By The Numbers

Hunting down the bubble - Photo by APT — Hunting down the bubble – Photo by APT

With the field down to 48 players, each one is now guaranteed NT$ 307,500 (~US$ 9,490). The APT Main Event resumes at 11:15am on Friday, May 2, 2025, and it’s shaping up to be another grueling race as the field inches closer to the coveted final table.

Record-Breaking APT Main Event – Numbers