Stephen Pang Wins Record APT Incheon Main Event for KRW 411M

Stephen Pang’s first victory lap came too early. His second one made him the champion of the APT Incheon 2026 Main Event .

The Hong Kong player ran to celebrate with his rail after making a flush against Shoumin Zhang’s pocket fours during heads-up play. However, the dealer had not finished counting.

Zhang still had little more than one big blind and used it to double four consecutive times, turning what appeared to be a finished tournament into an unlikely comeback attempt.

Pang eventually stopped the revival to claim the 24K gold APT Main Event Lion Trophy and KRW 411,180,000 (~USD 293,700) following a three-handed ICM deal.

Zhang collected KRW 366,500,000 (~USD 261,785) as runner-up, while Yifu He earned KRW 257,000,000 (~USD 183,570) for third. All three also received seats to the APT Championship 2026 Main Event in Taiwan this November.

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1.5B KRW

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩411,180,000 $293,700	SH San Hon Pang Hong Kong
2	₩366,500,000 $261,785	SZ Shoumin Zhang China
3	₩257,000,000 $183,570	YH Yifu He United States of America
4	₩155,650,000 $111,180	TK Tempei Kotani Japan
5	₩121,860,000 $87,040	KK Kazuki Koyama Japan
6	₩92,440,000 $66,030	SK Shinichiro Kano Japan
7	₩70,740,000 $50,530	PW Phachara Wongwichit Thailand
8	₩50,130,000 $35,800	TE Takeru Endo Japan
9	₩38,580,000 $27,560	RF Ryo Fujita Japan

Check the 207 Payouts & Results ...

Record APT Incheon Main Event Doubles Guarantee

The KRW 2,500,000 Main Event attracted 1,393 entries from 807 unique players at Paradise City Casino Resort , creating a KRW 3,008,540,000 (~USD 2,148,960) total prize pool that effectively doubled the KRW 1.5 billion guarantee.

It became the largest and richest international poker tournament ever held in mainland South Korea and the third-largest APT Main Event staged anywhere in the country.

Only the 1,718-entry APT Jeju Classic 2026 Main Event and the 1,693-entry APT Jeju 2025 Main Event attracted larger fields.

The Main Event was one of several tournaments to break records during APT Incheon 2026 . The Korea National Cup drew 709 entries, while the 1,427-entry Mini Main Event became the largest tournament of its kind staged by the tour in South Korea.

The complete Main Event numbers were confirmed on Day 2 , when 216 direct entries joined the survivors from the four starting flights.

Pang: “Lady Gaga Was Always There for Me”

Pang revealed that the victory followed more than a year of preparation, with online poker providing most of the practice for his biggest live tournament run.

“I’ve been preparing for this event for over a year, refining my strategies and fine-tuning my game by playing online poker against the best possible players,” Pang said. “I didn’t play much live, so it’s a completely different dynamic, but online games really helped with my Main Event preparation.”

Making the final table had been Pang’s original target, but arriving there as the chip leader changed what he believed was possible.

“I felt like I had a real chance to capture my beloved Lion Trophy,” he said.

Pang chose patience during the early stages of the final table before changing his approach once the field reached five players.

“There were a lot of strong players,” Pang explained. “A lot of chips were going back and forth, so I just played conservatively and let them battle each other and move up the pay jumps. Once there were five players left, I felt it was time to attack my opponents.”

His most important breakthrough came when pocket queens held against Tempei Kotani’s ace-king, eliminating the Japanese player in fourth and giving Pang the lead entering three-handed play.

“Winning that hand against the Japanese player gave me the chip lead over my fellow countryman, Shoumin Zhang,”

Pocket queens had already cracked Nozomi Ota’s pocket aces on Day 4, prompting Pang to give his lucky ladies a famous nickname.

“Pocket queens were my lucky hand all tournament,” Pang said. “‘Lady Gaga’ was always there for me!”

The champion also credited his friends with keeping him fuelled during the long playing days and revealed that support had arrived from well beyond the tournament room.

“There was no dinner break in this tournament, so I was starving,” he said. “My friends brought me sandwiches, which was the most direct form of support. On top of that, I had continuous messages on WhatsApp and WeChat from China and Hong Kong cheering me on. That positive energy really helped me fight through.”

Pang planned to celebrate with his wife, Elizabeth, over Korean food before arranging another gathering when he returned to Hong Kong.

His victory also secured a seat to the APT Championship Main Event, giving him an immediate chance to chase an even larger Lion Trophy.

“Always aim higher, right?” Pang said. “Bigger and bigger!”

Pang Takes Control of Final Table

Ryo Fujita was the first finalist eliminated after his pocket nines lost to Kotani’s ace-jack. Takeru Endo followed in eighth when pocket tens ran into Zhang’s pocket jacks.

Phachara Wongwichit’s attempt to become the first two-time Mega Lion winner ended in seventh. His ace-ten could not overcome Zhang’s ace-queen, leaving the Thai professional one place short of taking his recorded live earnings beyond USD 3 million.

Shinichiro Kano exited in sixth before Kazuki Koyama departed in fifth. Koyama’s KRW 121,860,000 (~USD 87,040) payout was worth almost 120 times his previous recorded live earnings of USD 730.

Pang then won the decisive flip against Kotani to take the lead into three-handed play. Pang, Zhang, and He subsequently agreed an ICM deal, leaving the trophy and an additional KRW 40,680,000 (~USD 29,060) for the champion.

He departed in third after his ace-deuce ran into Zhang’s pocket eights, setting up the heads-up duel.

Early Celebration Precedes Four Zhang Double-Ups

Zhang began heads-up with the lead, but Pang soon moved ahead after picking off a bluff and finding success with several aggressive plays.

Pang appeared to have finished the tournament when his king-jack of clubs completed a flush against Zhang’s pocket fours. He immediately left the table to celebrate with his friends, only to learn that Zhang had survived with a fraction more than one big blind.

The Chinese player doubled four times in succession to rebuild his stack, then came close to another when his king-jack dominated Pang’s king-eight. Broadway on the board forced a chop and prevented Zhang from closing the gap further.

Pang steadied himself and rebuilt a lead of more than five-to-one. His pocket nines then held against Zhang’s king-ten in the final hand, ending the comeback and allowing the Hong Kong player to celebrate again.

This time, the tournament really was over.

All photos courtesy of the Asian Poker Tour.

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