Richest Taiwan Millions Tournament pays out over USD 2.1 Million!

From its modest beginnings of just ten events and a festival prize pool barely reaching USD 4K, the CTP Club’s homegrown Taiwan Millions Tournament has now ballooned to the largest local festival in Asia.

Running from January 19 to February 5, 2024 at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, the 15th installment served up a massive 70-event schedule and concluded with a stunning NTD 68,269,231 festival prize pool, equivalent to USD 2,175,000. No homegrown festival in Asia has ever reached those heights.

Breakdown:

Numbered events – #1-#45: NTD 56,828,231
High Roller events – #1-#8 – NTD 9,440,300
Daily Deepstack – #1-#17 – NTD 2,000,700

Record-breaking Main Event

Contributing largely to that pot was the TMT 15 Main Event which drew a record 3,891 entries over eight flights for a prize pool of NTD 25,296,116 (~USD 805,900). This was NTD 2.5M more than previous. Sponsored by Natural8, the online platform generated 365 entries. On the floor, the influx was tremendous with 700 Day 1A entries, setting a new record for a first-entry flight, typically the lightest attended. This was followed by another blockbuster turnout on Day 1E, which saw 924 entries, surpassing the previous 909 record.

In the aftermath, the TMT 15 Main Event title came down between Taiwan’s Cheng Jyun Yang and Japanese star Tetsuya Enoki. Both players were deep in blinds that it took two hours to conclude. Yang jumped to a big lead when he called out Enoki’s bluff (hand above) then held on for his first Main Event title and a career high NTD 3,780,600 (~USD 120,500).

For Enoki, the runner up finish earned him NTD 2,607,500 (~USD 83,100), the second largest live tournament payout of his career.

Watch the final table action via CTP Club YouTube.

Buy in: NTD 8,000 (~USD 255)
Guarantee: NTD 10,000,000 (~USD 318,700)
Entries: 3,891
Prize pool: NTD 25,296,116 (~USD 805,900)
ITM: 468 places

Final Table payouts

Other Big Winners

• Poker Queen – YI XUAN WU – Taiwan – NTD 47,800 (~USD 1,523)
• Championship – CHEN AN LIN – Taiwan – NTD 697,000 (~USD 22,200)
• Kick-Off – DARREN MOVES – Australia – NTD 905,000 (~USD 28,840)
• Mystery Bounty – YONG YAO JIANG – Taiwan – NTD 817,000 bounties not included
• Super High Roller – CHIA CHAING KO – Taiwan – NTD 922,000 (~USD 29,385)
• GiantStacks – CHIA JUNG LIU – Taiwan – NTD 360,000 (~USD 11,475)
• Mini Main – SHAO CHING CHEN – Taiwan – NTD – 478,200 (~USD 15,240)

All of these winners including the Main Event champion, Player of the Series, and Team Challenge winner were awarded a October Go Taiwan –TMT Championship Main Event Pass, sponsored by CTP. The event takes place on October 18 to 28, 2024. Check out the video link:

Team Athletic wins Team Challenge / Chih Hsien Lin wins Player of the Series

New format for the Team Challenge with three players per team. Each player was rated on their GPI points and were tallied as a team. Team Athletic topped the numbers to each win a TMTC Main Event Pass, NTD 33,000, and a trophy.

Team and Individual stats:

With Taiwan’s Chih Hsien Lin also accruing the most points of the festival, he earned the Player of the Series title. Lin denied Wu Chiayun a back-to-back, dusting him in 2nd place. Lin cashed 19 times, reached the final table 10 times, and won 4 events. For his achievement, he was awarded another TMTC Main Event Pass, NTD 33,000, and a special POS Trophy.

Second placer Wu was awarded TMTC credit worth NTD 20,000, and third placer Zong Chi He was awarded TMTC credit worth NTD 10,000.

Yi Wei Peng successfully defend Heads Up title

For the second consecutive TMT, Taiwan’s Yi Wei Peng was undefeated at the Heads Up challenge. Peng outlasted the 32 entry field to be crowned back-to-back champion and collected a payout of NTD 320,000 (~USD 10,200).

*All photos by CTP