World Poker Tour Wraps Up In Taiwan; WPT Australia In Sydney Up Next

The 2025 World Poker Tour season in Asia is winding down with the completion of the WPT Prime Taiwan running from August 6 to 19 at the CTP Asia Poker Arena. The two-week festival attracted 8,423 entries and paid out TWD 131,525,400 (~US$ 4.11 Million). The local force dominated with 17 titles, while Korea and Japan followed closely with 12 and 11 trophies respectively.

2025 WPT Prime Taiwan Wrap-Up

Out of the 59 champions crowned at the WPT Prime Taiwan series, the spotlight belonged to Hyundong Lee, who captured the WPT Prime Championship for a career-best payday of TWD 6,375,000 (~US$ 212,000). Remarkably, this was his second major title of the year after winning the APL Taipei Main Event at the same venue in June. Lee has remained in Taipei and is eyeing a hat trick at the ongoing Players Series Championship.

You can read up on Lee’s victory via our previous post. Listed below are some of the biggest winners of the second half of the series. In addition to the festival champions, Hungary’s Patrik Demus clinched the Player of the Festival title to earn himself a US$ 5,000 WPT Passport.

Hyundong Lee Wins WPT Prime Taiwan Championship
First Half Highlights
Festival Results

Final Highlights

#50 WPT PRIME TAIWAN HIGH ROLLER (220,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$352,820

Total Prize

NT$10,563,300

Guaranteed

NT$5,000,000

Entries

99

ITM

15

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$2,813,300 $93,965	LY Lim Yohwan Korea (Republic of)
2	NT$1,875,000 $62,625	FS Free Style Korea (Republic of)
3	NT$1,294,000 $43,220	NK Niko Koop Germany
4	NT$922,000 $30,795	CC Chingwei Chen Taiwan
5	NT$678,000 $22,645	GK Giboum Kim Korea (Republic of)
6	NT$516,000 $17,235	DY Daniel Yang Taiwan
7	NT$407,000 $13,595	HC Hon Cheong Lee Hong Kong
8	NT$332,000 $11,090	CC Chih Chan Lin Taiwan
9	NT$282,000 $9,420	PD Patrik Demus Hungary

Check the 15 Payouts & Results ...

#45 TURBO FREEZEOUT 20 SEC (12,500 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$53,750

Total Prize

NT$1,609,200

Entries

149

ITM

19

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$444,200 $14,835	SS Shintaro Sato Japan
2	NT$281,600 $9,405	TZ Takehiro Zoga Japan
3	NT$165,800 $5,540	CM Chan Man Lok Macao
4	NT$100,600 $3,360	WL Wei Li Hsu Taiwan
5	NT$78,000 $2,605	C Chikazawa Japan
6	NT$64,500 $2,155	GK Gyeongbeom Kim Korea (Republic of)
7	NT$56,300 $1,880	PC Po Chun Shen Taiwan
8	NT$50,300 $1,680	TK Toshio Kataoka Japan
9	NT$44,400 $1,485	KJ Kim Jang Hwan Korea (Republic of)

Check the 19 Payouts & Results ...

#51 SUPERSTACK CLASSIC (16,500 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$120,040

Total Prize

NT$3,593,900

Entries

247

ITM

31

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$652,750 $21,800	TY Taejoong Yoon Korea (Republic of)
2	NT$652,750 $21,800	SL Sangbeom Lim Korea (Republic of)
3	NT$400,000 $13,360	AR Akanit Rachan Thailand
4	NT$300,000 $10,020	MU Marina Ueda Japan
5	NT$173,000 $5,780	HL Huawei Lin Taiwan
6	NT$143,400 $4,790	CY Chengjyun Yang Taiwan
7	NT$122,200 $4,080	JH Jaeyoung Han Korea (Republic of)
8	NT$104,200 $3,480	PC Po Chun Shen Taiwan
9	NT$83,300 $2,780	HS Hao Shen Taiwan

Check the 31 Payouts & Results ...

#48 MINI CHAMPIONSHIP FREEZEOUT D2 (10,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$71,670

Total Prize

NT$2,145,800

Entries

254

ITM

32

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$488,000 $16,300	YL Youngtaek Lim Korea (Republic of)
2	NT$346,500 $11,575	LS Lee Seokyoung Korea (Republic of)
3	NT$219,900 $7,345	SK Sangbum Kim Korea (Republic of)
4	NT$133,600 $4,460	JB Jo Byeongju Korea (Republic of)
5	NT$103,000 $3,440	C Chikazawa Japan
6	NT$85,600 $2,860	A Auttaphon Thailand
7	NT$71,000 $2,370	CJ Cai Jie Jhang Taiwan
8	NT$60,100 $2,005	HC Hsuan Chen Taiwan
9	NT$49,000 $1,635	YW Yanzhi Wang Taiwan

Check the 32 Payouts & Results ...

Alan King Lun Lau Wins Two Events

#42 HIGH ROLLER D2 (100,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$110,285

Total Prize

NT$3,301,900

Entries

31

ITM

6

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$1,172,800 $39,170	KL King Lun Alan Lau Hong Kong
2	NT$782,600 $26,140	ML Meng Ling Lin Taiwan
3	NT$521,700 $17,425	DS Dicky Siu Hang Tsang Hong Kong
4	NT$362,300 $12,100	SJ Sung Jin Yun Korea (Republic of)
5	NT$262,500 $8,770	GK Giboum Kim Korea (Republic of)
6	NT$200,000 $6,680	SJ Seungmook Jung Korea (Republic of)

#55 1K RE-ENTRY (35,000 TWD)

Total Prize USD

$68,000

Total Prize

NT$2,035,900

Entries

66

ITM

9

#	Payout	Player
1	NT$712,600 $23,800	KL King Lun Alan Lau Hong Kong
2	NT$407,200 $13,600	OL Oliver Lirio Philippines
3	NT$249,400 $8,330	SJ Sung Jin Yun Korea (Republic of)
4	NT$178,100 $5,950	KS Kristof Segers Belgium
5	NT$137,400 $4,590	KW Kuo Wei Kao Taiwan
6	NT$106,900 $3,570	PK Peter Kiem United States of America
7	NT$91,600 $3,060	AS An Seyang Korea (Republic of)
8	NT$81,400 $2,720	SK Seungyeol Kim Korea (Republic of)
9	NT$71,300 $2,380	SL Suya Lee Korea (Republic of)

Thailand may not have sent a large contingent, but Paul Nattapatsiri carried the flag in style, capturing two event titles: Short Deck Turbo and PLO Bounty. His bid for a Championship Title though ended in heartbreak on the bubble. Luckily, with two others busting in the same hand-for-hand round, the last two payouts were chopped three ways.

Up Next: WPT Australia In Sydney

The World Poker Tour now sets its sights on Sydney for the upcoming WPT Australia, and yes, the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup will be making its way back down under. For the first time, the Championship festival runs at The Star Sydney, one of the premier poker destinations in the Southern Hemisphere, and is set to draw a powerhouse field mixing international crushers with Australia’s finest.

Since the announcement, the buzz has only magnified with expectations that this year’s edition will shatter all previous WPT records in the Asia-Pacific. An estimated AUD 10+ Million prize pool is on the line as players from across the globe are already eyeing Sydney as the can’t-miss main stop of the season. One player sure to attend is the reigning WPT Australia champion, James Obst, which he confirmed during an interview with the host venue.

To put the scale in perspective, the 2022 WPT Deepstacks which took place in Sydney, drew a thunderous 2,023 entries swelling the prize pool to AUD 2,690,590, which was more than US$ 2 Million at the time. This year’s Championship Event comes in at AUD 5,500 (~US$ 3,560), positioned above the previous WPTDS buy-in yet below the last two Gold Coast Championship Event editions. With that price point and a world-class structure, a record-setting turnout looks all but inevitable.

This is the time to start planning your trip. The upcoming event as the event is coming up in less than a month, running from September 18 to October 1, 2025.

Festival Schedule
In-Depth Look At The Festival 

Things To Know

New Event: Team Of The Festival

A brand-new highlight on the WPT Australia schedule is the Team of the Festival, set to deliver one of the most entertaining showdowns of the series. Since its announcement, the list of teams has been growing. Read on below for all the details.

Step 1: Build Your Team

Each team must consist of five players. You don’t need to be playing every event on the schedule, but you want each person to score as many points as they can in the events they play. Important to note that players can only be on one team.

Step 2: Register Your Team

Once you have your team of five, email all five names, including a nominated captain and a team name to [email protected].

*A roster of teams is already brewing. 

Step 3: Pay Your Entry Fee

Once your team has been registered, your entry fee of AUD 2,000 (rake free) needs to be paid at the Poker Desk by a member of your team prior to the close of registration of Day 1A of Event 1 on the schedule.

Step 4: Do Battle On The Felt

Let your poker skills do the talking. Your team plays any events on the schedule they wish, with their results netting them scores in line with the Player of the Festival scoring system. Your team scores will be displayed each day on this page and in-room, so you can see how your team is performing.

Step 5: The Glory

At the completion of the festival, the top three teams will take home a slice of the prize pool, with the winning team members each receiving one of the pictured Team of the Festival trophies.

*All teams are encouraged and welcome to patch / brand themselves representing their squad.