APT National Cup

The TWD 10,000 APT National Cup has been won by Taiwan’s Kaihung Hu after he outlasted a huge field of 1680 entries to get his hands on the trophy and the top prize of TWD 2,519,000 (~USD 79,740). Ching Yi Wan from Hong Kong got second for TWD 1,409,000 (~USD 44,600). Chi Ho Yeung, also a Hong Kong citizen, completes the podium, winning TWD 987,000 (~USD 31,245).

The total prize pool for the tournament stood at TWD 14,353,920 (~USD 454,400), an astronomical number for the buy-in level and a testament to the support that APT has here in Taiwan.

A huge turnout across the three opening flights saw 235 players making it into the money and into Day 2. Taiwan’s Yu Cheng Lee held the overall chip lead after taking through 933,000 chips from Flight C.

The action was fast with the thirty-minute blind levels eating away at the player's stacks and forced action. It took fourteen levels for the final table to be reached with Taiwan's Ying Chuan Lin being the unlucky player to bubble the final table. Mao-Lun Yu took the chip lead into the final nine but with an average stack of just under twenty big blinds, anything could happen. It took some time before the first casualty was recorded as Ka Yue Colin Tsang hit the rail. The player from Hong Kong was a tad unfortunate after his King-Jack was undone on the river by the T2s of Ching Yi Wan. Tsang picked up TWD 186,000 (~USD 5,890) for ninth place.

After the first bustout at the final table things developed quickly. First, Yue Hin Lam got unfortunate after losing K♦ K♥ all-in preflop against Yi Ching Wan’s 3♠ 3♥ . Wan flopped a set and ended Lam’s tournament run, who finished in eight place, scoring 243,000 (~USD 7,697).

Yi Ching Wan was running hot now during this phase of the tournament. Just a few hands after busting Lam, she delivered the next knockout, by sucking out against Ee How Ong’s Q♥ Q♠ with Q♣ 6♣ on 5♦ 5♣ 8♠ 7♣ J♣ . For his seventh place Ee How Ong’s left him a payday of TWD 343,000 (~USD 10,865).

And Wan wasn’t done yet. This time she jammed A♠ A♥ in the small-blind against Xian Jia Zhu in the big blind who called with K♦ J♥ . After the Taiwanese was not able to hit a straight on T♦ 8♥ 7♦ 5♠ 2♥ Xian Jia Zhu was eliminated in sixth place, taking home TWD 449,000 (~USD 14,210).

The next one to fall victim to Wan was former final table chip leader Mao-Lun Yu. Wan opened in middle-position with pocket Jacks and got jammed on by Mao-Lun Yu’s A♠ 5♠ . For a brief moment it looked like Wan’s hot run might have been over after the A♥ appeared on the flop, but the river J♦ delivered a dagger blow to Yu and gave Wan a commanding chip lead with only four players left. For his fifth place Yu was rewarded with 567,000 (~USD 18,000).

Now it was Kaihung Hu’s turn to run hot and take over the final table. First, he knocked out Japanese player Jun Tsunezumi with A♣ 9♠ against A♠ 2♠ . For the Japanese it is the first ever live cash. He secured TWD 717,000 (~USD 22,700).

Next up he busted Chi Ho Yeung, after he jammed As 4d in the big-blind against Yeung’s completion in the small-blind, who decided to call with Jd 8♦ . After Yeung turned one pair on 3s 3c 2h J♥ , Hu hit the 5s giving him a straight.

For third place finisher Chi Ho Yeung from Hong Kong it was just his second live cash. He had his first last year at the APT in Taiwan when he cashed TWD 4,300 in a side event. This time he won more than 200x this amount, cashing for an impressive 987,000 (~USD 31,245).

By taking out these two opponents Kaihung Hu went with a 3-to-2 chip advantage into the heads up against Yi Ching Wan. A deal between Hu and Wan had been discussed, but the players decided to battle it out instead. The heads up took a bit more than an hour, with Kaihung Hu being on the advance for most of it. Though, for a brief moment it looked like Ching Yi Wan might win the tournament, after she hit a straight with Q♣ T♦ against A♣ 3♥ on A♦ J♣ T♣ 8♠ K♠ in an all-in preflop situation.

But Kaihung Hu fought back and eventually took it down, with the last hand being Hu open jamming A♠ J♠ and Wan made the call with Q♠ T♠ . This time Wan was not able to come back from the A♥ Q♣ 2♥ flop and was eliminated in second place for TWD 1,409,000 (~USD 44,600).

That leaves just one man standing - Kaihung Hu - who walks away with the top prize of TWD 2,519,000 (~USD 79,740) for his victory. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Kaihung Hu from Taiwan for winning the APT National Cup. In the final hand, Hu opened jammed A♠ J♠ and Wan called with Q♠ T♠ . The board ran out A♥ Q♣ 2♥ 9♣ 7♠ meaning Hu will take home the trophy and TWD 2,519,000 (~$79,740). Also congratulations to Ching Yi Wan from Hong Kong. What a great run by her! Her poker bankroll just increased by TWD 1,409,000.

Stay tuned, a full recap of the tournament will follow shortly!

Kaihung Hu opened jammed from the button for Wan's 16.5 big blinds. Wan did not take long to make her decision and called with Q♣ T♦ . She was up against Hu's A♣ 3♥ . The flop came out A♦ J♣ T♣ and Wan was in trouble. The turn brought the 8♠ giving Wan more outs. And indeed, she did hit her straight with the K♠ on the river. For the first time she is ahead now in this heads up duel.

It is a tight battle here at the Asia Poker Arena. Hu is still ahead in chips, but this could turn any moment. Now the blinds go up, bringing us closer to the decision

The great finale is set. It is Taiwan vs Hong Kong, Kaihung Hu vs Ching Yi Wan. At the start of the heads-up, Hu is holding 1.5x chip advantage. An icm deal had been discussed, however, the players decided to play it out without making any deal. Good luck to both of them!

The button folded and Chi Ho Yeung completed the big blind. Kaihung Hu then put Yeung all in who decided to call with J♦ 8♦ and was up against Hu’s A♠ 4♦ . The flop came out 3♠ 3♣ 2♥ and Yeung desperately needed a jack or an eight. And indeed the J♥ appeared on the turn, just to get counterfeited with the 5♠ giving Hu a straight.

Kaihung Hu opened on the button and Jun Tsunezumi jammed from the small-blind for less than 8 big blinds with A♠ 2♠ and got called by the opener with A♣ 9♠ . The board ran out K♥ K♦ 4♦ 3♣ 6♠ eliminating the Japanese in 4th place.

Ching Yi Wan is on fire! She opened from middle/position and Mao-Lun Yu jammed his 20 big blinds from the small-blind with A♠ 5♠ . Wan called with J♣ J♠ . The flop and turn came out great for Yu, A♥ 2♣ 2♠ 7♥ , but the miracle J♦ hit the river, busting out Yu and giving Wan a commanding chip lead with only four players left.

In a huge pot, Mao-Lun Yu was caught bluffing by bullying Kaihung Hu out of a hand.

With action folded to Hu at small blind, Hu just called the big blind. Yu decided to raise the pot to 1,000,000. Hu looked at Yu trying to see a tell. Hu decided to to make the call.

Flop of J♥ K♦ A♠ gota check from Hu. Allowed to act, Yu shot another 1,000,000 into the pot.which Hu called. Both players checked the Q♦ turn to see the 8♣ river. Hu check-called Yu's all-in. Yu hesitantly showed his cards of 3♠ 2♣ but Hu waited then showed his two-pair with K♥ Q♠ .

It folded around to the Ching Yi Wan in the small-blind who put Zhu all in. Zhu snap-called with K♦ J♥ only to be shown the bad news of Wan’s A♠ A♥ . There was a glimmer of hope for Zhu on the flop, as he had a gutshot on T♦ 8♥ 7♦ . However, the board bricked out and Zhu busted in 6th place, taking home an impressive TWD 449,00 payout.

We got to the table with Ee How Ong all-in Q♠ Q♥ against Yi Ching Wan Q♣ 6♣ . Ahead on the flop of 5♦ 5♣ 8♠ , Ong was looking at a double up.

The turn 7♣ gave Wan a flush draw but as long as no ther club comes out, Ong was safe. Unfortunately, this was not the case as the J♣ made Ong start walking out.

Action folded to Yue Hin Lam at hi-jack position who jammed his chips all-in, just to be called by Yi Ching Wan to his right. A♠ everybody else got put of the way, Lam showed K♦ K♥ against Wan's 3♠ 3♥ .

The board displayed a 3♣ 7♠ 4♥ giving Wan a set on the flop. The 7♦ turn gave Wan a boat. Lam still waited for a river in case of an upset but the 6♣ ended his tournament life on the spot.

With an all-in at the other table, all players folded to Ying Chuan Lin at the small blind. Without caring much as to what was going on at the other table, Lin shoved in his chips in to be instantly called by Jun Tsunezumi at big blind.

The table erupted as Lin's all-in could indicate a final table if eliminated.

Lin Ac 5h Tsunezumi 4d 4♠ .

Seeing the cards tabled, Lin was hopeful for a double up. But a window card of 4h dashed his hopes and was further crushed when 2♣ 2s followed, giving Tsunezumi a full house.

With just two big blinds remaining Sitthiporn Larpkitthaworn from Thailand moved all in from early-positon with A♥ K♦ and got called by Ching Yi Wan in the big blind with 4♣ 4♥ . A 4♠ on the flop sealed the fate for the Thai who finished in 11th place.

Chi Ho Yeung raised 800,000 from under-the-gun, which made players look at the other table to see if anyone is all-in, all hoping for a price jump in case they busted. After much time, everyone folded to the big blind Seong Jin Han who didn't hesitate to jam his chips.

Han: Q♠ 8♥ Yeung: A♠ 4♠

The board flopped 7♣ K♦ T♣ 7♦ 6♣ making Yeung win with Ace-high and felting Han in the process.

Robert Cheung opened action at late position with a raise of 550,000. Mao-Lun Yu gave Cheung a serious look which Cheung chuckled at. After some consideration, Yu made the call.

The flop 6♥ 4♣ T♠ made Yu fire 550,000 into the pot which Cheung nonchalantly called. Yu checked the 8♣ turn. After counting his chips, Cheung placed in 1,000,000 into the pot which Yu once again called.

The river 3♦ was checked by Yu, and Cheung jammed his chips in which got an snap call from Yu.

Yu held 7♥ 7♣ versus Cheung's A♥ J♦ for an Ace-High eliminating him in an instant.

Mao Tsung Liao open jammed his four big blinds from early-position with K♦ 9♥ . Ching Yi Wan from Hong Kong, went over the top and also jammed all-in from the button with A♣ Q♦ . The board ran out J♠ 6♥ 5♥ 7♦ T♠ and Liao tournament dream was over. For his efforts he was rewarded with TWD 124,000.

Jia Xian Zhu min-raised the blinds to 400,000 at under-the-gun. Everyone folded to Woon Cheung Yeo who immediately shoved his short stack into the pot. Yi Chin Wang at big blind asked for a count then made the call. The initial raiser look at Wang with wonder and separated the amount of chips required to make the call. Zhu kept staring at Wang hoping for a read but surrendered before his time was up.

The flop of 8♦ 6♥ 5♦ made Wang go all-in. Zhu folded.

Wang: 7♦ 7♠ Yeo: A♣ 9♣

The turn 6♠ and river 9♥ gave Wang a straight, eliminating Yeo

The remaining 16 players of the APT National Cup are now on a 15-minute break.

Chuan Ying Lin from Taiwan open jammed his 3♥ 3♠ from the hi-jack for less than ten big blinds. Next to him Jin Seong Han from Korea re-jams A♦ K♠ for around 5,000,000. Everybody else folded and we were off to the races. The board ran out low, 9♥ 9♠ 4♥ 9♦ 6♦ and Lin won a huge flip to keep his tournament dream alive. After the hand, Tsunezumi, who was on the button, told the table he folded pocket jacks. By Lin jamming Han avoided a massive cooler and can be lucky to “only” lose around 1,500,000.

With less than ten big blinds Sitthiporn Larpkitthaworn opened from early-position and it folded around to Xian Jia Zhu in the big blind who defended his big blind with a similar stack.

Flop came K♠ Q♣ 9♣ , Zhu checked and Larpkitthaworn made a small bet of 200,000. Zhu then quickly folded.

We caught the action with Jun Tsunezumi in small blind raising the pot to 525,000 with big blind Mao-Lun Yu and under-the-gun Yu Cheng Lee still in the hand. Yu got out of the way then Lee made the call.

Lee checked the flop 5d 5h Kd and Tsunezumi continued with another 545,000. Without taking too much time, Lee announced all-in and Tsunezumi immediately made the call.

Tsunezumi Ah Kh Lee Tc T♥

The 8d turn and Qs river sent Lee packing.

We caught the action with Ngai Chung Ng at big blind against Tsung Mao Liao. Pre-flop Ng's A♣ J♥ dominated Liao's A♥ T♦ . and was ahead when the flop came down with A♠ 9♦ 4♣ . But the T♣ changed Ng's luck and with a river 5♦ , Ng's stack was left with a mere 110,000 chips which were not even enough to cover the big blind for the next hand.

Now in small blind, Ng was forced to put in all his chips when Robert Cheung went all-in in middle position. Ng started packing the moment he placed his chips in despite having K♥ K♣ and was quite jovial, talking to Cheung in the vernacular. Cheung held J♦ J♠ and continued having a conversation with Ng as the board was dealt.

The flop showed T♣ J♣ 5♥ giving Cheung a set and making the players at the table start chuckling. The table went on full laughter when the turn T♦ unfurled at which point Ng started rooting for Cheung, cheering "Final Table! Final Table!" The insignificant river 3♦ was ignored by everyone on the table as they waved Ng goodbye.

In this hand we finally see postflop play. It folded around to Ho Ka Sun in the small-blind who opened to 250,000. Rui Lu from Taiwan defended his big blind.

Heads up we go to a flop of K♠ 9♥ 6♣ where Sun continued his pressure and with a small bet of 100,000, which was quickly called. The turn brought the interesting T♦ . This time Sun put out a bet of 450,000 putting Lu in a tough spot. After thinking about it for a minute he decided to call, leaving himself 900,000 behind. A♠ if the action wasn’t intense enough, the river brought the dicey J♥ . Sun used one of his time bank chips before deciding to check, hoping his rivered pair of Jacks will be good. However, after checking back quickly, Lu showed top pair K♦ 3♥ . Sun had J♣ 8♠ .

You Guan Lin open jammed his 7 big blind from early position. Next to him Hin Yue Lam from Macau called and it folded around to Robert Cheung in the big blind who decided to jam and Lam snap-called with A♠ K♣ . You tabled K♠ T♦ and Cheung :A: J♠ . The board ran out A♦ Q♦ 5♠ 3♥ 7♠ and Lam let out a little cry of joy.

When Chia Lin Huang raised the pot from cut-off position, he didn't expect to be eliminated with this hand.

Players folded to Huang after Chung En Chung called the blinds from under-the-gun. Huang then raised the pot to 800,000 leaving only 220,00 behind. Chung shoved all-in after the 3 players in between them got out of the way. Huang snap called.

There was an audible intake of breath from Huang when he saw Chung holding A♦ A♥ against his A♠ Q♥

The board 3♦ 7♣ T♥ 6♠ 3♥ didn't change Huang's situation at all and got eliminated in the process.

Players are on a 15-minute break.

A♠ the blinds went up, the postflop play got more scarce. In this hand, Pisan Kumpree decided to open-jam his 16 big blinds with 9♥ 9♣ . Meanwhile, short stack Ho Chi Yeung woke up to a dream hand in middle position with A♣ A♠ . The flop came out with a bang: A♥ T♦ 9♣ . Both players hit a set—Kumpree with his nines and Yeung with his aces. But the turn brought the last A♦ in the deck, giving Yeung quads! Talk about a hand that can double you up! Not long after, the two were at it again. Ho Chi Yeung opened to 180,000 from middle position and shoved all-in for about 850,000 from the small blind, leaving Yeung in a tough spot. After using one of his time bank chips, he ultimately folded his A♠ T♣ .

Woon Tschung Yeo opened the action pre-flop from late position with a raise to 100,000 and was called by Ee How Ong in the big blind. The flop came 9♠ J♣ 5♠ and both players checked through.

The turn 8♥ prompted a bet from Ong which Yeo called.

The 5♥ on the river induced Ong to fire a 450,000 bet into the pot, which Yeo called after checking how much chips he would have left behind.

Ong tabled Q♥ J♥ for a pair versus Yeo's 7♥ 6♥ which made a straight at the turn.

We joined the action on the flop of 3♦ 6♦ 6♠ where short-stacked Tsun Yin Chiu shoved all in against the larger stack of Po-Shuo Huang, who called.

Chiu K♥ K♠

Huang 8♠ 8♥

Both players had two-pair with the pair of the board, with Chiu having the higher two pair. The turn was another 3♣ and river T♣ doubling Chiu's stack.

Chichiro Kakuichi raised to 85,000 from dealer position and Ryota Kitaoka decided to move all-in with his short stack for 140,000.

When action got back to Kakuichi he looked at Kitaoka for a few seconds before announcing call.

Kitaoka A♠ K♥

Kakuichi K♣ 3♦

Kitaoka quietly waited for the board to be dealt. The board ran out 5♦ 6♦ 9♠ 2♣ 7♠ securing Kitaoka with a double up.

Macau's Kei Tak Kuan min-opened from middle position. Amanpreet Singh called from the small blind, but the action took an interesting turn when Robert Cheung, also from Macau and holding 18 big blinds in the big blind, decided to shove all-in. Both Tak Kuan and Singh quickly folded, allowing Cheung to take down a nice pot without having to see a flop.

In an intense hand, Taiwanese player Chin-Chuan Hsu open-jammed on the button with just under ten big blinds. In the small blind, Chie An Chen quickly re-jammed for a slightly larger stack. Tsang in the big blind considered his options but ultimately opted to fold after using his full thirty-second deliberation time.

When the cards were revealed, Hsu found himself in a precarious position with K♥ Q♥ facing Chen’s A♣ K♦ . The flop came down J♦ 5♠ 4♥ , leaving Hsu still at risk. However, the turn brought a miracle for him— Q♠ —giving him a pair and a glimmer of hope. The river 6♦ sealed the deal, and Hsu doubled up to an average stack, escaping elimination in dramatic fashion.

We arrived at the table with Alexander Charron holding K♠ T♦ against Tsung Mai Liao with A♣ 2♠ in an all-in situation with Charron's tournament life on the line.

The flop came down A♦ in the window followed by 6♦ J♣ at which point the sportsman in Charron reached out to Liao for a fist pump. Charron didn't need the turn card and river of A♥ and J♠ which gave Liao a full house, to know that he was beat.

Players are now on a 15 minute break.

We arrived at the table with Kunal Patni raising in middle position for 60,000 pre-flop. Action was folded to the big blind where Kafai Lam called. Flop unfurled 3♠ 7♥ 5♣ .

Checked to him, Patni continued his betting with another 60,000 that Lam once again called. Both players checked the 7♦ turn to see the river. River showed 5♥ to which Lam bet out first with 150,000. Patni tanked for a bit, requiring him to give up a time card.

Finally Patni, after much consideration, called and waited for Lam to show 8♠ :4:s: for a busted gutshot draw on the flop. Patni turned over A♦ T♦ for two-pair on the board with his Ace as kicker.

Folded to the blinds, Junghyun An went all-in not really expecting Chen Yu to call in the big blind. But Yu did call and immediately flipped his cards to show the best hole cards in the game A♠ A♥ . With a grunt of frustration, An turned over A♦ Q♥ .

The dealer flopped 8♦ J♠ 9♠ . Hoping for a gutshot draw, An started chanting "Ten, Ten, Ten" all the way to the river. But he didn't get the card he was hoping for at the turn and river of 2♠ 2♥ , respectively.

Yu-Chieh Cheng from under-the-gun +1 went all-in on the flop of K♦ 7♥ 6♦ which made everyone else fold to the button where Ngai Chung Ng called the all-in. A showdown transpired with Cheng holding 2♥ 2♦ and Ng with J♣ J♦ .

The turn of J♠ gave Ng a set making Cheng draw dead to the unimportant river of Q♦ .

Everyone folded to the small blind position occupied by Takahiro Igarashi who went all-in. Kuan Yu snap called and immediately tabled pocket Q♠ Q♣ which got a reaction from Igarashi who showed K♦ 9♣ .

The flop came down with T♣ 9♦ A♠ . At the turn of 9♠ Igarashi shouted," YES!" with a fist pump in the air, followed immediately with a bashful look and an apology, "Sorry" to Yu who took it graciously

The river K♠ gave Igarashi too much joy that he needed to point out to Yu, "Full House".

We caught the action with a raise on a flop J♣ 7♦ 4♣ from the overall chip leader Yu Cheng Li with 75,000 at cutoff. With a short stack left, Shi-Jie Chang went all-in which received a snap call from the chip leader.

Li: A♦ 6♥

Chang: 4♦ 5♥

Chang had hit bottom pair with Li only holding an overcard. The A♠ turn changed the tide for Chang and with the Q♥ river, Chang was sent out the door.

Supakit Anukoolpitaknil was all-in with his big blind and ante. Seeing this, everyone folded to Kunal Patni at small blind who announced with a chuckle, "Ok...blind all-in!" Players showed their hand with Anukoolpitaknil holding Q♦ J♠ and Patni with T♦ 9♥ .

Dealer dealt a board of 7♣ 2♠ 7♠ Q♠ 3♣ giving Anukoolpitaknil two-pair and another hand to put the small blind in.

We arrived at the table with the table cheering and two players' stack at the middle of the table. The players all-in were Jia Hao Wang 6♠ 6♦ versus Liu Po Yi K♣ K♥ .

Board unfurled to show 2♣ T♣ 6♣ 3♦ J♠ giving Yi a flush and making Wang the first to walk out the floor.

Play has begun now with 11 minutes left on the clock for level 20.

Welcome to Taipei for Day 2 of the APT National Cup where the remaining players from all three flights will play down to a winner and a piece of the TWD 14,353,920 (~USD $455,000) prize pool.

Only 235 players from the 1,680 entries (633 unique) were able to bag up their chips and advance into the money today, where they will all be hoping to take home the trophy and first place prize money of TWD 2,519,920 (~USD $80,000).

Overnight chip leader Taiwan's Yu Cheng Lee will be looking to add to his trophy cabinet with a third APT title here, but trying their best to take home the silverware themselves are the likes of former APT Main Event Champion Shixian Khoo, Natural 8 ambassador Kunal Patni, and Kun Han Lee who all have healthy chip stacks for the start of Day 2.

Stay updated here to find out who makes the final table and who becomes the overall champion.

A full seat draw can be found by clicking HERE

Full payout information can be found HERE