The Asian Poker Tour broke yet another record this week, packing in 1,693 entries for their largest-ever Main Event in Korea at the Jeju stop.
The stop's flagship event was won by Abraham Ceesvin, and it was a long time coming after three other less successful stints at APT Main Event final tables. He held off Lili Tang with a flopped straight to win, denying what would have been the tour's first-ever female Main Event winner in the New Era.
Ceesvin has played in and cashed eight of the 13 APT Main Events to be played in the New Era, previously finishing fifth at Incheon in 2023 and second at the APT Taipei Poker Classic.
“I was a bit inexperienced in my first one [the final table at APT Incheon 2023]," Ceesvin told the APT after his win. "I could have done better, but we’re all human. We all make mistakes. I didn’t hold it against myself. You have to improve. I got better in the second one and did better in it.
When I got second, it really hurt. Maybe due to my inexperience. Sometimes you don’t get a chance again, but I kept trying."
The win was good for around $464K in American dollars for Ceesvin, who took the big share from a total prize pool of over $2.7 million. It's the largest tour prize ever won in Korea and the third-largest Main Event prize in APT history.
Taipei up next
Jeju continues to be a hotbed of growth for the APT, with this year's Main Event now the largest-ever tournament played in Korea and the third-biggest of all time. To put it in perspective, this year's affair was ten times larger than the Jeju Main Event in 2013, which held 166 entries for a $160K prize pool. It was also a 55% increase in entries from last year's Jeju stop, and 60% more money in prize pools.
All roads now lead to the APT Championship in Taipei from November 24–28, where Ceesvin, Tang, and third-place finish Shuang Qiu have all punched their ticket a $5M season finale.
