The eyes of the poker world were focused squarely on Taipei, Taiwan on Saturday as the largest and most lucrative Asian Poker Tour Main Event in the tour's history played out.
Akira Takasugi of Japan emerged as the champion and the biggest winner of the APT Taipei festival, claiming a first-place prize of over 19,009,440 TWD ($586,710). The final table Takasugi defeated represented a small sample of the dramatic cross-section of countries and regions represented in the attendance for the festival – players representing India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Macau and Hong Kong, and that's just the final nine.
How far the APT has come
In all, 2,547 entrants participated in the Main Event, eclipsing any other tournament ever run under the APT banner. It's an enormous amount of growth in comparison to the first ever event under the APT banner, the 2007 betfair APT Singapore Main Event that drew 313 total entries.
The records set in the 2025 APT Taipei Event will only last, at most, until November when the APT returns to Taiwan for the APT Championship Main Event with a guaranteed prize pool of TWD 165 million – eclipsing the prize pool of this recently concluded event by more than 25%.
By virtue of their top-three-finishes, Takasugi, Iat Man Leong of Macau and Wayne Lam of Hong Kong have already locked up their seats to what is guaranteed to be another record-setting event.
Celebratory festival brings out big names and big numbers
The APT Taipei Main Event is just one part of the overall success of the festival as a whole. From the very first tournament on the schedule, expectations were well exceeded across the board over the course of 126 scheduled tournaments. The APT Taipei National Cup drew 2,161 entries and set a record for the largest opening event of a festival in APT history – more than doubling the guarantee in the process.
The Mystery Bounty Hunter, sponsored by Natural8, drew 1,724 entries in its own right.
High roller action brought in big names from around the world, including Joseph Cheong and Calvin Lee, who each made final table appearances over the course of the festival. Kitty Kuo, who finished 21st in the APT Taipei Main Event, was joined by her husband – poker streamer Frankie C – as both played a significant volume of events. Global Poker Award winner and content creator Greg Goes All in (Greg Liow) was also in attendance, serving as a host throughout the festival.
Poker Hall of Famer John Juanda won a single-day high roller event on April 29 for TWD 3571700 (~$115,863) to add to his considerable list of career accomplishments.
Looking ahead
The APT will wrap up its 2025 calendar with a flourish at the aforementioned APT Championship Main Event in Taipei. Built around the bold TWD 165 million guaranteed Main Event is a festival that will stretch on for more than two weeks of action from November 14-30 and include TWD 276 million in total guarantees across all tournaments.
Before reaching the season finale, however, the APT will make two additional stops. The APT Korea Incheon festival will run from August 1-10 at Paradise Hotel & Resort, headlined by a main event with a $1 million guarantee. Then, from September 26 through October 5, APT Korea Jeju will take place at Jeju Shinhwa World. The Main Event in Jeju carries a guarantee of $1.5 million.
Images courtesy of the Asian Poker Tour.
