In mid-November, the Asian Poker Tour will return to Taipei for 17 days of skill and strategy at the APT Championship. It’s the climax of the tour’s biggest year ever and the most ambitious series in Asian poker history, with some of poker’s most decorated champions vying for a piece of the largest guaranteed prize pool on the Asian continent.
Running November 14 through 30, the action-packed schedule features more than 200 events and $8.7 million in guaranteed prize pools; headlined by 20 Championship Events, each awarding the tours trademark gleaming golden lion trophies, the highlight is the $5M GTD APT Championship Main Event, a $10K freezeout that kicks off on Nov. 24.
Some of poker’s best players — 29 of them — have already claimed their Main Event seat by winning the biggest events at previous major stops throughout the 2025 season, creating a caravan of champions who have been tested by some of the toughest tournament fields in the world.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest names in poker who have locked in a trip to the APT Championship Main Event:
Asia's most decorated players headed to Taipei
Daniel Tang
- Career earnings: $34,738,727
Daniel Tang boasts four wins and 20 recorded cashes on the Asian Poker Tour, with his best score coming with a $317K win in the Superstar Challenge at the recent APT Jeju stop. The heads-up comeback win earned Tang the exclusive Black Stealth Lion Trophy and a seat in the APTC Main Event, where he will be one of the favorites. He followed it up a few days later with another APT victory in the PLO Masters event for 14K.
Tang’s technical skill has made him Hong Kong’s all-time money list leader, and he’s a fixture on the ultra-high-rolling Triton Poker scene, where he made three final tables at their recent stop in Jeju.
Biao Ding
- Career earnings: $19,091,537
Biao Ding won the Superstar Challenge at APT Taipei in April to secure a seat in the APT Championship Main Event and $307K. He’s second on China’s all-time money list, well within striking distance of Aaron Zang, who hasn’t been seen on the tournament circuit as much as Ding. The Superstar Challenge win was his first on the Asian Poker Tour and his sixth recorded cash.
Ding’s having a monster year in 2025 with 15 six-figure wins and a seven-figure score with a second-place finish in a $100K PLO event at Triton Jeju. He’s made over $6 million this year alone, putting him in a league with the game’s most consistent and respected players.
Tobias Schwecht
- Career earnings: $4,199,603
Tobias Schwecht earned his way into the APT Championship Main Event with a win in the Super High Roller at the Manila stop in February, one of three APT cashes in 2025 — all of them final table finishes. He has focused a lot of his energy on Asia in 2025, popping up at major poker festivals in Cambodia and South Korea. His big APT win in Manila was a roller coaster finish, and he has proven time and again he’s calm and calculated in the face of pressure.
The APT Championship Main Event will be a big test for the European tournament crusher, who brings a lot of international experience and over $4.1 million in career earnings. He’s been in the game since 2013, paying his dues all over Europe and throughout the summer in Las Vegas. Now, the German will see how his calculated style of play stacks up against one of the most prestigious fields of the year in Taipei.
Abraham Ceesvin
- Career earnings: $1,260,557
Abraham Ceesvin won the record-breaking Main Event at the APT Jeju stop, beating a field of 1,693 entries to secure his seat in the APT Championship Main Event. It was a long time coming after three other near-miss stints at APT Main Event final tables. 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."
Ceesvin won the largest tour prize ever won in Korea at the time, and the third-largest Main Event prize in APT history. The seasoned tour regular now has a chance to score big at the APT’s most ambitious Main Event yet.
Calvin Lee
- Career earnings: $5,372,587
Calvin Lee is a two-time APT champion with over $5.3 million in career earnings and he will be seated at the APT Championship Main Event thanks to a victory in the Superstar Challenge at APT Incheon. Lee has 12 recorded cashes on tour, and he brings with him more than a decade of international experience that includes a WSOP bracelet from the $3,000 Six-Max in 2016.
Lee beat Japanese poker legend Jun Obara after a dominating performance in his Superstar Challenge victory, one of many in 2025. He has made over $2 million this year alone, thanks to consistent showings at high roller events throughout Asia. He’s a sharp tactician at the table, and one that will be worth watching when the APT Championship hits Taipei later this month.
Joseph Cheong
- Career earnings: $20,244,319
One of the most accomplished players on any continent, Joseph Cheong brings a world-class skillset to the APT Championship Main Event in Taipei. The WSOP bracelet winner and 2010 Main Event final table qualifier already sits atop the APT All-Time Money List and has been seen a lot in 2025 at high roller events throughout Asia, most notably in the Zodiac Classic at APT.
Cheong picked up $174K for winning it, along with a seat to the APT Championship Main Event. It was the second time he has won the Zodiac Classic.
The APT Championship will be another chance to add a giant score for Cheong, who won $1.3 million once up on a time with a win at the APT Manila Millions event in 2013. He’s a crusher in any forum, bringing multiple decades of experience to the toughest field in Asian poker history this month. Cheong is one of the favorites to win in Taipei, and it would cement his legacy as one of poker’s greatest living players.
Images courtesy of the Asian Poker Tour.
