When the $1 million guarantee was met before play had even started in the third of four live opening flights for the Asian Poker Tour Incheon Main Event, everyone knew a record-breaking event was on the cards.
That proved to be an understatement.
The 2026 APT Incheon Main Event has become the largest international poker tournament ever held in the city, and the second-largest APT Main Event ever held in South Korea.
With a total of 1,393 entries, the 2026 edition produced a near-10% boost in turnout over the former record of 1,281 in 2025.
It sits behind only APT Jeju’s 1,718 entries among APT Main Events held in South Korea and is also the eighth-largest APT Main Event of the tour’s new era, which began in 2023.
“While record-breaking fields have become something we expect of ourselves on the Asian Poker Tour,” said APT CEO Fred Leung, “we’re very pleased to see the APT Incheon Main Event surpass last year’s record turnout. Particularly with so many overlapping poker festivals in Asia taking place after the conclusion of WSOP, the continued growth is a strong reflection of the confidence players have in the APT.”
The lion’s share
By night’s end here at Paradise City Casino, 207 players had secured at least $2,700 from the $2,148,960 prize pool – more than double the $1 million guarantee.
So, from that massive total, what can the champion look forward to along with the prestigious golden APT Lion trophy? How about $374,085? Not a bad payday for a roughly $1,765 buy-in.
The top three players will also receive a seat in the $5 million guaranteed APT Championship this November in Taipei.
APT Incheon Main Event final table payouts:
- $374,085 (+ $10,000 APT Championship entry)
- $214,120 (+ $10,000 APT Championship entry)
- $150,850 (+ $10,000 APT Championship entry)
- $111,180
- $87,040
- $66,030
- $50,530
- $35,800
- $27,560
Roaring into Day 3
After just over eight hours of play, with the field three eliminations away from the money, it was time for what would be a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour session of hand-for-hand play to burst the bubble.
Haohui Ma had an eventful couple of levels, starting with a dramatic double-up when he got his pocket kings in against Tomoya Kojima’s aces and drilled a two-outer on the river.
He would then burst the bubble himself, as his pocket queens held against Lifu Huang’s ace-eight. Ma would bag a healthy 466,000 for Day 3.
Carrying the biggest stack forward into Thursday’s play is Yuxuan Deng, the only player to bag a seven-figure stack with 1,052,000.
Other notables moving on include Bin Duan, whose career-best cash of $351,000 came here in South Korea in a 2025 Triton event. He has 632,000 to start Day 3.
2023 APT Taipei Main Event champion Punnat Punsri will join the Day 3 field from the Natural8 ‘Onlive’ flight with 492,000. Meanwhile, Shawn Lee, who entered Day 2 with the chip lead of 329,000, will return for Day 3 with 428,000.
Ousted from the pride
Two of the biggest names in the field to start Wednesday saw their days end surprisingly quickly.
All-time APT money leader Joseph Cheong began with over 100 big blinds but was eliminated in the early going, while two-time APT Lion Trophy winner in Jeju Tony ‘Ren’ Lin saw his 75 big blinds disappear within the first couple of levels.
Defending champion Junjie He won't be defending his crown after starting the day with 88,500 and hitting the rail before night's end.
2026 APT Jeju Main Event champion William Li entered the day with a shorter stack of 32 big blinds but couldn’t spin it up, with his bid for a second Main Event title coming to an end.
Australia’s fifth-leading tournament earner, Daniel Neilson, fresh off his first million-dollar score less than two weeks ago, won’t be adding to his recent totals in the APT Incheon Main Event as he was felted late in the day in a hand that neither he nor his opponent could watch.
Play resumes for Day 3 at 11:15 am local time and is scheduled to play either ten 60-minute levels or down to the final 48 players, whichever comes first.
The APT live stream will be available again on YouTube and Twitter/X, bringing you all the Day 3 action, and we’ll be on the floor of Paradise City Casino to bring you continued coverage from Asia’s premier poker tour.
