Akshay Nasa

Players have now bagged and tagged after a full day of action at the Red Space Events Centre in Taipei. This 7-Max event is a brand-new format for the APT Championship (APTC), and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The inaugural 7-Max Championship drew 313 entries, creating a substantial TWD 21,634,560 (~USD 702,420) prize pool.

The winner of this event will be crowned the first-ever APT 7-Max champion and will not only take home the top prize but also secure a seat into the APT Championship Main Event worth 311,000 TWD (USD 10,000). Only 107 players will return for the final day tomorrow, with 39 guaranteed a pay out.

PAYOUTS

Akshay Nasa topped the counts after 12 hours of play. He quietly built his stack throughout the day, spending much of it near the top, though he did take a slight hit from Danny Tang in one of the final levels. A regular on the Asian circuit, Nasa has been attending APT events since 2019.

TOP TEN COUNTS

Jesse Wigan also had an impressive Day 1 and held the chip lead for much of the final level before being edged out by Nasa. Wigan spun his stack up consistently through the late stages, with a key boost coming when he busted Michael Molenaar after hitting quad tens. A familiar figure on the European and American circuits, Wigan recently posted his first Asian cash at a Triton high roller in Jeju, South Korea.

Japan’s Kyosuke Nagami sits comfortably in third place with 402,000. With over USD $1,000,000 in live earnings, he is no stranger to deep runs and already secured a 5th-place finish in the Single Day High Roller on Sunday, 16 November. He’ll be looking to better that result here.

Lucia Navarro Martinez

The late stages of Day 1 saw several casualties, including Huges Girard, and Shuhei Nomura, with the latter exiting after running into Daniel Yang’s nut flush.

Lucia Navarro Martinez made it to the penultimate level of the night, but ultimately couldn’t find a way back.

Several notable players remain in contention for the title. Among them is Biao Ding (246,000), who sits second on China’s all-time money list with an incredible USD 19,098,750 in live earnings. Zhang Mingchen will also return for Day 2 with 195,000, aiming to make the money and add to his 2025 scores.

The final day resumes Tuesday, 18 November, at 11:15am (TST), and will play down to a champion. Action begins at Level 14 with blinds at 1,500/3,000 and a 3,000 big blind ante. Levels remain 40 minutes long, with a scheduled 60-minute dinner break after Level 22.

Click here - for the full list of survivors and the Day 2 seat draw.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for continued APT live reporting from the 7-Max Championship as we follow the action all the way to the crowning of our first champion.

The remaining 107 players have now bagged their chips, ready to return for the final day tomorrow.

Stay tuned for the full day recap, which will be posted shortly.

Ryan Plant made a move on the button and shoved his remaining 65,000 or so in the middle. Ho Ci Hong snap-called on the small blind without an official count.

Ryan Plant: 4 4

Ho Ci Hong: 9 9

Board ran 3 6 J T J

Plant couldn't improve and lost the chance to continue to Day 2.

Jesse Wigan

UK based Jesse Wigan is the current chip leader and had the honour of choosing the number of hands left to play before bagging up for the night.

Wigan announced that there will be six more hands to play through before putting the chips in the bags for Day 2.

He boasts the current largest chip count, sitting at an impressive 417,000. There are a couple of players hot on his tail, looking bag at the top. Time will tell whether Wigan can hold the lead.

Lucia Martinez

Joseph Sandaev opened for 4,000 from under the gun. Lucia Navarrro Martinez shoved her remaining 4,800 all-in.

Action then went to big blind Vincent Rubianes, who hadn't been paying attention and requested for a chip count of Martinez when it was already all laid out. He was then trying to make a decision, wondering what the action was, looking at Sandaev's raise and the all-in of Martinez.

However, he took so long and he didn't even have a time bank token left and it was brought to the attention of the floor. Rubianes tried to explain himself while the clock rolled into the next level.

After what seemed like three minutes of lost-in-conversation from a berated Rubianes, he was given 30-seconds to act and he eventually folded.

Seated next to him was Fabian Gumz who complained that he spent over three minutes talking without a time bank and folded, disappointed with the actions of Rubianes to say the least.

While Gumz and Rubianes engaged in heated conversation, Sandaev made the call.

Joseph Sandaev: A K

Lucia Navarro Martinez: J 9

Board ran Q 3 8 2 2 sending Martinez to the rail.

Meanwhile, Gumz and Rubianes still continued to prove their opinions, not even noticing that the hand was over and the lovely Martinez had already exited.

Yita Choong

Players were already heads-up and on the river. The board read A J 7 J K and Yita Choong was all in and at risk for their tournament life from under the gun. The pot stood at around 45,000.

Action was back on Hannes Jeschka who had checked the river from the big blind. They faced a jam from Yita Choong for ~59,000, who was sitting under the gun.

Jeschka threw a time bank card into the middle, before making the call.

Yita Choong: K T

Hannes Jeschka: J 9

Choong had made two pair on the river, but Jeschka had him beat with trip jacks.

It was the end of the road for Choong, and he swiftly stood from the table after busting just before the last level of the day.

A very huge pot of 78,000 was in the middle beside a complete board that showed 2 3 Q 8 T

Hsuan-Yu Lai open-fired 42,000 from the big blind. Julian Warhurst tanked on the button, assessed what kind of damage it would do. He then threw in a few time bank tokens before finally making the call.

Lai turned over 2 2 for a set of deuces while Warhurst mucked in silent disgust.

Iat Man Leong and Hyeonsik Yun had a complete board of K A K A 3 in front of them with a handsome pot of 30,000 chips or so.

Leong was on the big blind and led out for 10,000. Yun took his time to assess his small stack before counting off the chips to call.

Leong showed A 2 for a full house while Yun mucked his cards and counted what was left of his stack before having to post the blinds to further dwindle his stack.

Jesse Wigan

Michael Molenaar was already stood from the table, and all the cards were already face up.

Michael Molenaar: J 9

Jesse Wigan: T T

Molenaar had just been brutally knocked out by Jesse Wigan after Wigan hit quad tens against his straight on the 9 7 8 T T runout.

Whislt it was a tough fate for Molenaar, Wigan left the hand with one of the largest stacks in play.

Gal Bar opened on the button for 4,000. Bao Qiang Ho raised it up to 14,200 on the small blind. Xiang Zhang defended the big blind with a call and Bar let the blinds battle it out.

The dealer fanned a flop of 8 K A

Ho led out for 9,000 and Zhang made the quick call.

The turn showed a 4 , which both players checked to open a 6 on the river.

Ho made a slow tap to Zhang, who fired in 10,000. Ho flung his cards to the muck and surrendered the pot.