Dohang Na

A total of 671 entries collected a record-breaking TWD 194,080,973 (~USD6.2m), making for the richest-ever APT prize pool. It also stands as the largest-ever APT Main Event first prize - as the winner will take home a huge TWD 37,030,773 (~USD1.2m) payout.

It also set the record as being the largest USD 10k buy-in freezeout tournament outside of Las Vegas in the last decade.

Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Topping the Counts

South Korea’s Dohang Na closed out Day 2 of the APTC Taipei Main Event Championship as the chip leader, bagging an impressive 924,500 stack. All eyes were on Na during the final hands of the day, as he cracked Yuanxi Chen’s kings to bag the top stack for Day 3.

After a steady Day 1 and bagging 107,400, he came alive on Day 2, picking up speed throughout the afternoon — including recalling a memorable scoop where he also cracked an opponent’s aces to build his wall of chips.

Aditya Agarwal

India’s Aditya Agarwal (766,000) bagged second, narrowly missing out on the top position. He shot up the counts late into the night after finding a full house with pocket eights, which knocked out Andrei Spataru. Malaysia's Ben Loo is sitting close behind him in third with a 738,500 stack.

Day 2 Action

With 343 players starting the day, and late registration open until the end of the first break, the additions and eliminations were plentiful. APT Host Gregory “Greg Goes All In” Liow and Dhanesh Chainani were among some of the early casualties.

With late registration open for another two levels at the start of Day 2, two-time 2025 Superstar Challenge event winner Calvin Lee hopped into the field and was among the last to take his seat.

Roman Hrabec

Throughout the rest of the day, as the remaining player pool decreased, several leaders began pulling away from the pack. Roman Hrabec (302,500) was one of them. He drew a tough table, seated among fellow pros Michael Wang and Chih Wei Fan.

Hrabec’s climb came partly from knocking out Wang early in the day, and he carried that momentum throughout the session, being the only one to make it out of the pack and survive to see Day 3.

Just before the dinner break, Abraham Ceesvin saw his Main Event journey come to an end.

Shortly after, Ruiko Mamiya joined him on the rail. Mamiya saw a lucky save in a hand before the dinner break but fell shortly after returning, ending her chance at another APT title after taking down the National Cup event at the start of the series.

With no one wanting to bubble the Main Event, action slowed significantly after the dinner break. As Day 2 wound down, several familiar faces saw their tournament runs end. Seigo Miyazaki, Czardy Rivera, and Andrei Spataru were all eliminated before bagging for Day 3.

Edmond Chim

But the day also delivered its share of triumphs. Previous APT 2025 champions Edmond Chim (210,000) and Akira Takasugi (137,000)— who won their tickets by taking down earlier APT 2025 events — remain in the hunt for another APT title.

Erik Seidel

Ten time WSOP Bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (204,000) will also return tomorrow alongside fellow neighbour on the all-time money list, Steve O'Dwyer (127,000). Seidel sits in 14th place, with O'Dwyer just below in 15th, with a mere ~USD 1,500,000 seperating them.

Satellite success story Mingchang Hsiao (216,000) also bagged for Day 3. There isn’t much history on Hsiao, but this appears to be the biggest spot of his career by a fair margin.

Other players still in contention who came through a Natural8 satellite ticket are Frankie Cucchiara (71,500) and Alexandru Papazian (712,000), with Papazian sitting fifth in the counts.

Payouts

Day 3 begins tomorrow (Wednesday, Nov. 26) at 11:15 a.m., with 133 players returning to fight for their place in Day 4. With 95 places paid, there will no doubt be plenty of anticipation for the money bubble heading into the day.

Action resumes at Level 17 with blinds at 2,500/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. The structure features 90-minute levels, with a 15-minute comfort break after each level and a 60-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 20 at approximately 6:00 p.m.

The APT Blog will continue to bring you all the key Main Event action as it unfolds. Join us tomorrow for full coverage of Day 3 of the prestigious Main Event — along with the exciting Mini Main, High Roller, and Teams Championship events which also are running tomorrow — live from the Red Space Events Centre in Taipei, Taiwan.

Day 2 has come to a close, and the remaining 135 players have bagged their chips to return tomorrow at 11:15 am (TST) for Day 3.

Stay tuned for a full recap of the day!

Dohang Na

In the second to last hand on Table 93, Dohang Na was just sitting behind the chip lead but found himself in a hand against Yuanxi Chen.

Chen has opened from the cutoff and Na three-bet on the button to 26,500. Action folded back around to Chen who four-bet non-all in and Na moved all in to cover Chen's remaining 120,000 stack.

Yuanxi Chen: K K

Dohang Na: A 8

Chen stood after seeing the ace fall for Na on A 9 6 flop, and there was no help for Chen on the T turn or J river.

Na sat back as the clear chip lead with around 924,500 chips now in front of him.

With the last six hands announced, players are going big or go home.

On a pot of around 90,000 and a completed board of 6 5 8 T 3 , Lok Ming Chan fired 60,000 after a check from Rudy Halim.

Halim was taking his time to consider his options then made a one-chip call no one saw. It took a few seconds before anyone realized there was one-chip infront of Halim.

Chan had to confirm, "Did you call?" When Halim nodded yes, Chan tabled T T for a set on the turn, prompting Halim to throw his hand in the muck.

Michael Concepcion

Michael Concepcion entered the hand from middle position, facing only Vincent Li defending his big blind.

On a flop of 8 9 4 , Li check-called Concepcion’s 16,000 bet.

Li checked again on the 3 turn, and Concepcion tried to steal the pot with a second barrel of 29,000 but Li remained sticky.

The K landed on the river, and both players checked.

Michael Concepcion: K 6

Vincent Li: J J

Concepcion, who had played the entire hand as a bluff, was saved by the fifth card on the board, narrowly overtaking Li’s pocket jacks. Li looked slightly dejected as Concepcion revealed his winning hand.

Ben Loo, as the current chip lead with a commanding ~720,000 stack, was given the honours of choosing the number of hands left to player before bagging.

Ben Loo

The floor then announced that action will play through "Six more hands".

A number of notables look to return to the tables tomorrow, including Erik Seidel, Martin Sedlak, Edmond Chim, Dylan Foster, Steve O'Dwyer and Fabian Gumz.

George Tomescu

The Romanian player George Tomescu and his opponent, Malaysia’s Ming Thoo Ken — a player who has been on a strong upward trajectory in recent months — had built a sizable pot by the time they reached the river.

The final board read: 9 5 9 2 3 .

Tomescu fired a hefty river bet worth 105,000 chips.

Ken didn’t hide his hesitation. He burned a time bank before eventually sliding in a calling chip.

It turned out to be the wrong decision: Tomescu had flopped trips with his hand J 9 and dragged in the entire mountain of chips sitting in the middle.

Dongying Ling

Cheruku Abhijith opened to 9,000 and got a 23,000 three-bet from the player to his immediate left, Dongying Ling. Abhijith called to see a flop.

The flop came Q K J . Abhijith check-called Ling's continuation bet of 16,000 leading them to the turn.

The action slowed down with a check-check on the turn 8 , but resumed on the river 5 , where Abhijith check-called Ling's bet of 25,000.

Ling tabled A A prompting Abhijith to muck his hand.

Aditya Agarwal

Andrei Spataru bet 95,000 on a board of 5 J 5 8 A with around 80,000 chips in the middle of the table. Aditya Agarwal, the only other player in the hand, replied with an all-in shove worth 329,500.

With only around 140,000 behind Spataru needed to mull things over especially since it was the last level of the day. He burned two time banks before finally making the decision to call.

Agarwal tabled 8 8 for a full house. Spataru got on his feet and flipped over A J before leaving the table.

Xiaowen Zhao opened to 1,000 and Hansheng Mark Sia called from the cutoff. Nguyen Hu Dung a jammed from the small blind for 135,500 and saw a call only from Zhao.

Nguyen Hu Dung: T T

Xiaowen Zhao: 9 9

Dung was ahead and he improved to top set on the T 6 5 flop.

A 9 turn brought in a one out sweat, but that quickly faded on the A river, and Zhao saw a huge double up in the last level of the evening.