Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou

A poker teams event always brings a fun and lively atmosphere to the tournament floor, and this year was no different. With 62 duos registering yesterday, the event generated a TWD 3,214,080 total prize pool.

Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou (Team Thoo/Zhou) battled through 62 teams (124 players) and were crowned the winners of the APTC Taipei 2025 Teams Championship, each taking home the top TWD 374,782 (~12,010 USD) prize and a silver lion trophy.

Teams Bonus

There was also a team bonus in play for the last duo to have both players’ stacks still in action. The bonus saw 20% of the prize pool held back, equating to TWD 321,408 (~USD 10,300), which would be awarded to each player in the team.

Only 11 full teams made it through to Day 2, but this quickly whittled down, with Natural8 Ambassador and Taiwaneese pro Kitty Kuo and her teammate Frankie Cucchiara from the USA missing out on the chance at the bonus. Kuo got her remaining stack in pre-flop with ace-six suited, but her opponent Ian Kit Ung held with ace-queen offsuit, leaving just three teams in play.

Mitsuuchi So - Team Bonus Bubble

Japan's Taro Iikzuka was teamed up with Mitsuuchi So, and they put up a fair fight heading towards the final table but fell just short of getting two stacks through after running into Kitty Kuo’s straight with their set of kings.

When just 10 players remained, play went hand-for-hand. Within minutes, Hong Yu Huang ran out of luck with ace-king and just missed the minimum cash of TWD 38,550 (~USD 1,235) after getting rivered by Singaporean Eugene Zhou, who spiked a deuce to bust him.

Final Table

With each duo needing to play each level, there were two final table lineups.

The first to take their seats were: Top Left to Right: Sparrow Cheung, Ming Ken Thoo, Man Lok Chan, Chudapal Siarhei, Frankie Cucchiara

Bottom Left to Right: Kai Cheng Hsu, Chun Yung Wang, Chao Chiuan Lin, Mitsuuchi So

When the level changed, the teammates were up: Top Left to Right: Dicky Tsang, Chao Chiuan Lin, Eugene Zhou, Taro Iikzuka, Ian Kit Ung

Bottom Left to Right: Sin Lan Chen, Chun Yung Wang, Kitty Kuo, Sukhart Massimov

Those with a keen eye will see that there are two players in both final tables. This is because one complete team made it to the final table—Team Lin/Wang—meaning both Taiwaneese players Chao Chiuan Lin and Chun Yung Wang had secured two cashes each; the only question was which ones…

Chao Chiuan Lin and Chun Yung Wang

They entered with two short stacks, with Lin starting with just over one big blind. Within the first couple of hands, Lin was all in with ace-eight offsuit but couldn’t overcome Frankie Cucchiara’s pocket eights, eliminating the team in 9th place.

Down to one short stack, they managed to ladder before busting in 7th place, getting their final stack in with ace-five offsuit and bricking against Taiwan's Sin Lan Chen’s pocket fives.

In between, Team Massimov/Siarhei were down to just under ten big blinds. Belarus's Chudapal Siarhei open-jammed from the small blind with ten-seven suited, but their opponents picked up two pair on the flop, leaving no path back and ending their run in 8th place.

Chudapal Siarhei and Sukhart Massimov

Team Chen/Hsu secured 6th place with Taiwan's Sin Lan Chen getting the team’s stack in with tens but stacking up Malaysia's Ming Ken Thoo and partner after Thoo flopped top pair with ace–queen.

There was a longer battle for fourth position, with Hong Kong's Dicky Tsang chipping up and Taiwan's Kitty Kuo securing a full double-up, taking out Macau's Ian Kit Ung of Team Chan/Ung in the process.

Next to go was Team Iikzuka/So, who locked up 5th place after Japan's Mitsuuchi So got them into a sticky situation. So didn’t want to give up top pair and saw opponent Macau's Man Lok Chan hit a straight on the river to bust them.

Team Thoo/Zhou continued their final-table momentum and battled through the table, chipping up from the remaining teams.

Holding half the chips in play, they bullied their opponents, next eliminating Man Lok Chan of Team Chan/Ung. Chan got the team stack in with queen-ten suited on a ten–four–eight rainbow flop and ace turn, but was snap-called by Ming Ken Thoo holding pocket tens for a set. Team Chan/Ung finished in 4th place.

Kitty Kuo and Frankie Cucchiara

Thoo kept going and soon logged another knockout, eliminating Team Kuo/Cucchiara in 3rd. Frankie Cucchiara made it to the flop before Thoo raised him on an ace–eight–deuce board. Sitting with nine-eight, Cucchiara called but ran into Thoo’s ace-eight, ending the pair’s night.

Heads-Up

Top: Ming Ken Thoo (left), Sparrow Cheung (right)

Bottom: Eugene Zhou (left), Dicky Tsang (right)

After a short pause, it was time for heads-up play. The rail had grown, and the pressure was on, with most expecting a quick finish after Team Thoo/Zhou dominated the final table and held nearly all the chips.

Due to the structure of the tournament, rounds of heads-up action, with Natural8 Ambassador Sparrow Cheung vs Ming Ken Thoo and Dicky Tsang vs Eugene Zhou, ensued at each level change.

Team Tsang/Cheung dug deep and worked their way back into a more comfortable heads-up position within just a few hands of play.

Cheung continued battling, taking several pots without needing to go to showdown.

The pair continued battling for around two hours, with Team Cheung/Tsang clawing back even more, but they were never able to gain the chip lead.

Following a feisty heads-up duel, the last hand saw Cheung move all in with the shorter stack holding queen-jack suited. Thoo called with ace-six offsuit and found an ace on the flop, claiming the rest of the chips and the title for his team as APT Team Championship winners.

Winner Reaction

Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou

An eruption of roars filled the room after Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou took the glory of winning the inaugural TWD 30,000 (~USD 960) Teams Championship Event.

They were surrounded by many friends who were on the rail from the final table, who wanted to share their excitement.

Catching them after the event, the pair shared their thoughts on the structure and dynamic of the event, both saying "It was really really fun!"

When asked if they had teamed up before in such an event, Zhou responded with "I asked him (Thoo) last time, but he rejected" Zhou continued "He (Thoo) only said yes this time." A choice Thoo definitely won’t be second-guessing now.

Whilst this wraps up coverage of the APTC Taipei 2025 Teams Championship, we still have two action-packed days left in the series. Stay with us as we continue live reporting through the final two days of play, with eyes turning to the Micro Main, High Roller, and Freezeout Events—which all conclude tomorrow!

APT Team Championship Winners Team Thoo/Zhou

After a fairly long heads up battle Team Thoo/Zhou have taken down the inaugural APT Team Championship for TWD 374,782 (~12,010 USD) each.

Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.

Team Tsang/Cheung Sent To The Rail In Second Place

Sparrow Cheung moved all in from the button for 1,070,000 and Ming Ken Thoo squeezed his cards and after seeing just one made the call.

Sparrow Cheung: Q J

Ming Ken Thoo: A 6

Team Cheung/Tsang needed help and none was forthcoming on the K 6 3 flop.

The 3 on the turn didn't change anything and when the river bricked out with the 5 Team Cheung/Tsang were sent to the rail in second place after a valiant heads up battle.

Hands down, Ming Ken Thoo has been dominating the level winning a majority of the pots. He recently went on a rush, winning five consecutive hands.

The largest of those wins opened with a limp from Thoo on the button and Cheung checked. After the dealer flopped 7 A K , Cheung checked, Thoo bet 100,000, Cheung fired back a raise to 275,000, and Thoo called without much thought.

On the J turn, Cheung checked again, Thoo shoved all-in, Cheung let go, giving up his stake in the pot.

Players are now on a 15-minute break.

When they return, it will be all change time again with Sparrow Cheung versus Ming Ken Thoo at the felt.

Dicky Tsang

After a lengthy session of chips going back and forth, a big hand was tabled..

The hand started off with a limp from Dicky Tsang on the button and Eugene Zhou checked to bring about a flop of 5 5 3 .

Following Zhou's check, Tsang bet the minimum of 60,000 and Zhou continued to call to take them to the turn of 4 .

No slowing down for Tsang as he fired 200,000 to send Zhou into the think tank. After one time-bank spent, Zhou emerged with a call for the board to complete with a river card T .

Zhou checked again, Tsang announced all-in, and Zhou asked for a count which was confirmed at 525,000. Zhou proceeded to tank again and after one time-bank drained, he looked over at his rail and said that he had to call.

Dicky Tsang: 6 2

Eugene Zhou: T 4

When the hands were revealed, Tsang had the straight defeating Zhou's two pair. And as with every pot won by the Hong Kong team, the rail erupted.

Team Thoo/Zhou Have A Commanding Lead

The chips are going one way, then back the other at the moment, with not too much movement in the stack sizes.

One team wins a pot then the other takes it back.

Team Ming Ken Thoo and Eugene Zhou still have a commanding lead, but rest assured that Team Sparrow Cheung and Dicky Tsang will not be going down without a fight.

Here are the latest chip counts:

Players have switched and it's now heads up between Eugene Zhou and Dicky Tsang. On the opening hand, Zhou limped on the button and Tsang checked.

The flop Q 7 K was to Zhou's liking as he sent out an 80,000 bet, Tsang liked it as well and check-called.

The turn 3 bloated the pot further with Zhou sliding out a 150,000 bet and again Tsang check-called. Tsang checked once more when the river tabled 9 , Zhou slowed down and tapped back.

Tsang flipped over Q 4 and took down the pot after Zhou mucked.

Level up means player change!

We now have battling it out on the felt Dicky Tsang and Ming Eugene Zhou.

Latest chip counts as follows:

Ming Ken Thoo raised from the button and Sparrow Cheung defended to take the bout post flop.

Both player passed on the flop 6 5 3 then Cheung led out 85,000 on the turn 7 . Thoo called and they repeated on the river K with Cheunge betting a larger 140,000. Thoo called once more.

Cheung flipped over J 7 , Thoo had the same pair with a better kicker A 7 to win the pot.