PokerNewspredicted that the APT Taiwan Poker Classic Main Event's attendance would be off the charts, and that prediction ran true with 1,991 entries and a massive NT$86,011,200 ($2,724,460) prize pool created. Germany's Rene von Reden was the last player standing after the final hand concluded, and he raked in NT$14,413,200 ($453,960), the largest top prize ever awarded in Taiwan.
The APT Taiwan paid out the top 295 finishers. Such luminaries as Asa Smith, Kannapong Thanarattrakul, Joseph Cheong, Lester Edoc, Joshua McCully, Punnat Punsri, and four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche finished in the money (Nitsche busted in 26th) but fell short of the final table.
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize (TWD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rene von Reden | Germany | NT$14,413,200 | $453,960 |
| 2 | Abraham Ceesvin | Singapore | NT$7,930,000 | $249,760 |
| 3 | Jae Wook Shin | South Korea | NT$5,488,000 | $172,850 |
| 4 | Man Lok Chan | Macau | NT$3,939,000 | $124,060 |
| 5 | Dhanesh Chainani | Singapore | NT$3,270,000 | $103,580 |
| 6 | Chih Wie Fan | Taiwan | NT$2,639,000 | $83,120 |
| 7 | Sio Lau Fat | Macau | NT$2,021,000 | $63,650 |
| 8 | Juinchi Hashimoto | Japan | NT$1,424,000 | $44,850 |
| 9 | Andy Chen | Canada | NT$1,087,000 | $34,235 |
Von Reden sat down at the final table as the second-shortest stack but he doubled through Juinchi Hashimoto shortly after the final table began. Andy Chen fell by the wayside shortly after von Reden's timely double. Von Reden min-raised to 500,000 on the button but got out of the way after Chen three-bet all-in from the small blind and Abraham Ceesvin called from the big blind. Ceesvin showed ace-jack, Chen revealed the king-nine of diamonds, and a queen-high board sent Chen to the rail.
Hashimoto crashed out almost immediately Chen busted. Chih Wei Fan open-shoved from the small blind with nine-eight of spades, Hashimoto called with pocket fives and lost to a flopped straight.
Seventh place went to Sio Lau Fat, who lost a coinflip with ace-jack against the pocket sevens of Jae Wook Shin. Fat's seat hadn't gone cold when Fan was relieved of his stack. He got his chips into the middle in great shape, his ace-king of clubs dominating the ace-three of von Reden, but a three on the flop was enough to best Fan's Big Slick. Another superb result for Fan, who won the Superstar Challenge in Taipei for $272,084.
Dhanesh Chainani was the chip leader at the start of the final table, the 22nd APT final table of his career. A battle of the blinds saw Chainani all-in from the small blind with ace-eight against the ace-nine of von Reden. Chainani flopped an eight, but von Reden turned a straight. A brick on the river later, and Chainani was gone.
Man Lok Chan lost a sizeable pot to von Reden and never fully recovered. His final action of the APT Taipei Main Event was to call Abraham Ceesvin's shove with ace-jack of diamonds and finding himself in a decent spot against eight-seven of diamonds. However, an eight on the flop gave Ceesvin the advantage, and that pair of eights held to send Chan home.
Heads-up was determined soon after, with Shin's ace-ten losing a coinflip against the pocket eights of Ceesvin. An eight on the flop gave Ceesvin a set, and Shin was making his way from the final table before the turn landed on the felt.
Ceesvin held a 49,000,000 to 30,000,000 chip lead over von Reden going into heads-up, with blinds at 500,000/1,000,000/1,000,000a. First blood went to von Reden but Ceesvin won a couple of large pots to forge a 2:1 lead for himself.
Von Reden flipped the contest on its head after correctly calling Ceesvin's all-in bluff. Although Ceesvin refused to lay down quietly, he would ultimately have to make do with second place.
The final hand saw Ceesvin min-raise with king-six, and von Reden call with nine-deuce of diamonds. A seven-king-trey flop with two diamonds saw von Reden check-call a half-pot bet. The three of diamonds improved von Reden to a flush, and he checked. Ceesvin fired a 4,500,000 bet, von Reden raised to 12,000,000, and instantly called when Ceesvin moved all-in. Ceesvin had a nine percent chance to improve to a full house, but the queen of diamonds river sent him to the showers.
Von Reden got his hands on the famous lion APT trophy and the largest top prize in Taiwanese poker history, the equivalent of $453,960.
Four players are returning home having added six-figure (in USD) prizes to their lifetime earnings.
Chih Wei Fan triumphed in the NT$800,000 Superstar Challenge and took home the equivalent of $272,084.
Phanlert Sukonthachartnant is $183,482 richer, thanks to winning the NT$300,000 Super High Roller, with Martin Sedlak banking $163,094 for his victory in the NT$110,000 High Roller.
Hye Park won the NT$80,000 Zodiac event for a cool $149,565.
| Event | Champion | Prize (TWD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NT$800,000 Superstar Challenge | Chih Fan | NT$8,590,525 | $272,084 |
| NT$300,000 Super High Roller | Phanlert Sukonthachartnant | NT$5,793,950 | $183,482 |
| NT$110,000 High Roller | Martin Sedlak | NT$5,244,000 | $163,094 |
| NT$80,000 Zodiac | Hye Park | NT$4,767,480 | $149,565 |
| NT$150,000 Baby Superstar Challenge | Niko Koop | NT$3,131,200 | $97,771 |
| NT$22,000 Mini Main Event | Tom Verbruggen | NT$2,710,930 | $84,313 |
| NT$10,000 National Cup | Kai Hu | NT$2,519,920 | $79,277 |
| NT$20,000 Double Stack | Dongjae Kim | NT$2,250,480 | $70,270 |
| NT$60,000 High Roller | Peter Kiem | NT$2,089,880 | $66,192 |
| NT15,000 Mystery Bounty | Isaac Chze | NT$1,921,880 | $60,861 |
The APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 was a roaring success. Across the 11-day festival, 2,776 unique players from 48 countries and regions contributed 16,787 total entries across 98 trophy events. The APT awarded NT$388.25 million, the equivalent of $12.18 million!
The success of this APT stop is a good omen for the upcoming APT Manila 2024 festival, which runs at the City of Dreams Manila from October 28 through November 7.
Images courtesy of the APT