The APT Taipei 2023 is officially the largest in APT history, setting multiple records and awarding millions of dollars in prize money.
Playing out at the brand new CTP Asia Poker Arena – Asia's largest permanent poker room – the ten-day, 41 trophy-event series saw 1,989 unique players from 42 countries compete for a massive TWD $225,123,032 (~USD $7,357,920) in prize money.
Just over a quarter (27%) of the series prize money was awarded in the Main Event, which saw 881 unique players from 37 different countries compete for a TWD $62,594,100 (US$2,039,630) prize pool. It was Thailand's Punnat Punsri claiming the coveted 24K golden lion trophy and the TWD $11,210,400.00 (~USD $365,270) top prize – the largest first-place prize ever to be awarded in a Taiwanese poker tournament.
In addition to the APT Taipei 2023 breaking the record for largest APT Main Event field and prize pool, the **APT High Roller **also drew its largest field in APT history attracting a record 302 entries – which you can read about below – and accounting for a further 11% of the total Series prize money awarded.
It was another Thai player, Natural8 Amabassador Phachara Wongwichit who claimed the coveted bronze APT High Roller lion trophy, meaning two out of the three marquee APT lion trophies will be heading back to Thailand, with the pewter lion headed back to the UK with APT Super High Roller champion Sam Lam.
However, despite Thailand claiming the two biggest titles, it was Taiwan who proved to be tournament top dogs, claiming 10 APT titles, with South Korea and Hong Kong tied for second with 6 titles apeice.
Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit Wins Record APT High Roller for TWD $4.8M (~USD $157K)
Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit claimed his second high roller title of the Series in the largest APT High Roller in the Tour's 15-year history
Just 84 players out of a record field of 302 returned for the second and final day of the TWD $100,000 Event #43 APT High Roller - 8 Max - TWD 4,500,000 GTD, all looking to claim their share of the TWD $26,364,600 (~USD $860,930) prize pool – the second largest of the Series.
It was Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit who took the lion's share of this monster purse, cashing for a sizable TWD $4,800,900 (~USD $156,930) for first, with Chan taking a TWD $4,000,000 (~USD 130,750) payout for his runner-up finish after the two flattened the top two payouts once play reached heads-up.
The Thai pro defeated Hong Kong's Tsz Him Chan after a two-level long heads-up battle that saw Wongwichit battle back from a 2-to-1 chip deficit to claim the coveted bronze lion APT High Roller trophy and his second high roller title of the Series.
