The action at the ongoing Asian Poker Tour (APT) Taipei Poker Classic 2024 heats up as the series enters its final stage with the record-breaking main event field of 1,991 entrants whittling down to just 47 players. Singapore’s Abraham Ceesvin leads the 47 remaining players, holding 4.57 Million chips (114 BBs). Ceesvin has three titles to his name and is now in pole position to claim the TWD 14,413,200 ($ 453,430) top prize.
Day 3 of the main event took place yesterday with 301 runners, all battling for a slice of a whopping TWD 86,011,200 (~$2.7M) prize pool. Among the returning players yesterday were four Indians but only three of them managed to cash. Raju Jaruplavath, who also final-tabled Event #64: Super Hyper Turbo – Bomb Pot, ran deepest among the Indian trio, finishing 146th for TWD 1,00,000.
Saransh Garg, Natural8 India APT Taipei – India Exclusive Tournament runner-up, exited in 190th place and took home TWD 90,000 for his third cash of the series. Natural8 India Executive Director and Ambassador Kunal Patni finished 264th for TWD 77,000, securing his second cash finish in the ongoing series. Unfortunately, Somasekhar Sanampuri, who started Day 3 as the shortest stacks among the Indians, exited the event empty-handed.
MAIN EVENT TOP TEN STACKS AFTER DAY 3
| Position | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Abraham Ceesvin | 4,570,000 |
| 2 | Eric “Six Poker” Tsai | 3,765,000 |
| 3 | Kosuke Miyoshi | 3,425,000 |
| 4 | Keigo Kubo | 3,295,000 |
| 5 | Chi Ho Yeung | 3,190,000 |
| 6 | Ting Hao Wu | 2,965,000 |
| 7 | Nguyen Trung Quan | 2,780,000 |
| 8 | Konstantin Held | 2,715,000 |
| 9 | Hoi Ting Lee | 2,300,000 |
| 10 | Kazumasa Higuma | 2,100,000 |
Abhinav Iyer Bags Second Biggest Stack Heading Into Day 2 of Zodiac Classic
While Team India’s run has ended in the Main Event, they are making waves in Event #69: TWD 80,000 Zodiac Classic. Sponsored by Natural8, this tournament drew an impressive 354 entries for a prize pool of TWD 24,468,480 (~$775,055). With a whopping TWD 4,767,480 (~$151,010) to be awarded to the eventual champion, the competition is intense right from the beginning.
Following thirteen 40-minute levels on Day 1, the field in this event has whittled down to 124 runners. Hong Kong’s Yiu Yeung Leung is leading the charge heading into Day 2 with a commanding stack of 343,000 chips.
Hot on his heels is none other than India’s WSOP bracelet winner and former APT Main Event champion Abhinav Iyer who bagged a stack of 292,500, putting him in pole position for another deep run, following his runner-up finish in Event #32: High Roller – Double Stack where he earned TWD 1.411 Million (INR 37.25 Lakhs). Now, he is eyeing another APT title.
Apart from Iyer, five more Indian players have made it to Day 2 and they include Ritesh Khatwani (166,000), Karan Gupta (156,000), Natural8 India Executive Director and Ambassador Kunal Patni (153,500), Event #51 runner-up Akash Malik (94,000), and Saransh Garg (79,000), who has already scored two final table finishes in this series. With several talented Indians in contention, India can expect another APT title following Neil Pednekar’s victory in Natural8 India APT Taipei – India Exclusive Tournament.
With only 47 spots guaranteed a payout, many will leave empty-handed among the 124 returning players. The Final Day (Day2) begins at 11:15 AM local time on today, October 4, at the Asia Poker Arena.
ZODIAC CLASSIC TOP TEN STACKS AFTER DAY 1
| Position | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Yiu Yeung Leung | 343,000 |
| 2 | Abhinav Iyer | 292,500 |
| 3 | Quang Huy Nguyen | 272,000 |
| 4 | Naoto Takeya | 262,000 |
| 5 | Yuya Arito | 259,000 |
| 6 | Christopher Trang | 239,500 |
| 7 | Yuen Shan Chui | 231,500 |
| 8 | Pi-Ying Hsu | 228,000 |
| 9 | Boonchai Jirapongtrakul | 205,000 |
| 10 | Xin Ann Lim | 201,500 |
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates from the ongoing APT Taipei series!
