The excitement continues at the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Taipei Poker Classic 2024. Running at the Asia Poker Arena and the Chinese Mahjong League and boasting a massive TWD 150 Million (~$4.60 Million) guaranteed prize pool across 108 trophy events, the ongoing festival is turning out to be a big hunting ground for Indian players, with more than 20 cashes and one title already under their belt.
Following Neil Pednekar’s victory in Natural8 India APT Taipei – India Exclusive Tournament, India’s WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer came this close to winning another APT title in Event #32: TWD 60,000 High Roller – Double Stack. The 2019 APT Ho Chi Minh Main Event champion was the dominant force on Day 1, bagging a massive stack of 1.598 Million chips (100 BBs) and leading the 63 survivors from a 182-entry field. He was in good shape to close it out with a victory but sadly it wasn’t to be. He ended up as the runner-up but he still took home a massive TWD 1,411,000 (INR 37.25 Lakhs) – the biggest score by any Indian player in the series, surpassing Dhaval Mudgal‘s TWD 761,000, which came for his second place in Event #3: TWD 55,000 Single Day High Roller – Freezeout.
The High Roller – Double Stack was eventually won by USA’s Peter Kiem. He started Day 2 among the chip leaders and went all the way to win the top prize of TWD 2,089,880, the lion’s share of the TWD 9,434,880 prize pool.
Final Table Payouts (TWD)
1. Peter Kiem – TWD 2,089,880
2. Abhinav Iyer – TWD 1,411,000
3. Tomoki Terashima – TWD 971,000
4. Dylan Wayne Foster – TWD 792,000
5. Yuu Xin Liu – TWD 631,000
6. Ka Chun Tsui – TWD 485,000
7. Grant Wang – TWD 353,000
8. Chia Yun Wu – TWD 256,000
9. Abraham Abdulla Ceesvin – TWD 211,000
Chien Tung Wu Wins Big in Hyper Turbo – High Roller (TWD 462,120), India’s Akash Malik Finishes Runner-up
Another Indian who narrowly missed out on the title was Akash Malik, a long-time cash game pro, who made his mark in Event #51: TWD 30,000 Hyper Turbo – High Roller. He came so close to winning his first title but had to settle for the second place prize worth TWD 332,000 (INR 8.76 Lakhs) in the end.
Event #51: TWD 30,000 Hyper Turbo – High Roller was eventually won by local pro Chien Tung Wu who took home a massive TWD 462,120 and his first-ever APT title. Wu overcame a tough field of 61 entries (53 unique) to clinch this victory, which more than doubled his live career earnings.
Final Table Results (TWD)
1-Chien Tung Wu – TWD 462,120
2-Akash Malik – TWD 332,000
3-Constantine Paparestis – TWD 216,000
4-John Perry – TWD 163,000
5-Tae Hoon Han – TWD 126,000
6-Tze Yau Wong – TWD 98,000
7-Paul Nattapatsiri – TWD 77,000
8-Li Ting Ting Tina – TWD 60,000
9-Puripat Mahaguna – TWD 47,000
Nikita Luther & Raju Jaruplavath Score Final Table Finishes
Among other Indians who scored a final table finish was none other than the WSOP bracelet winner and Natural8 India ambassador Nikita Luther, who competed in the fast-paced Event #61: TWD 20,000 Hyper Turbo – High Roller among the 24 entrants and did well, finishing fourth for TWD 50,000.
The event was won by South Korea’s Lee Hojae who took home TWD 150,720 (~$4,725) and first-ever live poker title.
Event #61: TWD 20,000 Hyper Turbo – High Roller Final Table
| Place | Name | Prize (TWD) |
| 1 | Lee Hojae | 150,720 |
| 2 | Numata Takahiro | 101,000 |
| 3 | Kazuya Miyata | 113,000 |
| 4 | Nikita Luther | 50,000 |
India’s Raju Jaruplavath Scores Final Table Finish In Event #64: Super Hyper Turbo – Bomb Pot
India’s Raju Jaruplavath made his mark in Event #64: Super Hyper Turbo – Bomb Pot, which drew a field of 71 entries (63 unique) and collected a TWD 419,865 prize pool. Jaruplavath, who is also in Day 3 of the Main Event, decided to jump into this exciting event and made his mark, finishing seventh for TWD 21,000. This was his first cash and he is eyeing a big score in the main event.
The champion of this event was crowned in Malaysia’s Jack Lai Moon, who also won Event #15: Turbo – PL Omaha earlier in the series. This is his second APT title of the series, and he took home TWD 121,865 (~$3,821) for his latest win.
Event #64: Super Hyper Turbo – Bomb Pot
| 1 | Jack Lai Moon | 121,865.6 |
| 2 | Kajornnut Prirungrueng | 88,000 |
| 3 | Tien Huang | 57,000 |
| 4 | Boonchai Jirapongtrakul | 43,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Robert Montagnolli | 34,000 |
| 6 | Graeme Siow | 26,000 |
| 7 | Raju Jaruplavath | 21,000 |
| 8 | Leo Pang | 16,000 |
| 9 | Pearce Shane | 13,000 |
Siddharth Karia and Sriharsha Doddapaneni Score Deep Runs in Event #58: TWD 25,000 NL Hold’em – Freezeout
Event #58: TWD 25,000 NL Hold’em – Freezeout drew a massive field of 272 players. The champion of this event was crowned UK’s Ryan Plant, who took home his first-ever APT title and a top prize of TWD 1,173,200 (~$37,160) – his second-best live score.
Two Indian pros made their mark in this event, including PokerStars India ambassador Siddharth Karia, who clinched a win at the Won Poker Cup $1,500 Mini High Roller in July and placed 13th for TWD 85,000 in Event #3: Single Day High Roller – Freezeout, continued his hot run with a fifth-place finish in this event for TWD 362,000 (INR 9.48 Lakhs).
Veteran Indian pro Sriharsha Doddapaneni, who made waves with his 12th place finish in the EPT Barcelona Main Event last month, also finished 12th in this event, earning TWD 90,000.
Event #58: NL Hold’em – Freezeout Final Table
| 1 | Ryan Plant | 1,173,200 |
| 2 | Sho Wada | 783,000 |
| 3 | Chun Wing Mak | 573,000 |
| 4 | Uhsang Ahn | 462,000 |
| 5 | Siddharth Karia | 362,000 |
| 6 | Yu Jung Lo | 274,000 |
| 7 | Man Hang Tse | 202,000 |
| 8 | Chun Yu Ma | 148,000 |
| 9 | Chaiwut Jungpongsakorn | 123,000 |
Team India at Record-Breaking APT Taipei Main Event
The TWD 50,000 APT Main Event is officially the record-breaker in Taiwanese history! It drew a whopping 1,991 entries, smashing the previous turnout record and amassing a staggering TWD 86.011 Million (~$2.70 Million), with 295 players assured a payday. The eventual champion will take home a hefty TWD 14.413 Million (~$452,000) and the coveted Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy.
Singapore’s Andrew Ong is leading the pack into Day 3 with 582,000 chips (116 BBs) after dominating Day 2 BD. Following him is South Korea’s Manwoo Park with a stack of 580,000 chips (116 BBs). Australia’s Dylan Foster is in third chip position with 575,000 chips (115 BBs) after topping Day 2 AC.
A total of 301 players, including 56 online qualifiers from Natural8, have returned for Day 3. Out of the 13 Indians who made it to Day 2, four players have advanced to Day 3, including Raju Jaruplavath (213,000 – 43 BBs), rising star Saransh Garg (101,500 – 20 BBs), Natural8 India Executive Director and ambassador Kunal Patni (84,500 – 17 BBs) and Somasekhar Sanampuri (23,000 – 5 BBs).
Day 3 of the Main Event is already underway. They will be playing down to 48 players or until the end of 10 levels. Keep following PokerProNews for more updates from the APT Taipei Poker Classic.
Image Credit: Asian Poker Tour
