The 2025 Asian Poker Tour Championship $10,000 main event attracted 671 entries, blowing away the $5 million guarantee to create a final prize pool worth more than $6.2 million. The strong turnout made for a massive first-place prize of $1,184,985, which was ultimately awarded to India’s Nishant Sharma. He overcame a stacked final table that included several decorated tournament professionals on his way to securing the title and the 24k gold lion trophy.
Prior to this win, Sharma’s top score on the live circuit had been the $230,475 that he earned for a 34th-place showing in the 2018 World Series of Poker main event. Now, with this latest triumph under his belt, his career earnings sit at just shy of $2 million.
In addition to the title and the money, Sharma was also awarded 2,100 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion. This was his second POY-qualified score of the year, having also placed fifth in a ~$3,600 buy-in event at the Poker Dream 17 Malaysia festival for $22,466 and 180 points back in the spring. With 2,280 total points, he has moved inside the top 200 in the POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
Several Big Names Fall Early At The Final Table
The field of 671 was narrowed to just nine contenders by the end of the fourth day of play inside the Red Space, Taipei. Sharma was the big stack to start the day, with four-time bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche sitting on the next-largest stack.
Bracelet winner and 2010 European Poker Tour Prague main event champion Martin Finger was the first to fall at the final table. The German ran A♠K♣ into the A♥A♦ of World Poker Tour champion Matas Cimbolas to finish ninth ($97,507).
Cimbolas was the next to hit the rail, though, with his pocket queens being cracked by the A-Q of Hao Shan Huang. An ace-high runout after the chips went in preflop saw Cimbolas settle for $123,094 as the eighth-place finisher.
The next elimination came when Hao Chuang (7th – $180,106) lost a three-way all-in against Neng Zhao and Nitsche. Zhao flopped sevens full and held from there to narrow the field to six.
Hao Shan Huang’s run in this event came to an end thanks to a classic race, with his A♥K♠ unable to best the 2♥2♣ of Sharma. Huang had improved to trip kings by the turn, but the river brought a deuce to give Sharma a full house and the knockout. Huang earned $247,181 for his sixth-place showing.
Sharma Surges Across The Finish Line
Sharma’s Q♥8♣ bested the K♦10♣ of a short-stacked Zhao (5th – $317,360) to cut the field to four. That put Sharma above 20 million in chips, giving him a healthy lead going into the final stretch.
Nitsche’s final stand pitted his pocket fives against the pocket kings of two-time bracelet winner Alexandru Papazian. The superior pocket pair held up to send Nitsche packing in fourth place ($400,582). He now has more than $21.6 million in career cashes to his name.
Papazian was left short after clashing with Sharma. He soon was all-in and at risk after limping from the small blind with K♥10♣. John Constiniano shoved from the big blind with Q♦2♠ and Papazian called off his stack of 10 big blinds. The board came down A♥5♠4♣Q♣4♠ and Papazian was eliminated in third place. The Romanian’s career haul grew to more than $4.9 million after adding $522,931 for this podium showing.
Sharma still had roughly a 5:1 chip lead even after Costiniano’s latest knockout. His lead had grown a bit more by the time the final hand was dealt. Sharma limped in from the button with K♠K♥ and Costiniano checked his option with J♠3♣. The flop came down 6♥3♠3♥ to give Costiniano trips. He fired a single big blind and received a call. The Q♥ turn saw another bet from Costiniano, this time to the tune of 500,000. Sharma raised to 1,200,000 and then called his opponent’s shove for 4,100,000 total. Costiniano was ahead with his three of a kind, but Sharma had full house and flush outs. The A♥ on the end filled the former draw, locking up the pot and the title for Sharma. Costiniano was awarded $731,606 as the runner-up.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Nishant Sharma | $1,184,985 | 2100 |
| 2 | John Costiniano | $731,606 | 1750 |
| 3 | Alexandru Papazian | $522,931 | 1400 |
| 4 | Dominik Nitsche | $400,582 | 1050 |
| 5 | Neng Zhao | $317,360 | 875 |
| 6 | Hao Huang | $247,181 | 700 |
| 7 | Hao Chuang | $180,106 | 525 |
| 8 | Matas Cimbolas | $123,094 | 350 |
| 9 | Martin Finger | $97,507 | 175 |
Photo credits: APT.
