Japanese Player Tops Largest Main Event Field in Asian Poker Tour History

The 2025 Asian Poker Tour Taipei 55,000 TWD ($1,679 USD) no-limit hold’em main event attracted a record-setting turnout of 2,547 entries, the largest championship field in the 19-year history of the APT. As a result, the 70 million TWD guarantee was easily surpassed, with 121,033,440 TWD (or roughly $3.7 million) paid out among the top 375 finishers.

After four starting flights and four more days of tournament action inside the Red Space venue in Taiwan’s capital, Japan’s Akira Takasugi emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $586,710. This was far and away the largest live tournament score yet for Takasugi, blowing away the $13,766 he earned for a 20th-place finish in this same event back in 2023.

This massive win also came with 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points for Takasugi, enough to catapult him into a three-way tie for 129th place in the 2025 standings despite this being his first POY-qualified score so far.

The final stage is set for the #APTTaipei2025 Main Event! Before the action begins, take a look at the lucky few and explore the poker credentials of our potential future champions: https://t.co/s4Ca3ckiIa pic.twitter.com/rvsQkQJKlZ

— Asian Poker Tour (@AsianPokerTour) May 3, 2025

The final day of this event began with nine players remaining and Hong Kong’s Wayne Lam in the lead. Takasugi was in fourth chip position when cards got in the air, but had moved to the top of the counts by the time the first elimination took place. Dang Thi Hue (9th – $46,300) got the last of her stack in with middle pair on the flop and lost to the top pair of Rintaro Kagawa.

Owen Chong was then sent packing when he lost a preflop clash with Kano Shinichiro in brutal fashion. The chips went in with both players holding A-4 suited. The two did not end up chopping the pot, though, as the flop brought three clubs to give Shinichiro the nut flush and a lock on the hand. Chong earned $60,770 as the eighth-place finisher.

Shinichiro soon won a flip with pocket nines against the A-Q of Rintaro Kagawa (7th – $84,000) to continue his climb up the leaderboard. Takasugi then held with K-10 against the A-10 suited of Kiwanont Sukhum (6th – $110,000) to narrow the field to five contenders.

India’s Nishant Kumar was the next to fall. His pocket fives were unable to outrace the Q-J of Iat Man Leong. The board gave Leong trip jacks to lock up the pot, while Kumar settled for $136,400 as the fifth-place finisher.

Shinichiro’s run in this event concluded with A-9 facing the pocket queens of Takasugi. Neither player connected with a king-high runout and Shinichiro was sent to the rail in fourth place ($163,350).

The next knockout featured plenty of drama. The chips went in with Lam’s 77 trailing the QQ of Leong. There was a seven in the window to give Lam hope, but the flop also included a queen to give Leong the better set. The turn and river were no help to Lam and he was eliminated in third place ($211,950).

Heads-Up Round! It’s a battle of pride and glory between Macau’s Iat Man Leong and Japan’s Akira Takasugi. vs
Who will be crowned the #APTTaipei2025 Main Event Champion?

Top Prizes:
24K Gold Lion Trophy
TWD 19,009,440 (~USD 587K)
APT Championship 2025 Main Event… pic.twitter.com/p3W0u9VRLO

— Asian Poker Tour (@AsianPokerTour) May 3, 2025

Heads-up play began with Takasugi holding 63 million to Leong’s 38 million. The lead was stretched even further before the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Takasugi open-shoved from the button with K6 and Leong made the call with Q2 from the big blind. The board ran out KQ1084 and Takasugi’s pair of kings was good for the title.

Leong walked away with $312,750 as the runner-up, the largest score yet for the Macau resident.

Final Table Results

Winner photo provided by APT.