APT Championship 2025 Sets New Asian Poker Records With Massive Fields and Historic Prizes

Good to Know

• Festival drew 28,265 entries and over 1.06B TWD (~34.2M USD)
• Main Event became the richest 10K tournament ever held in Asia
• Winners from 15 countries captured Championship titles

APT Championship 2025 delivered a defining moment for Asian poker. Over 17 days at Red Space Taipei, the festival attracted 28,265 total entries and paid out more than 1,060,319,544 TWD (~34,203,856 USD). The 20 Championship Events alone pulled in 10,561 entries for 680.6M TWD (~21.8M USD) in payouts.

The Main Event became the most talked-about achievement. The 311,000 TWD (~10,000 USD) freezeout drew 671 players and built a 194M TWD (~6.2M USD) prize pool — the largest 10K buy-in tournament outside Las Vegas in ten years, the biggest ever held in Asia, and the richest in APT history. India’s Nishant Sharma earned the Gold Lion and a life-changing 37M TWD (~1.2M USD) to join the small group of Indian players who have crossed the one-million mark from a single event.

Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel summed up the importance of the freezeout format:

“I mean, I like the idea of a freezeout… The Main Event is a freezeout, and I think that kind of establishes this as, you know, kind of the Asian Main Event.”

A Global Festival Packed With Record Performances

The festival welcomed players from 55 nations, while the 20 Championship winners came from 15 different countries. The Main Event entries alone came from 47 regions, showing how strongly the global poker scene is now gravitating toward Asia.

Across the schedule, 17 tournaments broke APT records. These included 9 entry records, 12 prize pool records, and 9 top prize records. Three Championship Events crossed the four-figure entry mark, led by the 2,398-entry National Cup, which had a 15,000 TWD (~495 USD) buy-in — now the largest non-Main Event field in tour history. The 25,000 TWD (~810 USD) Ultra Stack Championship attracted 1,867 players from 49 nations. The 35,000 TWD (~1,120 USD) Mini Main Event drew 1,603 players, with Nevan Chang earning his first APT Championship Lion.

High rollers delivered huge results. Nine events produced seven-figure USD prize pools, including:

1. Event 3 Ultra Stack Championship: 40.3M TWD (~1.3M USD)
2. Event 6 Natural8 Cup Freezeout: 39.3M TWD (~1.2M USD)
3. Event 7 Super High Roller: 59.5M TWD (~1.9M USD)
4. Event 10 Superstar Championship: 57.8M TWD (~1.85M USD)
5. Event 11 Main Event: 194M TWD (~6.2M USD)
6. Event 12 Mini Main Event: 48.4M TWD (~1.5M USD)
7. Event 13 High Roller Championship: 75.7M TWD (~2.4M USD)
8. Event 17 Mini High Roller: 38.6M TWD (~1.2M USD)
9. Event 25 High Roller Single Re-Entry: 33.1M TWD (~1M USD)**

Calvin Lee, Roman Hrabec, and Ireland’s Toby Joyce each claimed huge wins, with Joyce taking the 75.7M TWD (~2.4M USD) prize pool high roller — now the richest non-Main Event tournament in APT history.

One surprise highlight: the Step 2 Mega Satellite drew 399 entries and generated 18.27M TWD (~585,609 USD) — now the richest satellite ever held in Asia and the largest in APT history.

APT Looks Ahead To A Big Twenty Year Anniversary Season

Julian Warhurst carved a unique milestone by becoming the first player to win both an APT Championship title and an APT Big Three title. His Freezeout Championship victory in the 303-entry field awarded 2.62M TWD (~84,110 USD) and capped a four-cash run that included two final tables.

APT now shifts toward its 20-year anniversary season in 2026 with five major stops confirmed:

• APT Jeju Classic 2026: Jan 30–Feb 8
• APT Taipei 2026: Apr 22–May 3
• APT Incheon 2026: Aug 7–16
• APT Jeju 2026: Sep 25–Oct 4
• APT Championship 2026: Nov 13–29

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