The tournament easily surpassed its guarantee and paid out over $4 million in prize money
The 2025 Asian Poker Tour (APT) Main Event in Taipei made history with a record-breaking turnout, drawing 2,547 entries—the largest field ever for an APT championship. Held at the Red Space venue in Taiwan’s capital, the tournament featured a TWD55,000 buy-in (US$1,879) and smashed its 70 million TWD guarantee, eventually paying out more than TWD 121 million (US$4 million) across 375 finishers.
After several days of intense action, Japan’s Akira Takasugi emerged as the champion. He earned $586,710 for the win, the biggest cash of his career by a wide margin. Prior to this, his top result was a 20th-place finish in the same event the year before, where he won just over $13,000. The victory also earned him 1,200 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race, placing him in a tie for 129th in the standings.
The final table started with nine players and Hong Kong’s Wayne Lam in the lead. Takasugi was sitting fourth in chips but quickly climbed to the top of the leaderboard. Several notable players fell along the way, including Vietnam’s Dang Thi Hue in ninth place and India’s Nishant Kumar in fifth.
Macau’s Iat Man Leong made a deep run and took out Lam in third with a set-over-set cooler. Leong then faced Takasugi heads-up with a chip deficit. Despite putting up a fight, Leong was eliminated when his queen-deuce couldn’t hold up against Takasugi’s king-six. A king on the flop sealed the title for Takasugi, who walked away with the biggest prize in the event’s 19-year history.
Leong, meanwhile, earned $312,750 for his runner-up finish—his best live result to date. The 2025 APT Taipei Main Event firmly set a new standard for participation and prize pools on the tour.
