Backed by an enthusiastic and anxious rail, Thai pro Punnat Punsri made them proud by clinching the richest and largest APT Main Event in history. Punsri battled his way through a field of 1,434 entries, defeating Korea’s Soo Bum Kim at heads up to emerge as the champion. For his incredible achievement, Punsri pocketed a huge NT$ 11,210,400 (~US$ 364,300) and became the first owner of the newly designed APT Main Event trophy.
Prior to this win, Punsri was already recognized as a dominant force in the Asian poker scene. Last year, he achieved remarkable success, crushing numerous PokerGO high roller events in Las Vegas, and came very close to locking up WSOP bracelets at the 50K High Roller 8-Handed (3rd place) and at the Poker Hall of Fame (2nd place).
Despite the disappointment, he later went on to win the Triton Cyprus Main Event, beating some of the best poker players in the world to pad up his career earnings a whopping US$ 2.6 Million. Punsri closed the year as Asia’s top Global Poker Index (GPI) point earner by a wide margin.
Kicking off this year, Punsri had already been making waves, having cashed at five final tables, including a victory and a 2nd place finish at the PGT PokerGO Cup. With his relentless drive to succeed, he took on the biggest field in APT history and the largest field of his career, and came out golden.
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Taipei Main Event advertised a one million dollar US guarantee and with 1,434 entries at NT$ 50,000 (~US$ 1,650) each, it exceeded all expectations as the prize pool soared to NT$ 62,594,100 (~US$ 2,034,185). This was the largest prize pool amassed by any brand exclusively touring the Asian region. The event took place at the newly built CTP Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, Taiwan.
While many notables found their way into the 203 player money list, running deep were decorated Asian circuit champions Feng Zhao (23rd), Kitty Kuo (16th) , Joshua Tjan (9th), and Lester Edoc (6th), each one cashing out five-digits in US currency. The final table was an international affair with nearly every player representing a different flag.
Buy in: NT$ 50,000 (~US$ 1,650)
Guarantee: NT$ 30,000,000 (~US$ 977,500)
Entries: 1,434
Prize pool: NT$ 62,594,100 (~US$ 2,034,185)
ITM: 203 places
Final table payouts
1
Punnat Punsri
Thailand
NT 11,210,400
2
Soo Bum Kin
Korea
NT$ 6,375,500
3
Tung Wong
Hong Kong
NT$ 4,503000
4
Long Lam
Vietnam
NT$ 3,311,900
5
Teng Hsu
Taiwan
NT$ 2,595,400
6
Lester Edoc
Philippines
NT$ 1,982,700
7
Chih Wei Fan
Taiwan
NT$ 1,517,100
8
Ben Loo
Malaysia
NT$ 1,074,500
9
Joshua Tjan
Malaysia
NT$ 823,500
*Photos by APT
Links:
Getting to know Thailand pro Punnat Punsri, 2022 Triton Poker SHR Cyprus Main Event champion
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