The Asian Poker Tour has officially staked its claim on the global stage. With the conclusion of the APT Championship 2025, the series has established itself as the biggest poker festival ever hosted in Asia. The 17-day marathon at the Red Space in Taipei, run in partnership with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Club (CTP), defied expectations and generated numbers previously unseen in the region.
The final statistics are staggering. The festival awarded a total of TWD 1,060,319,544 (~USD 34.2 million) in prize money. This ten-figure local currency milestone was driven by an unprecedented 28,265 total entries. The schedule featured 20 premier Championship Events which alone accounted for over 10,000 entries and nearly USD 22 million of the total prize pool, cementing Taipei as a bucket-list destination for the international poker community.
Nishant Sharma Wins Historic Freezeout Main Event
The centerpiece of the festival was the TWD 311,000 (~USD 10,000) APT Championship Main Event. In a bold move, organizers ran this as a pure Freezeout format. The decision paid off as 671 players created a massive TWD 194 million (~USD 6.2 million) prize pool. This figure makes it the richest $10k buy-in tournament held outside of Las Vegas in the last decade and the wealthiest tournament in APT history.
India’s Nishant Sharma seized the moment and the title. Sharma captured the exclusive Gold Lion Trophy and a top prize of TWD 37 million (~USD 1.2 million). The win propels him into an elite bracket as only the third Indian player in history to score a seven-figure USD payout in a single live tournament.
The Freezeout format received high praise from industry legends. Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel competed in the event and noted that the format added a layer of prestige. He remarked that while re-entry tournaments are standard, a Freezeout properly establishes the tournament as a true “Asian Main Event.”
High Roller Records Broken Three Times
The demand for high-stakes action in Asia has reached a fever pitch. During the series, nine separate events generated prize pools exceeding USD 1 million. The record for the largest non-Main Event prize pool was broken not once, but three times throughout the festival.
Roman Hrabec first set the bar by taking down the [Event 7] Super High Roller Championship. His record stood for just 24 hours before Calvin Lee surpassed it with his victory in the [Event 10] Superstar Championship.
Finally, Irish pro Toby Joyce secured the ultimate bragging rights. Joyce won the [Event 13] High Roller Championship, which generated a massive TWD 75.7 million (~USD 2.4 million) prize pool. This stands as the single richest non-Main Event tournament in the tour’s 19-year history.
Massive Fields and Global Reach
While the high rollers chased millions, the side events drew crushed field size records. The [Event 1] National Cup Championship saw 2,398 entries, setting a new record for the largest non-Main Event field ever for the tour.
The player base was more diverse than ever. The [Event 3] Ultra Stack Championship brought in 1,867 runners from 49 different countries, marking the most internationally diverse field in APT history. In total, players from 55 nations traveled to Taiwan for the series.
Another highlight saw Natural8 Ambassador Nevan Chang navigate a field of 1,603 entries in the Mini Main Event Championship. Chang captured his first Lion Trophy and secured a career-best score on home soil.
Satellite Streets and Milestone Wins
One of the most surprising narratives of the series emerged from the qualifiers. The Event #102 Step 2 Mega Satellite to the Main Event drew 399 entries and built a prize pool of over TWD 18.2 million (~USD 585,000). This is confirmed as the richest satellite in APT history and likely stands as the largest live satellite ever held in the Asian region.
Australian regular Julian Warhurst also achieved a unique milestone. By taking down the [Event 16] Freezeout Championship, Warhurst became the first player to hold both an APT Championship title and a title from the “APT Big Three” events, adding to his previous Super High Roller win in Da Nang.
APT Reveals 2026 Tour Dates
With the 2025 season now in the books, the tour is looking ahead to its 20th anniversary year. The APT has released its major stops for 2026, featuring five festivals across three key destinations.
2026 Schedule Highlights:
- APT Jeju Classic: Jan 30 to Feb 8 (Jeju Shinhwa World)
- APT Taipei: Apr 22 to May 3 (Red Space)
- APT Incheon: Aug 7 to 16 (Paradise City)
- APT Jeju: Sep 25 to Oct 4 (Jeju Shinhwa World)
- APT Championship: Nov 13 to 29 (Red Space, Taipei)
The action resumes early next year with the APT Jeju Classic. That festival will headline with a KRW 2.3M (~USD 1,600) Main Event carrying a substantial KRW 2.2 billion (~USD 1.5 million) guarantee, ensuring the momentum from this record-breaking championship carries straight into 2026.
