Regional news

  On September 27, 2026, the APT Jeju Station entered its third day of competition, with the core event, the APT Main Event, officially taking place. The Main Event's live Day 1A, with a buy-in of 2,700,000 KRW and a guaranteed 2.2 billion KRW, attracted 297 entries, with 96 players ultimately securing chips. Combined with the 223 entries from Natural8 OnLive Day 1, the Main Event's total entries have now reached 520. Chinese player Xiubo Li became the biggest focus of the first live starter group, taking the Day 1A chip lead with 381,000 chips. Russian player Dmitrii Belikov finished second with 306,100 chips, while Hong Kong's Timothy Chung came in third with 300,900 chips. On the same day, the APT Jeju Station's first iconic Lion Trophy was also awarded in the Super High Roller event. Thai player Teeraphat Rangkatekarn emerged victorious from a field of 99 participants, winning the first-place prize of 355,667,500 KRW and a ticket to the APT Championship Main Event. In the other Natural8 Mystery Bounty Hunter event, Japanese player Daisuke Abiko took the title, while Chinese player Jianfeng Sun finished as runner-up, earning a higher cash prize than the winner thanks to the Heads-Up ICM agreement and elimination bounty. The APT Main Event has officially begun, with a guaranteed prize pool of 2.2 billion KRW, forming the core of the series. The 2026 APT Jeju Main Event will be held from September 27th to October 5th, with a buy-in of 2,700,000 KRW and a guaranteed prize pool of 2,200,000,000 KRW (approximately US$1.6 million). The top five finishers in the Main Event will each receive a ticket to the APT Championship Main Event in November. APT Jeju Main Event Current Core Data Event Data 2026 APT Jeju Main Event Buy-in 2,700,000 KRW Guaranteed Prize Pool 2,200,000,000 KRW Offline Day 1A Entries 297 Offline Day 1A Actual Players 217 Day 1A Advancement 96 Natural8 OnLive Day 1 Entries 223 OnLive Advancement Day 3 31 Current Total Entries 520 Day 1A Chip Leader Xiubo Li Chip Leader with 381,000 Chips It is worth noting that the current 520 entries are the sum of the 297 entries from Offline Day 1A and the 223 entries from Natural8 OnLive Day 1, not just the entries from Offline Day 1A alone. Xiubo Li leads Offline Day 1A with 381,000 chips. Offline Day 1A started at 11:00 AM KST and consisted of 10 60-minute levels. After a day of competition, 96 out of 297 participants successfully advanced to the next round.