Regional news

Regional news

Yoshiyuki Fujita wins the 2026 APL Osaka II Main Event Championship

APL Osaka II | Yoshiyuki Fujita wins the main event, concluding the series successfully.

Regional news

    On August 16, 2026, local time, the five-day APL Osaka II concluded at the Hilton Hotel in Osaka, Japan. The main event, the biggest highlight of the series, crowned its champion, Yoshiyuki Fujita (SUNBUR), who fought his way through the final 12 to defeat Izumi Takushi in Heads-Up, claiming the 10 million yen prize and the championship trophy, thus concluding the Osaka event. With only 12 players remaining on Day 3 of the main event, Fujita advanced to the final day of the heads-up series. Event #10 Osaka Main Event Day 3 began at 12:00 noon local time. After the elimination rounds of the first two stages, only 12 players remained to compete for the final championship. As the competition progressed, the final table lineup gradually formed, and the championship battle narrowed down to a few players. After approximately four hours of competition at the final table, Yoshiyuki Fujita and Izumi Takushi emerged as the last two survivors, advancing to Heads-Up to determine the champion. T6 vs. J6: Kicker's advantage secured the championship for Fujita in the final hand, becoming the decisive moment of this year's APL Osaka Main Event. Short-stacked Takushi held T-6 and went all-in after the board gave him a pair of 6s; Fujita, holding J-6, called. Since both players had a pair of 6s, the outcome was decided by the Kicker, with Fujita maintaining his lead with a J Kicker to secure the final elimination. Yoshiyuki Fujita (SUNBUR) was thus officially crowned the 2026 APL Osaka II Main Event champion, with the following results: Champion: Yoshiyuki Fujita (SUNBUR) Runner-up: Izumi Takushi Champion's prize: ¥10,000,000 The final day of the APL Osaka Main Event saw 12 players advance. The total number of entries and the complete prize pool were not listed in the original report, therefore this article will not speculate further. The Mini Main Event saw 633 participants, with Korean player Kim Jung-sung taking the championship. Simultaneously, the final multi-day event of this year's Osaka leg, Event #25 Mini Main Event, also concluded its final day. The Mini Main Event consisted of three Day 1 starting groups, accumulating 633 participants, with 106 players advancing to Day 2. After the final competition, Korean player Kim Jung-sung emerged victorious, winning the championship and a prize of ¥2.5 million. Mini Main Event Data: 633 participants, 106 advancing to Day 2, champion Kim Jung-sung, champion prize ¥2,500,000. With the champions of the main event and Mini Main Event being determined on the same day, both main multi-day events of this year's APL Osaka leg have concluded.

Han Shaofeng wins the WDHL Seoul PLO Finals, becoming the first Chinese champion of the season.

WDHL Seoul Championship | Han Shaofeng crowned champion in the 142-player PLO finals, becoming the season's first Chinese champion.

Regional news

  On August 17, 2026, the WDHL Season 1 Championship continued at the Seoul Main Stadium. As the series entered its mid-stage, multiple events were held simultaneously. The most attention-grabbing news for Chinese poker fans that day came from the PLO Finals – Chinese player Han Shaofeng emerged victorious from a field of 142 participants, battling until late into the night to become the first Chinese champion of this WDHL Seoul season. Han Shaofeng's PLO Finals victory saw him emerge victorious from a field of 142 players. Han Shaofeng fought his way through the later stages of the tournament, finally securing the championship at 2:48 AM on August 18th, claiming the first Chinese title of the Seoul season. The original text mentions that during a break in the competition, Han Shaofeng jokingly remarked that "the champion's reward is too small," which was then mocked by his fellow players as a "Versailles comment." A few hours later, he turned that joke into a championship victory. For WDHL Season 1 Seoul, this victory not only marks the birth of the PLO Ultimate Championship champion but also brings the first championship result to the Chinese players. PLO Ultimate Championship Highlights: Event Data: PLO Ultimate Championship Number of Participants: 142 Champion: Han Shaofeng Champion Result Time: 2:48 AM Significance: The first Chinese champion of this Seoul season Main Event Day 1C attracted 207 players, with the main competition continuing to heat up. In addition to the PLO Ultimate Championship, Main Event Day 1C was also successfully completed on August 17th. A total of 207 players entered this group, continuing their pursuit of deeper slots in the WDHL Season 1 Championship Main Event. The original article did not disclose the final number of players advancing from Day 1C or the chip rankings, therefore this article will not supplement unconfirmed advancement data. With the completion of multiple starting groups, the Main Event will gradually transition from a large-scale participation phase to elimination and advancement competition, and the performance of the chip leaders and Chinese players in each group will become the main focus. Freezeout Single-Day Event: 350 Players Compete for 31 Prize Spots Another highly popular event on the day was the Freezeout Single-Day Event. This event only had 31 prize slots, yet attracted a whopping 350 participants, meaning less than 10% of the entrants would actually make it into the prize pool, making the competition extremely fierce. Key event data for August 17th: PLO Finals: 142 participants; Han Shaofeng wins; Main Event Day 1C: 207 participants (completed on the day); Freezeout Day 1: 350 participants (31 prize slots). The data shows that the 350 participants in the Freezeout Day 1 were even higher than those in the Main Event Day 1C, reflecting that WDHL Seoul maintained a certain level of participation across different buy-ins and formats. WDHL Season 1 is halfway through, with the 2 billion won fixed prize pool still up for grabs. The WDHL Season 1 championship is being held at the Seoul Main Stadium, and the official report indicates a 2 billion won fixed prize pool for the series. As of August 17th, the overall schedule is more than halfway through, with multiple main events, day 1s, and events of different formats continuing to be played.

Stephen Pang wins the 2026 APT Incheon Main Event and the Gold Lion Trophy.

APT Incheon Main Event | Stephen Pang defeats 1,393 players to win the title; Hong Kong player takes home the Gold Lion.

Regional news

    In August 2026, the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Incheon event officially concluded, with Hong Kong's San Hon "Stephen" Pang emerging as one of the biggest winners of the series. The final table chip leader ultimately defeated China's Shoumin Zhang to win the 2026 APT Incheon Main Event and the Gold Lion Trophy. The KRW 2,500,000 buy-in Main Event attracted 1,393 entries, an increase of nearly 91 TP3T from last year, creating a total prize pool of KRW 3,008,880,000. PokerNews noted that this entry size broke the record for a major poker tournament in South Korea; the entire APT Incheon series paid out a total of KRW 15,966,848,834, also a new record for the APT Incheon event. Stephen Pang led the nine-man final table with 85 big blinds. After the nine-man final table was formed, Stephen Pang led with 13,550,000 chips, equivalent to 85 big blinds. Chinese player Shoumin Zhang ranked second with 10,585,000, while Japanese player Tempei Kotani came in third with 6,935,000. Ryo Fujita had the shortest stack at the final table with 2,130,000. APT Incheon Main Event Final Table Rankings Player Country/Region Prize Money 1 San Hon “Stephen” Pang Hong Kong, China 411,180,000 KRW 2 Shoumin Zhang China 366,500,000 KRW 3 Yifu He USA 257,000,000 KRW 4 Tempei Kotani Japan 155,650,000 KRW 5 Kazuki Koyama Japan 121,860,000 KRW 6 Shinichiro Kano Japan 92,440,000 KRW 7 Phachara Wongwichit Thailand 70,740,000 KRW 8 Takeru Endo Japan 50,130,000 KRW 9 Ryo Fujita Japan 38,580,000 KRW The top three prizes reflect the prize-sharing agreement reached at the three-person stage, with each of the three players receiving a $10,000 APT Championship Main Event entry. Ryo Fujita, with pocket nines, was the first to be eliminated. Making his APT Main Event debut, Ryo Fujita became the first player eliminated on the final four. After Tempei Kotani raised, Fujita 3-bet with pocket nines. The original raiser folded, and Kota...