His best score to date was $15,969, and he started the final day ninth of 14 players. By the end of the night, Japan’s Hirotaka Fukatsu is the 2026 PokerStars APPT Korea Main Event champion — and $160,788 richer.
- Hirotaka Fukatsu won the APPT Korea Main Event at Paradise City Incheon for KRW 223,866,000 ($160,788).
- 782 entrants built a KRW 1.2 billion ($895,160) prize pool.
- The win is ten times his previous best score of $15,969.
- China’s Xueying Zhao finished runner-up for a career-high $100,571 — her second second-place finish of the series.
- Five of the nine finalists were from Japan.
From Ninth of 14 to the Title
Fukatsu’s previous career-best result came only a month earlier: a fourth-place finish in the APT Incheon Ultra Stack in August 2026, worth $15,969. He left Paradise City Incheon this time with more than ten times that amount.
The Main Event drew 782 entrants and a KRW 1.2 billion ($895,160) prize pool, another sign of how strong live poker in Asia is right now. Only 14 players returned for the third and final day, and Fukatsu sat ninth in chips. A burst of early action ended with Hiroki Taniguchi busting in 10th, which set the final table.
How the Final Table Played Out
Andrew Tomoya Matahira was the first finalist out. The Japanese grinder moved all in with ace-king, lost the flip to the pocket sevens of Russia’s Maxim Sorokin and took $14,924, the second-biggest prize of his career.
Next came the hand that changed Fukatsu’s tournament. His king-queen turned two pair against Soichiro Hayashi’s pocket aces, sending Hayashi out in eighth and putting Fukatsu at the top of the chip counts.
Daijiro Fukuoka, another Japanese player, went in seventh. He was down to scraps after losing a flip to start-of-day chip leader Tony Mu, then doubled several times to get back into it. But his pocket tens ran into a Fukatsu straight, and his run ended there.
Chao Ting Cheng, who has almost $1.3 million in live tournament earnings, took sixth for $32,796. He hit an unlikely four of a kind with king-eight to stay alive for a moment, but Sorokin knocked him out shortly after. Sorokin then fell to Mu in fifth, and Taisuke Niina went out in fourth after clashing with Fukatsu.
Aces Cracked Twice
Three-handed play went badly for Mu. First he doubled up Zhao when her ace-jack made a flush on the river against his ace-ten. Then he four-bet jammed with pocket aces and got a call from Zhao’s pocket kings — a great spot for him, until a king hit the flop. The American settled for third and $71,710.
Pocket aces fell twice at this final table: first to Fukatsu’s king-queen against Hayashi, then to Zhao’s pocket kings against Tony Mu, with a king on the flop.
Heads-Up: Trips on the Turn
Fukatsu started heads-up with nearly a two-to-one chip lead. Zhao pulled level almost right away, but Fukatsu built a new lead soon after.
In the final hand, Zhao moved all in with queen-six and Fukatsu called with king-ten. Both players paired on the flop, Zhao her queen and Fukatsu his ten. A second ten on the turn gave Fukatsu trips, the river blanked, and the title was his. Zhao’s $100,571 is still a new career high, even if it was her second runner-up finish of the series.
2026 APPT Korea Main Event Final Table Results
Next Stop: Manila
The APPT moves on to the Okada Manila for the APPT Manila Championship, running October 8–19, with the schedule still being finalized. Last year Minwoong Jeong won the Manila title, beating a 384-player field for $202,981. Satellites will be available on PokerStars.
