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Ruiko Mamiya Wins APT National Cup Championship After Stunning Short-Stack Comeback
- Ruiko Mamiya wins APT Taipei National Cup, earning TWD 3,087,700 in winnings.
- The event set a record with 2,398 entries, forming a nearly TWD 30M prize pool.
- Mamiya made a stunning comeback, including a key win against Wei Chun Kuo.
The National Cup Championship in Taipei promised chaos, drama, and a mountain of entries and it delivered all three. Rising above the largest APT side event ever held, Japan’s Ruiko Mamiya completed a remarkable turnaround story, winning the title, the trophy, an APTC Main Event seat, and TWD 3,087,700 (~USD 101,900) after a three-way ICM deal.
Not bad for someone who learned poker while working as a dealer.
Record Field and a Big-Mountain Prize Pool
APT Taipei’s National Cup Championship drew a staggering 2,398 entries, smashing its TWD 12M guarantee and building a TWD 29,849,200 (~USD 985,120) prize pool. It now holds the record as the biggest side event in Asian Poker Tour history.
Mamiya entered Day 2 among the crowd but nearly exited early after dropping below eight big blinds. Somehow she clung on, surviving multiple shoves before building her stack into contention.
By the time the field condensed to two tables, the former dealer was suddenly one of the players to watch.
Day 2 Eliminations and Notable Runs
The payout line began at 337 spots, though only 336 players returned after Ben Gur qualified twice and forfeited his smaller stack.
A long list of notables made deep pushes but fell short of the final table:
Natural8 Ambassador Thai Ha (23rd), Tom Verbruggen (36th), Michel Molenaar (40th), John Perry (52nd) and more.
Final Table Action
The final table began with Hong Kong’s Wilfred Yiu narrowly ahead of Wing Fai Kwan, with Mamiya just behind them.
Eliminations hit quickly:
- 9th: Shiuan Cen Chang
- 8th: Kevin Tang
- 7th: Tsz Him Chan
- 6th: I Hsuan Wu
- 5th: Florencio Campomanes
At one point Mamiya sank back to the bottom of the counts. Her comeback began with two key doubles through Kwan, first holding A10 and then KJ. Kwan was eventually knocked out in fourth when Yiu rivered a straight.
The trio of Mamiya, Yiu and Kuo paused to agree on an ICM chop before resuming play.
The Decisive Hands
Yiu exited in third after running A6 into Mamiya’s AK. That left Taiwan’s Wei Chun Kuo with a narrow lead entering heads-up. Then came the hand that flipped everything.
Both players hit top pair on the flop, Mamiya with AQ, Kuo with Q4, and by the river she made the difficult call that gave her a towering lead.
Kuo managed one double, but the final hand saw his J9 fall to Mamiya’s A5 on an ace-high board, giving her the championship. The moment was not lost on Mamiya.
I almost never enter No-Limit Hold’em tournaments where you can win a trophy. I never expected that I would actually win one myself. I’m really happy
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruiko Mamiya | Japan | 101,900 |
| 2 | Wei Chun Kuo | Taiwan | 99,835 |
| 3 | Wilfred Yiu | Hong Kong | 100,200 |
| 4 | Wing Fai Kwan | Hong Kong | 44,010 |
| 5 | Florencio Campomanes | Philippines | 36,740 |
| 6 | I Hsuan Wu | Taiwan | 29,640 |
| 7 | Tsz Him Chan | Hong Kong | 22,650 |
| 8 | Kevin Tang | Hong Kong | 16,340 |
| 9 | Shiuan Cen Chang | Taiwan | 12,450 |
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