Day 3 Delivers Marquee Victories and Multi-Title Runs at GOP Taipei

Day 3 of the Gods of Poker Taipei: The Titan Assembly saw action on all sections of the CTP Asia Poker Arena as players hunted down the next trophies on the line. By night's end, the day's ten champions were decided, among them were Chih Feng Li and Marc Rivera, both players taking down marquee events. 

Also earning the spotlight were several multi-winners: Martijn Gerrits,  Liang Su, Pasith Teeka Uttamakorn, and Alfie Adam. Check out the highlights just below. 

Chih Feng Li Rules GOP Olympians

Chih Feng Li

It was a banner day for Taiwan’s Chih Feng Li who captured his second title of the festival, and this time it was on a much grander stage. Li endured a grueling battle at the GOP Olympians final day, outlasting the 51 returnees to claim the Silver Spartan trophy and the NT$ 771,968 (~US$ 24,400) champion's payout. 

Final Table Payouts

The GOP Olympians was the first key event of the series, and over the course of six flights, it drew 351 entries for a prize pool of NT$ 3,639,168 (~US$ 115,600). Coming into the final day with a side event title under his belt, Li went to work quick that by the first hour, he had jumped from 11th position to the top three. 

Jaegeol Cho, Chuang Lin Cheng, Chih Feng Li

As numerous players tugged at the chip lead, entering frontrunner Kuan Lun Chen suffered a brutal bad beat when his pocket aces got cracked by Chuang Lin Cheng's pocket jacks to eventually fall in 27th place. Second-ranked Shi Rong Wang (25th) also couldn't keep his seven digit stack intact, losing a large chunk on a cooler when his ace-king ran into Jin Woo Jung's pocket aces. 

Down to two tables, Li picked up momentum, first catching Alan King Lun Lau bluffing then delivered a double bust not once but twice. The first one guttered Ji Hoon Song (17th) and Lau (16th) with pocket kings winning over king-queen and pocket jacks. Shortly after, he eliminated Flight E chip leader Shan Wang (15th) and Kouichi Baba (14th) with jack-ten spiking a ten to overcome ace-king and pocket sixes. 

Flight B chip leader, Fan Cho Ho was among the next to fall after a failed bluff against Terry Gonzaga, and the final table was formed when short stacked Er Fan Lee met his end in 10th place at the hands of Lin Wei Kai.

GOP Olympians: Final Table

Instant slugfest at the final table with three players falling within the first ten deals. Lin Wei Kai was eliminated on the third hand with ace-jack failing to improve against Heng Zhe Hu's pocket kings. Several hands after, Li cleaned out Kongjaroentin Tanik in 8th place with a dominating ace, then Gonzaga outdrew Chia Chaing Ko into 7th place with king-ten spiking the ten over ace-queen. 

Terry Gonzaga

Gonzaga's good fortune continued when his pocket fours found a two-outer to crack Cheng’s pocket queens, sending him out stunned in 6th place. The blow vaulted Gonzaga into the chip lead though short-lived as Shun Yi Zheng caught fire and surged to the top. 

When Zheng finally cooled off, Fong Shaing Li seized the moment to earn his time in the leader's seat, and the swings continued until one of the most shocking coolers landed that ultimately sent Hu to the rail in 5th place.

Pictured above, it was all in preflop. Hu's pocket aces were crushed by Chih Feng Li's pocket fives with quads over full house. Additionally, during the hand, Fong Shaing Li didn't realize it was his turn and with no time-banks left, he was forced to fold when the clock ran out. He said he folded ace-king. 

Four-handed was a fierce battle as the chip lead continued to switch ownership. The stalemate finally broke when Gonzaga slammed the door on Fong Shaing Li, sending him out in 4th place with pocket kings dominating pocket fives. However, again, the boost in chips didn't last as Gonzaga lost a large chunk to Chih Feng Li on a failed bluff.

Heads up: Chih Feng Li vs Shun Yi Zheng

Sitting up top seemed to be a curse as Li was also dethroned with Shun Yi Zheng reclaiming it on a double up holding ace-king over ace-jack. With his newfound chips, Zheng eliminated Gonzaga in 3rd place with pocket kings over pocket fives to enter heads up ahead 54 big blinds to Li's 15 big blinds. 

Looking to end it on the first hand, Zheng shoved with 5 ♠️ 6 ♠️ only to run into Li's A ♣️ K ♣️ that held. From there, Li grinded to the top then both players exchanged positions numerous times. On the 36th heads up hand, Zheng called Li's three-bet shove for all of his chips with A ♦️ 3 ♣️. Li had A ♣️ 7 ♣️. The board ran 5 ♠️ J ♦️ K ♣️ 10 ♦️ 4 ♣️ for Li's kicker to play and clinch the title. 

For the Payouts, click here.

For all the GOP Olympians details, click here.

Marc Rivera Hoists Black Gauntlet At Demigods Challenge

Marc Rivera hoists the Black Gauntlet

The first GOP Gauntlet of the series was claimed by Philippine star player Marc Rivera after his victory at the Demigods Challenge. As the most expensive event on the menu, with a buy-in of NT$ 330,000 (∼US$ 10,400), the elite showdown drew just five warriors, creating a winner-take-all-battle worth NT$ 1,520,475 (∼US$ 48,000). 

The Gauntlet is unique because you can actually wear it. Out of all five, this Black Gauntlet is my favorite - next only to the Black-and-Gold Main Event Gauntlet. I will play every gauntlet event I can. Winning two gauntlets would be very lucky.

The title came down between Rivera and Yohwan Lim aka BoxeR with the former keeping his lead intact at heads up to secure the coveted trophy. This was Rivera's first ever GOP win, one he will surely treasure as it earned him the right to wear the mighty black gauntlet. 

The next HR Gauntlet event is the GOP Super High Roller where Rivera is confirmed to attend in an attempt for a second gauntlet. 

Pandora's Mystery Bounty: Recap

Jun Liang Deric Lee

Day 3 also saw another key event hit the tables with 215 turning up for Pandora's Mystery Bounty. With a buy-in of NT$ 18,000, it generated a prize pool of NT$ 3,343,680 with 31 players secured a cut. When they return on January 11, Jun Liang Deric Lee leads in the pack as the only seven digit stack of 1,204,000 which he bagged at Flight B. 

Lee has a substantial edge over second ranked Nishant Kumar who topped Flight A with a stack of 895,000. Rounding out the top three is Soohyeok Lee who carried the momentum to the Hyper Turbo event and shipped it. 

For the Survivors List and Seat Draw, click here. 

For the Payouts, click here. The minimum payout is NTS 20,800 and for the champion, NT$ 520,380 awaits. Players can pad up their winnings by knocking out players to be eligible to draw for a bounty prize. 

*The bounty prizes have yet to be released. We will have that up once it has been made available. 

Day 3 Side Winners

Martijn Gerrits wins third trophy

Running alongside the highlight events were eight side events that included a satellite to the Main Event. Among the winners were Martijn Gerrits, Liang Su, Alfie Adam, and Pasith Teeka Uttamakorn, all of them with multiple titles at the series. 

For Gerrits, he became the first player to win three events, and he nearly made it four had Alfie Adam not stopped him at the 5 Card NL Omaha - Hyper Turbo. After the game, Adam commented, “he doesn't want to die! He kept getting saved on the river."  By keeping Gerrits at bay, Adam earned his second trophy this series. 

Like Adam, Su and Uttamakorn have also secured their second series title. For Uttamakorn, it was his second high roller win having first taken down the Turbo High Roller in Day 2. Uttamakorn also ran deep in the GOP Olympians, finishing in 26th place. 

Prasith Teeka Uttamakorn

The Aphrodite Event made it to double digits with 12 entries in total. Szu Wei Chiu came out on top to secure her first ever GOP title after defeating Hou Da Chun at heads up. Along with a payout of NT$ 38,025, Chiu was awarded the Aphrodite Mirror trophy. 

Szu Wei Chiu

For all of the events and payouts, click here. 

Update: Player of the Series

With three days of games in the books and plenty of players cashing throughout, the Player of the Series race is swinging. 

A brief rundown of the standings, Martijn Gerrits has taken over the lead with his six cashes which includes three wins. GOP Mix Game Ambassador Hanh Tran slipped to second position, Alfie Adam is in third position, and Pasith Teeka Uttamakorn close behind in fourth rank. 

For the Player of the Series standings, ciick here. 

Cronus Golden Window: Double Bubble Protection

Great news for everyone! Introducing the Cronus Golden Window — a blessing from the gods. Because under the watch of Cronus, timing is everything, players that enter early can unlock DOUBLE Bubble Protection, a built-in advantage for those who act first.

Mechanics:

• Enter Pre Level 1 - Bust on the bubble awards TWO (2) buy-ins
• Enter Level 1 - Bust on the bubble awards ONE (1) buy-in
• Enter Level 2 - No protection

*Buy-ins are awarded in GOP Tournament Credits

Applicable to these events: 

• Titan Stack
• GOP Main Event
• GOP X RPT Mini Main Event
• Kraken Stack

**Available only in the first two starting flights of each event

Up next: GOP Super High Roller and Titan Stack

While there are ample choices entering Day 4, for players with very deep pockets, the next HR Gauntlet event is the GOP Super High Roller running January 11-12, 2026. This event awards the champion the Gold Gauntlet and the largest cut of the NT$ 3M guaranteed prize pool. Buy-in is NT$ 230,000 (∼US$ 7,200). Two flights are available starting at 1PM and 8PM. 

On the more affordable side, the Titan Stack gets on the floor as well featuring a NT$ 3,000,000 guarantee. Three flights are offered with starting times of 12:30 PM, 4:30PM, and 8:30 PM. Buy-in is NT$ 19,000 (∼US$ 700). 

*Keep in mind, for the Titan Stack, the Cronus Golden Window Double Bubble Protection is only in effect at Flight A and Flight B. 

GOP Taipei Links: 

Schedule
Photos: Day 3
Photos: Champions