GOP Taipei: Opening Day Battles And Triumphs At The Titan Assembly

The Gods of Poker 2026 season officially got underway as the GOP Taipei: The Titan Assembly wrapped up its opening day of play at the CTP Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, Taiwan. Running from January 8 to 18, the festival kicked off with ten events on the floor, eight of which crowned the first champions of the series. 

With those early victories, the Player of the Series race was set in motion with Alfie Adam emerging as the early pace-setter. Also decided on opening day was the first Stairs Event Main Event Satellite, where Xiao Yun Lee earned a coveted seat along with a cool Arena Event trophy.

Headlining the day’s action was GOP Taipei's first marquee event, GOP Olympians, which played out across three opening flights. We've got all the highlights down below. 

GOP Olympians: Recap

The GOP Olympians was the day's main feature as the first three of six entry flights attracted a combined 141 entries. 21 players advanced to the final day and have now locked up a share of the NT$ 3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. 

Kuan Lun Chen

At the head of the pack was Flight A chip leader Kuan Lun Chen who bagged up a massive 1,057,000 in chips. Chen was the only player that accumulated seven digits. A large portion of his stack was earned on a hero-call that sent Chia Yun Wu crashing out on a failed bluff. Wu fired it all in on the river on a board 3 ♠️ 5 ♠️ Q ♦️ 8 ♥️ 2 ♥️ and after tanking, Chen check-called with K ♣️ Q ♠️ top pair dusting Wu's A ♥️ K ♠️.

Down one rung was Flight B chip leader Cho Ho Fan with a stack of 746,000. Fan's rise started with back-to-back wins against Wai Kit Law. On a board that completed K ♦️ J ♣️ 7 ♥️ 10 ♥️ 3 ♣️, Fan check-raised all in on the turn holding Q ♦️ 9 ♦️ straight and Law tank-called with K ♣️ Q ♥️ top pair open-ended. Law dropped to five big blinds which Fan took on the next hand. 

Cho Ho Fan

Leading up to the bubble round, Ji Hoon Song went on a tear, eliminating two players to steal the chip lead however it didn't hold as Fan delivered the bubble to surge back on top. 

On a board 5 ♥️ Q ♦️ 10 ♥️ 4 ♣️ 6 ♣️, big blind Fan defended pre then led on the turn and jammed on the river. Shih Hao Yen called for his tournament life with Q ♠️ 10 ♦️ two pair that got the big boot against Fan's 8 ♠️ 7 ♣️ straight. 

Aaam John Owen

The final flight of the day was a turbo that concluded with Aaam John Owen finding redemption after busting out in Flight A. This time he dominated the action taking down Hei Kwan Chun to bring about the bubble round. 

With his big stack, Owen pressured the short stacks sending nonstop shoves until Teeraphat Rangka Tekarn took a stand with 10 ♦️ 8 ♦️ that fell to Q ♠️ 4 ♠️ with a four landing on the turn. Owen earned the Flight C chip lead with 611,000 in chips. 

Listed below are the 21 flight survivors. They return on January 10 for the final day. For those that missed the mark or have yet to jump in this event, the last three flights take place on January 9 with starting times of 12:30 PM, 4:30 PM, and 8:30 PM. 

For all of the flight information, click here. 

Flight A-B-C survivors

The Chosen Ones: Influencer Conquest Contenders

On January 2, Gods of Poker blasted a call to poker influencers for an upcoming Influencer Conquest: Teams Edition, set to take place during The Titan Assembly. Entry was not guaranteed. To be eligible. hopefuls were required to complete a series of tasks, with only a select number earning a seat. After reviewing all submissions from Facebook and Instagram, 16 influencers have been chosen. Congratulations! 

Teams will be formed at random. One arena. One night. The event will be livestreamed at 6PM on January 13 at CTP Twitch. Mark the date! 

Opening Day Winners

Alfie Adam

As mentioned above eight players became the happy owners of the first GOP Taipei trophies plus a satellite winner that was awarded an Arena Event trophy. 

Pictured above is UK's Alfie Adam who continues his strong run at GOP. In Jeju, Adam won two events and here in Taipei, he has already cashed in two events that included a victory in the 5 Card PLO Double Board Bomb Pot (Ultimate High One Winner) - Hyper Turbo - to slide into the top spot of the Player of the Series leaderboard. 

JC Ann Sotelo

The Aphrodite Event was a one hand heads-up match that ended with JC Ann Sotelo cracking aces with pocket eights to win the Aphrodite Mirror trophy. 

Jaegeol Cho

The biggest score of the day went to Jaegeol Cho at the High Roller - Turbo, topping a field of nine players for a payout of NT$ 242,800. 

GOP Taipei Links: 

Schedule
Photos: Day 1
Photos: Day 1 Winners