Large Overlay Looming in 2026 Gods of Poker Taipei II Main Event

Day 7 of The Trial of Wisdom has wrapped up and several champions have been crowned in the sixth edition of the Gods of Poker live tour. All those looking for high value tournaments should have already booked flight tickets to Taiwan yesterday already as the crown jewel has the Sword of Damocles hovering above the shoulder blades.

Masaki Saito

The third starting flight of the 2026 Gods of Poker Taipei II Main Event wrapped up after midnight with 10 players out of 71 entries, all of which secured a cash prize and advanced to Day 2. They will join the 11 survivors of the previous two flights and a large overlay is looming over the flagship tournament at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City.

So far, the NT$ 33,000 crown jewel of the schedule has only collected 145 entries but nearly 600 total entries are needed to reach the NT$ 17 Million guarantee. Plenty of players will be jumping into the action for the final two starting flights on Friday, September 25, 2026, also aided by the Boosted Titan Stack and three satellites with 15 tickets guaranteed each.

With the 27 tickets generated in the Titan Stack Boosted Edition, that's at least 72 entries to be added on top, but you can do the math on your own. It is still a tall mountain to climb with the long weekend in sight.

Not needing to worry about any of that and actually hoping for some extra value are today's ten players who bagged up chips. Japan's Masaki Saito topped the leaderboard after he burst the bubble with the turned nut flush to beat Vinay B with two pair, as he made it through with 1,521,000. Vinay B had arrived straight from the airport to max late-register for this flight and even missed some of the hands without losing any chips only to became the last casualty without anything to show for.

Another two contenders became chip millionaires in Flight C including Guo Jin Zeng (1,125,000) and Tomo Miyagi (1,008,000) whereas Hayato Kitajima (885,000) and Chi Jen Chen (475,000) are notable survivors.

Japan-based Jung Ho Im (pictured above) was the early chip leader during the registration period but he was down to only three big blinds four away from the bubble. Two double ups later. Im bagged up 553,000 in chips and secured another live poker score during the festival.

Final Chip Counts Flight C:

Notable casualties in Flight C included Hao Ran Li, Hyunsup Kim, Shung Er Sua, Ori Kossonogi, Anton Lu, Lester Edoc and Jaesung Park. They all have another two flights available to enter the fray on September 25.

Flight D starts at the usual 12.30 p.m. time slot and will close the registration at 5 p.m. local time with two 60-minute and one 120-minute levels during the registration period. The levels thereafter will be 30 minutes each until the top 13.5% of the field have been reached.

Flight E follows the same deep Cronus Structure as of 6 p.m. local time and will close at 10.30 p.m. local time - don't be late, because otherwise you will be shut out from entering at the last minute. The levels after will last 20 minutes each and play down to the money.

All survivors of the five flights then combine for Day 2 on Saturday, September 26, when the race towards the final table takes place. Just how many more will be added to that tally remains to be seen, but it will for sure be an interesting day for poker enthusiasts from near and far.

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The bubble in Flight A of the Titan Stack Boosted Edition burst when Japan's Katsuhiko Yamada got it in with the 10 ♥️ 10 ♦️ and was looked up by Yuan Ming Cao who had one over card holding the A ♠️ 8 ♦️ . The ace came on the A ♠️ Q ♣️ J ♥️ Q ♦️ 4 ♠️ board and Yamada was the last player to leave without cash prize or NT$ 33,000 Main Event ticket.

In the opening flight of the NT$ 2 Million guaranteed event, 64 entries posed a solid start and nine players made it through. Japan's Yasufumi Tahara bagged up the most chips with 1,070,000.

Reigning Gods of Poker Manila Main Event champion Dakota Anderson had arrived in Taiwan the day prior and showed once again his talents at the poker table today. In Flight B, he not only advanced but did so in style atop the leaderboard with a massive stack of 1,308,000.

Dakota Anderson

On the bubble with 11 players remaining, Jinhwan Kim three-bet jammed with the A ♣️ 5 ♠️ out of the big blind and Takahiro Baba called with the J ♥️ 9 ♦️ in the cutoff. Both the jack and nine came on the J ♦️ 7 ♠️ 6 ♥️ 9 ♣️ 10 ♣️ board to bring another ten finalists all with a Main Event ticket locked up as well. Baba made it through with the second-largest tally of the flight on 640,000, topping three other countrymen.

Another card shark from the very same country topped eight survivors in Flight C as Yuki Yamamoto claimed 882,000 to his name. David "Dave Spade" Erquiaga came up short a few spots of the money and Chun Nam Fung was eliminated on the bubble.

In total, 27 players made it through the three flights and will return at 12.30 p.m. local time to play to a winner. All of them have the Main Event ticket at their disposal and a cash prize of at least NT$ 11,800 with NT$ 260,800 reserved for the eventual champion. The tournament attracted a total of 186 entries, coming up just shy of covering the NT$ 2 Million guarantee.

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During the last festival at the City of Dreams Luxury Resort & Casino, Fendy Kosasih finally won his first Gods of Poker gauntlet trophy and he had already claimed two High Roller trophies in the last two days. The three-peat came in style as he de-fendy-d his title in the Demigods Challenge, which came with a price tag of NT$ 320,000.

It was an Indonesian heads-up duel for the share of the NT$ 2,619,000 prize pool between Kosasih and Harry Halim. With a large chip lead for the former, the chips went in the very first hand and they were flipping. Halim's A ♣️ K ♣️ were up against 10 ♥️ 10 ♣️ and couldn't connect on the Q ♠️ 7 ♣️ 3 ♦️ 5 ♠️ 8 ♠️ runout.

Halim's consolation prize was worth NT$ 982,100 and he already has a stack in the Main Event as well after making it through Flight A. Kosasih earned his third trophy of the festival and claimed the top prize of NT$ 1,636,900.

Fendy Kosasih

Out of a field of 569 entries with another small overlay to the NT$ 3 Million guarantee, the NT$ 5,500 Accumulator Event saw 68 players return to their seats inside of the Asia Poker Arena.

After a heads-up deal between Ryusuke Kasawaki and Seongjin Kim, both split the lion's share of the prize pool. Kasawaki came into the day as one of the chip leaders and half a dozen contenders who had earned the NT$ 25,000 bonus for bagging up in multiple flights. His runner-up finish for NT$ 451,500 had the larger cash prize but Kim claimed the trophy and NT$ 447,800 for his efforts.

Final Table Result

Chun Liang Kuo won NT$ 50,400 in Event #47 5-Card PL Omaha - Double Board Bomb Pot and Eo Soohak claimed a Single Day High Roller trophy with a top prize of NT$ 135,000, whereas KitipongWatsonton put Thailand on the scoreboard in a NT$ 3,500 Hyper Turbo Event.

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Busy Day 8 Ahead?!

The writing on the wall is pretty clear - 145 entries so far and almost 600 needed in the NT$ 33,000 Main Event are a challenge. Two flights are available to potentially get their with Flight E and F - the last chance to buy-in is at 10.30 p.m. local time when the registration officially closes.

Two bargain satellites with a price tag of NT$ 3,500 and 15 seats guaranteed will take place, the equivalent today had a very healthy overlay. Big O and four other NLHE tournaments are also available, all of which will play to a winner.

You can find the full tournament schedule right here.