Shinnosuke Takuma Goes Wire to Wire in Trials of WisGOP High Roller; Team Japan Dominates Day 4

The action of The Trial of Wisdom at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City is heating up just in time for the start of the 2026 Gods of Poker Taipei Main Event, which is slated to kick off on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Held in cooperation with Taiwan's CTP Club which has been breaking grounds in the country to establish poker as a mind sport and game of skill, the sixth edition of Asia's latest live poker tour is entering the business end of the festival.

Team Japan has certainly taken over the reigns after several players arrived just in time before powerful typhoon Dujuan has been tormenting the country and they claimed several trophies on Day 4 including the two key tournaments on the schedule.

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The conclusion of the NT$ 165,000 GOP High Roller awaited with three players returning to their seats to battle for their slice of the NT$ 2,304,000 prize pool. With the min-cash worth almost three times the buy-in, the short stacks had perhaps slightly less pressure but there was certainly a distinct favorite.

Fresh on the heels of his late night victory in a Hyper Turbo High Roller, Shinnosuke Takuma must have been oozing confidence and he won the first two pots of the final at the expense of Fendy Kosasih to further pull ahead. The second hand saw two bets on the K ♣️ Q ♠️ 4 ♠️ J ♦️ turn and 6 ♥️ river with the latter going through uncalled for one third of Kosasih's remaining stack.

It was seemingly one-way traffic for the chip leader but Rene Von Reden cut into the early profit when his Q ♣️ 5 ♣️ rivered a flush on a paired board, after which his raise was paid off by Takuma. Regardless, the lead was still overwhelming at this point and neither Von Reden nor Kosasih were remotely close to the 54 big blind average in the opening level. When Kosasih was chipped down to only nine blinds, he flipped with 8 ♦️ 8 ♥️ against the K ♠️ Q ♦️ of Von Reden and held thanks to the 9 ♦️ 7 ♠️ 2 ♠️ A ♦️ 5 ♠️ runout.

“You need to teach me how to win all-ins,” Von Reden joked to Takuma after the latter had won several of them yesterday to go from far shortest stack to overwhelming leader.

Rene Von Reden

In the last hand of the first 40-minute level, Von Reden was then sent right into ICM hell. In a single-raised pot, Takuma bet the Q ♦️ 6 ♣️ 2 ♦️ flop and check-raised the 6 ♦️ turn before he bet the K ♥️ river for two thirds of the short stack. Von Reden used three time banks and called to get shown 2 ♥️ 2 ♠️ for deuces full.

A few minutes later at higher blinds, Takuma jammed from the small blind. Von Reden grimaced and joked “I don't want to go all-in against you,” he said before making the call with the K ♦️ 6 ♦️ . Takuma was behind with 10 ♣️ 9 ♠️ but got there on the A ♠️ 9 ♥️ 6 ♠️ J ♦️ A ♥️ runout.

“Maybe my all-ins will be better,” Kosasih joked and Von Reden replied “it can't be worse, I think I am zero for six”.

In the fourth hand of heads-up, the Indonesian limp-called all-in with 7 ♣️ 7 ♠️ and held against K ♠️ 6 ♣️ . “Three more,” Kosasih said and the next double came one hand later when he “gambled” with the best hand for a pair and bottom end of the straight draw. After some back and forth, Kosasih then had the best of it with 10 ♣️ 10 ♦️ for bottom set and a turned full house while Takuma's king-high straight conceded the third double of the duel. The stacks would even level out when Kosasih flopped bottom two pair with the 9 ♣️ 2 ♦️ to blow the race to the title wide open.

Fendy Kosasih

Kosasih even took the lead before things went downhill quickly. After almost nearly two hours of play, he was getting short and then made a move with 10 ♠️ 4 ♣️ to bet the 8 ♣️ 7 ♥️ 7 ♦️ flop and jam the 4 ♥️ turn. Takuma called with the 8 ♣️ 4 ♠️ and held on a blank 3 ♥️ river to secure the second trophy in fewer than 24 hours.

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By the time the third level came to a close, some 59 players out of 81 entries remained in the third edition of the NT$ 11,000 Titan Stack Daily and the fourth consecutive overlay appeared likely. However more than two dozen late entrants bolstered the field to 107 entries for a prize pool of NT$ 1,027,200 with the top 15 spots paid. Japan's Ryosuke Kubodera was leading the way with more than seven starting stacks whereas fellow countrymen Kazuhara Inamura as well as Kohichi Shimizu were knocked out by Kai Hung Hu.

Fendy Kosasih cracked the Q ♠️ Q ♥️ of Jason Swaim with A ♥️ 2 ♥️ with two pair on the flop and a full house on the turn. Moments later, Shinnosuke Takuma continued his heater by sending Wai Kit Law to the rail holding a superior ace preflop. With around two thirds of the field still in contention, Rene Von Reden earned a lot of value when his king-nine in the cutoff made nines full of kings, but it was still a long way to go to the money stages.

Ryosuke Kudobera

The field started to dwindle with early big stack Kudobera among the casualties, alongside two-time trophy winner Fumito Murayama, Lance Goh, Accumulator Chip Leader I Wen Chu, and Si Yang Phua. Von Reden's preflop all-in curse continued when his ace-king was cracked by the ace-queen of I Chung Chen for more than 27 big blinds by the time the field was cut into more than half. “I am so bad at all-ins,” the German groaned. Takuma was not going to be his nemesis later on though, as he busted along with Kosasih.

I Chung Chen

Guo Jin Zeng put his last 11 big blinds on K ♣️ 9 ♠️ and hit a king on the flop to beat table big stack Yuto Ishibashi with his A ♥️ 6 ♠️ , soon after the Hu departed and some 40 players headed into the break at the end of level nine. Five minutes back in action, yesterday's bubble survivor Hsien Paul Wee flipped with J ♠️ J ♦️ versus A ♦️ K ♠️ and the ace came on the river to improve Chia Hui Tu for the knockout. Four tables were reached soon after and the champion of last night Chi Jen Chen was among the bigger stacks despite losing with pocket kings against the quad aces of Kosuke Ito.

Things got even worse for Chen when he ran into the A ♣️ A ♦️ of Chia Yun Wu shortly thereafter in a five-bet pot, unable to crack them with the A ♥️ K ♣️ to drop to a short stack. Rob Hollink bowed out next before Jing Yu Huang failed to improve enough with king-queen against the ace-jack of Yuta Arai. One table over, Chen's bid of a repeat victory came short in a flip with A ♦️ 10 ♠️ against the 9 ♥️ 9 ♣️ of Ming Pui Cheung, he was followed to the rail by Jung Ho Im and his JOPT card protector. The same table also lost Rudy Edenata with A ♣️ 9 ♣️ as Yi Chieh Hsieh had very little sweat holding the K ♦️ K ♣️ in a preflop contest.

Ming Pui Cheung and Chia Yun Wu

Just like that, the final three tables are already within reach and Shi Rong Wang was denied a shot at another podium finish. Short, he got it in with A ♥️ J ♣️ and the kicker played for the A ♦️ K ♠️ of Takahiro Ichikawa on a ten-high board. Tekai Chang had a kicker problem with A ♠️ 10 ♥️ against the A ♥️ J ♥️ of Ishibashi and both a ten and jack on the board sealed his fate on the final three tables.

Po Sheng Ko (pictured above) was already a big stack prior and then found two players jam with their ace-jack into his K ♠️ K ♣️ , which held on a ten-high board to vault the local player near the top at 24 left. Ichikawa and Horikoshi Shingo then bowed out in quick succession, as did Cheung after twice losing with ace-queen. The action never really slowed down during that stage with an average hovering around 20 big blinds on the 20-minute structure.

Tomoya Hasegawa then built a big pot against Wu and jammed the 7 ♦️ 4 ♠️ 2 ♥️ 6 ♦️ turn with 9 ♠️ 9 ♥️ only to get snapped off by Wu's 6 ♣️ 6 ♠️ for the turned set. Moments later, Heng Zhe Hu ran into aces one table over and there were just 19 left. The two tables were set a hot minute later when Hsieh jammed 13 big blinds from under the gun with 10 ♠️ 10 ♣️ into the K ♦️ K ♠️ of Steven Benjamin in the big blind.

Tomoya Hasegawa

Kai Cheng Hsu had cashed in this event yesterday after being down to a single chip when he chopped the min-cash but he became the chip leader two away from the money this time. His min-raise was called once before Kosuke Ito jammed for 12 blinds with the A ♥️ A ♦️ . Hsu came along with the J ♣️ J ♦️ and the player from Japan exclaimed "no jack please, one time."

Kosuke Ito

The Q ♦️ 8 ♠️ 5 ♥️ flop was no threat and Ito was relieved, but the 9 ♠️ turn brought the gutshot. Instead, the J ♥️ came on the river for the sucker punch near the bubble. It didn't take long for the bubble to burst after that, and Wu was an unlikely casualty without anything to show for in a duel of big stacks when his J ♦️ 8 ♣️ in the big blind turned two pair on the A ♥️ J ♣️ 6 ♣️ 8 ♠️ 4 ♠️ board. Ishibashi had triple barreled with the A ♠️ J ♠️ for superior two pair.

Chia Yun Wu

One table over, Yu Hsiang Huang check-called all-in with Q ♣️ 10 ♥️ for top pair and flush draw on Q ♥️ 9 ♥️ 5 ♥️ and was up against I Chung Chen's K ♣️ Q ♠️ - turn K ♦️ and river 3 ♠️ to burst the bubble without hand-for-hand. Tatsuya Hashimoto and Hung Chieh Lai were out right after. After the next break with an average of still 20 big blinds, Von Reden celebrated that he finally won an all-in with A ♠️ 10 ♥️ versus K ♠️ Q ♦️ and jumped back to the middle of the pack.

Steven Benjamin had his Q ♠️ Q ♦️ cracked by 6 ♠️ 6 ♦️ for a decent chunk before Cheng Han Li lost a flip with A ♦️ K ♥️ against the J ♣️ J ♥️ of Jeongyeon Byeon. Arai then finished off Benjamin with an ace versus a king preflop. Jaejoong Kim lost two out of three all-in showdowns and Ko was then KO'd by Ishibashi with 9 ♠️ 9 ♦️ versus A ♥️ Q ♥️ via ace on the river to set up the final table.

Rene Von Reden

The "fair fight" of Von Reden with Q ♣️ J ♣️ against Byeon's A ♥️ K ♣️ was not so fair anymore after the A ♦️ 6 ♦️ 9 ♥️ flop, the 10 ♥️ turn and J ♥️ river brought no escape for the German. Hideo Sawai then scored a double before his A ♥️ K ♦️ made broadway to knock out Man Hin Siu and I Chung Chen to crack top set of queens in the process. Sawai made it three in a row when claiming the last two blinds of Hyunjun Kim.

Byeon then jammed almost 20 big blinds with the 9 ♠️ 8 ♠️ and Ishibashi called with the covering stack in the blind battle holding the A ♦️ 4 ♠️ . The A ♣️ 10 ♥️ 5 ♣️ K ♠️ 7 ♠️ board whittled down the field to the final four - three from Japan and Taiwan's Hsu. The home town victory was denied when Hsu's shove with J ♦️ 10 ♣️ was called by Ishibashi with the 9 ♥️ 7 ♠️ for some five and a half blinds, the 9 ♦️ 8 ♠️ 2 ♥️ 8 ♦️ 6 ♥️ board ensured a Japanese podium sweep.

Ishibashi then got three streets of value from A ♦️ 10 ♥️ for tens and deuces off Sawai to soar into a commanding lead. Sawai doubled through the chip leader before he then knocked out Arai with Q ♠️ J ♥️ versus K ♦️ 3 ♦️ preflop thanks to the Q ♦️ in the window.

Hideo Sawai

Sawai lost a three-bet pot to drop to around 12 blinds and then called the button shove by Ishibashi with the A ♥️ 7 ♠️ . That was ahead of Q ♦️ 2 ♥️ but the J ♠️ 10 ♦️ 2 ♣️ 9 ♣️ 4 ♠️ board had other plans to crown a champion.

Titan Stack Daily September 21 Final Table Result:

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Yesterday's Titan Stack Daily finalist Inamura made up for his early exit in today's edition and won his first trophy of the series in NLH Midday Mid-Stakes for NT$ 99,000.

In the 34-entry strong NT$ 3,500 Hyper Turbo Event, another Japanese victory was sealed as Yusuke Hinaka raked in the largest slice worth NT$ 39,120. Jade Kosasih played in her second-ever live event and cashed in third place for NT$ 15,700.

Jade Kosasih

The NT$ 27,500 Turbo High Roller drew a field of 18 entries to generate a NT$432,000 prize pool to be shared among the top three finishers.

Last but not least, the fourth flight of the NT$ 5,500 Accumulator Event with a NT$ 3 Million guarantee was the strongest to date with 62 entries to bring the overall tally up to 181 entries with another three flights to follow in the next two days. The top nine players advanced and the chip counts of the survivors will be provided in the morning.

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The Schedule for Day 5

Several dozen trophies have already been awarded including two of the five GOP gauntlets, but the time has finally come for the NT$ 33,000 Main Event to commence. At 12.30 p.m. local time, the first of five Flights gets underway with the new improved Cronus Structure.

All players receive 120,000 in chips and the first level of Flight A lasts 60 minutes with blinds of 500-1,000/1,000. What follows are two 120-minute levels with small blind increases before the registration closes at 30 big blinds. From there on, the levels last 40 minutes each and the action will go all the way until the money is reached with approximately 13.5% of the field set to advance.

The following two days will feature an identical structure before the last two flights on Friday, September 25, 2026, have 30 and 20-minute levels after the respective registration has closed. The crown jewel on the schedule comes with a massive NT$ 17 million guarantee and satellites are available for as little as NT$ 7,700.

Gods of Poker founder Lloyd Fontillas with the Main Event gauntlet trophy

Of course there is also another edition of the value NT$ 11,000 Titan Stack Daily with a NT$ 1 Million guarantee as of half past noon as well. Both flights of the GOP NT$ 220,000 Super High Roller are scheduled along with several one-day tournaments.

Flight E of the Accumulator Event starts at 7 p.m. local time and the late registration closes at 9.45 p.m. local time. Even those who already bagged up chips in the previous flights should give it some thought again, because multiple stacks come with a NT$ 25,000 bonus and will be combined for the grand finale.

As usual, you can check out the full schedule and all tournament details on the GOP website right here.