Welcome to the Gods of Poker Trial of Wisdom in Taipei

At half past noon local time on Friday, September 18, 2026, the sixth edition of Gods of Poker has officially kicked off in the capital of Taiwan. For the second time in the current year, Asia's latest thriving live poker series is visiting Taipei City and the latest festival is dubbed the Trial of Wisdom. The stop is once again held in cooperation with CTP Club at the Asia Poker Arena, one of Taipei’s leading poker venue which has gained a lot of popularity throughout the last few years.

The schedule contains a total of 77 tournaments headlined by the NT$33,000 Gods of Poker Taipei Main Event, which features a staggering guarantee of NT$ 17 Million (~USD 530,000). It will also be the first time the crown jewel of GOP will feature a slightly different structure based on participant feedback throughout the first five stops with a smoother transition after the re-entry period to enhance the player experience. You can read more about Cronus Refined in the following news article.

Everybody still starts with the same 120,000 in chips - 120 big blinds in the first level and 60 big blinds in the second level - and the late registration closes at the same time as during previous stops. Five flights are available from September 22 until 25th with varying level durations with the first three flights lasting 40 minutes each once the registration is no longer possible. Flight D and E take place on September 25th with a 30 and 20-minute clock respectively - you can find the full structure here.

The defending champion is local legend Chih Wei Fan, who came out on top of a 556-entry field at the start of this year.

Of course there are plenty of other tournaments available for everyone's pocket during the eleven days of thrilling live poker action in Taiwan.

High-stakes players can look forward to trademark events such as the GOP High Roller with a buy-in of NT$ 165,000 on September 20 and 21, whereas Single Day High Rollers come with a price tag of NT$ 38,500. The NT$ 220,000 Super High Roller runs alongside the first two flights of the Main Event and the elusive gauntlet will be awarded on September Wednesday, September 23.

Even more expensive is the Demigods Challenge with a hefty buy-in of NT$ 320,000 and will be certain to attract the usual suspects, joined by local rising stars of the Taiwanese poker community.

Destined to be very popular for the lower stakes grinders here in Taiwan is the NT$ 5,500 GOP Accumulator with a guarantee of NT$ 3 Million. If you qualify two or more times, you will unlock a NT$ 25,000 bonus each time and combine all the chips accumulated from each Flight going to the Final Day on September 24. Seven flights are available between September 18 and 23 - that's right, your first chance is today already!

Also kicking off on the first day of the series is the Titan Stack with a NT$ 110,000 buy-in and two flights. All survivors will be in the money and return to battle for the trophy tomorrow.

The more affordable NT$ 11,000 edition then kicks off on Saturday, September 19 with a NT$ 1 Million guarantee for this single-day tournament. Daily versions are also available with a buy-in of NT$ 5,500 and NT$ 777,000 guarantees throughout the schedule.

Four flights are available for the NT$ 16,500 GOP Mini Main Event all of which take place on September 26. Each of them plays to the money and the survivors return to the Asia Poker Arena on September 27 to battle for at least NT$ 2 Million in prize money as well as the trophy.

In case two cards aren't your thing - and who could really blame you when Omaha is so much better and more fun - there are several four-card and five-card tournaments included on the schedule, some even with Double Board Bomb Pot to further increase the thrill and required skill level.

The GOP gauntlet trophies

And even though there will be three Player of the Series banners of Martijn Gerrits hanging in the arena, he won't be adding a fourth here in Taipei this time. There is a decent chance that rising Taiwanese star Meng-Ling "Candy" Lin will triumph for the second time though if she decides to enter the fray after securing the title in Jeju 2025. We shall see how the competition shapes up in the first few days of the festival to give you a leaderboard points update.

In case you are wondering what else to do besides poker if you take an early bad beat or want to take a day off from the felt, you can check out the following guide to Taipei on the GOP website.