Ruiko Mamiya Wins Historic APT National Cup Championship After Remarkable Comeback

Some final tables are slow burns, others are fireworks, and then once in a while you get a finish like the one in Taipei: chaotic, emotional, and anchored by a player who wasn’t even supposed to be here by her own admission. Japan’s Ruiko Mamiya topped the largest Asian Poker Tour side event ever held, claiming the National Cup Championship, a trophy she never expected to touch and an APTC Main Event seat to go with TWD 3,087,700 (~USD 101,900).

For someone who began learning poker only because her dealing shifts sparked her curiosity, calling this a career-defining moment feels like an understatement.

The numbers behind this victory were as loud as the applause.

The National Cup Championship attracted 2,398 entries (1,157 unique) inside Red Space, creating a TWD 29,849,200 (~USD 985,120) prize pool. It more than doubled the guarantee and now stands as the biggest side event in APT history.

Mamiya’s path through that field was anything but straightforward. At one point on Day 2 she slipped to fewer than eight big blinds, then survived multiple all-ins to rebuild from the bottom of the counts. By the time the field shrank to two tables, she had somehow maneuvered herself into the front of the pack.

That resilience carried her all the way to a three-way deal with Wei Chun Kuo (Taiwan) and Wilfred Yiu (Hong Kong). While payouts were flattened, the title, the trophy, and the Main Event seat remained up for grabs — and she seized all three.

The final table was shaped by aggressive swings, coolers, and the occasional heartbreak.

Mamiya actually lost ground early when her pocket nines fell to Kuo’s ace-queen. The short stacks began dropping quickly:

Mamiya then dipped back into short-stack territory. With less than five big blinds, she reversed her fortunes through back-to-back doubles against Wing Fai Kwan, first with A10 and then with KJ.

Kwan soon exited in fourth, setting up the three-handed deal.

After the agreement, the action moved quickly. Yiu survived one scare but later ran A6 into Mamiya’s AK, ending his run in third.

Kuo began heads-up play with a slight edge, but that vanished after the largest pot of the tournament.

Both players flopped top pair, Mamiya with A Q, Kuo with Q4, and the river decision sent a mountain of chips her way. Kuo found one double, but the gap was too wide.

In the final hand, his J9 couldn’t outrun Mamiya’s A5, and an ace-high flop sealed her championship. 

The win left Mamiya almost stunned: