Lester Edoc Wins Record-Breaking TMT Championship 2026 Main Event in Taipei

It turned into a family celebration for the Edocs in Taipei. A day after his wife Ferlyn Edoc won the TMT Championship Ladies Event, Filipino veteran Lester Edoc won the TMT Championship III Main Event. He banked TWD 4,757,400 (about $146,418) after a three-way deal at the final table.

Edoc held the chip lead from the start of the final table. With three players left, he made a deal with Aditya Agarwal (India) and Sunho Yoo (South Korea), and the trio then went all-in blind every hand. It took only five hands for Edoc to finish it.

For the Filipino, it was a long-awaited win. He said afterwards that it had been a while since he last won a main event.

TMT Championship 2026 at a Glance

Detail	Info
Festival	TMT Championship III (Taiwan Millions Tournament)
Dates	October 16–26, 2026
Venue	CTP Asia Poker Arena, Taipei City, Taiwan
Events	66
Buy-in range	TWD 1,500 (45)–TWD150,000(4,600)
Main Event buy-in	TWD 35,000 (~$1,100)
Main Event entries	1,418 (TMT Championship record)
Prize pool	TWD 42,880,320 (~$1,319,724)
Guarantee	TWD 30,000,000 (~$925,000)
Champion	Lester Edoc (Philippines) – TWD 4,757,400

A Record Field, Even With a Typhoon

The Main Event drew 1,418 entries, a new record for the TMT Championship. The number is even more impressive because one of the Day 1 flights was disrupted by a typhoon.

The event ran over six starting flights. The final two on Saturday, October 24, alone added 541 entries: 377 in Day 1E and 164 in the Day 1F Turbo.

How the Main Event Has Grown

Year	Entries	Growth
2024	936	—
2025	1,076	+15.0%
2026	1,418	+31.8%

Entry figures from SoMuchPoker; growth percentages are our own calculations.

In two years, the field has grown by more than 51%. That’s strong growth for a mid-stakes event in Asia, and it shows how far Taipei has come as a poker destination.

What the Numbers Tell You

1. The guarantee was beaten easily.
The TWD 30 million guarantee was beaten by about 43%, so there was no overlay. The field was big enough to build a prize pool well above what the organisers promised.

2. About 86% of buy-ins went to the prize pool.
1,418 entries at TWD 35,000 adds up to about TWD 49.6 million collected. With a prize pool of TWD 42.88 million, roughly 86.4% went back to players. That’s a fair rate for a live tournament at this level.

3. A deep run was well rewarded.
The 215 players who reached Day 2 were all in the money with at least TWD 70,000, double the buy-in. That’s about 15% of the field. Edoc’s winnings came to roughly 136 times his buy-in.

4. The deal changed the top payouts.
Before the deal, the advertised first prize was TWD 5,763,000. After the ICM deal, Edoc took TWD 4,757,400, about TWD 1 million less, while second and third got more than their original payouts would have been. Between them, the top three took about 29% of the total prize pool.

Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Prize (TWD)	Prize (USD)
1	Lester Edoc	Philippines	4,757,400	$146,418
2	Aditya Agarwal	India	4,162,400	$128,106
3	Sunho Yoo	South Korea	3,643,200	$112,126
4	Hao Che Cheng	Taiwan	2,178,000	$67,032
5	Ronald Haverkamp	Netherlands	1,653,000	$50,874
6	Injae Jeong	South Korea	1,270,000	$39,087
7	Sangjun Jung	South Korea	985,000	$30,315
8	Kuan Ying Chen	Taiwan	774,000	$23,821
9	Feng Hsien Ching	Taiwan	615,000	$18,928

The final table was one of the most international of the year in Asia: five countries across nine seats, including three South Koreans and three local Taiwanese players.

How the Final Table Played Out

Edoc started the final table as chip leader, and he got lucky at the right moments. According to SoMuchPoker’s report:

• 9th – Feng Hsien Ching: His ace-king didn’t improve against Sangjun Jung’s pocket eights.
• 8th – Kuan Ying Chen: His pocket aces were cracked when Injae Jeong flopped a flush.
• 7th – Sangjun Jung: The key hand of the day. Jung had a set against Edoc’s pocket aces, but Edoc hit a runner-runner flush to knock him out.
• 6th – Injae Jeong: He moved all-in preflop and ran into Aditya Agarwal, who flopped a full house.
• 5th – Ronald Haverkamp: Edoc made a straight on the river to send the Dutch player home.
• 4th – Hao Che Cheng: The last Taiwanese player was eliminated by Edoc, leaving three.

From there, the three remaining players agreed an ICM deal, and Edoc closed it out in five all-in hands.

The runner-runner flush against Jung’s set is the hand people will remember. Without it, Edoc would have dropped well down the chip counts, and the final table could have played out very differently.

Other TMT Championship 2026 Highlights

• Kristof Segers won the TWD 150,000 ($4,600) Super High Roller for $53,703.
• Ferlyn Edoc won the Ladies Event, a day before her husband’s Main Event title.
• Yao Cheng Wang led after Day 1 with 1,464,000 chips but didn’t make the final table.

Who Is Lester Edoc?

Edoc is a well-known name on the Asian poker circuit and a long-time member of the Filipino poker community. He has won events across the region, including at the APT Philippines Championships.

He’s also part of the Philippines’ team for the WPF Asian Nations Cup 2026, alongside Marc Rivera, whom he jokingly called his “lucky charm.” After his win, he encouraged more Filipino players to travel and compete in international fields.

Why Taipei Is a Poker Destination to Watch

The TMT series has become one of Asia’s most important low-to-mid-stakes festivals. Here’s why it attracts players:

• Affordable buy-ins: Side events start at just $45, so recreational players can play a full festival schedule.
• Large, soft fields: Record growth means plenty of recreational players at the tables.
• International mix: Players from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, India and Europe make the final tables unpredictable.
• Big guarantees: A TWD 30 million guarantee on a $1,100 event is generous for the region.

If you’re planning a trip, the TMT series runs several times a year in Taipei. Look out for early-bird packages, which usually go on sale before each festival.

Our Take

Lester Edoc’s win was a mix of experience and good timing. He held the chip lead into the final table, caught the cards he needed, and made a smart deal. Behind his story, the record 1,418-entry field shows how quickly the Taiwan Millions Tournament is growing. If the trend continues, a 2,000-entry TMT Championship Main Event could happen within a few years.

FAQs