A new star has announced himself on the Asian poker stage.
Rudy Edenata etched his name into APT history by becoming the first-ever Indonesian Mega Lion champion, delivering a polished performance to win the High Roller event at the Asian Poker Tour Jeju Classic. The victory continues a record-setting start to the tour’s 20th anniversary season and caps off a meteoric rise for a player who only began competing in tournaments last August.
Edenata pocketed $159,400 for the win—nearly doubling his career earnings in one stroke—along with a coveted seat in November’s APT Championship Main Event. He also lifted the Rose Gold Mega Lion trophy, one of the tour’s most prestigious awards, reserved for elite events at each APT stop.
A Tough Road to the Title
The win didn’t come easily. Edenata had to get through Weiran Pu, a WSOP bracelet winner and one of the most dangerous players in the region, during a hard-fought heads-up battle. Pu, who had already cashed three times at the Jeju Classic, finished second for roughly $159,400, pushing his career earnings beyond $3.6 million.
The High Roller drew 259 entries, comfortably smashing its guarantee and generating a prize pool of more than $763,000. Day 2 began with 55 players and played down to 31 paid finishers before the field raced toward a final table.
Aces Turn the Tide
When the final nine were set, Wu held a commanding chip lead, with Joseph Cheong, the APT’s all-time money leader, sitting third. Edenata was close behind in fourth, part of a tightly packed group chasing the leader.
Momentum swung dramatically when Edenata picked up pocket aces at just the right moment. After raising from early position, he was called by Pu, who connected strongly with the flop. A raise from Pu forced Edenata into the tank before calling—and then the turn delivered Broadway, flipping the hand entirely. By the river, Edenata had improved to a flush, extracting maximum value and pulling the chip leader back into reach.
Clearing the Deck
From there, the field began to thin quickly. Cheong slipped down the counts and exited in eighth after his shove ran into Pu’s ace-king. Haohui Ma followed in seventh, then Jun Lin in sixth, leaving five players with Edenata now firmly in control.
The back-and-forth between Edenata and Pu continued, with Pu briefly regaining the lead after a well-timed bluff-shove against Chi Dung Tran. But Edenata soon reasserted himself as eliminations came in rapid succession. Jun Chen fell in fifth, Tran exited in fourth after losing a classic jacks-versus-tens showdown, and Chang Hwan Lee couldn’t gain traction in third.
One Hand for the Title
Heads-up play began with Edenata holding roughly a 3-to-2 chip advantage, and he immediately applied pressure. Pu managed to double once, turning king-eight into a winning pair against Edenata’s ace-queen, but the final hand wasn’t far behind.
Pu opened with ace-queen, and Edenata responded by shoving 14 million with king-ten. Pu called off his remaining 11 million, and the two players watched as the board ran out.
A flop gave Edenata a pair of tens, though Pu briefly pulled ahead on the turn. The river, however, sealed the deal—vaulting Edenata back in front and locking up the championship.
A Perfect Start to a Milestone Year
Edenata’s breakthrough victory closes out yet another record-breaking stop for the Asian Poker Tour in Jeju, where the 1,718-entry Main Event became the largest international poker tournament ever staged in Korea.
With Jeju in the books, the APT’s 20th Anniversary tour now heads to Taipei, where the momentum continues from April 22 through May 3 at Asia Poker Arena and Red Space—the same venues that hosted the richest Main Event in APT history last November.
