The highly anticipated ASPT is returning to Paradise City Incheon after a year-long hiatus, with ASPT KOREA 2025 scheduled to run from Friday, January 17, to Sunday, January 26. The full schedule will be announced shortly — stay tuned, players!

<Player of the Series 3rd Place Interview> By winning 4 titles during the series, Jun Weng (Jullian) ranked in the 3rd place in the ASPT KOREA 2024 Player of the Series leaderboard. 🏆Classic NLH (1st place/₩8,210,000) 🏆Masters 4-game Big Bet Mix (1st place/₩5,536,000) 🏆Turbo Stud8 (1st place/₩2,096,000) 🏆Turbo NL2-7SD (1st place/₩1,549,000) ・Congratulations Jullian! How do you feel about becoming the Player of the Series 3rd place of ASPT KOREA 2024? - Jullian: "I feel so honored to be the Player of the Series 3rd place of ASPT KOREA 2024. But it would be great if I could win the 1st. I'll leave the task to the next ASPT series." ・Nice. You have won 4 titles during this series. How did you feel, especially when you got the first title? - The first one is the NLH classic. As most poker players, I started playing NLH as my first poker game. So it's good to play against all the elite NLH players, especially my heads up opponent Mr. Nakai, and then win the title. ・Wonderful! What made you decide to participate in this ASPT series? - I'm trying to promote Mixed-Games to all the Chinese poker players, so I reached out to search for the mixed-game series. Obviously ASPT was on the top of the list when I dug a little. And also I heard from my friends saying it was a great experience last time when he played in ASPT. I thought I must participate in this series. ・Great hear that,Jullian. How did you find this series? Please tell us about some good aspects of ASPT. - First of all, the customer service was great; I could see that staffs listened to all the feedback from players, and made adjustments immediately. Secondly, the one and only in Asia; various mixed-games tournaments throughout the whole series. Different buyin, different structures... I think it's the Heaven for mixed-game players, I shall say. ・Thank you. How did you think about the ASPT tournament structures, which Iori Yogo meticulously designed? - Oh that's exactly what I wanted to give a big 100 score to! Iori must be a genius to design these tournament structures. He is so experienced that the structures let the players from different levels and different bankrolls, to enjoy all kinds of poker games. ・Iori would be glad to hear that, Jullian! May I ask you about your interests outside of poker? What do you like to do on your days off? - I have been working as a product manager in the IT industry for more than 10 years. And now, I'm also trying to do something for the poker industry, using my experience of making user centered apps. I feel that there are still some gaps between players and tournament series from all over the world. I want to build some bridges between them. ・Ok, but it seems like you are still talking about poker! - Oh! What can I say, my life is 90% of poker right now! On my day off? I play badminton, squash and pickleball. I also read books, write Chinese calligraphy and play piano to relax myself. ・You have quite a lot of things to do other than poker! Is there any person or event that had a major influence on your life? - It's Yao Ming, I have to say. He is such a great player in basketball with such strong mental power. Being gentle but tough, serious but humorous at the same time. ・Oh, seems like you admire Yao Ming a lot. Does he also affected your playing style and your strength in poker? Please tell me about your playing style and your strenth. - Actually, my playing style varies against different opponents. It's all about dynamics, and I've always been making strategies by myself. When I feel that I am in my A-game, I make all the decisions from my ultimate goals, to the strategies, consider the future game solution, search for the GTO answers, and react to the dynamics, make adjustments, and then make the final action. ・Nice. Were you aiming to win the Player of the Series title for this series? If so, at which stage did you start to aim for it? - Yes, when I won my 3rd trophy in Big Bet Master, I had a feeling that I must be in a good place to run for the POTS leaderboard. Then the trophy 4th came to me! ・Were there any impressive situations during the series? - Yes, I remember an impressive situation in the Big Bet Master. I entered the final table as the 2nd chip leader, even though I couldn't run well from the start of day 2. I lost almost all of my chips to 4 bigs when there are 5 players left. Luckily I got doubled up in NLH sb player's A4o vs my bb A8o, and again tripled up in 2-7 SD with one card draw to a 7 high. Then I entered my "zone," by making a lot of adjustments based on the dynamics: ICM squeezes, overfolds, bluff catches... You know what's next, Eventually, I won my 3rd title. ・Do you have any rivals? - Yes, it's alway been myself. ・Great Jullian! What are your expectations for the next ASPT series? - Please keep on doing what ASPT has been doing until now!

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've all been waiting for—the winner of the ASPT KOREA 2024 'Main Event' has been decided! THE 🏆CHAMPION🏆 is… ✨KATSUHIRO MORI✨ who cashed out ₩ 41,343,000 for his winning prize, and took down the brand new ASPT trophy and the gold medal. Congratulation to the WINNER‼️

<Player of the Series WINNER Interview> By cashing in eight tournaments and winning one, Tsuyoshi Ikeda successfully secured the first place in the ASPT KOREA 2024 Player of the Series leaderboard. 🏆Nightly Hyper (1st place/₩1,796,000) 🥈Daily Single (2nd/₩3,050,000) 🥈Nightly Hyper (2nd/₩1,550,000) 🥉Morning Turbo (3rd/₩2,170,000) 🥉Evening Turbo-Escalating Bounty- (3rd/₩890,000) Morning Turbo (5th/₩1,150,000) Super Jam Fest-Escalating Bounty- (6th/₩260,000) Nightly Hyper (9th₩360,000) For this achievement, Ikeda receives next ASPT main event seat, as well as the brand new ASPT Player of the Series champion trophy and gold medal. ・Congratulations! How do you feel about becoming the Player of the Series winner of ASPT KOREA 2024? Ikeda: "Wonderful. Achieving first place overall through the event is fantastic!" ・Great. You cashed in on eight different tournaments. How did you feel when you won your first ASPT trophy? "To become a champion is definitely a great feeling! It was also satisfying since I was in third place the day before." ・What made you decide to participate in this ASPT series? "The series took place in a three-day weekend on the Japanese calendar, and with a short travel distance and no time difference, it was very accessible. That's why I decided to participate on short notice." ・Nice. How was this series? Please tell us about the good aspects of ASPT. "I sensed that ASPT was trying to offer tournaments with reasonable entry fees and enjoyable structures, designed with the player in mind. The enthusiasm to convey the fun of poker tournaments was evident, emphasizing accessibility and enjoyment for participants." ・What do you think about the ASPT tournament structures, which Iori Yogo meticulously designed? "I was able to enjoy playing not only in deep stack structures but also in turbo and hyper structures without feeling the rise of unreasonable blinds. I think ideas like round-for-round were excellent, allowing for a more enjoyable and measured gaming experience." ・ Great. Please tell us about your interests outside of poker. What do you like to do on your days off? "I work in the content industry, so I often watch movies and videos." ・Is there any person or event that had a major influence on your life? "It's an event. I was fortunate enough to quickly earn the right to participate in the "Magic: The Gathering" world championship for the first time. As my first overseas experience, I went to New York and played against players from around the world. From that point on, I became captivated by the allure of being able to compete with players globally, and I believe it changed my life. I even established my own business in the field of card games as a result." ・Were you aiming to win the Player of the Series title? If so, at which stage did you start to aim for it? "I noticed my high ranking in ASPT's official X post and became conscious of it while playing the tournaments. Since the player in the second position (Jun Weng) was very close, I postponed my flight back to Japan to ensure I could compete until the end of the final day without worrying about the flight. As a result, I secured the second position on the last day, which I believe was the clincher." ・Please tell us about your playing style and your strengths. "I engage in the game by trying to guess the way of thinking and strategies of each player at the table." ・Do you have any rivals? "I can say, my rival is Morikatsu (Katsuhiro Mori) who won the Main Event. He is my poker teacher. We both used to be professional "Magic: The Gathering" players, but I could not defeat him, not even once. I lost to him in the memorable final battle that determined the best player in Japan (which he seems to have forgotten). So, I really want to progress to the heads-up in the ASPT Main Event and win next time." ・Great to hear that. Were there any impressive situations during the series? "On the final day, Jun Weng, who held the second place in the POTS ranking at that time, had only a 0.3 POTS point difference from me. He was participating in some mixed game tournament, and I felt disadvantaged since I couldn't play mixed games. However, I changed my mindset, thinking that I could only do my best in the situation. I shifted my focus to the tournament that I was participating in and gave it my all." ・Are you going to participate the next ASPT? "Of course, I'll participate! I aim to become the double champion in both POTS and the Main Event next time!" ・What are your expectations for the next ASPT series? "I look forward to continued fantastic tournaments and management from a player's perspective in the future. Thank you for the excellent event and organization this time. I am grateful to the staffs and players I competed against!"