Ten new champions emerged from the packed schedule at the GOP Taipei 2026 Day 3 at the CTP Asia Poker Arena.

Taiwan’s Chih Feng Li storming to victory in the flagship GOP Olympians event—his second title of the festival—while Filipino grinder Marc Rivera etched his name into history by snagging the series’ first elite Gauntlet award.

As fields swelled and guarantees shattered, the Player of the Series contest tightened dramatically, setting the stage for an explosive run through January 18.

Olympians Epic: Li’s Double Triumph

The spotlight shone on the GOP Olympians, the festival’s inaugural big-ticket showdown with a modest TWD 12,000 (~$380) buy-in that exploded into 351 entries over six starting flights.

Players obliterated the TWD 3 million guarantee, vying for a juicy TWD 3,639,168 prize pool ($115,020) that rewarded 51 in the money. Local hero Chih Feng Li  lifted the Silver Spartan trophy and TWD 771,968 ($24,400).

Li’s path featured a jaw-dropping cooler: his pocket fives flopped a set, turned quads, and obliterated an opponent’s aces, rocketing him up the leaderboard.

The final table flew by early—Wei Kai Lin bowed out ninth, Thailand’s Kongjaroentin Tanik eighth, Chia Chaing Ko seventh—before Terry Gonzaga cracked Chuang Lin Cheng’s queens with fours for sixth and a fleeting chip lead. Hengzhe Hu’s aces met their fate against Li’s fives in fifth, and Gonzaga’s kings KO’d Fong in fourth, and Shun Yi Zheng ousted Gonzaga third to enter heads-up with a massive edge.

Li dodged an early all-in shove, grinded back through 36 hands of swings, and sealed it when Zheng’s A-3 couldn’t hold against his A-7. Olympians payouts highlights:

1. Chih Feng Li (Taiwan) – TWD 771,968 ($24,400), SPI 1,291.64
2. Shun Yi Zheng (Taiwan) – TWD Cron470,200 ($14,860), SPI 913.33
3. Terry Gonzaga (Philippines) – TWD 318,600 ($10,070), SPI 745.73
4. Fong Shaing Li (Taiwan) – TWD 231,200 ($7,305), SPI 645.82
5. Hengzhe Hu (Taiwan) – TWD 176,200 ($5,570), SPI 577.64
6. Chuang Lin Cheng (Taiwan) – TWD 139,300 ($4,405), SPI 527.31
7. Chia Chaing Ko (Taiwan) – TWD 113,300 ($3,580), SPI 488.19
8. Kongjaroentin Tanik (Thailand) – TWD 94,200 ($2,975), SPI 456.66
9. Wei Kai Lin (Taiwan) – TWD 79,700 ($2,520), SPI 430.55

Gauntlet Milestone for Rivera

In the opposite corner of the buy-in spectrum, Marc Rivera’s steely heads-up performance in the TWD 330,000 ($10,400) Demigods Challenge—a tiny five-entry winner-takes-all—netted him TWD 1,520,475 ($48,055) and the black Gauntlet sleeve, his first GOP hardware.

Battling e-sports legend turned poker pro Yohwan “BoxeR” Lim, Rivera clung to his lead through intense exchanges, proving why he’s a rising force with over $263K in regional cashes.

Side Events and Leaderboard Fireworks

Day 3’s eight side events kept the action relentless, fueling Martijn Gerrits’ surge to Player of the Series lead on six cashes and three trophies—though Alfie Adam denied him a fourth by winning the 5 Card NL Omaha Hyper Turbo for his second title. Hanh Tran lurks second, with Adam and Pasith Teeka Uttamakorn nipping at their heels.

Pandora’s Mystery Bounty (TWD 18K buy-in) charged past 215 entries through four flights, smashing its TWD 3M GTD at TWD 3,343,680 ($105,780); 31 survivors return led by Jun Liang Deric Lee’s towering 1.204M stack, ahead of Nishant Kumar (895K) and Soohyeok Lee (781K).

Spotlight on Chih Feng Li

Chih Feng Li, Taiwan’s high-volume maestro ranked #67 on 2026 SPI (1,638 points), now sits on $176,876 in Asia-Pacific earnings across 100 events and 94 cashes. His career watermark: a $68,285 third in the 2022 WPT Prime Taiwan Main Event. Just last November, he conquered APT Taipei’s NT$15K PL Omaha Hi-Lo (Event #25) for ~$8,499, showcasing versatility in Hold’em, PLO, and Big O.

Recent deep runs—like 30th in OLA Taipei Main and sixth in AJPC Samurai Mini Main—cement his grinder ethos, thriving in Asia’s booming mid-stakes grind.

Day 4 ramps up with Pandora’s Day 2 finale, GOP Super High Roller flights (TWD 120K, TWD 3M GTD), Titan Stack continuations (TWD 19K), and the Cronus Golden Window perk—double bubble buy-ins refunded for pre-Level 1 entries in key events like the Main.