An APT Championship River Shove So Audacious It Actually Worked

Some bluffs are born from logic. Others from desperation. And then there are the rare few that simply shouldn’t work but somehow do.

The final table of the APT $10,000 Championship delivered exactly that: a stone-cold shove from John Niko Costiniano that convinced Taiwan’s Hao Chuang to foldK♥Q♦for the nut straight.

With $1.1 million on top of the payout ladder, this wasn’t reckless bravado. It was a moment of perfect timing — and it sent the poker world into instant analysis mode.

Chris Conrad suggested the sizing error was fatal:

If he jams river, the hand is easy.

Andy “Stacks” Tsai was more vivid:

From wanting the call to wanting to puke… tough spot.

Chuang would find one more ladder before exiting in seventh for $180,395, while Costiniano rode the momentum straight into second place.