APT High Roller Champion Rudy Edenata

Grabbing a selfie with the champ during his championship photo shoot.

 

I first met Indonesia's Rudy Edenata during the Players' Series in Taipei. I met him and knew of him because I was covering as a live reporter and it's part of my job to know the players I'm covering, so I came across his name.

A few months later, I was back in Taipei for the Gods of Poker tournament as a player at the GOP Influencer Conquest event. I ran into my dear friend JC Ann Sotelo, whom I've known since the pandemic, and who out of nowhere had to decided to pick up poker. She had won a ladies tournament in her first try taking home a trophy. It wasn't as spectacular. They were just two players heads up and it was done in one hand. JC had pocket eights against the aces of her opponent. She made a set, cracked the aces and won a trophy. She was also part of the GOP Influencer Conquest event and she won that too. During her stint there at Taipei, she hung out with her crew, which included Rudy Edenata and Fendy Kosasih - Indonesians who have made Manila their second home.

Anyway, so I met Rudy there through JC. He remembered me as a media reporter and we always exchanged small pleasantries when we ran into each other. At that time, he said that he too just started picking up the game. His first tournament was in Manila in August 2025, invited by a friend to play. He made some final tables and thought he might be good at it, so he persisted. Made a few more final tables to end that year and took his first trip out of Manila to play in Gods Of Poker Jeju.

That was when he won his first ever tournament, claiming a Turbo High Roller win and adding four 4th place finishes in that series, banking over USD 70,000 total. Not bad at all.

He then booked a second win in a Single Day High Roller at GOP Taipei the same time I was there. We exchanged socials and kept in touch since. He made plans to be in APT Jeju Classic 2026 and, of course, i was going to be there doing media reporting. On the day of my arrival, he immediately took me out to lunch along with Fendy Kosasih, but our lunch was cut short because they had to return back to the tournament. "Just stay here and eat, bro, we have to run back." I would realize later that the "you stay, we eat-and-run" would be a common thing. Hahaha

Before things got too busy with me, we had a chance to have drinks, catch up about poker. He mentioned how the pace of APT was different from GOP, where people have a tendency to be more aggressive. I explained that maybe it's because late registration closes early, so without any more bullets to fire, there is a tendency to be aggressive and apply more pressure, while the APT structure allows people to take their time and fold. 

Rudy wasn't having the best series - to be honest. Every time, we'd run into each other, he'd say that he fired another bullet, or that he busted out. I'd see the live reports involving him (if I wasn't covering his event) and saw that he would do well to build a stack, but somehow it would all come crashing down. In fact, during that APT Jeju Classic, he fired so many bullets at so many events and cashed twice. Once was a 10th place finish in the two-day High Roller - just short of the final table, then the other time was when won the APT High Roller for a career-best USD 159,000+.

I was covering that event and we had dinner with Lester Edoc, Fendy Kosasih and others on the night before the final day. He had a huge stack that got hit a few times, but he was still in it. Fendy and I were discussing how he might be playing too loose aggressive. Anyway, the Lester, Fendy and Rudy left us once again to finish the food while they had to rush back to the tables. Like I said - it was a trend.

Rudy and Fendy managed to bag that night and the next day when I was doing the coverage on the floor, I kept my eye out on both. It was sad to see Fendy fall short of ITM when he returned Day 2, and him and his wonderful partner Jade, decided to leave early after busting to go to Jeju City for some quality time. Edenata, meanwhile, started the final day with a stack of 144,000 - sitting near the bottom, but then found a patient groove to make it to the final two tables, then the final table and then emerge as the champion.

I covered the livestream along with Kai, so I got to see every hand that was played. I admired his fold of ace-queen when he was jammed all in by ace-king. Of course, I could see the televised cards. Rudy couldn't and at that spot, one would expect he would make the call, but he didn't and avoided a possible disaster. That fold alone told me that Rudy indeed had gone a long way in his poker journey to improve his poker sensibilities. That was maturity. That was awesome.

Of course, he then went on to win it, and I couldn't have been more proud and happy for him to end it on such a high note after going through a storm of a series. I must say his resilience is amazing. After his win, and the series at a close, the APT staff had an after party and some of the players still in town joined in. Of course, Rudy took the chance to attend and we celebrated with a few drinks. I even mentioned that brilliant ace-queen move. And then I also questioned him, "What's up with the 9-6 suited? You three-bet each time. Is that your favorite hand - 9-6, 6-9?" He smiled.

I think I had too many and I ended up missing my flight to Singapore the next morning. At the Jeju airport, with my flight missed and all, I saw Rudy lining up for his flight to Taipei. I go - "Bro, I missed my flight because I celebrated you. LOL" 

Rudy is such a gentle and generous human being. Truly, a dear friend. And now, even if he's just been playing a few months, he can truly call himself a true poker player. He damn won the APT High Roller in his first APT experience. Wow! Just Wow!

Congratulations again, brother! Well deserved!

You can catch the High Roller Final Day and Final Table action at the video below.