Jeju Open Mystery Bounty (1,520,000 KRW)

With 147 total entries and 19 qualifiers for Day 2, Haoran Yang emerges on top after 14 levels of play and a late charge that includes the elimination of Jun Peng in 22nd and Chi Jen Chen - Poker Dream 16 Mystery Bounty Champ with almost $1M in live earnings, including a $140,000 cash in the WSOP Main Event last year - in 21st before losing some to Linghui Dai - 4th place finisher in the WPT Korea Main Event for $118,737 here in Jeju a year ago - that left him with 410,000 in chips.

Coming in second, Artem Sofronov bagged 380,000 after popping the bubble with 9♦ 9♣ against Wang Guyue's 8♦ 8♥ , adding 35 BBs last minute and Yuheng Wu in a close 3rd with 375,000 after a double knockout of Yu Han Su and Chun Lung Wong with J♥ J♦ against A♣ K♥ and K♠ J♠ just before entering level 14.

Well done everyone and we will see you at the live updates for Flight B in a few minutes.

The river T♣ seals the deal, sending Chen to the rail and has Yang increase his lead even further.

A limp from small blind Haoran Yang and a check from Chuan Shu Chen treat us with the flop 7♣ 3♠ 4♠ that has Chen call an 11,000 lead from Yang for the turn 2♥ where Yang jams and Chen folds after using a time bank. Yang shows 7♥ 3♥ two pair.

Jun Peng shoves 75,000 from +1 with A♦ K♠ and dominates button Haoran Yang who calls with A♠ 9♥ and needs major help. Everything is looking peachy for Peng when the board falls Q♦ Q♣ 5♣ 7♣ before going pear shaped on the river 9♠ . That leaves Haoran Yang hot on the heels of the chip leader.

After doubling up just a few hands before, Yu Han Su jams 97,000 from +2 with A♣ K♥ , hijack Chun Lung Wong calls for his last 61,000 holding K♠ J♠ and small blind Yuheng Wu - who earned his biggest cash of $26,818 back in 2023 for winning the Taiwan Millions Kick-Off Event - has an easy call with J♥ J♦ from the small blind. The low board T♥ 3♠ 4♥ 7♠ T♣ has the big stack come out on top, thinning out the field some more.

Small blind Bin Zhao open jams 40,000 with 6♣ 6♠ , but finds himself skiing uphill when Yu Han Su calls with 7♠ 7♥ . No help for Zhao on Q♥ 5♦ J♥ 3♠ A♠ gets us one spot closer to the bubble.

Chun Lung Wong lays out 6,000 and takes small blind Lok Man Chu to the flop A♠ 8♥ 8♣ where a 6,000 c-bet gets called to reveal the turn 7♦ . Two checks complete the board J♣ where a 16,000 lead from Chu gets the job done.

With 34,000 already in the middle and the board complete A♦ A♠ 6♠ 2♦ T♦ we see small blind Cheng Lo apply maximum pressure by jamming his massive stack, putting big blind Haoran Yang in the tank. Holding K♣ 6♦ and contemplating a call for his remaining 85,000, two time banks go in the dealers direction before Haoran Yang puts on his cape to announce the hero call and is elated to see Cheng Lo flip over queen-high Q♠ 4♥ .

Ryo Miyata initiates the action with a 4,500 raise from the cutoff holding A♦ 9♦ and calls after small blind Lok Man Chu ups it to 11,000. Hitting top pair on A♠ K♣ 3♥ and facing a 9,000 c-bet from Chu, Miyata raises to 19,000, gets called and hits two pair on the turn 9♠ . Chu slides out 40,000 and Miyata finds a quick call for his last 28,000 but is drawing dead against Chu's A♣ A♥ . The river T♣ seals it and sends the Japanese player to the rail.

Fresh of his biggest live cash for $11,497 in the Poker Dream 16 Jeju Monster Stack, Zhiyi Wang three-bets to 9,500 from the cutoff after Chung Hsien Lee opened 4,000 from +1. Lee pays up to see the flop 3♦ 8♠ 5♣ and check-calls another 3,000 for the turn A♦ that gets checked to the river 8♣ where a 19,000 bet from Wang goes unanswered.

The 147 entries result in 19 players booking a ticket for day 2 at the end of Flight A.

Chen's top pair holds after the board completes 2♥ and 6♥ .

Hoping for a club, Wang leaves empty handed when the board completes 3♦ and 9♦ , giving Zhang a stack to work with.

No improvement for Hoi on 8♣ and 2♠ sends him back to the registration desk and has Lo join the big stacks.

With 15,500 up for grabs and the board complete 2♠ 3♣ 7♦ 5♥ K♣ hijack Yang Teng Tan mounts a massive bluff jam with J♦ 9♣ , putting Yehan Lin all-in for 28,100 who goes deep in the tank, but eventually finds the call with 8♠ 8♦ after handing two time banks to the dealer.

Chen is digging for a ten to chop, but cant find it on the river 8♣ and has to watch Hao scoop a massive pot.

Looking at the turn 5♥ 7♣ J♣ 7♥ and 8,500 in the pot, Ryo Miyata leads 6,500 from +1 and under the gun Weijie Long flats to see the board complete 5♣ . Another 8,000 lead from Miyata gets called who flips over the winner K♣ 9♣ flush.

With a raise to 1,300 from under the gun Tsz Chun Chan and a 3,800 three bet from Hui Zheng on the button in front, Xin Nie jams his massive stack and takes down the pot pre, solidifying his lead.

None of the remaining hearts show up on the river 5♣ , sending Jin to the rail. With the Single Day High Roller underway as well, we might see him transferring over there.

Cutoff Huanhong Zhan opens 800 and calls big blind Man Cheng Hoi's 2,100 three bet to lay eyes on the flop A♠ 3♣ T♦ . Hoi continues for 2,100, but Zhan scoops the pot after raising to 5,600.

Under the gun +1 Ta Wei Tou - No. 14 on Taiwan's all time money list, looking to break $1M in live earnings - kicks off the action with a raise to 900, Yang Teng Tan fills up from the cutoff before Yehan Lin three-bets to 3,000 out of the small blind. Both opponents pay up for the flop A♥ 7♦ 2♠ , Lin continues for 4,100, but it is Tan who lays out the last bet of 12,100 to take it down uncontested.

Cutoff Weijie Long opens 800, big blind Li Ma - banking her biggest cash for $215,187 here in Jeju a year ago - wants 3,800 and Long obliges to see the flop 7♦ 4♠ 2♣ . Ma continues for 4,000, gets called and scoops the pot with a 9,300 jam on the turn K♥ .

Finding one of his outs on the river T♦ , Chen scoops the pot, leaving Zhang with 800, who gets up and leaves the table.

Tsz Hin Cheung opens 700 from +1, a player in late position calls and Hao Zhang defends his big blind with a re-raise to 2,700. Only Cheung pays up to see the flop T♠ 5♠ 5♦ where he flats a 1,500 c-bet to reveal the turn 4♥ . Zhang slows down to a check, prompting Cheung to slide out 4,500, which is enough to scoop the pot.

Under the gun Hui Chuan Huang opens 500 and calls cutoff Chang Liang Sun's - winner of the Jeju Poker Festival Big Bounty Event #10 - 1,600 three-bet to see the flop J♦ 9♠ 5♣ where Sun's 2,000 c-bet finds a flat from Huang and the turn A♠ is revealed. Two checks complete the board 6♥ where Sun lays out a small 1,600 with the winner A♥ K♠ that gets called.

Poon can't find any of his 15 outs on the river 7♣ , granting Gao a massive pot.

Nie's bigger over pair prevails on the river Q♦ leaving Hu with 3,5 BBs.

Yehan Lin starts us off with a 500 open from under the gun which finds four customers taking a peek at K♦ 4♦ 3♣ where a 1,600 c-bet takes Lin heads-up with big blind Qianqing Chen to the turn T♥ that gets checked to the river 8♥ . Lin value bets another 2,600 with top pair K♠ 9♥ and Chen calls before throwing it in the muck.

Under the gun +1 Tsz Hin Cheung opens 300 and takes two players to the flop Q♣ T♣ 3♥ which gets rejected by all three to reveal the turn 2♣ where Cheung lays out a delayed c-bet of 600, button Yehan Lin raises to 2,200, the big blind gets out of the way and Cheung calls for the river 9♣ to hit the felt. Cheung forks out a massive 6,000 over-bet and scoops the pot.

After an open-limp from hijack Jianci Zhan we see cutoff Kuan Hsueh Lu raise to 700 and finds three customers taking a look at J♥ 3♥ 3♣ . Lu continues for 1,500, the button folds and small blind Kong Sang Poon and Zhan stick around for the turn A♣ where a second barrel of 3,800 takes it down for Lu.

Jianci Zhan three bets to 1,400 from the small blind after cutoff Zuyou Wang opened 300 and button Chuan Shu Chen called and takes both opponents to the flop Q♠ J♠ T♦ . The action gets checked to Chen, who wants 2,200 and only Zhan pays up to see the turn 4♦ where Zhan switches to a 7,000 lead that gets called. The river A♥ has Zhan check, Chen jams for 13,700 with A♠ 9♠ and Zhan snaps with A♣ Q♣ , delivering the first knockout.

Under the gun Artem Sofronov kicks off the action with a raise to 300 and takes two players to the flop J♦ 3♦ T♠ where button Hao Zhang bets 500, big blind Yang Teng Tan check-raises to 2,200 and only Zhang fills up to see the turn K♠ . Tan fires another 4,600 that gets answered and the board completes 8♥ . Two checks reveal Tan as the winner with K♣ Q♣ top pair.

Flop well everyone!

Welcome to opening day of the inaugural Korea Poker Cup Series in Jeju Shinhwa Landing Resort. Wasting no time delivering the action fans crave, the games kick off with the highly popular Jeju Open Mystery Bounty. This crowd favorite boasts a prize pool guarantee of KR₩ 150 Million (~US$ 102,700) and offers three flights throughout the day for ample chances to reach the ITM round.

For a buy in of KR₩ 1.52 Million (~US$ 1,040), of which KR₩ 800K goes to the bounty pool, players begin with a very generous 25,000 starting stack which is 250 times the opening 100-100 blinds. Flight A kicks off at 12:30pm with late registration closing at the start of Level 8 at 5pm.

For players that miss the window or fall short, two more flights follow with Flight B starting at 4:30pm and Flight C Turbo at 9pm.

Back in late September, the Korea Poker Cup made its debut during the Poker Dream 12 Jeju festival, sponsoring the popular Mystery Bounty event. China’s Tian Liu emerged victorious, defeating WSOP bracelet winner Yang Zhang at heads up.

Who will be the first Jeju Open Mystery Bounty winner?

Follow the action via the Somuchpoker live updates for all the thrilling action.