Main Event (1,600,000 KRW)

After four days, 31 levels, conquering a field of 1,394 players and absolutely dominating the final table, Li Dong emerges as the new Poker Dream 16 Main Event Champion here at the Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea. The event surpassed the guarantee hitting a total prize pool of a whopping KR₩ 2,580,588,000 (~USD 1,790,086) after 11 opening flights.

"I’m happy, but not that happy, to be honest, because it reminds me of the WPT Main Event at the Jeju Poker Festival in November last year. I made a mistake on the final table and finished in third place in that event. If it weren’t for that mistake, my first main event trophy would have come to me sooner."

Getting the chip lead late on Day 2 he never looked back, retaining the top spot throughout the rest of the tournament and single handedly knocked out six out of his eight opponents on the final table. An absolute masterclass!

"Generally speaking, as the chip leader, I had prepared myself with a strategy of acting according to the circumstances. If the opponent presented a strong hand, I would consider giving up the pot, because my deep stack allowed me to do so, but if the opponent showed weakness, I would try to take advantage of that."

One of the pivotal moments that took him to victory was hand #79 with five players left, when he opened 2BB from the button with T♠ 6♦ and big blind Jason Zhang - 2nd in chips with 35BB at the time - called for a flop T♥ 7♥ K♥ where Li continued for 1.9BB, Zhang check-called, the turn came 4♦ and Zhang switched to a lead for 2.5BB. Li raised to 11.2BB, got called by Zhang who then jammed for almost 20BB on the river 3♠ . After using three time banks Li called, eliminating Zhang who had A♥ 8♦ that left him with 138BB while 2nd and 3rd in chips had 28BB.

"Before the final day, I played against Jason and found that he often led without strong made hands in his range. Instead, facing aggressive players like me, he was highly likely to check-raise if he had strong made hands in his range. So, when he led, I would think he only had draws or weak made hands. Back to this hand, I knew he didn’t hit a flush on the flop. So, when he jammed in the river, it was a “flush or bluff” situation in his hand. I admit I was feeling a lot of pressure because if that all-in was not a bluff and I called, I would loose a large amount of chips and Jason would become the chip leader. That’s why I used up all my three time bank cards and made the decision to call in the last second. That hand was very difficult to me and definitely one of the key moments in my tournament life."

Shortly after that he knocked out 2nd in chips Ma Yi and 4th Lin Zhaoyi, who both had ace-king, hitting a straight with jack-ten and ended the tournament the very next hand with Q♠ Q♥ against Song Ying's K♠ 6♣ .

Well done to everyone and congratulations to the very worthy winner!

After taking down a pot pre-flop against Li Dong with a three-bet, Song Ying picks up J♥ J♦ in the hijack and jams into Yang Haibo's 1,500,000 open from under the gun who fills up for a total of 1,700,000 with A♠ Q♥ and the spotlight is on the dealer.

After Yang Haibo picks up his first hand, Li Dong collects the blinds twice to get to 14,000,000 in chips.

Poker Dream 16 Main Event is headed into Day 4 at the Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea. The event surpassed the guarantee hitting a total prize pool of KR₩ 2,580,588,000 (~USD 1,790,086) after 11 opening flights and 1,394 combined entries. A total of 151 players started Day 2, and on Day 3 they played down from 27 to the Final 9 who will gather later at 1pm local on February 21 to crown the winner.

Everyone still in the running are from China ensuring a back-to-back PD Jeju champion from the mainland. They are all guaranteed KRW 27,970,000 ($19,420) in the bank and will have their sights set on the top prize of KRW 376,000,000 ($261,045) and bragging rights.

Li Dong will start the day first in chips with a towering 12,790,000 (160BB), more than 38% of all chips in play! Zhao Hongjun will start second in chips though very far behind the leader with 4,430,000 (55BB), and ranked third is Lin Zhaoyi with 3,900,000 (49BB).

The Final 9 will resume play on level 27 (40,000/80,000/80,000) and the live updates will cover the entire action.

After a rather short day with less than six hours of play we reached the Final 9, down from 27 players who started the day. Li Dong put on another masterclass of aggressive table control with the largest stack throughout the day, bagging 12,790,000 (160BB), more than 38% of all chips in play.

Zhao Hongjun will start the final table 2nd in chips, banking 4,430,000 (55BB) largely due to a hero call where he opened 2.2BB from the button with 7♦ 7♥ , called a 15BB three-bet from Bai Junpeng in the big blind, who had around double his stack, the flop fell 8♥ 2♠ Q♥ where Bai put him all-in for 13BB with A♦ J♦ and his sevens held. He will have his work cut out for him with the chip leader just two seats behind him.

Finishing the day in 3rd with 3,900,000 (49BB), Lin Zhaoyi was chip leader on the second table and played a solid game, before having his aces cracked by jacks pre, just to reclaim most of them a few hands after with aces against kings, knocking out Ya Na in 14th place.

The Final 9 will resume play on level 27 (40,000/80,000/80,000) on February 21 at 1pm local with the live updates covering the entire action.

Final Table Draw:

With 11 players left and the ICM pressure increasing, Li Dong and Lin Zhaoyi are still in the best positions to bully their opponents.

Under the gun +1 Zhao Hongjun min-raises to 120,000, Yang Haibo ups it to 280,000 from the hijack and Zhao forks out a hand ending 750,000 four-bet.

Li Dong and Lin Zhaoyi in a great position to dominate their tables playing down to the Final 9.

Bai Yunpeng was just catapulted into 2nd place after winning a massive pot against a disgusted Ma Yi with 2♥ 4♠ on 7♣ 8♣ 4♥ 2♠ 4♣ .

After just losing a massive pot against Yang Haibo with 95% on the river, Yu Xiaotong picks up 7♥ 7♠ on the button and Yang Haibo has A♦ K♣ in the big blind. We didnt see how it happened, but both end up all-in pre with Yu Xiaotong being at risk for 950,000. Not being able to catch a break, Yu Xiaotong watches the dealer flip over 5♠ J♥ K♦ 9♥ K♠ and starts packing his things.

Yu Xiaotong has A♠ A♦ in the hijack and Yang Haibo, who just lost a massive pot, picks up J♦ J♣ on the button and they end up all-in pre. Going into day 3 as runner-up, Yang Haibo needs major help to not bust. The dealer erases almost all hope when flipping over 8♣ Q♦ 6♠ 4♣ but grants the two-outer when the river falls J♠ and Yang Haibo is back among the leaders.

Zhang Jason raises to 55,000 from the hijack, Yang Haibo three bets 200,000 from the small blind and Zhang calls. The flop 9♣ T♦ 6♥ gets checked to the turn 4♠ where Yang leads 250,000 and Zhang calls after using a time bank. The river 9♥ has Yang pull the trigger, putting Zhang all-in for 565,000, who puts his cape on for a hero call with 7♦ 7♣ and is relieved when Yang flips over A♠ 2♦ .

Song Ying kicks us off with an open to 50,000 from the button and both blinds defend to see the flop Q♦ J♠ 7♠ that gets checked to the turn 6♠ that gets rejected again for the board to complete 7♣ . 2nd in chips Yang Haibo lays out 125,000 from the big blind, Song folds and Sean Ooi calls to throw his hand in the muck after seeing trips K♥ 7♥ from Yang.

Jason Zhang opens 55,000 from +1, button Yang Haibo ups it to 130,000 and Zhang calls to lay eyes on the flop 9♦ 3♦ 5♣ where he donk-bets 55,000 and Yang calls. The turn Q♥ has Zhang check, Yang bets 150,000 and Zhang fills up to see the river 6♣ . Yang bets another 200,000 in position and Zhang finds a call after handing two time banks to the dealer, but mucks when he sees Yang Haibo's K♦ K♣ .

Picking up the action on A♣ 6♠ T♥ and 290,000 to play for Li Xinze leads 100,000 from the small blind, Yang Haibo raises to 300,000 and Li calls for the turn 9♠ to fall. Opting to check, Li ends up calling Yangs 350,000 and the board completes 2♣ . Another check from Li has Yang Haibo fork out a rather small 360,000 that send Li in the tank, but surrenders the pot including a time bank.

Yang Haibo raises 40,000 from the hijack and takes button Lee Kyung Min to the flop 8♣ 6♦ 8♥ where Yang checks, Lee bets 75,000 and then calls a raise to 200,000 from his opponent to the turn 2♥ . Yang leads 200,000 and Lee calls for the board to complete 7♣ . Yang Haibo jams 895,000 with Q♠ Q♣ , barely covering Lee, who finds a call with an over pair of his own J♠ J♣ , handing an almost 2,500,000 pot to Yang Haibo before gathering his things.

Starting with 151 unique qualifiers today, the 8 levels of 60-minute play got us down to just 28 gladiators still standing with Li Dong putting on a show of great aggressive poker during the closing stages that led him to bag 4,910,000, more than double of the 2,430,000 that 2nd in chips Yang Haibo will take to Day 3. Yang Haibo was close to 4,000,000 at one point, but lost almost 1,000,000 in a bluff against Zhang Jason right at the end, who emerged 3rd in chips because of that hand, banking 2,040,000.

Day 3 will start at 1pm local on February 20 and will continue until the final table is reached.

Under the gun +1 Yang Haibo opens 25,000 and Song Ying calls from the button to lay eyes on the flop K♥ Q♣ K♠ . Yang barrels three times for 22,000, 76,000 and 120,000 with Song calling all the way through the turn 8♣ and river 3♥ to see Yang table A♦ A♠ and throws her hand in the muck.