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 losing a small pot against Ma Yi, Jason Zhang defends his small blind with A♥ 8♦ against Li Dongs 325,000 open from the button and we get treated with the monochrome flop T♥ 7♥ K♥ . Li continues for 300,000 and Zhang floats to the turn 4♦ where he takes the reins with a 400,000 lead that gets countered by a raise to 1,800,000 by Li Dong. After calling, looking at the 3♠ river and having missed his nut-flush-draw, Jason Zhang decides to pull the trigger, jamming 3,000,000 into a 5,200,000 pot with ace high which sends Li Dong deep into the tank. One time bank, two time banks, three time banks go the dealers way before Li Dong makes an incredible call with T♠ 6♦ , sending Jason Zhang to the rail.

Jason Zhang opens 320,000 from under the gun with A♦ J♦ and Li Dong defends big with 6♦ 2♦ for a spicy flop K♦ J♠ 8♦ . Zhangs 340,000 cbet gets peeled for the turn Q♣ getting checked around and the board completes 4♣ . Li Dong forks out a 2,000,000 over-bet to put Zhang to the test who makes a great call and catches the leader with his pants down.

Button Ma Yi leaves himself 50,000 when he puts in a 1,100,000 raise with A♣ T♠ , gets called by big blind Jason Zhang with Q♦ J♠ for the flop K♦ 2♣ 4♥ where the all-in and a call is just a formality. The board completes 8♣ and 5♠ granting Ma Yi a much needed double up.

Li Dong raises to 325,000 from the button with Q♥ J♥ and Jason Zhang defends his small blind holding T♦ 6♦ to see the flop A♠ A♦ 7♥ where Li continues for 200,000 and Zhang peels for the turn J♣ . Zhang switches gears to a 400,000 lead, gets called, the board completes T♥ and he slides out another 500,000 lead. Not impressed, Li Dong jams to put Jason Zhang all-in for 4,600,000 more and scoops the pot.

After Li Dong and Song Ying picked up some more blinds, the Top 5 chip counts are:

Ma Yi starts us off with a raise to 300,000 from under the gun, Jason Zhang calls from the hijack and big blind Zhao Hongjun defends big to see a three-way flop 2♦ 2♥ 4♥ . Ma c-bets 300,000 and everyone pays up to see the turn K♣ that gets checked to Zhang in position, who forks out 400,000 to take it down.

Having picked up a pot against Li Dong pre a while back we see Jason Zhang defend his big blind with 8♠ 5♥ against Zhao Hongjun's 250,000 open from the cutoff with A♦ 4♥ to lay eyes on the flop 5♦ 6♦ 7♠ where Zhang opts to donk-bet for 175,000 and Zhao floats. After the turn 5♣ hits the felt, Zhang check-calls Zhao's 300,000 bet for the board to complete 7♥ that gets checked around and Jason Zhang's boat wins the pot.

Li Dong opens 200,000 from the button with 9♠ 9♦ and Jason Zhang defends big with A♣ 2♣ to see the flop 8♠ 3♣ 4♥ where a 250,000 c-bet from Li gets called for the turn J♣ . Another 450,000 continuation gets called for the board to complete A♠ , where Li Dong checks back and has to surrender the pot to Zhang's last minute top pair.

With a 200,000 open from +1, Jason Zhang takes big blind Li Dong to the flop 6♦ A♣ 2♠ that gets checked to the turn K♥ , where a delayed c-bet of 250,000 takes down the pot for Zhang.

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 another open from the button for 160,000, Li Dong takes big blind Zhang Jason to a very spicy flop 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ that has Zhang donk-bet 120,000 which keeps Li around for the turn J♣ . Zhang slows down to a check, but calls Li's 300,000 bet to see the board complete 7♦ . Checked to Li Dong once more, his 700,000 bet gets the job done, extending his lead even further.

Ma Yi opens yet another hand for 160,000 from the cutoff and Zhang Jason defends his big blind to lay eyes on the flop Q♥ 7♦ 8♣ . Zhang donk-bets 150,000 and a call from Ma reveals the turn T♠ that gets checked by Zhang and Ma forks out 350,000 that get called. The river K♥ gets checked to Ma Yi again, who puts his opponent all-in for 960,000, but Zhang surrenders.

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

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♣ .

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♦ .

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♣ .

Big stack Ye Chen opens 32,000 from the cutoff and Zhang Jason defends his big blind to lay eyes on the flop K♥ 2♠ K♠ where Zhang donk-bets 45,000. Ye calls and the turn 8♥ has Zhang lead again for 60,000. Ye raises to 150,000, but Zhang is unimpressed and calls to see the river K♣ where both player slow down to check and Zhang Jason flips over the winner 3♦ 3♠ .

Defending champ Kong Qingtao and fan favorite John Juanda unfortunately had their runs cut short in 102nd and 149th place.