Baby Dragon (1,500,000 KRW)

Interview With Chao Hu - Baby Dragon Champion

After battling through 30 levels and outlasting a field of 330 players that pushed the total prize pool to KRW 432,135,000 (~$310,123), China's Chao Hu hoisted the Baby Dragon trophy and donned his first Red Dragon Champions Jacket.

I feel very happy. I think winning a tournament championship isn’t just about the prize; more importantly, it’s about the sense of achievement you get from defeating many opponents. You also discover that you’re constantly surpassing yourself, challenging your weaknesses, and becoming a better version of yourself.

Who was your toughest opponent in the final table and why?

At the final table, I found it hard to figure out the playing style of the opponent to my right. He often made unexpected moves, like always opening with 3 big blinds (3bb), and even when he was short-stacked, he remained very aggressive against my big blind. Later, with the help of some friends, I reviewed the hands to think about how to counter him. When my chip stack grew, I started to suppress and exploit him.

Can you describe a specific hand where you played exceptionally well and explain your strategy used.

Actually, I remember many hands from the final table quite vividly—I can recall most of them. Two hands stand out in particular. One was when I had Ace-King (AK) and eliminated Chen Wenwen, who is a good friend and a strong competitor. I felt a bit embarrassed eliminating him, but that’s poker. The other hand was against the tricky player to my right. When I had a deep stack, I 3-bet him with 3-5 of spades, luckily hit a 3 on the board, and overtook his Ace-Queen (AQ). This crippled his stack and eventually led to his elimination, so that hand was quite crucial.

How do you observe and analyze your opponents playing styles?How do you handle the mental pressure of playing high-stakes poker?

CI think it’s mainly about self-adjustment. The primary issue is emotional control. In poker, the most common problem is tilting—losing control when our expectations don’t match reality. For example, when we expect to win a pot but don’t, we might get upset. Everyone faces this, including me. So, I try to lower my expectations and remind myself that poker is a game of luck. You have to be prepared for bad beats. Even when you go all-in, if your opponent has a 20% or even 10% chance, they can still win. It’s about constant adjustment. I can’t fully control my emotions, but I try my best and encourage others to do the same.

What resources (books,online communities or coaches) have been most helpful to you in poker journey?

I occasionally read interesting books and watch videos, but overall, I don’t study much. Strictly speaking, I’m not a diligent professional player who rigorously studies and reviews hands. I have a more casual attitude. If something interests me, I’ll look into it and think about it, but if it gets tiring or boring, I just let it go.

We know that you are a Hearthstone esports player, and Hearthstone is a game that requires strategy. How do you think Hearthstone and poker differ?

Both are mental games, but poker is more complex than Hearthstone. Live tournaments are physically demanding because you have to stay sharp from noon to midnight, which isn’t easy. Prolonged play can lead to fatigue and mistakes. Still, both games require a lot of thinking.

What advice would you give to someone just starting their poker journey?

I think passion for the game is the most important thing. If you don’t have passion and are just playing for money or other reasons, it’s hard to enjoy it. You need to be passionate to persist and have fun playing.

What is your next poker goal?

My poker goal, haha, is to win every tournament I enter. My next goal is to win the next championship—and more championships after that.

What made you play poker instead of pushing your esport career?

When I was in esports, starting with Dota and then Hearthstone, many of my friends in the circle—fellow esports players—loved playing poker. We started playing casually among friends, and gradually I got into it and fell in love with the game. I find it fun because it’s about competing and strategizing against each other.

What's the difference between cash game and tournament?

Tournament strategy is more complex, while cash game strategy is relatively simpler. I find tournaments more fun because they involve many different stages of chip stack confrontations. Cash games focus more on deep stack play, and the strategy is somewhat simpler. In cash games, small wins or losses don’t matter as much as long as you play well in big pots.

What made you decide to split the prize pool with your opponent?

During the heads-up, I had fewer chips than my opponent, so splitting the prize pool was something I was happy to do.

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