Red Dragon Championship (2,500,000 KRW)

The second of four entry flights for the Red Dragon Championship ended with 62 out of 278 total entries bagging their chips for Day 2 at the end of level 14.

Similar to yesterday's flight, we had a very eventful last two levels that saw the two top stacks emerge out of nowhere with some wild closing stage action.

Overall chip leader Kwok Wai Wong sat on a 137,500 stack just two levels before the end but accumulated the biggest stack so far with 674,000 (135 BB) aided by getting max value for a nut flush during hand for hand play.

Second in chips Kozo Yamada - he finished 3rd in last year's Red Dragon Championship for $135,307 here in Jeju - also had a late charge that took him from 277,000 to 614,000 (123 BB) in the last few minutes by playing extremely aggressive and winning a lot of hands uncontested.

Other notable qualifiers from this star studded flight include bracelet winners Weiran Pu - 440,000, Joseph Cheong - 375,000, Lei Yu - 339,000 and Yang Zhang - 230,000. Those four and the rest of today's 62 qualifiers will have to wait until 12:00 on Wednesday the 7th of May before they can make use of their chips again.

The next chance to qualify is Day 1C tomorrow at 12:00 with the same structure as today.

🌟 Join the Ultimate Red Dragon Cup Giveaway!

🎉 Your Chance to Win High-Value Prizes!

🏆 Grand Prize: Main Event Ticket (worth ₩2,500,000 KRW) + Exclusive VIP Merch

🔥 How to Enter the Ultimate Giveaway?

Method 1: Follow + Engage (1 entry)

✅ Follow any Red Dragon Cup official account & like/share a post.

📌 FB/IG/X: @playreddragon | YT: @reddragonpokertour

Method 2: Create Content (+1 bonus entry!)

🌍 International Players: Post RDPT photos/videos with #rdptjeju2025 + tag a friend.

🇨🇳 Chinese Players: Share on WeChat Moments (mention "2025 Jeju Red Dragon Cup" + 10+ likes).

💡 Pro Tip: Complete both for 2 entries/day!

🎁 Prize Breakdown

📅 May 3 Draw:

🏅 Ultimate Grand Prize: Main Event Ticket ×1 (₩2,500,000)

🥇 Satellite Ticket ×1 (₩410,000)

🥈 Exclusive VIP Hoodie ×2 (150)

🥉∗∗RedDragonT−Shirt×3∗∗(78)

🎖 Power Bank ×4 ($37)

📅 May 7 Draw:

🏅 Ultimate Grand Prize: July Main Event Ticket ×1 (≥₩2,500,000)

🥇 Satellite to Closing Event ×2 (₩250,000)

🥈 Exclusive VIP Hoodie ×2 (150)

🥉∗∗RedDragonT−Shirt×3∗∗(78)

🎖 Power Bank ×4 ($37)

⚠️ Note:

• Players only (no staff/partners)

• Max 2 entries/day

• T&Cs apply

🚀 Don’t miss this ultimate chance—enter now!

Having had the right premonition, Ning Zhu hits one of his three outs on the flop 6♣ 7♠ 3♠ before improving further to a flush on 4♠ and 9♠ to bank a last minute double out.

Short stack Chunhao Zhang opens 10,000 from the cutoff, but lets it go after Kozo Yamada jammed his monster stack from the small blind to win a 3rd consecutive pot.

Under the gun Kwok Wai Wong raises to 11,000 and takes button Ning Zhu to the flop T♥ 2♥ 6♦ where his 11,000 c-bet gets called again to reveal the turn 5♥ . Wong slows down to a check before speeding back up with a raise to 62,000 after Zhu laid out 28,000. Zho calls and watches the board complete K♦ with Wong forking out another 200,000 right after. Deep in the tank, Zhu decides to make the call, but has to surrender this massive pot when Wong flips over A♥ J♥ nut flush.

For people who haven't seen it before: in most multi day tournaments that have opening flights ending before the money bubble, a player gets chosen towards the end of the last level and has to pick one out of three cards facing down with the values 2 to 4 and whatever the player draws determines how many hands will be played until the day concludes.

Under the gun Shaoji Shen opens 12,000 and takes three customers to the flop 3♣ 7♠ 6♦ where small blind Joseph Cheong opts for another donk-bet of 12,000. Only Shen calls to see the turn T♠ before Cheong's 25,000 second barrel gets the job done.

Hijack Yifan Cao opens 11,000 and calls after small blind Yezhou Liang made it 33,000. Liang check-calls 37,000 on the flop 3♠ A♥ Q♠ to reveal the turn K♦ where he check-jams for 143,000. With his 54,000 bet already in the middle, Cao goes deep in the tank, but eventually decides to let it go.

The champion will take home KRW 21,840,000 (~$15,673).

Sun gets unlucky with the board running 3♦ 9♦ A♦ 5♥ 7♦ , losing both main and side pot after starting the hand ahead and Erdun Xu is out of the danger zone for now.

No help for Su on the turn 4♣ and river 5♦ , ending his day after another deep run.

The lojack opens 8,000 and takes both blinds to the flop J♦ 3♠ 4♠ that gets checked to the turn 4♦ . Small blind Ning Sun leads 22,000 and only big blind Zhan Li calls for the board to complete 4♥ . Sun is back to a check and lets it go after Li forked out a final 30,000 bet.

Hijack Xiaqing Ji lays out 8,000 and takes cutoff Joseph Cheong to the flop 7♣ Q♥ Q♦ where Cheong's 8,000 bet gets check-called before the turn 4♠ and river J♦ get checked down with Ji flipping over the winner 8♦ 8♠ .

Today's flight attracted 278 players, bringing the total close to 500 with two more flights to go tomorrow at 12:00 and 18:00 local.

Poker legend Joseph Cheong is close to the chip leader, Linghui Dai after delivering a double knockout just a few minutes ago and fellow bracelet winner Pu Weiran less than one big blind ahead of him.

Nan Zhang leads 6,000 out of the cutoff and calls after button Sihui Gao upped it to 16,000. Gao continues for 16,000 on 3♦ K♠ T♥ before tank-folding to Zhang's 112,000 jam.

Three players remain with Team Red Dragon pro Ying Song in the lead sitting at 338,000, followed by Li Li Tang with 285,000 and short stack Jinhan Yang at 40,000.

Cutoff William Jia opens 7,000 and YIfan Cao defends big to see the flop 4♣ K♣ 6♥ . With top par against bottom set all the marbles go in, putting Jia at risk for 127,500. The turn K♠ gives Jia some outs before exiting the field when the river falls T♠ .

Button Weiran Pu opens 6,500 and big blind Xugang Zhang defends to see the flop J♥ 3♥ K♦ . Pu goes on a triple barrel 6,000, 30,000 and 85,000, check-called all the way to showdown by Zhang through the turn A♠ and river Q♦ , Pu tables a runner-runner straight T♣ 7♣ and Zhang mucks.

Two players hit a full house on A♣ J♣ K♣ K♦ 7♥ with Lei Yu's rockets staying ahead, granting the Team Red Dragon pro the win and the top spot on the leaderboard.

Under the gun Yajing Li raises to 5,000 and big blind Weiwei Huang defends to see the flop 5♣ 9♣ 2♣ that gets checked to the turn 9♥ . Li calls a 7,000 lead and the board completes 9♦ . Huang fires another 9,500, Li raises to 50,000 with a full house Q♦ Q♣ that sends Huang into the tank. Finding a call Huang mucks.

The Lady Dragon is left with 6 out of 22 resulting in 4 ITM places and KRW 6,245,000 (~$4,481) up top for the champion.

Fei Xie leads 5,500 from +1 and fills up after small blind Xuecong Xu upped it to 13,000. Xie calls a 12,000 c-bet on the flop 2♦ 4♦ J♠ before tank-folding the turn 8♥ facing a 23,000 second bullet from Xu.

Under the gun Quan Zhang raises to 5,500 and takes hijack Chak Sen Wong to the flop 9♠ 4♣ 2♠ . Wong leads 6,000, Zhang increases to 16,000, but folds after Wong put him all-in.

Lights out for Teng on 7♠ 4♥ Q♥ 8♥ T♣ and the man who made six final tables in one week at the Poker Dream 16 here at the Landing Casino in February is out.

Under the gun Joseph Cheong opens 4,500 and takes hijack Weiran Pu to the flop 9♥ 6♦ 5♥ that gets checked to the turn J♠ where Cheong's 11,000 delayed c-bet gets called. The river 7♥ is checked down with Weiran Pu tabling the winner K♣ Q♦ against Cheong's K♠ T♠ .

Yang Zhang opens 4,000 from the cutoff, big blind Ke Xiong ups it to 12,000 and calls after Zhang four-bet to 28,000. Xiong's 15,000 lead on the flop 7♣ 6♠ 7♠ ends the hand.

Zhang evades the two outer on 7♠ and Q♣ , eliminates Lin and takes the top spot on the leaderboard with just the dinner break left to late register.

Under the gun Sergey Tsoy wants 3,000 and two players oblige to see the flop 4♠ A♣ 5♣ where both opponents call Tsoy's 4,000 c-bet. The turn 5♠ gets checked to Boxiang Rui in +1, 11,000 slide in the middle and only big blind Xugang Zhang fills up before the board completes 7♣ . Rui value-bets another 25,000 with 4♦ 4♥ , Zhang tanks, but finds the call and mucks.

With a 3,000 raise and a call in front, big blind Yuefeng Pan ups it to 11,000, but initial raiser Tom Verbruggen's 26,500 four-bet ends the hand.

With a 2,500 open and two calls in front, Haohui Ma squeezes 13,200 from the big blind, but initial raiser Qiao Heng picks up the pot with a jam of 50,000.

Chunhao Zhang opens 2,500 out of the hijack and small blind Jin Qian defends to see the flop J♠ 2♦ 9♥ . Zhang triple barrels 3,500, 7,400 and 18,400 all-in with Qian check-calling all the way to the turn 8♠ and river 5♣ holding top pair A♣ J♥ , but has to surrender the pot to Zhang's Q♦ Q♥ .

With a 2,500 raise from under the gun and a 7,000 three-bet from Tom Verbruggen in front, cutoff Zhihan He declares all-in for 31,900 and scoops the pot.

Xiaqing Ji opens 2,500 from +1, button Luo Li wants 6,000, but only calls when Ji four-bets to 11,000. Ji's tiny 3,000 continuation takes it down on the flop Q♦ J♦ 9♦ .