Beating a field of 42 in this two-day KRW 1,500,000 (~$1,072) buy-in event, Weiran Pu adds a new trophy to his collection and another 5-digit score to his almost $2.8M in live earnings.
"I’m absolutely thrilled! It’s been more than a year since I won my WSOP bracelet, so this is my first title in quite a while - and it finally ends my championship drought."
With a bracelet for the 2023 WSOP $5K 6-Handed worth almost $1Million
"That victory meant far more than money; it was an enormous boost to my poker career. Winning on the world’s biggest stage cemented my commitment to this path. Since then, Triton, WSOP, EPT - top-tier international events - have been my goals, and I’ll keep pursuing them with everything I’ve got."
And a flurry of big cashes here at the Landing Casino in Jeju - most recently a 5th place in the Triton $15k Event #1 for over $300K just two months ago - he was by far the most accomplished player among the Final 7.
"Jeju feels like home turf for the Red Dragon Team, and that “home-field aura” really boosts my confidence. I’ve had strong finishes in two Triton events here, and now I’ve captured a Red Dragon trophy on the same island. The mix of familiarity and success means a lot to me-I’m genuinely happy here."
He started the day 4th in chips with 147,500 (29 BB), but had position on the chip leader Siddharth Karia who had 393,000 (79 BB) and later became his heads-up opponent. His day began slow, maintaining his stack until hand #30 where he knocked out Jun Li in 7th with A♦ K♣ , calling Li's open jam from the small blind with J♣ 9♣ and hit the nut straight on the board 6♣ J♠ T♦ 2♠ Q♣ which catapulted him into 2nd.
The knockout was followed by a short charge before going on a drought until hand #64 - already down to three players out of the seven that unbagged their chips today - where he was left with 19BB. After shipping a few small pots he had a pivotal hand #75 where he back-doored trips with Q♦ 5♦ . His button min-open got called by big blind Siddharth Karia with 9♦ 8♠ , followed by another call of his 2BB c-bet on the flop 6♣ 8♣ A♦ before checking to the river 5♣ and 5♠ where he raised Karia's micro lead to 10bb and got paid, putting him into a comfortable lead with 38BB - 13BB more than 2nd.
Back on a downswing he entered the heads-up against Siddharth Karia as a 7-1 underdog in hand #100 with 6BB left. He immediately caught a break after jamming 9♥ 6♥ and Karia called with J♦ 6♦ when the board ran 3♥ 6♠ 9♠ Q♠ 4♣ and doubled up again with A♥ 3♥ against K♠ 9♥ , taking the lead once more on hand #104. Nine hands later he finished his opponent, calling Karia's Q♠ J♦ jam with K♠ T♠ . The board completed 3♦ K♥ Q♥ 9♠ 9♣ to make him the new Red Dragon Closer Champion for KRW 18,749,000 (~$13,050), the trophy and the Red Dragon Champion's Jacket.
"Even though the final table was relatively small, I weighed every decision carefully. Overall, I’m satisfied with my performance. The field was tough, but with the shorter structure luck matters a bit more - and the cards certainly cooperated today."
Congrats to the winner and the rest who ended up with profit!
![South Korea [KOR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/kr.svg "South Korea [KOR]"){kind=small}
South Korea, Jeju
![China [CHN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/cn.svg "China [CHN]"){kind=small}
![Hong Kong [HKG]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/hk.svg "Hong Kong [HKG]"){kind=small}
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India