Red Dragon Championship (2,500,000 KRW)

After four days and 33 levels, with a total of 997 entries that ballooned the total prize pool to KR₩ 2,175,953,000 (~$1,582,120), Chinese Texas Hold'em insurance broker Shengfa Huang clinched the Red Dragon Championship to become the newest champion of the Red Dragon Poker Tour Jeju. Lifting the first poker trophy of his life, Huang shipped the massive first prize payout of KR₩ 360,000,000 (~US$ 250,615) and slipped into the coveted Red Dragon champions jacket. In a post-win with Huang he shared,

I feel quite calm now, though I was a bit excited earlier. This is my first time to win a live tournament. Winning this championship has made me like Texas Hold’em even more. I'll probably play more games coz winning the championship for the first time gives me more motivation for the next time.

Huang qualified in the final flight of four starters and quickly rose through the ranks in Day 2 to take a top spot on the leaderboard before having a setback when his K♦ K♠ were cracked by 7♦ 7♣ set but still ended the day ranked high as 4th in chips.

On Day 3, Huang landed a big boost with 9♦ 9♣ over the day's entering chip leader Qing Zhao 8♣ 8♥ , however as quick as it came, he was moved to an aggressive table and clashed with Marcus Law and Junjie He to see his stack drop to 14 bb. After winning a flip, with A♣ Q♠ against Law's 8♠ 8♥ that rivered the queen, he knocked out Kwok Wai Wong in 12th place and eventually ended the day ranked third out of the final 9 players.

Entering the final table, I didn't know the players well so my strategy was just to slowly reduce their chips. I also didn't feel much pressure since I didn't know their background.

Huang's strategy paid off, especially that the seat draw was to his advantage, giving him position on the two larger stacks. He took advantage of the setup, collecting small pots, until momentum fully shifted to his favor. Huang eliminated Sishu Peng (7th) and Jiapeng Yu (6th), bringing him at par with chip leader Junjie He.

Then came a turning point when he triple barreled on a board K♦ K♠ K♣ K♥ 4♦ with A♦ 6♣ that got Junjie to call with Q♣ 8♣ . This gave Huang a massive lead which he used to bulldoze the table. He knocked out Law (5th), Chenxu Zhang (3rd) with Q♦ T♣ spiking two pair to overcome K♣ Q♥ .

At heads up, his monstrous lead was hardly dented when Junjie doubled up. Huang nailed it shut with A♠ 4♣ cracking Q♦ Q♥ on a final board A♦ A♣ 3♦ 8♥ T♠ . For Huang, "playing poker is both joyful and painful. Winning the championship is joy, not winning is pain."

Congratulations to the champion!

Immediate heartbreak for Junjie when the dealer flips over A♦ A♣ 3♦ , turning the odds into Shengfa's favor who stays ahead on 8♥ and T♠ to become the new Red Dragon Championship Winner.

Hand #105: Junjie walks.

Hand #106: A limped pot goes to the turn 9♠ T♥ A♠ 7♥ where Junjie's 1,000,000 with J♠ T♣ forces Shengfa to fold 8♣ 3♥ .

Hand #107: Shengfa ups it to 1,700,000 holding T♦ 8♠ , but lets it go after Junjie jams 11,000,000 with A♦ 9♦ .

Hand #108: With a limp in front, Shengfa makes it 2,400,000 with K♣ 2♣ and Junjie throws 6♠ 4♦ in the muck.

Hand #102: Junjie leads 1,000,000 with K♥ 4♣ and Shengfa defends 8♣ 6♣ for the flop Q♣ 2♠ 3♦ where Junjie's 600,000 c-bet gets check-called to the turn Q♦ . Checked to the river 3♣ with both players giving up, Junjie's king-high takes it down.

Hand #103: Shengfa opens 1,700,000 with K♠ T♦ and Junjie defends K♣ 8♦ to see the flop A♦ Q♠ 5♣ where Shengfa's 1,000,000 continuation goes unanswered.

Hand #104: Shengfa defends K♠ 2♥ against a 1,000,000 raise and the flop J♦ J♥ 7♥ gets checked to the turn 2♣ . Junjie's 800,000 delayed c-bet gets called again before the river 3♣ gets checked down. Shengfa's bottom pair wins against Junjie's A♦ 5♣ .

Hand #97: Shengfa Huang leads 1,200,000 with A♠ 2♣ and Junjie He defends 6♦ 5♦ to see the flop T♣ 9♦ A♠ where Huang picks up the pot with a 2,000,000 continuation.

Hand #98: Junjie He limps with A♣ 9♥ and Huang elects to check to watch the flop Q♥ 7♦ A♥ hit the felt that gets checked to the turn 5♦ . Huang's 700,000 gets called before he check-folds to 2,300,000 on the river 9♦ .

None of Vanessa's 11 outs show up on the river 3♥ , ending her run with another 6-digit payday.

Hand #92: Under the gun Chenxu Zhang leads 800,000 but folds 4♠ 4♣ after small blind Junjie He upped it to 2,000,000 with K♦ 9♣ .

Hand #93: Shengfa Huang opens 1,300,000 from the small blind with 9♥ 8♦ and Chenxu Zhang defends A♦ 7♥ to see the flop 8♥ 9♦ 6♦ where she calls a 3,100,000 over-bet before letting it go on the turn J♣ after Huang put her all-in with the aide of a time bank.

Hand #84: Chenxu Zhang picks up the blinds with a min raise from under the gun.

Hand #85: Small blind Shengfa Huang slow plays Q♥ Q♣ with a limp and Chenxu Zhang elects to check 7♦ 4♥ to the flor T♥ 2♥ 6♣ that gets checked to the turn 6♥ and river K♣ where Huang gets some value after check-calling Zhang's 800,000 steal attempt with seven-high.

No ace from space for Law on 4♦ 9♣ 6♥ 7♥ T♣ grinding the young gun's run to a hold, taking home his biggest cash yet.

Hand #76: Under the gun Marcus Law min-opens with no callers.

Hand #77: Junjie He leads 600,000 from under the gun with A♥ 8♦, but lets it go after big blind Marcus Law declared all-in for 5,000,000 with 7♠ 7♣ .

Hand #78: Small blind Marcus Law open-limps J♥ 9♦ and Junjie He checks J♦ 9♣ to see the flop K♥ 2♥ J♠ that gets checked to the turn 8♣ where Law check-calls 450,000 and does so again on the river 7♠ for 1,300,000 to chop it up.

Hand #79: Yunfeng Sun jams 3,800,000 from the cutoff to collect the blinds.

Hand #80: Shengfa Huang limps J♥ 8♥ from the small blind and Chenxu Zhang checks 6♦ 5♥ to the flop A♥ 4♦ T♠ where her 500,000 bet gets the job done.

Hand #60: Another limped blind battle goes to the flop 2♥ T♦ 5♥ 5♦ before big blind Chenxu Zhang bets 300,000 and small blind Shengfa Huang calls. The river A♥ gets checked again with Huang showing the winner K♦ 3♣ against Zhang's J♥ 9♦ .

Hand #61: Shengfa Huang opens 800,000 from the button with A♠ T♥ , but decides to let it go after small blind Chenxu Zhang jammed 4,000,000 with A♣ K♣ .

Hand #62: Junjie He collects blinds with a 600,000 raise from under the gun.

Hand #63: Junjie He walks.

Hand #56: Chenxu Zhang limps T♦ 4♠ from the small blind and Yunfeng Sun checks K♠ Q♦ to see the flop K♥ 5♣ 3♥ where Sun's 400,000 bet goes unanswered.

Hand #57 and 58: Marcus Law and Junjie He both get a walk.

Hand #59: Junjie He limps J♥ T♣ from the small blind and Shengfa Huang opts to check Q♦ 8♠ to the flop 3♥ 9♥ 7♣ where He's 300,000 lead gets called before he takes it down on the turn 4♥ , firing another 750,000.

Hand #53: Button Yunfeng Sun makes it 500,000, but lets it go after Junjie He pumped it to 1,300,000 from the big blind.

Hand #54: Shengfa Huang walks.

Hand #55: Junjie He opens 500,000 from the button with K♠ 9♦ and big blind Chenxu Zhang defends 8♦ 5♦ to the flop 8♣ J♣ T♦ that gets checked to the turn T♥ where Huang takes the lead for 500,000 and He pays up. The river Q♥ has Zhang check, Junjie He forks out 1,500,000 and Zhang consumes two time banks before finding a call.

Under the gun Junjie He min-raises 7♦ 7♣ and takes cutoff Shengfa Huang's 8♦ 8♣ to the flop 4♦ K♣ 9♠ where Junjie He continues for 350,000 and Huang sticks around to the turn T♦ that gets checked for a free river 2♠ . Checked to Huang, 2,500,000 wander over the line and Junjie He takes two time bank extensions to find a fold.

Hand #46: Shengfa Huang collects the blinds with an 800,000 open from the button.

Hand #47: Chenxu Zhang slides out 550,000 from the button with 8♦ 8♣ and big blind Marcus Law defends Q♠ 8♠ to see the flop 3♣ 5♠ 6♦ . With the flop favoring the big blind's range, Law donk-betss 375,000, but gives it up after Zhang raised to 925,000.

Hand #48: Junjie He walks.

Hand #49: Junjie He limps Q♣ 8♣ from the small blind and Shengfa Huang elects to check A♦ 6♣ to see the flop K♦ K♠ K♣ where Huang starts a triple barrel sequence of 300,000, 450,000 and 1,400,000 that gets check-called by Huang on the turn K♥ and river 4♦ whit Huang's ace taking it down.

Hand #43: With the live stream graphics going haywire, we didn't catch this hand.

Hand #44: Small blind Junjie He limps before filling up to 750,000, matching Shengfa Huang's raise. The board 4♣ Q♦ 2♠ 4♠ 6♣ gets checked down and Huang ties the lead after winning the pot with K♠ J♣ against He's J♥ T♥ .

No miracle for Yu on 3♥ A♥ 7♦ K♣ 3♦ improving his former biggest live cash of just over $6K by quite some margin.

No ace for Peng on K♠ 9♣ 3♥ 3♦ J♥ making the third elimination of the day official.

Hand #31: Jiapeng Yu jams 2,300,000 from under the gun and shows K♦ Q♠ before scooping the pot.

Hand #32: Shengfa Huang opens the button for 450,000 and finds no customers.

Hand #33: Small blind Yu jams again to pick up the blinds once more.

Hand #34: Marcus Law picks up his first pot of the day after raising 400,000 from under the gun.

Junjie He leads 400,000 with T♦ 5♠ from the button and big blind Shengfa Huang defends J♣ T♣ to see the flop J♥ 7♠ 4♠ where he check-calls a 325,000 c-bet and does so again with an 800,000 second barrel on the turn A♦ . The river 6♥ gets checked down with Huang's pair taking it down.

Hand #18: Yunfeng Sun jams small blind to collect.

Hand #19: Shengfa Huang scoops after a 600,000 raise from +2.

Hand #20: Guanyu Chen does the same with 550,000 from the hijack.

Hand #21: Yunfeng Sun picks up the blinds once more with a 400,000 open out of the hijack.

Hand #8: Cutoff Chenxu Zhang scoops pre after three-betting Junjie He's 300,000 open from +2 to 900,000.

Hand #9: Shengfa Huangs limps small blind and teacher Yepeng Ni opts to check for the flop K♥ 4♠ 3♣ where Huang's 225,000 c-bet gets filled for the turn 8♣ . Huang's 425,000 second barrel gets the job done.