Red Dragon Closer (1,500,000 KRW)

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!

Sweating to the end on 3♦ K♥ Q♥ 9♠ 9♣ , India's No.33 on the all time money list Siddharth Karia adds $8,407 to his over $300,000 in live earnings.

Hand #107: Chop on 2♦ 8♠ 3♣ Q♥ 3♠ after a river jam from Weiran Pu with Q♠ 5♣ and a tank-call by Karia with Q♣ 4♥ .

Hand #108: A limp with A♥ T♥ from Pu gets checked from Karia with 9♥ 4♦ who folds after Pu led for 30,000 on K♥ 2♥ J♣ .

Hand #109: Karia makes it 60,000 with 8♠ 6♥ and Pu defends T♥ 5♦ . The board completes J♥ T♣ 8♣ K♠ Q♠ before Karia jams 165,000 and Pu let's it go.

Hand #110: Pu limps 9♠ 8♣ , but lays it down after Karia declared all-in for 285,000 with A♦ J♥ .

Hand #111: Another limped hand goes to the turn T♥ A♠ 7♠ 3♠ before Karia bets 50,000 with 7♣ 2♥ and Pu throws J♦ 4♦ in the muck.

Hand #105: Siddharth Karia leads 60,000 with K♣ 4♦ , Weiran Pu defends K♦ 7♣ and a triple barrel from Karia for 35,000, 80,000 and 200,000 on 2♣ 5♦ K♠ J♠ K♥ gets check-called all the way by Pu with his better kicker breaking the tie.

Hand #100-101: Both players open-jam to scoop.

Hand #102: Weiran Pu jams 155,000 with 9♥ 6♥ and gets caught by Karia with J♦ 6♦ . The dealer doesn't wanna go home yet, flipping over 3♥ 6♠ 9♠ Q♠ 4♣ and grants Pu the unlikely double up.

Hand #91: Wei Zeng collects the blinds with a 130,000 jam from the button.

Hand #92-93: Zeng walks and jams 210,000 right after to pick up his third pot in a row.

Hand #94-95: Siddharth Karia shoves from the small blind with no taker before Weiran Pu follows suit.

Hand #96-98: Karia walks, Zeng scoops after a jam from the button before getting a walk.

Hand #84: Weiran Pu min-raises from the button with K♦ 9♥ , but lets it go after Wei Zeng announced 325,000 all-in from the small blind with A♣ 9♠ .

Hand #85-86: Pu and Zeng get a walk.

Hand #87: Zeng limps his small blind with T♦ 3♦ and Karia wants to see the flop with J♥ 7♥ . Zeng leads 25,000 on 8♠ Q♣ 7♦ with Karia calling, before they both check down the turn 4♠ and river 9♥ with Karia's pair of sevens being enough.

Hand #79: Siddharth Karia limps Q♦ T♥ from the small blind and Weiran Pu checks J♦ 9♣ to watch the flop J♥ 8♠ A♣ hit the felt. Pu calls a 20,000 lead before folding to a 100,000 second barrel on the turn 7♣ .

Hand #80: Pu opens 40,000 from the button with A♠ 8♣ and big blind Wei Zeng defends T♦ 7♦ . The flop 8♠ 8♥ 5♦ gets checked to the turn 3♦ where Zeng takes the lead for 30,000 and fills up Pu's 85,000 raise. The board completes 9♠ and Zeng surrenders to Pu's jam.

Hand #77: Siddharth Karia leads 40,000 from the button with K♠ 8♣ , but folds after Weiran Pu jams with A♠ T♣ .

Hand #78: Karia does the same to Pu with A♣ 6♥ against Pu's 6♠ 3♦ .

Hand #74: Siddharth Karia opens 30,000 from the button with no takers.

Hand #75: Weiran Pu also makes it 30,000 from the button with Q♦ 5♦ and big blind Karia defends 9♦ 8♠ to the flop 6♣ 8♣ A♦ where Pu's 25,000 c-bet gets called. The turn 5♣ gets rejected for a free river 5♠ where Karia switches to a 20,000 lead, Pu ups it to 150,000 with his trips and Karia goes in the tank. Emerging with a call, Karia mucks, surrendering his lead to Pu in the process.

Hand #70: Siddharth Karia jams A♦ 7♥ from the small blind to collect pre.

Hand #71-72: Karia opens 35,000 with no takers and gets a walk after.

Hand #73: Karia limps his small blind with 5♥ 4♦ and Weiran Pu checks T♦ 7♣ to see the flop 4♥ 9♠ J♥ . Pu calls a 15,000 lead before the turn 2♦ and river 7♠ get checked down with Pu's pair of sevens winning.

Hand #65: Weiran Pu scoops after jamming 210,000 into Siddharth Karia's 30,000 open.

Hand #66: Karia collects, raising 45,000 after Wei Zeng limps his small blind.

Hand #67: Pu does the same to Karia.

Hand #68: Small blind Pu limp-calls 35,000 against Zeng and check-calls a 20,000 continuation on the flop Q♥ 4♦ T♠ . The turn 8♠ and river J♠ get checked down with Pu tabling the winner Q♦ 6♦ against Zeng's K♥ J♥ .

Hand #59: Weiran Pu limp-jams his small blind against a 25,000 raise from Wei Zeng to scoop.

Hand #60: Pu opens 24,000 with T♣ 8♣ from the button and folds after small blind Zeng pumped it to 100,000 with 4♦ 4♣ .

Hand #61: Zeng collects blinds with a min-raise from the button.

Hand #62: Zeng collects again after raising 25,000 into Pu's limp.

Hand #63: Zeng limps his small blind with 7♦ 6♦ and Siddharth Karia checks Q♠ J♥ before calling a 12,000 lead from Zeng on 2♠ 2♥ T♣ . The turn Q♣ gets checked before Karia picks up the pot with a 45,000 bet on the river 3♣ .

Hand #64: Small blind Karia scoops after limping K♦ T♣ and Pu checks Q♠ 4♣ , both checking down to the river A♥ J♥ 7♣ 9♥ T♥ .

Hand #56: Small blind Weiran Pu limps and Wei Zeng opts to check for the flop 4♠ 7♦ 8♠ where his 12,000 gets check called by Pu, who does so again on the turn 8♣ for 20,000. The river A♦ gets checked down with Pu revealing the winner Q♣ 5♦ against Zeng's J♣ 9♣ .

Hand #57: Zeng makes it 32,000 from the small blind with K♠ 9♥ and Siddharth Karia defends T♦ 5♦ to see the flop A♥ Q♠ 9♣ where Zeng's 15,000 c-bet ends the hand.

Hand #58: Zeng leads another 24,000 with K♠ 9♠ from the button and big blind Weiran Pu defends 6♣ 5♠ . On the flop 2♦ 5♥ A♣ Zeng's 12,000 c-bet gets called before scooping another pot with a 35,000 second barrel on the turn 7♠ .

Hand #49-50: Zhiyi Wang jams from cutoff and under the gun with no takers.

Hand #51: Button Siddharth Karia three-bets 50,000 with Q♦ 9♦ into Wei Zengs 20,000 open from under the gun with A♣ 7♥ to scoop.

Hand #52: Another chop after Weiran Pu raise-calls Zhiyi Wang's 111,000 jam with K♣ Q♥ against K♦ J♠ and the board running 4♠ 4♥ 7♠ 9♠ 9♦ .

Hand #53: Wang makes it 20,000 from the button with J♥ 9♥ , but lets it go after small blind Wei Zeng jams 358,000 with K♦ K♣ .

Hand #47: Siddharth Karia leads 20,000 from the cutoff with A♥ 5♥ , button Weiran Pu ups it to 55,000 with A♣ 4♥ , but lets it go after Karia jammed for a total of 256,000.

Hand #48: Karia min-raises again with K♦ J♣ and big blind Pak Lau defends Q♦ 8♦ to see the flop 6♣ T♥ 6♠ where Lau check-calls 12,000 before folding to a second barrel of 22,000 on the turn 5♣ .

Hand #40: Cutoff Wei Zeng opens 20,000 with J♠ T♥ and big blind Weiran Pu defends K♣ 4♣ to see the flop 3♣ A♦ 8♠ . Zeng continues for 11,000, bit let's it go after Pu made it 35,000.

Hand #41: Under the gun Zeng min-raises with A♦ 9♦ and takes big blind Zhiyi Wang to the flop 9♣ 9♥ 8♥ where his 15,000 c-bet gets the job done.

Hand #42: Siddharth Karia scoops after leading 20,000 from yhe cutoff.

Hand #43: Small blind Zeng jams his massive stack to collect the pot.

Hand #44: Pak Lau does the same.

Hand #32: Under the gun Pak Lau opens 21,000 with A♠ T♥ and folds after small blind Wei Zeng pumped it to 80,000 holding A♥ Q♦ .

Hand #33: Weiran Pu scoops with a 48,000 three-bet from the cutoff after Siddharth Karia opened 18,000 from under the gun.

Hand #34: Zhiyi Wang collects blinds with a 16,000 open from the cutoff.

Hand #35-36: Wei Zeng does the same from cutoff and under the gun.

Pu makes the nut straight on 6♣ J♠ T♦ 2♠ Q♣ and we lose the first player of the day.

Hand #25-26: Weiran Pu collect back to back blinds with min-opens.

Hand #27: Hijack Pu leads 12,000 again and takes two customers to the flop A♥ 8♥ 4♠ where his 11,500 c-bet gets the job done.

Hand #20: Bracelet winner Weiran Pu leads 12,000 from under the gun with K♦ J♣ and big blind Yue Sun defends J♠ 9♠ to see the flop Q♠ 7♣ 7♥ where she check-folds to an 8,000 c-bet from Pu.

Hand #21: Siddharth Karia walks.

Hand #22: Jun Li wins blind battle after raising Karia's limp to 15,000.

Hand #23: Wei Zeng min-opens from the lojack with no callers.

Hand #24: Under the gun Zeng min-opens again and takes big blind Zhiyi Wang to the flop 2♣ 4♠ 3♣ where Wang sonks 8,000 before check-folding to a 15,000 bet from Zeng on the turn 8♦ .

Hand #14: Pak Lau opens 13,000 from the button before Yue Sun jams 77,500 from the small blind to pick up the pot pre.

Hand #15: Under the gun Weiran Pu min-raises K♠ J♦ and small blind Siddharth Karia defends A♠ J♥ to see the flop 3♠ 5♠ 2♥ where Pu's 10,000 c-bet gets called to the turn K♦ . Another 24,000 from Pu pushes Karia out.

Hand #16-17: Wei Zeng collects blinds with a min-raise from the lojack and UTG.

Hand #18: Zhiyi Wang open-limps the small blind, Zeng pumps it to 18,000 with 8♥ 3♥ before folding to Wang's 131,000 jam.

Hand #19: Zeng scoops once more with a 20,000 raise from the small-blind.

Hand #1: Under the gun Weiran Pu min-raises A♦ 9♦, but lets it go after Wei Zeng upped it to 30,000 with A♠ A♣ .

Hand #2-3: Yue Sun jams 53,500 from the cutoff with no takers and does so again the next hand.

Hand #4: Small blind Zhiyi Wang scoops after going all-in for 55,000.

Hand #5: Hijack Jun Li makes it 10,000 and collects.