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!

Wang's odds increase on K♦ T♣ K♣ 5♣ before going to zero on the river J♠ .

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 #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 #38: Under the gun Siddharth Karia min-raises K♥ T♦ and big blind Pak Lau defends 5♣ 4♣ to see the flop 3♦ 7♠ J♦ where Karia's 10,000 c-bet and Lau's call is the last action before checking the turn 3♥ and river 8♠ with Karia's king-high winning the hand.

Hand #39: Big blind Karia defends 9♦ 7♣ against a min-open from cutoff Zhiya Wang with A♥ K♥ . Wang makes it 10,000 before calling Karia's 32,000 check-raise who picks up the pot on the turn 4♠ with a 66,000 lead.

Hand #37: Siddharth Karia raises 18,000 from the cutoff and takes both blinds to the flop 3♠ A♣ 8♠ where his 26,000 continuation takes him heads-up with small blind Zhiyi Wang to the turn 5♦ that gets checked for a free river 6♣ . Wang fires 18,000 to win the hand.

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.

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 #12: Siddharth Karia leads 10,500 from +1 with K♦ 6♦, but lets it go after button Zhiyi Wang upped it to 24,500 with A♥ K♥ .

Hand #13: Yue Sun gets a walk.

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.