Elite Players Descend Upon Poker Dream Jeju As Liu Chun Keat And Biao Ding Win Opening Events

Poker Dream Jeju 12 opening day

The biggest names in Asian poker have descended upon Poker Dream Jeju 12 for what is expected to be the most exciting festival produced by the brand. Underway at the Landing Casino in Jeju Shinhwa World, South Korea, this is the brand’s first visit to this stunning location. Kicking off on September 26 and running until October 6, 2024, the doors opened with elite players spotted at every corner of the room.

Elite players among the early arrivals

Among the early arrivals were five-time WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda, GPI Asia #1 Tony Lin, Taiwan’s #1 ranked player James Chen, Malaysian elite players Wai Kiat Lee, Webster Lim, Hong Kong poker pioneer Winfred Yu, and China’s Biao Ding. Turning up in Day 2 were Wai Kin Yong, Danny Tang, and Triton owner Richard Yong. More are expected in the coming days especially with a jaw-dropping KR₩ 2.8 Billion (~US$ 2 Million) guarantee set for the upcoming Main Event.

Jeju Open

With the Main Event still several days away, Poker Dream has ensured a varied schedule with hefty guarantees to get everyone started. On opening day, players were welcomed in with the Jeju Open featuring a ₩100M guarantee. The three flights and two flipouts generated 257 entrants for a larger prize pool of KR₩ 177,018,210 (~US$ 134,260).

For the elite players, there was no messing around with the $10,000 NLH right on opening day. 39 coughed up the five figure price tag for a prize pool of KR₩ 497,842,800 (~US$ 374,650). Malaysia’s Liu Chun Keat continued his unbelievable run with a third consecutive victory for the month. Prior to his arrival at Jeju, Liu won two events at EPT Barcelona. These were his career first wins. Liu pocketed KR₩ 169,300,000 (~US$ 128,400). 

While there was no lack of talent, there was one high roller choosing the other opener as his challenge for the day. China’s Biao Ding was tearing up the felt at the Jeju Open, clearly showing players how it’s done. By the end of Day 1, Ding had bagged the largest stack and returned on the following day just as fierce. At heads up, Ding struck a deal with fellow Chinese player Tianwei Zhang to lock up the higher payout and trophy for his larger stack. Ding walked away with KR₩ 35,560,000 (~US$ 26,970). 

Side event winners

In addition to the opening day key event winners, were successful side event warriors Nicholas Michael Ng at the Short Deck Ante Only for KR₩ 3,290,000 (~US$ 2,500), Li Dong at the NL-Single Draw 2-7 for KR₩ 1,921,200 (~US$ 1,460), Situ Junheng at the Deepstack for KR₩ 4,880,880 (~US$ 3,700), and Gao Lei at the NLH Hyper Turbo for KR₩ 5,140,000 (~US$ 3,900).

Poker Dream Jeju 12 – Festival Results