Jeju Poker Festival 2024: Cheng Yen Lo Bags KPC Main Event Lead Onto Day 2; Three More Winners Emerge

Cards continue to fly at Landing Casino, Jeju Shinhwa World, with the grand Jeju Poker Festival right at its halfway mark. The ninth day’s highlight was centered around the two final flights of the Korea Poker Cup Main Event, where Taiwan’s Cheng Yen Lo rose above Day 1B to take the overall lead onto Day 2. Final numbers saw a combined 530 entries recorded across three flights, upholding its KRW 1 million (~USD 718,110) guarantee also as its prize pool. 

Three more KPC trophies were taken down on display and awarded to newly minted winners Calvin Lee, Dongli Shen, and Nan Zhang, having bested the day’s side event lineup.

Stay tuned to SMP Live Updates as the games unfold, and catch the latest action directly off the floor.

Jeju Poker Festival 2024 – Player Guide
Jeju Poker Festival 2024 – Festival Results
Jeju Poker Festival 2024 – Live Updates

Cheng Yen Lo Leads KPC Main Event Day 2

All three KPC Main Event starting flights have played through the first twelve levels, with only 135 players surviving the Day 1 battle. The money is expected to trickle in over the Day 2 games, where 87 runners are deemed to cut a share of the KRW 1 million (~USD 718,110) prize pool. Mincash is set at KRW 3,200,000 (~USD 2,275), with the KRW 190 million (~USD 135,085) top prize remaining on the horizon.

The second KPC Main Event flight on schedule, Day 1B, drew in the largest turnout of all three, with 210 entries recorded across nine levels of registration. A total of 48 runners managed to advance through, with Taiwan’s Cheng Yen Lo stacking the highest by bagging time. Lo landed a massive double by the last five hands in play, having cracked Kyungmin Lee’s pocket aces with the nut flush. Lo collected a full 92 big blinds off of his opponent and finished the day with a towering chip count of 506,000, just above initial flight chip leader Yita Choong’s 401,000 stack.

The fast-paced last heat wrapped up by the stroke of midnight, and saw an additional 42 qualifiers move forward. Japan’s Minoru Murano shipped the lead with a final chip count of 235,000, yet sits just 21st across the Day 2 order. Murano rose to the top rank by the last hour of play and was the sole runner across the last flight to breach the 300K mark. The last few hands however, saw him suffer a blow against Tam Lek Lon to shoot down to 235,000, still enough to sit atop the Day 1C leaderboard. 

Other notables joining the list include Valeriy Pak (290,500), Dong Li (262,000), Jianfeng Sun (179,500), Chenxu Zhang (153,000), Jun Li (108,000), Linghui Dai (88,000), along with Turbo round survivors Farhad Aghayev (176,500), Jieming Xu (142,000), Bayar Saran (125,000), and Shiina Okamoto (37,500).

Action resumes on Sunday, November 24th, 12 noon, for nine 60 minute blind levels across Day 2.

Korea Poker Cup Main Event Review

• Dates: November 22-26, 2024
• Buy-in: KRW 1,600,000 (~USD 1,145)
• Guarantee: KRW 1,000,000,000 (~USD 718,110)
• Entries: 530 (247 unique)
• Prize pool: KRW 1,000,000,000 (~USD 718,110)
• ITM: 87 places

By the Numbers

• Day 1A: 195 entries, 45 qualified
• Day 1B: 210 entries, 48 qualified
• Day 1C Turbo: 125 entries, 42 qualified
• Day 2: 135 players
• Day 3: Monday, November 25
• Day 4 /Final: Tuesday, November 26

KPC Main Event Top Ten Day 2 Qualifiers

Backtrack on the day’s action via SMP Live Updates

Side Event Winners

Calvin Lee Wins KPC Single Day High Roller

The second KPC High Roller highlight on schedule saw USA’s Calvin Lee ship the win following nearly a twelve hour grind. Lee added a notable KRW 53,070,000 (~USD 37,920) score to his already lengthy list of achievements, and picked up the KPC hardware to add to his wide array of trophies on display. The Lord Poker Tour’s Lirui Zhang yet again, settled for another runner up finish, having similarly been denied the title across yesterday’s KPC Single Day High Roller games.

• Date/s: November 22, 2024
• Buy-in: KRW 5,000,000 (~USD 3,550)
• Entries: 35 (28 unique)
• Prize pool: KRW 156,170,000 (~USD 111,035)
• ITM: 6 places

KPC Single Day High Roller Full Payouts

Dongli Shen Lands Maiden Win at Freezeout NLH

China’s Dongli Shen captured a career first win at this season’s KPC games, having outlasted the Freezeout NLH’s 49 player field. It took eleven hours on the floor before Shen closed out the win, earning him a second best score of KRW 13,970,000 (~USD 9,980), along with the exquisite KPC trophy. Shen has had a great year so far, having captured his top two cashes, just two months of each other.

• Date/s: November 22, 2024
• Buy-in: KRW 1,000,000 (~USD 710)
• Entries: 49
• Prize pool: KRW 42,780,000 (~USD 30,415)
• ITM: 8 places

Freezeout NLH Full Payouts

Nan Zhang Takes Down Turbo NLH

The last side event to finish, Turbo NLH, extended through early morning before China’s Nan Zhang walked away with the victory, banking KRW 6,500,000 (~USD 4,644) in winnings along the way. Ten players shared a piece of the KRW 31,870,000 (~USD 22,660) prize pool, with Zan Chen taking the largest cut at KRW 9,740,000 (~USD 6,960) following a heads up deal. While Zhang settled for a second place payout, his recent feat serves to be a career second best cash, as well as a second trophy win.

• Date/s: November 22, 2024
• Buy-in: KRW 500,000 (~USD 355)
• Entries: 73 (53 unique)
• Prize pool: KRW 31,870,000 (~USD 22,660)
• ITM: 10 places

Turbo NLH Full Payouts

*Denotes deal was made