Aaron Gao Wins JPF Annual Appreciation Event as Fabian Gumz Leads Day 1 of KPC Main Event

Jeju Poker Festival 2026 got underway at LES A Casino as the festival marks its third anniversary. On the opening day, Aaron Yuxuan Gao won the invitation-only JPF Annual Appreciation Event for KRW 11,500,000 (~USD 8,570).

Dragos Florin Anton came from eighth of nine at the final table to take the KPC Single Day High Roller for KRW 22,940,000 (~USD 17,090). The KPC Main Event also began, with Fabian Gumz leading the 13 players who survived Day 1A.

The festival is co-hosted by the Red Dragon Poker Tour and KPC Poker, with 123 trophy events running until 11 November and KRW 3.88 billion guaranteed across the festival.

Aaron Gao Wins JPF Annual Appreciation Event for KRW 11,500,000

The festival opened with the JPF Annual Appreciation Event, a freeroll with a KRW 50,000,000 (~USD 37,260) prize pool set by the festival. Entry was by invitation only: every winner from the KPC Poker October Series received a seat, while RDPT invited content creators, new players and former champions. 89 players took part and 27 were paid.

KPC host Jakub Gaj set the early pace. He moved to around three times the average stack after stacking Yurui Zhang with ace-jack against ace-eight, and three times he held the same hand as the player to his left: pocket sevens, pocket queens and king-nine.

Content creator Takashi Yagura was among the early casualties. Reduced to very little, his six-deuce of spades flopped a pair of sixes against Jinguo Tao’s ace-king, but Tao found an ace on the river to avoid the bad beat and score the knockout.

Jingwei Cheng survived the bubble by doubling through Dapeng Qiao, runner-up in the Baby Dragon Plus at RDPT Plus Jeju Summer, when the river gave Qiao a flush and Cheng a full house. Yang Zhang then burst it when his pocket nines held against Sirui Kang's king-jack, guaranteeing the remaining 27 players KRW 600,000 (~USD 450).

Gaj did the most damage after the money. His ace-jack made a full house to knock out Jung An Chiang and Jin Ling Yong in the same hand, and he later eliminated Shitong Lyu in 10th to set the final table.

The Final Table

Gaj led the final nine on 1,170,000, with Kai-Hung Hu on 1,140,000 and Gao third on 695,000. Blinds went up every five hands, the equivalent of 10-minute levels, and the final table was over in under 90 minutes.

Jingchen Zhang went first, then TLPT Jeju Main Event champion Jiawen Xue fell in 8th when Gao's ace-five paired aces against her pocket sevens.

Gao also eliminated Yang Su in 7th, while Zenan Xie sent out Daisuke Nakagawa in 6th and Yang Zhang in 5th, the latter with trip queens on the river in a four-way all in.

Hu had been down to 30,000, less than a big blind, with five players left. His pocket aces held against three callers on his way back up the counts, then eliminated Gaj in 4th when he paired a queen on the river. Gao knocked out Xie in 3rd with pocket eights against ten-six.

Heads-Up

Hu took the lead when ace-jack beat Gao's king-nine, but Gao hit back with king-queen against king-eight and left Hu with 50,000 behind. Hu doubled up with queen-seven, then got it in again with king-two in the final hand. Gao's six-five paired a five on the turn and held to award Gao the title.

Gao took home KRW 11,500,000 (~USD 8,570), while Hu collected KRW 8,000,000 (~USD 5,960) as runner-up.

"It's a great start to the series, and it's like two buy-ins for the High Rollers, which I'll be playing later on."

Gao has played in Jeju before at APPT and KPC events, but this was his first Jeju Poker Festival. He also collected all three bag bonuses at the KPC Main Event last time and plans to play the other two Main Events at the festival.

Final Table Results

Florin Wins KPC Single Day High Roller

The KPC Single Day High Roller drew 28 entries at KRW 2,500,000, creating a KRW 60,480,000 (~USD 45,070) prize pool with five places paid.

Ranno Sootla, winner of the Red Dragon Prestige High Roller at RDPT Plus Jeju Summer, fired two bullets without cashing, while Ziyu Gao took the chip lead into the final table after rivering a flush against Jaemoon Seok’s pocket aces.

Florin started the final nine eighth of nine on 131,000 but climbed all the way to the title and KRW 22,940,000 (~USD 17,090). Ziyu Gao took KRW 15,300,000 (~USD 11,400) as runner-up, with Baby Dragon Plus winner Ryoya Enomoto 3rd.

KPC Single Day High Roller Results

Gumz Leads KPC Main Event Day 1A

The KPC Main Event (KRW 1,300,000) carries a KRW 880,000,000 (~USD 655,740) guarantee. Day 1A drew 100 entries, with 15 cashing for KRW 2,000,000 (~USD 1,490) and 13 bagging for Day 2.

Gumz bagged the lead with 499,000. KPC Crown Hunt winner Zhi Ye needed three entries but finished second on 373,000, ahead of Songzhao Gu (364,000) and Jianting Cai (358,000), who won the Red Dragon Championship here in 2024 and picked off Shiqi Zhang’s river bluff with a flush.

Michel Molenaar, who won the 25K Single Day Super High Roller at the KPC October Series, cashed in 14th. One place behind him was Youfan Zhang, who earlier slow-rolled Yongliang Liang with the flopped nut flush against his straight. Maxim Lykov, Martin Sedlak, Dakota Anderson, Ta, Xue and Gao all fell short.

KPC Main Event Day 1A Chip Counts

Side Event Winners

Song Wang was the standout on the side events, winning the FL Drawmaha Mix and the 5 Card PLO Double Board Bomb Pot.

Valentin Paul Henri Girard came close to a title twice, finishing 3rd in the Bomb Pot and runner-up in the Super Hyper Turbo, which Dongxu Dai won.

Nakagawa also finished runner-up in the Super Hold'em Hyper Turbo, on the same day he made the Appreciation Event final table.

Schedule: Thursday, 29 October

Day 1B and Day 1C of the KPC Main Event run alongside Day 1 of the KRW 5,000,000 KPC High Roller, while the Big O Championship gets underway at 12:30. Follow the full schedule on the Jeju Poker Festival 2026 page.

Follow Somuchpoker on Facebook and Instagram for updates throughout the festival.

Images and data courtesy of RDPT and KPC.