Korea Poker Cup Series 2025 Smashes Guarantee In Standalone Debut

last Saturday at 9:49 AM

The Korea Poker Cup Series 2025, sponsored by QQPK, made a bold statement in its first-ever standalone series, as the KPC Main Event shattered expectations. Hosted at the luxurious Landing Casino within Jeju Shinhwa World Resort, the Main Event attracted a staggering 1,228 entries across five flights, each contributing a buy-in of KRW 1,300,000 (~USD 970). This propelled the prize pool to KRW 1,393,600,000 (~US$ 977,000) with 187 locking up a share.

Korea Poker Cup - KPC Main Event

As the action moves into Day 2, only 154 players remain in contention, each with their sights set on becoming the first-ever standalone KPC Main Event champion. The minimum payout is now at KRW 3,220,000 (~US$ 2,260) while at the very top, awaiting the champion, is a handsome KRW 216,500,000 (~US$ 151,000).

KPC Main Event – Day 2 Table / Seat Draw
KPC Main Event – Day 2 Chip Counts

Among the contenders is Dutch player Joris Michl, the Jeju Poker Festival – KPC Main Event champion. Michl secured his spot at the final flight, keeping his bid for a second major title alive. In a brief interview with the Michl, he shared his strategy coming into Day 2,

I have about 30 big blinds, so things can move quickly. I’ll probably take it easy at first – there are a lot of short stacks, so I’ll see if I can ladder up a bit and hopefully find a good spot to chip up.

Here’s a look at how the flights played out.

Korea Poker Cup Series 2025 – KPC Main Event Review

The Korea Poker Cup – KPC Main Event kicked off on April 8 completing five flights across four days of nonstop action. China came out in full force, dominating the turnout. Taiwan was also well represented, however by the end of all the flights, at the top of the list was Hong Kong’s Chun Lung Wong who will return as the overall frontrunner after surpassing Flight B leader, China’s Lei Yu. Wong will be sharing the felt with WSOP bracelet winner Weiran Pu, so fireworks are likely as the two heavyweights battle for control.

#5 Main Event Day 1A-Early Bird Flight (GTD 800M) (1,240,000 KRW)

Yao Du Sets The Bar At Main Event Day 1A

The first of five flights for the KPC Main Event with a KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guaranteed prize pool attracted 213 players and saw 27 bag their chips for Day 2 during level 17, almost 14 hours after the first hand was dealt.

Yao Du emerged on top with 455,000 and has been among the leaders since level 9, gaining a significant boost in level 14 when he knocked out Taiwanese pro Meng Ling Lin with A♦ A♣ against her K♥ K♣ and burst the bubble in level 16 by eliminating Xiaolu Yang with Q♦ Q♠ versus J♥ J♣ .

Read up on the action via the SMP Live Updates.

#	Payout	Player

#5 Main Event Day 1B (GTD 800M) (1,300,000 KRW)

Lei Yu Bags Big At Main Event Day 1B

The second of five flights for the KPC Main Event with a KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guaranteed prize pool attracted 174 players and saw 22 advance to Day 2 during level 18 with a new overall chip leader in Chinese pro Lei Yu. His day kickstarted after flopping a boat in level 10, extracting a lot of value with a big over-bet on the river and a massive push close to the end when he faced then chip leader Zi Wei Tung and he rivered a full house.

Read up on the his rise and all the action via the SMP live updates.

#	Payout	Player

#5 Main Event Day 1C (GTD 800M) (1,300,000 KRW)

Hon Leung Ip Tops Day Main Event 1C

The third of five flights for the KPC Main Event with a KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guaranteed prize pool attracted 248 players and saw 30 advance to Day 2 during level 16 with Hon Leung Ip in the lead, bagging 578,000.

The Hong Kong native - who just banked his biggest live cash of $10,602 for finishing 4th at the PSCT Last Chance High Roller about a month ago - first appeared on the leaderboard in level 11 after busting Linghui Dai and then muscled his way to the top with aggressive play, adding a last chunk to his stack by eliminating Chen Hao with a preflop flip in level 16.

Read up on the action via the SMP Live Updates.

#	Payout	Player

#5 Main Event Day 1D (GTD 800M) (1,300,000 KRW)

Chung Lung Wong Slides Into Overall Lead At Main Event Day 1D

The fourth of five flights for the KPC Main Event well eclipsed the KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guarantee for a new unofficial prize pool of KRW 1,393,660,000 (~$977,109) booked by 390 entries that saw 49 advance to Day 2. Chun Lung Wong was the envy of all as he bagged a new overall lead of 795,000 mainly due to a massive double up against Tae Hoon Han with A♠ A♥ dominating J♥ J♦ .

Read up on the action via the SMP Live Updates.

#	Payout	Player

#5 Main Event Day 1E-Turbo Last Chance (GTD 800M) (1,300,000 KRW)

Tao Li Closes The Final Main Event Flight In Command

The last of five flights for the KPC Main Event with the KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guaranteed prize pool well eclipsed by the grand total of KRW 1,393,660,000 (~$977,109) had 203 entries and 25 punching a last minute ticket to Day 2.

Tao Li gapped the field with 607,000 - good for 3rd overall - after being down to 13 bb just a few hands before the end. He first tripled up with Q♥ Q♦ against Zhao Hongjun's 3♥ 3♠ then doubled up against Hye Keun Park who was chip leader at the time with A♠ 7♠ against A♦ K♥ by hitting the 7♣ on the river.

Also locking up last chance tickets were KPC Main Event champion Joris Michl, Ren Lin, and Chi Jen Chu. Chip counts can be found in the SMP Live Updates.

#	Payout	Player

Be sure to follow the SMP Live Updates as the team bring’s you the action from start to finish.

For those that missed mark, there are still plenty of side events to conquer. For all the results, head to this link –> Korea Poker Cup Series 2025 – Full Results

Special announcement was also made during the festivities. The Korea Poker Cup is set to return to Landing Casino in mid June so book your tickets now!

Korea Poker Cup returns in June