China Dominates Day 2 of RDPT Plus Jeju 2026 with Total Trophy Sweep; Weijue Cai and Jianting Cai Secure Major Titles

Derick Elomina discovered poker at 14, playing home games with his high school friends. What began as a pastime quickly grew into a passion that shaped his career. By 21, he entered the poker industry as a field reporter — just old enough to step foot inside the casino. Starting as a hand reporter, he steadily honed his craft, blending sharp observation with growing writing skills. Known for his dedication, he constantly roams the floor to capture the action, conduct interviews, and deliver live updates. With a strong commitment to the game and a passion for telling poker’s stories, Derick continues to build his path in the industry.

Updated: 2026.04.13

Day 2 of RDPT Plus Jeju 2026 at LES A Casino saw China orchestrate a total takeover of the tournament floor. Headlined by major victories from Weijue Cai and Jianting Cai , the Chinese contingent locked down every single trophy available on Sunday. This flawless sweep of the Day 2 schedule established an unprecedented level of dominance as the series moves into its featured High Roller events.

Weijue Cai Wins The Dragon Awakening For KRW 76,484,000

Day 2 of The Dragon Awakening saw 41 players return to the field, each aiming for the opening event glory. After a session of intense play, it was China’s Weijue Cai who stood alone at the top. The tournament drew 269 entries across two starting flights on Day 1, creating a total prize pool of KRW 348,624,000 (~USD 234,665).

Cai earned the right to wear the RDPT champion’s jacket along with a KRW 76,484,000 (~USD 51,495) prize. He secured the victory after a quick heads-up match against Shuang Qiu , who took home KRW 50,900,000 (~USD 34,270) for his runner-up finish.

#3 THE DRAGON AWAKENING (1,500,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$234,665

Total Prize

₩348,624,000

Entries

269

ITM

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩76,484,000 $51,495	WC Weijue Cai China	1,567.14
2	₩50,900,000 $34,270	SQ Shuang Qiu China	1,108.14
3	₩34,620,000 $23,310	WD Wenqing Dong China	904.79
4	₩24,120,000 $16,240	TT Tien Thanh Nguyen Viet Nam	783.57
5	₩17,260,000 $11,620	TP Ting Pong Cheung Hong Kong	700.85
6	₩12,660,000 $8,525	TC Tenglong Chen China	639.78
7	₩9,550,000 $6,430	YY Yang Yang 2 China	592.32
8	₩7,390,000 $4,975	QH Quang Huy Nguyen Viet Nam	554.07
9	₩5,890,000 $3,965	NM Naohiro Matsuda Japan	522.38

Check the 41 Payouts & Results ...

Final Table Highlights

The Dragon Awakening - Final Table — The Dragon Awakening – Final Table (Credit: RDPT)

The story of the final table initially centered on Qiu, who held the chip lead and immense momentum. His surge began during the final 16, where he stacked Weihong Liu in fifteenth place with a rivered flush. Qiu followed that by eliminating Hongwei Yang in fourteenth and Tingjia Cao in thirteenth in back-to-back hands. He showed no signs of slowing down as he ruthlessly cracked Chuan Shu Chen’s pocket tens with pocket kings to send Chen out in twelfth place and boosted his stack toward the 2 million mark.

The official final table began with the exit of Naohiro Matsuda in ninth place. In a brutal hand, Matsuda’s ace-king dominated Wenqing Dong’s ace-queen, but Dong managed to find a three-outer queen on the flop. Vietnam’s Quang Huy Nguyen followed in eighth place after he lost back-to-back hands, the final blow coming when Dong’s ace-two found an ace on the turn to beat Nguyen’s pocket nines. Qiu then resumed his path of destruction, collecting two more eliminations by sending Yang Yang to the rail in seventh with king-high and Tenglong Chen in sixth with rivered quad sevens.

The field narrowed further when Ting Pong Cheung was eliminated in fifth place. Cheung held king-queen but failed to find any help against the ace-jack of the last Vietnamese player remaining, Tien Thanh Nguyen. However, the tide turned when Qiu met his match in a massive confrontation with Cai. Cai caught Qiu’s river bluff shove with a flopped flush and snapped up the chip lead. From that point on, Qiu’s momentum stalled entirely, and Cai never looked back.

From Short Stack To Champion

Cai’s victory was a testament to a relentless grind. He began the final table with the second-shortest stack but managed two crucial double-ups to stay alive. First, his pocket sixes held against Dong’s jack-high, and later his ace-high bested Chen’s queen-high. Once he seized the lead from Qiu, Cai continued his streak by eliminating Nguyen in fourth place in a dominated hand. Dong, left with only two big blinds, shoved with nine-two of spades but was eliminated in third place by Qiu’s pocket jacks.

Weijue Cai (L) - Shuang Qiu (R) — Weijue Cai (L) – Shuang Qiu (R) (Credit: RDPT)

Heads-up play began with Cai holding a commanding 4-to-1 chip lead. While Qiu managed to find one double-up, the match only lasted seven hands. In the final act, Cai’s ace-king was well ahead of Qiu’s king-nine. This victory represented the biggest cash of Cai’s career and his first win in a live tournament.

Read the live updates for The Dragon Awakening on the Somuchpoker website.

Jianting Cai Claims Second Major Jeju Title In Dragon’s Gate High Roller

The RDPT Plus Jeju 2026 crowned a new high-stakes champion as China’s Jianting Cai navigated a 117-entry field to secure the Dragon’s Gate High Roller title. Displaying remarkable composure and a steady accumulation of chips, Cai dominated the final stages of the tournament, punctuating his performance by ending the heads-up match against Ivan Karatayeu on the very first hand. For his efforts, he walked away with the top prize of KRW 131,615,000 (~USD 88,610).

This victory added another prestigious trophy to Cai’s growing resume. He was already a celebrated figure in the region, having famously won the Red Dragon Championship at the Jeju Poker Festival in 2024. That triumph remains the largest score of his career, where he earned a massive KRW 243,800,000 (~USD 174,470).

#9 DRAGON'S GATE HIGH ROLLER (5,000,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$343,835

Total Prize

₩510,705,000

Entries

117

ITM

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩131,615,000 $88,610	JC Jianting Cai China	1,549.34
2	₩86,260,000 $58,075	IK Ivan Karatayeu Belarus	1,095.55
3	₩58,530,000 $39,405	MT Minh Thang Tran Viet Nam	894.51
4	₩41,160,000 $27,710	AL Anton Lu Australia	774.67
5	₩29,980,000 $20,185	WL Wenchao Liu China	692.89
6	₩22,620,000 $15,230	XZ Xugang Zhang China	632.52
7	₩17,770,000 $11,965	GW Guoliang Wei China	585.60
8	₩14,560,000 $9,805	CZ Congya Zhang China	547.78
9	₩12,410,000 $8,355	HD Huu Dung Nguyen Viet Nam	516.45

Check the 18 Payouts & Results ...

The Road To The Final Table

The journey to the money was fraught with narrow escapes and tough exits. Notable players such as Abhijith Cheruku and Yita Choong fell short of the payout window, while Yayun Liu endured the misfortune of bubbling the final 20. The official bubble burst when Ranno Sootla’s pocket eights failed to hold against Minh Thang Tran’s pocket kings.

As the field compressed toward the final table, Dinesh Alt suffered a particularly cruel exit in eleventh place, seeing his flopped two-pair counterfeited by a superior full house on the river. Immediately after, Zhili Zhou was eliminated in tenth place after his straight-draw semi-bluff failed to improve against Tran’s kings.

Final Table Action

Dragon’s Gate High Roller - Final Table — Dragon’s Gate High Roller – Final Table (Credit: RDPT)

Huu Dung Nguyen was the first casualty of the final nine, falling to Karatayeu’s pocket kings. He was followed by Congya Zhang in eighth, whose dominated ace-four could not overcome Tran’s ace-queen. Guo Liang Wei , a former chip leader, saw his run end in seventh place when his pocket fives were overtaken by Karatayeu’s ace-queen on the flop.

The eliminations continued as Xugang Zhang exited in sixth place against Anton Lu’s pocket sevens. Wenchao Liu then fell in fifth place, despite flopping a flush draw, he was drawing dead by the turn against Tran’s full house. Lu’s impressive run ended in fourth place when his king-queen collided with Karatayeu’s pocket queens, leaving the trio of Cai, Karatayeu, and Tran to battle for the title.

Cai effectively ended Tran’s aggressive run in third place. Tran flopped top pair with ace-ten, but Cai’s king-jack turned a straight, sending the tournament into a lopsided heads-up match.

A Swift Conclusion

Jianting Cai (L) - Ivan Karatayeu (R) — Jianting Cai (L) – Ivan Karatayeu (R) (Credit: RDPT)

Cai entered the final duel with a substantial lead of 24,000,000 chips to Karatayeu’s 11,000,000. Any expectations of a prolonged battle were quickly dispelled on the opening hand. Cai’s king-eight found an eight on the flop, leaving Karatayeu’s king-ten in desperate need of help. Despite picking up a flush draw on the turn, the river bricked for the Belarusian, confirming Cai as the Dragon’s Gate champion.

Andres Vasquez Leads Charge in The Dragon’s Hoard (PKO) After Two Flights

Following the conclusion of two action-packed starting flights, the THE DRAGON’S HOARD (PKO) has whittled its massive field down to the final 40 contenders. All eyes will turn to 12:00 local time, when Day 2 kicks off to determine the champion.

Colombia’s Andres Vasquez emerged as the definitive man to beat, bagging a staggering 1,023,000 chips, the only player to cross the million-chip milestone. Vasquez didn’t just collect plastic; he was a terror on the felt, accumulating KRW 3,100,000 in bounties along the way. His total knockout value now stands at KRW 3,500,000, giving him a massive head start in the hunt for the lion’s share of the prize pool.

THE DRAGON’S HOARD (PKO) Seat Draw – Click to Expand
▼

Rank	Name	Table	Seat	Chips	K.O. Amount	K.O. Value	Flag
1	Andres Vasquez	37	3	1,023,000	3,100,000	3,500,000	Colombia
2	Shouda Zhang	33	2	605,000	1,775,000	2,175,000	China
3	Shuang Bao	38	6	595,000	200,000	600,000	China
4	Jinze Zhang	38	8	555,000	2,906,250	3,306,250	China
5	Guofeng Wang	32	6	547,000	1,100,000	1,500,000	China
6	Zengxiang Chen	34	4	535,000	1,275,000	1,675,000	China
7	Wei Hong	34	8	420,000	750,000	1,150,000	China
8	Martin Sedlak	32	4	386,000	1,100,000	1,500,000	United States
9	Guoan Yuan	33	3	335,000	500,000	900,000	China
10	Guosheng Yang	32	1	330,000	400,000	800,000	China
11	Tingjia Cao	33	1	315,000	500,000	900,000	China
12	Jiajun Xie	38	5	315,000	200,000	600,000	China
13	Zongjin Sui	37	8	314,000	2,200,000	2,500,000	China
14	Junhua Li	34	7	275,000	200,000	600,000	China
15	Cheng Li	34	2	270,000	650,000	1,050,000	China
16	Zuyou Wang	32	5	235,000	400,000	800,000	China
17	Daqiao Jiang	38	1	228,000	750,000	1,150,000	China
18	Kok Hoe Chai	32	7	215,000	600,000	1,000,000	Malaysia
19	Wenwen Chen	33	7	215,000	200,000	600,000	China
20	Khoa Anh Ngo	38	4	208,000	1,200,000	1,600,000	Vietnam
21	Yipeng Ye	37	2	205,000	400,000	800,000	China
22	Shizi Xiao	32	3	200,000	1,100,000	1,500,000	China
23	Christian Harder	34	3	196,000	200,000	600,000	United States
24	Tsz Hin Chow	32	8	195,000	300,000	700,000	China
25	Zhiyi Wang	37	5	180,000	600,000	1,000,000	China
26	Guguo Liu	37	1	170,000	700,000	1,100,000	China
27	Hugues Girard	34	5	135,000	300,000	700,000	France
28	Qizhi Guo	38	3	128,000	500,000	900,000	China
29	Yue Sun	37	6	125,000	400,000	800,000	China
30	Yun Song	37	4	115,000	575,000	975,000	China
31	Quang Huy Nguyen	33	5	103,000	100,000	500,000	Vietnam
32	Xianglai Li	38	2	97,000	400,000	800,000	China
33	Mengdian Peng	33	6	97,000	600,000	1,000,000	China
34	Ngoc Anh Cao	34	6	90,000	750,000	1,150,000	Vietnam
35	Junqiang Lyu	33	4	85,000	0	400,000	China
36	Chuer Ni	37	7	84,000	700,000	1,100,000	China
37	Zhuorui Wu	33	8	70,000	1,050,000	1,450,000	China
38	Jinhua Li	34	1	60,000	0	400,000	China
39	Yizhou Nie	38	7	53,000	400,000	800,000	China
40	Xiaqing Ji	32	2	52,000	200,000	600,000	China

THE DRAGON’S HOARD (PKO) Payouts – Click to Expand
▼

Pos.	Amount (KRW)
1	66,457,000
2	43,860,000
3	29,770,000
4	20,730,000
5	14,810,000
6	10,890,000
7	8,200,000
8	6,370,000
9	5,090,000
10-11	4,190,000
12-15	3,560,000
16-20	3,110,000
21-27	2,840,000
28-40	2,690,000

China Painted The Island Red: A Sunday Trophy Sweep

While Weijue Cai and Jianting Cai commanded the spotlight by clinching the featured event titles, their fellow countrymen ensured the dominance was absolute by sweeping every side event on the schedule. In a rare and relentless display of skill across multiple disciplines, players from China captured all six side event trophies available on April 12. From the split-pot complexities of Big O to the pure adrenaline of the Super Hyper Turbo, the “Plus” in RDPT Plus clearly stood for a massive addition to China’s trophy cabinet.

The Winners’ Circle: April 12 Trophy Gallery

Side Event	The Champion	Entries	Top Prize (KRW)
#14 Big O (5 Card PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better)	Yin Liu	28	7,004,000
#15 No Limit Hold’em	Jingqi Chen	53	14,695,000
#16 NLH Short Deck	Xiangyu Yu	27	16,000,000
#17 5 Card PLO Bomb Pot	Zhenlai Chen	34	4,962,000
#18 NLH Hyper Turbo	Miao Feng	56	8,641,000
#19 Super Hyper Turbo	Tingjia Cao	75	5,340,000

All April 12 Champions represented China (CHN).

RDPT Plus Jeju 2026: April 13 Schedule Of Events

The schedule at RDPT Plus Jeju 2026 continues to move forward as the afternoon session prepares for one of the most significant events of the series.

At 15:00 local time, the field will begin Event #22: RED DRAGON PRESTIGE HIGH ROLLER (Day 1) . Carrying an 8,000,000 KRW (~$5,400) buy-in, this tournament is expected to draw a competitive field of players vying for the title. Participants will start with a 300,000 chip stack and play through 40-minute levels.

The structure for the opening flight is set for 12 levels of play on Day 1. For those still looking to join the action, the late registration window remains generous: players can still register during the first two levels of Day 2 before registration officially closes at the start of Level 14.

Somuchpoker will provide live updates for this event starting at 15:00, covering key hands and floor action. Stay tuned for continued coverage of RDPT Plus Jeju 2026.