Super Cup Makes Waves In Busan With Maximum Turnouts At Key Events
From June 2 to 9, 2025, the port city of Busan played host to one of the most promising signs of live poker’s revival in South Korea. The Super Cup. A young and ambitious brand that brought players together from across the region, delivering an eight-day event that exceeded all expectations.
Emerging only in late 2024, Super Cup is currently the only brand hosting events in South Korea outside of Jeju Island. Its debut in Seoul saw a rocky start as players expressed concerns over legal uncertainties. Interest then shifted in Jeju where turnout increased. But it was the recent stop in Busan that marked the brand’s turning point where it drew the largest attendance of all three stops to date.
Super Cup Busan
Taking place at the Paradise City Hotel, from day 1 local support for Super Cup Busan was strong, resulting in long registration lines and elbow to elbow room. Familiar Korean player Kim Hak Do was among those in the field. Japan was also well represented, led by Yuri Ishida and Nana Nakamura, the latter who won three trophies at the inaugural run in Seoul. China’s contingent included pros Xiaosheng Zheng and Baiyu Ni, Hong Kong’s Steven Lai and Taiwan’s Christy Huang were also spotted, and Malaysia’s Shyh Chyn Lim made the trip, adding Busan to his growing list of poker destinations.
By the end of the brand’s eight-day run, a total of 22 champions were crowned with the large Korean force claiming a whopping 14 trophies. At the top of that list was Lee Jun Kyu for his victory at the Main Event. Lee hailed above a field of 1000 entries, earning an ICM deal payout of KR₩ 103 Million (~US$ 75,765). The largest cut was banked by 3rd placer Lee Kwan Soo of KR₩ 112.7 Million (~US$ 82,900), and wedged between in 2nd place was Han Taekyung who walked away with KR₩ 106.2 Million (~US$ 78,120). Below are the results and highlights of both key and side events.
Key Events Highlights
Taking a look at the festival majors where guarantees across the board were crushed. For example, the Main Event started with a KR₩ 500 Million prize pool that amassed to KR₩ 750 Million. Here’s a look at how they all stacked up.
| Event | Guarantee | Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Event | ₩500,000,000 | 1000 |
₩750,000,000
|
| Kick Off | ₩50,000,000 | 300 |
₩84,000,000
|
| Busan Cup | ₩80,000,000 | 300 |
₩126,000,000
|
| Mystery Bounty | ₩130,000,000 | 400 |
₩240,000,000
|
| High Roller | ₩60,000,000 | 200 |
₩240,000,000
|
| Super High Roller | ₩100,000,000 | 59 |
₩200,600,000
|
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 103,000,000 | LJ Lee Jun Kyu ![South Korea [KOR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/kr.svg "South Korea [KOR]"){kind=small} South Korea | 2,593.56 |
| 2 | 106,200,000 | HT Han Taekyung South Korea | 1,833.92 |
| 3 | 112,700,000 | LK Lee Kwan Soo South Korea | 1,497.39 |
| 4 | 48,000,000 | YJ You Junho South Korea | 1,296.78 |
| 5 | 38,000,000 | 1,159.87 | |
| 6 | 29,000,000 | LJ Lee Jae Hwang South Korea | 1,058.82 |
| 7 | 21,000,000 | GD Gong Dong Ho South Korea | 980.27 |
| 8 | 15,000,000 | 916.96 | |
| 9 | 11,000,000 | KY Kozo Yamada ![Japan [JPN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/jp.svg "Japan [JPN]"){kind=small} Japan | 864.52 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20,000,000 | KY Kim Young Hoon South Korea | 1,022.88 |
| 2 | 13,000,000 | CY Chun Young Bae South Korea | 723.29 |
| 3 | 8,500,000 | 590.56 | |
| 4 | 6,500,000 | 511.44 | |
| 5 | 5,100,000 | KK Kim Kyung Mo South Korea | 457.45 |
| 6 | 3,800,000 | LM Lee Man Su South Korea | 417.59 |
| 7 | 2,800,000 | 386.61 | |
| 8 | 2,100,000 | 361.64 | |
| 9 | 1,500,000 | 340.96 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32,550,000 | LS Lee Sang Woo South Korea | 1,170.89 |
| 2 | 19,000,000 | XZ Xiaosheng Zheng ![China [CHN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/cn.svg "China [CHN]"){kind=small} China | 827.94 |
| 3 | 12,000,000 | JY Jun Yong Jang South Korea | 676.01 |
| 4 | 9,000,000 | PS Park Sung Il South Korea | 585.44 |
| 5 | 7,000,000 | 523.64 | |
| 6 | 5,400,000 | 478.01 | |
| 7 | 4,100,000 | LK Lee Kyung Woo South Korea | 442.55 |
| 8 | 3,000,000 | 413.97 | |
| 9 | 2,400,000 | PJ Park Jun Sung South Korea | 390.30 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47,800,000 | HY Ha Yun Hwan South Korea | 1,522.74 |
| 2 | 27,900,000 | 1,076.74 | |
| 3 | 33,000,000 | JS Jeong Sang Jun South Korea | 879.15 |
| 4 | 11,800,000 | 761.37 | |
| 5 | 7,800,000 | CJ Choi Jun Young South Korea | 680.99 |
| 6 | 5,500,000 | KC Kim Chang Jun South Korea | 621.65 |
| 7 | 6,600,000 | MW Min Woong Ki South Korea | 575.54 |
| 8 | 7,000,000 | PJ Park Jung Eun South Korea | 538.37 |
| 9 | 5,500,000 | LJ Lee Jong Seon South Korea | 507.58 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54,000,000 | KW Kang Won Kyu South Korea | 1,356.60 |
| 2 | 34,000,000 | 959.26 | |
| 3 | 30,000,000 | WJ Won Jong Sun South Korea | 783.23 |
| 4 | 16,800,000 | KS Kim Seong Gwon South Korea | 678.30 |
| 5 | 12,500,000 | 606.69 | |
| 6 | 9,600,000 | 553.83 | |
| 7 | 7,000,000 | KH Kim Hyun Su South Korea | 512.75 |
| 8 | 5,000,000 | 479.63 | |
| 9 | 4,000,000 | YJ Yeo Jee Woong South Korea | 452.20 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37,000,000 | GF Gu Feng China | 1,042.62 |
| 2 | 50,000,000 | JH Jung Hwi Gun South Korea | 737.24 |
| 3 | 34,000,000 | KS Kwang Soo Lee South Korea | 601.96 |
| 4 | 21,000,000 | 521.31 | |
| 5 | 17,000,000 | 466.27 | |
| 6 | 13,600,000 | SH Shim Hyeon Tae South Korea | 425.65 |
| 7 | 11,000,000 | LB Lee Bong Jae South Korea | 394.07 |
| 8 | 9,000,000 | 368.62 | |
| 9 | 8,000,000 | JG Jeon Gyeongseok South Korea | 347.54 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6,000,000 | KJ Kang Jeong Hwa South Korea | 520.21 |
| 2 | 3,700,000 | LC Lee Chae Hyun South Korea | 367.84 |
| 3 | 2,400,000 | LD Lee Da Eun South Korea | 300.34 |
| 4 | 1,600,000 | KH Kim Hee Yeon South Korea | 260.10 |
| 5 | 1,200,000 | H Hatayrad South Korea | 232.64 |
| 6 | 980,000 | KM Kim Min Ji South Korea | 212.37 |
| 7 | 850,000 | LY Lee Ye Rin South Korea | 196.62 |
| 8 | 730,000 | YK Yun Kyung Mee South Korea | 183.92 |
| 9 | 630,000 | LS Lee So Mi South Korea | 173.40 |
Side Event Highlights
The side events were just as popular as the key events. Listed below are events that drew over 100 entries.
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22,750,000 | ST Sato Takumi Japan | 975.82 |
| 2 | 14,300,000 | KI Kim In Gyu South Korea | 690.01 |
| 3 | 9,200,000 | YH Yu Hyeon Seung South Korea | 563.39 |
| 4 | 6,300,000 | UC Uda Chntsu Japan | 487.91 |
| 5 | 4,700,000 | WS Wu Siman China | 436.40 |
| 6 | 3,900,000 | WY Woo Young Ho South Korea | 398.38 |
| 7 | 3,300,000 | NY Nishikawa Yuki Japan | 368.83 |
| 8 | 2,800,000 | A Aito Japan | 345.01 |
| 9 | 2,300,000 | CI Cho Il Chan South Korea | 325.27 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,200,000 | BG Biao Guo China | 542.60 |
| 2 | 3,200,000 | KS Kim Sangho South Korea | 383.67 |
| 3 | 2,000,000 | LC Lee Cheong Hoon South Korea | 313.27 |
| 4 | 1,500,000 | LJ Lee Jeong Yeob South Korea | 271.30 |
| 5 | 1,050,000 | KR Kotake Ryo Japan | 242.66 |
| 6 | 890,000 | LS Lee Sang Min South Korea | 221.51 |
| 7 | 740,000 | KD Kim Don Won South Korea | 205.08 |
| 8 | 600,000 | CB Choi Bong Jin South Korea | 191.84 |
| 9 | 500,000 | NC Nam Chi Gyu South Korea | 180.87 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4,700,000 | MT Masaya Tokui Japan | 496.07 |
| 2 | 2,900,000 | CE Cho Eun Seo South Korea | 350.77 |
| 3 | 1,700,000 | NY Nishikawa Yuki Japan | 286.41 |
| 4 | 1,200,000 | PM Park Mina South Korea | 248.03 |
| 5 | 910,000 | JH Jang Hyun Je South Korea | 221.85 |
| 6 | 720,000 | HS Hong Seung Jae South Korea | 202.52 |
| 7 | 600,000 | SR Sun Rui China | 187.50 |
| 8 | 520,000 | KK Kyungruk Kim South Korea | 175.39 |
| 9 | 460,000 | MH Miyoshi Hiroshi Japan | 165.36 |
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9,000,000 | KH Kim Hyun Su South Korea | 832.90 |
| 2 | 7,800,000 | LD Lee Dong Hun South Korea | 588.95 |
| 3 | 6,400,000 | MY Moon Young Chan South Korea | 480.88 |
| 4 | 5,000,000 | CH Choi Hyeon Yeol South Korea | 416.45 |
| 5 | 2,900,000 | LM Lee Myeong Seong South Korea | 372.49 |
| 6 | 2,450,000 | JC Joo Cheol Hyeon South Korea | 340.03 |
| 7 | 2,000,000 | CI Cho Il Chan South Korea | 314.81 |
| 8 | 1,600,000 | HH Hyun Hyeong Cheol South Korea | 294.48 |
| 9 | 1,300,000 | JS Jang Su Min South Korea | 277.63 |
Up Next: Super Cup Incheon
Super Cup continues to bring players in Korea live poker action with the brand headed to Incheon from October 2-12, 2025 at the Paradise City Resort. Mark the dates!
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