Dongli Shen Leads WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship Final Table With KRW 301.8 Million For the Champion
The WPT Seoul 2026 INSPIRE Championship is down to its final nine players after Sunday's Day 2 at INSPIRE Entertainment Resort in South Korea.
Dongli Shen leads the remaining field with 13,300,000 chips, nearly double the stack of Jun Li, as the finalists prepare to compete for the KRW 301,816,000 (~USD 221,270) first-place prize.
The KRW 1,750,000 Championship attracted 1,033 entries across four starting flights, generating a KRW 1,561,896,000 (~USD 1.15 million) prize pool and comfortably surpassing its KRW 1 billion guarantee.
Elsewhere, Aleksei Zhukov claimed the Evening Hyper Turbo title, while the Mini Championship attracted 416 entries and the High Roller surpassed its KRW 150 million guarantee.
Dongli Shen Takes the Lead of INSPIRE Championship Final Table
The WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship began Sunday with 127 players returning to compete for a place at Monday's final table.
Shen, who previously topped Friday's Day 1B flight, continued to apply pressure throughout Day 2, ending with 13,300,000, putting him well clear of his nearest rival.
One of his notable eliminations came against Saturday's chip leader Andy Kok, who entered the day with 1,563,000.
Kok's run ended in 19th place when he attempted a bluff holding bottom pair on a board showing four to a straight. Shen held Broadway and made the call, ending Kok's Championship run.
Robert Yamashita, who began Day 2 second in chips, also fell short of the final nine. Yamashita lost a significant portion of his stack after flopping a set of fives against Temuulen Adiya, eventually finishing 22nd.
Li enters the final day second with 6,775,000 chips. Born in China, Li has accumulated more than $1 million in live tournament earnings. Japan's Yosuke Sekiya follows with 4,975,000. The experienced professional, who was named Japan's Player of the Year in 2016, begins Monday in third position.
Also advancing is Tomoharu Hikino, who finished with 4,250,000. Hikino previously qualified through two starting flights, securing an additional minimum cash before beginning Day 2.
Double Elimination Sets Championship Final Nine
A three-way all-in brought Day 2 to a close, with two players eliminated in the same hand.. Hayato Nagasawa opened before Farhad Aghayev moved all-in from the small blind holding ace-ten, while Mongolia's Temuulen Adiya committed his remaining chips with ace-king. Nagasawa called with ace-jack and had both opponents covered.
The queen-seven-five flop changed nothing, but Aghayev took the lead when a ten came on the turn.
However, a king on the river completed Nagasawa's Broadway straight, eliminating Aghayev in tenth place and Adiya in eleventh.
Nagasawa advanced with 4,100,000 chips, securing his place alongside fellow Japanese players Sekiya, Hikino and Yumi Hanzawa at Monday's final table.
WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship Final Nine Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13,300,000 | 133 | ||
2 | 6,775,000 | 68 | ||
3 | 4,975,000 | 50 | ||
4 | 4,250,000 | 43 | ||
5 | Hayato Nagasawa | 4,100,000 | 41 | |
6 | Yumi Hanzawa | 4,075,000 | 41 | |
7 | 1,425,000 | 14 | ||
8 | 1,325,000 | 13 | ||
9 | 600,000 | 6 |
The three shortest stacks belong to Batsukh, Lee and Matahira, with Matahira facing the most pressure as play resumes with just six big blinds.
Championship Final Table Payouts
Place | Prize (KRW) | Prize (~USD) |
|---|---|---|
1 | 301,816,000 | $221,270 |
2 | 196,800,000 | $144,280 |
3 | 124,950,000 | $91,610 |
4 | 92,310,000 | $67,680 |
5 | 68,720,000 | $50,380 |
6 | 54,670,000 | $40,080 |
7 | 45,290,000 | $33,200 |
8 | 36,700,000 | $26,910 |
9 | 28,900,000 | $21,190 |
Payouts follow the official tournament sheet. The first-place prize package includes a $10,400 seat to the 2026 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
The final table is scheduled to begin at noon KST on Monday, November 9, with cards-up coverage on the WPT YouTube channel on a 30-minute delay.
Aleksei Zhukov Adds Evening Hyper Turbo Title
Russia's Aleksei Zhukov continued his successful year by winning Event #40, the KRW 1,000,000 Evening Hyper Turbo 20 Sec.
The tournament attracted 46 entries, generating a KRW 39,744,000 (~USD 29,140) prize pool, with eight players finishing in the money.
Zhukov defeated Japan's Keisuke Endo heads-up to collect KRW 12,324,000 (~USD 9,030).
Endo earned KRW 7,950,000 (~USD 5,830), while Taiwan's Kai Hung Hu finished third for KRW 5,170,000 (~USD 3,790).
Evening Hyper Turbo Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country | Prize (KRW) | Prize (~USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12,324,000 | $9,030 | ||
2 | Keisuke Endo | 7,950,000 | $5,830 | |
3 | Kai Hung Hu | 5,170,000 | $3,790 | |
4 | Kunihisa Miyamoto | 3,970,000 | $2,910 | |
5 | Yoshinori Kuramoto | 3,180,000 | $2,330 | |
6 | Yudai Yamaguchi | 2,780,000 | $2,040 | |
7 | Yu Arimoto | 2,380,000 | $1,740 | |
8 | Keiji Shikata | 1,990,000 | $1,460 |
Satsuki Suzuki Leads Mini Championship Into Final Day
The KRW 700,000 Mini Championship drew 416 entries across Sunday's two starting flights, generating a KRW 251,596,800 (~USD 184,450) prize pool.
Day 1A attracted 225 entries and produced 29 survivors, while Day 1B added another 191 entries, with 24 players advancing.
All 53 remaining players have secured a place in the money ahead of Monday's final day.
Japan's Satsuki Suzuki emerged as the overall chip leader with 1,130,000 after topping Day 1A.
USA's Brian Green follows with 975,000, while Japan's Ruki Nishibata sits third with 875,000 after leading Day 1B.
Mongolia's Javkhlantugs Tumurtogoo is close behind on 870,000, followed by Kazushi Higashiura with 685,000.
Mini Championship Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1,130,000 | ||
2 | 975,000 | ||
3 | Ruki Nishibata | 875,000 | |
4 | Javkhlantugs Tumurtogoo | 870,000 | |
5 | 685,000 | ||
6 | Hirotaka Fukatsu | 680,000 | |
7 | Tomoya Kakihara | 620,000 | |
8 | Yuda Zhou | 565,000 | |
9 | Man Chung Tsui | 455,000 | |
10 | Haruya Seikai | 450,000 |
Suzuki enters the final day with a 155,000-chip advantage over Green, while only 5,000 chips separate Nishibata and Tumurtogoo. The Mini Championship resumes at 11:30 AM KST on Monday, November 9.
Augustas Bareisa Takes Huge High Roller Chip Lead
The KRW 3,500,000 High Roller got underway on Sunday, surpassing its KRW 150 million (~USD 110,000) guarantee before Level 7.
Registration remained open overnight and will continue for the first two levels of Monday's Day 2, allowing the field and prize pool to grow further.
Lithuania's Augustas Bareisa finished Day 1 with a commanding lead of 2,325,000 chips, more than four times the stack of his nearest challenger.
Fellow Lithuanian Matas Kacinskas sits second with 494,500, followed by Vietnam's Van Tuan Pham with 452,000.
Russia's Nikita Ustiuzhanin advanced with 424,000, while Hong Kong's Tung Wing Wong completes the top five on 350,000.
High Roller Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2,325,000 | ||
2 | 494,500 | ||
3 | 452,000 | ||
4 | 424,000 | ||
5 | 350,000 | ||
6 | Domas Vasiliauskas | 321,500 | |
7 | Sirak Oganisian | 317,500 | |
8 | Tomas Mineika | 279,000 | |
9 | Tomoki Nozawa | 261,500 | |
10 | Zongjun Yan | 245,000 |
The High Roller resumes at 11:30 AM KST on Monday, with registration closing after two more levels of play.
WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship Finale Headlines Monday
Monday, November 9, marks the final day of WPT Seoul 2026, with the INSPIRE Championship set to crown its champion.
The Mini Championship and High Roller will also conclude, while five additional tournaments are scheduled throughout the day.
Monday, November 9 Schedule
Time (KST) | Event | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|
12:00 PM | #27 WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship Final Day* | KRW 1,750,000 |
11:30 AM | #38 Mini Championship Day 2 | KRW 700,000 |
11:30 AM | #39 High Roller Day 2 | KRW 3,500,000 |
11:30 AM | #41 Closer 7 Max | KRW 600,000 |
2:00 PM | #42 PLO Bounty Turbo | KRW 500,000 |
3:30 PM | #43 Championship Turbo 20 Sec | KRW 1,750,000 |
6:00 PM | #44 Evening Hyper Turbo 20 Sec | KRW 1,000,000 |
7:10 PM | #45 10/10/10 10 Sec | KRW 350,000 |
The 11-day festival concludes Monday evening, with the Championship winner receiving the largest first-place prize of the series.
About the Editor
Tim Baker is a UK-born Live Poker Reporter based in Indonesia, covering major poker tournaments across Asia and around the world since 2023. With nearly two decades of experience around live and online poker, he brings deep knowledge of the game and the international poker scene to his tournament coverage.
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