Yichen Wu Wins Red Dragon Classic Championship for KRW 267 Million (~USD 199,000)

Yichen Wu won the Red Dragon Classic Championship at Jeju Poker Festival 2026, needing just three hands of heads-up to beat Aleksandras Rusinovas at LES A Casino.

The KRW 266,980,000 (~USD 198,940) top prize is by far the biggest score of his career, more than ten times his previous best live cash and well over double his total live earnings before this week.

The KRW 2,500,000 Red Dragon Poker Tour event drew 668 entries across four starting flights, building a KRW 1,442,880,000 (~USD 1,075,170) prize pool, well past its KRW 1,200,000,000 guarantee.

Wu, from Beijing, bagged on Day 1A and finished Day 2 ninth in chips among the final 16.

Red Dragon Classic Final Table Results

The Final Day

Wing Yin Lee was the first player out on the final day when her ace-ten ran into Lao Wu's pocket aces, and Wu soon made his move.

His pocket tens sent Bien Mai out in 14th, and two hands later he called Maxim Lykov's small blind shove with king-ten to eliminate the Russian in 13th.

Rusinovas knocked out Hao Chen on the final table bubble to take a big lead into the final nine.

The Final Nine

Jing Su, who led Day 1C, went out first at the final table when his ace-queen was dominated by two ace-kings, and Wu's pocket aces sent out Lei Li in 8th.

Wu also bluffed Rusinovas off a big pot with pocket nines, before his pocket tens filled up to beat the Lithuanian's flopped straight in a 4,775,000 pot.

Rusinovas, 4th in the KPC Main Event earlier in the festival, stayed in front as the final table sped up. His pocket queens beat Mingchen Zhang's tens in 7th, and after Hanyu Shao fell in 6th to overnight leader Hugues Girard, Rusinovas sent out Youfan Zhang and Lao Wu in back-to-back hands to reach 17,000,000.

Girard had turned a royal flush earlier to stay alive, and three-handed play lasted around two hours as he and Wu traded second place.

Wu doubled through Rusinovas when his pocket eights held against sevens, and he took a key flip with ace-queen against Girard's pocket sixes.

Rusinovas eventually ended Girard's run in 3rd when the Lithuanian's ace-six paired against Girard's nine-eight.

Heads-Up

Rusinovas started heads-up with around 17,000,000 to Wu's 9,700,000, but the lead changed on the first hand. Wu flopped two pair with eight-three of clubs and check-raised all in, and Rusinovas called with king-jack.

Two hands later, Rusinovas got his chips in with king-queen of clubs against ace-jack, and Wu's ace high held to win the title.

Rusinovas collected KRW 176,900,000 (~USD 131,820) as runner-up.

Wu on His Third Main Event Title

Wu has previously won an 1,800-entry Main Event in China, and this was his third career Main Event title. He described the win with one word.

"Proud. When the final table got down to the final three, it was me against two foreign players. So winning this championship took on a different, special significance for me."

He was playing as part of the Expedition Team and said he would most likely not have travelled without their support.

He pointed to his experience at past Main Event final tables as the key to his win, and singled out his heads-up opponent.

"The Lithuanian player I played heads-up against. His style was very versatile and loose-aggressive. Battling him was filled with deep strategic leveling and mental warfare."

Wu rested on the day off after Day 1A and went for morning runs before Days 2 and 3. He will play the Red Dragon Plus Championship next, aiming to become a Red Dragon double champion.

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Images and data courtesy of Jeju Poker Festival.