WPT Korea 2024: Yu Lei wins Single Day High Roller for KRW 181,250,000 (~USD 134K); Zhang Lirui clinches WPT Opener title; Li Lei leads Jeju Dragon Quest Day 2
The tables at Landing Casino, Jeju Shinhwa World, South Korea have been brimming with excitement as WPT Korea festival takes center stage with a full ten-day lineup through Wednesday, April 3rd. Day 3 of the series saw Yu Lei conquer the Single Day High Roller event and capture the third WPT Korea Ring this season. The multi-day Opener likewise welcomed its newest champion with China’s Zhang Lirui topping the 387-entry field. Check out these highlights below.
WPT Korea 2024 – Festival Results
WPT Korea 2024 – Player Guide
Players continue to arrive with the Main Event set to kick off this afternoon, March 28th. The first of three flights will run through, setting each player back KR₩ 2,800,000 (~US$ 2,100) for a chance to claim the lion’s share of the KR₩ 2,000,000,000 (~US$ 1,500,000) guaranteed prize pool. Running alongside is Event #7: NLH Bounty, along with Day 2 of the Jeju Dragon Quest.
China’s Yu Lei wins Single Day High Roller for KRW 181,250,000 (~USD 134,810)
The first of two Single Day High Roller events on schedule attracted a great turnout of 65 entries and saw its prize pool amount to KR₩ 573,300,000 (~USD 426,410) by the time registration closed. Only nine players locked in a share of the pot, guaranteeing each final table contender a minimum cash of KRW 18,100,000 (~USD 13,460). A lengthy battle ensued where it took nearly fourteen hours on the floor before a champion was crowned.
Yu’s rush to the top began early in the evening after he doubled off Wang Afu with 
vs the latter’s 
. By dinner break, Yu was already stacking atop the ranks and carried this lead all the way down to the final table. Yu only lost his advantage after a three way pot against Zhou Quan and Chu Chi Jen saw his pocket aces head to the muck. Zhou, running hot, spiked a two outer vs Yu and claimed the full triple up along with the chip lead. Zhou’s momentum wouldn’t stop there as he managed to scoop up Toma Tsugunari’s stack not long after.
Down to three handed play, shortest stacked Christopher Park found himself having to go with 
and faced Yu’s 
for a race. Slightly behind, Park failed to catch up on board and was eliminated from the running. Heads up play saw Yu and Zhou have nearly equal stacks to start the final games. However just fifteen minutes in, Zhou was seen stacking all the chips and Yu down to five big blinds. Almost a done deal, this wasn’t the case as Yu won the next three pots to overtake his opponent. Yu finished him off with a final hand of 
against Zhou’s 
, earning him trips by the river to seal his victory. Yu takes with him a KRW 181,250,000 top payout, WPT Korea trophy, and WPT High Roller Ring for his impressive performance.
Date/s: March 27, 2024
Buy-in: KR₩ 10,000,000 (~USD 7,400)
Prize pool: KR₩ 573,300,000 (~USD 426,410)
Entries: 65 (52 unique)
ITM: 9 players
Event #4: Single Day High Roller Full Payouts
| Rank | Player | Flag | Prize (KRW) |
| 1 | Yu Lei | China | 181,250,000 |
| 2 | Zhou Quan | China | 120,850,000 |
| 3 | Park Christopher | United States | 80,550,000 |
| 4 | Toma Tsugunari | Japan | 56,000,000 |
| 5 | Chu Chi Jen | Taiwan | 40,600,000 |
| 6 | Xu Hang | China | 30,850,000 |
| 7 | Lin Chen-An | Taiwan | 24,550,000 |
| 8 | Chen Mingcong | China | 20,550,000 |
| 9 | Weng Stanley | United States | 18,100,000 |
WPT Korea 2024 – Single Day High Roller Live Updates
China’s Zhang Lirui clinches WPT Opener title – KRW 57,624,000 (~USD 42,850)
The WPT Opener Day 2 games welcomed 48 runners back on the felt vying for the KRW 57,624,000 (~USD 42,850) listed top prize, WPT trophy, and a side event WPT Korea Ring. It took over four hours of play before the field dwindled down to its final nine players. China’s Lin Yan led the hunt, joined by flight chip leaders Iakimenko Anton and Augutis Vilius.
Six levels was all Zhang Lirui needed to secure the victory, defeating Australia’s Ai Rex Hunt in a quick heads up battle along the way. Zhang started the duel with 2:1 advantage and locked in the win in just under an hour. The final hand saw Ai all-in with 
against Zhang’s 
. Whilst dominated, Zhang continued his run good and locked in the win on board 
. Ai settled for a runner up finish and KRW 38,380,000 (~USD 28,540) in winnings while Zhang bagged the larger payout.
Date/s: March 25 – 27, 2024
Buy-in: KR₩ 850,000 (~USD 630)
Prize pool: KR₩ 287,173,400 (~USD 213,590)
Entries: 387 (221 unique)
ITM: 50 players
Day 1A: 68 entries, 9 qualified
Day 1B: 206 entries, 26 qualified
Day 1C Turbo: 113 entries, 15 qualified
Event #1: WPT Opener Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Flag | Prize (KRW) |
| 1 | Zhang Lirui | China | 57,624,000 |
| 2 | Ai Rex Hunt | Australia | 38,380,000 |
| 3 | Lin Yan | China | 28,150,000 |
| 4 | Nielsen Martin | Denmark | 20,880,000 |
| 5 | Liu Yin | China | 15,670,000 |
| 6 | Yang Xi | China | 11,890,000 |
| 7 | Zhang Chenxu | China | 9,130,000 |
| 8 | Augutis Vilius | Lithuania | 7,090,000 |
| 9 | Iakimenko Anton | Russia | 5,570,000 |
WPT Korea 2024 – WPT Opener Day 2 Live Updates
China’s Li Lei leads Jeju Dragon Quest Day 2
Date/s: March 27-28, 2024
Buy-in: KR₩ 1,100,000 (~USD 810)
Prize pool: KR₩ 265,043,000 (~USD 197,130)
Entries: 276 (188 unique)
ITM: 37 players
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Pos. | Last Name | First Name | Flag | Chip Count |
| 1 | LI | LEI | China | 1,183,000 |
| 2 | ZHANG | XIN | China | 1,094,000 |
| 3 | NIELSEN | MARTIN | Denmark | 692,000 |
| 4 | LI | ZHONGXIAN | China | 672,000 |
| 5 | DOI | KEN | Japan | 516,000 |
| 6 | WU | SHENGHAO | China | 514,000 |
| 7 | LIU | ZHEXU | China | 496,000 |
| 8 | Chen | Chuan Shu | China | 458,000 |
| 9 | GAO | QINRONG | China | 439,000 |
| 10 | IAKIMENKO | ANTON | Russia | 439,000 |
| 11 | LOEFFLER | KILIAN MARKUS HYUN | Germany | 379,000 |
| 12 | JIN | BOXIN | China | 342,000 |
| 13 | LIN | KUAN YU | China | 339,000 |
| 14 | CHEN | YUFEI | China | 294,000 |
| 15 | NAKAYAMA | TAKUMI | Japan | 288,000 |
| 16 | MORI | AKIHITO | Japan | 283,000 |
| 17 | GOTO | DAISUKE | Japan | 282,000 |
| 18 | WU | PENG-SEN | Taiwan | 264,000 |
| 19 | KIM | ANDREI | Russia | 258,000 |
| 20 | YUZHU | WANG | China | 247,000 |
| 21 | CHANG | CHIH-CHUN | China | 215,000 |
| 22 | YANG | XI | China | 181,000 |
| 23 | KUN | WANG | China | 166,000 |
| 24 | LO | YU-JUNG | Taiwan | 155,000 |
| 25 | FELDMAN | LAWRENCE EVAN | United States | 147,000 |
| 26 | LEKEROV | AIBEK | Kazakhstan | 142,000 |
| 27 | Wang | Yanfeng | China | 123,000 |
| 28 | JIANG | DAQIAO | China | 114,000 |
| 29 | ZHANG | CHI | China | 72,000 |
| 30 | XU | YIGUANG | China | 66,000 |
| 31 | OHKUBO | TOMORO | Japan | 53,000 |
| 32 | LYU | BO | China | 51,000 |
| 33 | YANG | REN JUN | China | 48,000 |
| 34 | TANAKA KOTARO | Japan | 40,000 | |
| 35 | KANG | SEUNG KI | Japan | 35,000 |
| 36 | AGHAYEV | FARHAD | Azerbaigian | 15,000 |
Getting to Jeju Shinhwa Landing Resort
For arriving players, WPT is pulling out all the stops with a complimentary service straight to the venue. Just look for the WPT Korea banner right outside the arrivals gate and head down to the shuttle bus location. It takes approximately one hour to get to the Resort with the service running daily on a thirty minute interval starting at 7:00 a.m.
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