Thursday, 28th March 2024 16:01
Home / Uncategorized / Jeju Red Dragon 2018 Main Event: Qi Wang nabs chip lead at the last in a thrilling conclusion to Day 2

After 234 runners started the day, the field has been whittled down to 26 in the Landing Casino, Jeju Island, South Korea. In the closing moments of the night, Qi Wang bagged the biggest stack and will start tomorrow with 1.015 million in chips after winning a pot that eliminated one of the last two surviving Red Dragon Champions, Bold Buyanjargal, and netted a double from chip leader at the time, Ziming Chen. In total 631 entries generated a â‚©1,226,000,000 prizepool and the winner will take home a very attractive â‚©266,060,000 (~US$237,700) top prize.

Qi Wang tops Main Event Day 2 Counts

For much of the day it looked like the chip lead would go to either Chen or Wei Zhang, that was until Wang took down the biggest pot of the day in a hand that called time on Day 2. With four players involved in a pot, three ended up getting in on the flop and Wang came out on top. This left him not only bagging the lead but also meant he was the only player to have a seven-figure stack to bring back tomorrow. Simultaneously another hand played out on a neighbouring table that resulted in the elimination of Qiang Xu.

Before all that happened, we had to reach the money. With 72 paid, it was Yuanchao Li who was the unfortunate bubble boy. He ran ace-king into pocket kings and and couldn’t find an ace to keep him in, missing out on the â‚©4,410,000 mincash. Other players who failed to get a return on their money included Alan Lau, James Lee, Justin Chan, Nan Hong and Ben Lai.

Justin Chan

Some big names did manage to make it through, despite falling at the end. Victor Chong busted in 38th place (â‚©5,640,000) and Yoshitaka Okawa in 43rd (â‚©5,640,000). For the current payouts list click here.

Last woman standing Wei Zhang (866,000) had a fantastic run after winning a crucial pot for an early chip lead against Tian Le Wang, the Day 1B chip leader. She will go through in second place. Liang Xu (795,000) finished in third, Lu Chen (751,000) in fourth and Bingfu Huang (728,000) rounded out the top five. Notables Christopher Park (538,000), Tae Hoon Han (460,000) and Xuming Qi (128,000) are also still in the running.

Wei Zhang

So that concludes Day 2. Play resumes tomorrow at 2pm, where we will play until only nine finalists remain. As with today, levels will be 60 minutes long. We expect it to be action-packed so don’t forget to tune in for live updates that will run from start to finish. See you then.


12:35am: Monster three-way pot changes chip lead to conclude Day 2 of the Main Event
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

With 15 minutes left of Level 21, we have just seen a dramatic hand that has changed everything at the top of the counts, as well as bust the last Red Dragon trophy holder.

It all began with an open under the gun from Zhenru Xie to 36,000. He found three callers; Ziming Chen, in middle position, Bold Buyanjargal on the button and Qi Wang in the big blind.

The flop came 3♣ 4♠ 2♣ and when there was no continuation from Xie, Chen made a bet of 79,000. Next to act was Buyanjargal who went into the tank before moving all-in over the top for 190,000 and Wang followed suit, rejamming over him for 321,000. Back to Chen and the chip leader thought about it before overcalling and they turned their cards on their backs.

Qi Wang: A♣ 10♣
Ziming Chen: 10♦ 10♠
Bold Buyanjargal 9♥ 9♦

Buyanjargal was in very bad shape, with only the case nine to keep him from the rail. Chen had the overpair but Wang had an over, a flush draw and a gutshot, giving him plenty of outs to win.

The 5♣ turn locked it up for Wang and the K♥ made no difference…all the chips went to Wang. He finished the night with 1.015 million and Chen dropped to 678,000, whilst we say goodbye to Buyanjargal.

Though this hand officially ended Day 2, there was another hand in play at the same time that also saw a bust out and it saw Qiang Xu eliminated in 27th place, meaning 26 will return for Day 3 tomorrow. A full wrap of the day’s action will be with you shortly.

12:25am: Chen in the chip lead
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

With only a couple of players to go before we reach our final 27 (when Day 2 concludes), Ziming Chen is in the chip lead. He is the first player to reach 7 figures, having a cool 1 million in chips.

Ziming Chen

12:15am: Zhang continuing to build
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Wei Zhang hasn’t looked back since winning that huge pot versus Tian Le Wang. The last woman standing has been chipping up steadily and is now on around 900,000. The most recent chips were acquired when she four-bet all-in over a 100,000 three-bet and secured a fold.

12:05am: Huang doubles
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Just now, Hui Huang won a flip to stay in the game. He had 10♣ 10♥ in the hole and was looked up by A♥ Q♥ . The board ran out 4♣ 10♦ K♦ 3♦ K♠ to give Huang a set on the flop and a full house by the river. He is now playing with a 338,000 stack.

Hui Huang

11:55pm: The final stretch
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

That concludes the last break of the day. There is now a maximum of 2 more hours on the clock, unless we lose four more players, which will also mean the end of Day 2.

11:45pm: Last break of the day
Level 20: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Play will resume in ten minutes.

11:40pm: Chip counts
Level 20: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

An update on how some of the notables are doing:

Wei Zhang – 670,000
Kevin Tse – 590,000
Tsz Fai Tong – 317,000
Bold Buyanjargal – 265,000
Tae Hoon Han – 255,000

11:30pm: Okawa busts
Level 20: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Yoshitaka Okawa has hit the rail and Bold Buyanjargal is the only Former Red Dragon player in the field. Buyanjargal won his title back in early 2014…could he become the third player to hold two titles?

11:20pm: Xiao survives
Level 20: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

There are now just 32 left, with five more hitting the rail. Guangliang Xiao isn’t one of them though. He shoved 156,000 all-in preflop and after one player called, he managed to hold with the best of it.

Guangliang Xiao: J♦ J♣
Opponent: A♦ 10♦

6♥ Q♦ 10♣ J♥ 3♥

The pot puts Xiao up to 320,000, which gives him a little more breathing room.

10:55pm: Tong puts his opponent in a difficult spot
Level 20: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

The board had already played to the turn and it read J♠ 7♥ 4♠ K♣ . Tsz Fai Tong had checked and then faced a 42,000 bet from his opponent. With a little over 100,000 in the middle, the total pot was worth about 150,000 and with 310,000 behind, Tong opted to move all-in.

It looked like a tough decision from the other player, who put his head in his hands at one point but ultimately he decided that passing was the best option. It was a good scoop that puts Tong up to 485,000.

Tsz Fai Tong

10:35pm: Ten to go
Level 19: Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

With Day 2 ending either at the end of Level 22 (around 2:40am) or when we have reached ten players, it is looking increasingly likely that it will be the latter, as we are currently down to 37 players, with an average stack of 27 big blinds.

10:10pm: Some chip counts
Level 19: Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Kevin Tse – 620,000
Wei Zhang – 590,000
Toshiyaka Okawa – 270,000
Xuming Qi – 220,000
Tae Hoon Han – 210,000
Victor Chong – 148,000
Bold Buyanjargal – 115,000

9:45pm: Players are back in their seats
Level 19: Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Players on the last seven tables have sat down following their ten-minute recess.

9:35pm: Break time
Level 18: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

There is potentially another four hours of play left, either that or play will stop when there are 27 left.

9:20pm: Two former champions are still in the running
Level 18: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

There are at least two former Red Dragon champions in the running. Yoshitaka Okawa and Bold Buyanjargal. They are in very different situations with Buyanjargal down to just 16,000 (two big blinds), whereas Okawa (395,000) is in good shape with double the average stack.

Bold Buyanjargal

9:10pm: Young out
Level 18: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Having blinded down to just 1 chip (1,000), Cheng Young was forced to go all-in on the hand following the bubble burst, no matter his cards. He wasn’t able to make a comeback but at least he made the â‚©4,410,000 min cash.

Cheung Young, smiling after making it to the min cash with just one chip left

9:05pm: Yuanchao Li is the bubble boy
Level 18: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

After almost an hour of hand for hand, Yuanchao Li is the unfortunate bubble boy, in a dramatic three-way all-in preflop situation. Li wasn’t the shortest stack but he, along with Yida Wang were both at risk to biggest stack Liang Xu.

Yuanchao Li: A♠ K♣
Yida Wang: K♦ 9♦
Liang Xu: K♠ K♥

The flop fellK♦ 6♥ 7♠

There was a gasp from the crowd as the flop brought out a straight draw for Wang. There was no sweat for him as the 10♦ came on the turn meant the worst case scenario would be a chop. At the same time, Li needed an ace to win or a nine to chop in order to stay alive.

The 4â™  river bricked and Li is the last person to hit the rail without making a return. Wang is extremely lucky to survive and took the 45,000 main pot, whilst Xu won the bigger side pot and is up to a very healthy 380,000.

Li Yuanchao

8:50pm: Shorties keep doubling
Level 18: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

The bubble is taking some time to burst and we have lost count of the number of times there has been an all in and the short stack has managed to double.

8:10pm: Hand for hand
Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Hand for hand play is in effect, with 73 players left.

8pm: Chong Doubles
Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Victor Chong has secured a double after getting it in against Li Feng with K♥ J♣ to Feng’s J♦ 10♦ .

It was a 61,000 shove preflop, so Chong is back up to around 130,000 in a day that has been full of ups and downs for the pro.

7:45pm: The bubble looms
Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

There are 76 left with 72 paid. Four players will not make the â‚©4,410,000 min cash.

7:40pm: Notable exits
Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Alan Lau and Justin Chan have both busted the Main Event. Both players were short when they got it in and were unable to spin up. They both finish outside of the money.

Alan Lau

7:30pm: Chip leaders
Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Just before the break we covered a huge pot involving Wei Zhang that looked like it could be good for the chip lead. We can now confirm that she is actually one big blind behind Kevin Tse, who is our chip leader with 15 people to go until the money.

Kevin Tse – 531,000
Wei Zhang – 525,000

Kevin Tse

7:20pm: They are back
Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

There are 87 players back in their seats. Hopefully they have had sufficient to eat and drink during the last hour and are ready to play some more poker.

6:15pm: Dinner break
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

That’s four hours of Day 2 in the books. See you back here in 60 minutes.

6:05pm: Lu eliminated
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

After the three-handed all in win for Zhenhua Lu noted a few posts ago, the last hour has not been kind and Lu found himself in the danger zone with only 24,000 left and sat under the gun. He shipped and found a caller from the button and a squeeze all-in from the big blind. The button folded and Lu was in for a triple once more. He was in bad shape again though with Q♥ 9â™  to his opponent’s K♦ Qâ™  and the board couldn’t save him.

Zhenhua Lu

5:55pm: Zhang looking good for the chip lead after tussle with Wang
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Action was on the 5♠ 5♥ 8♣ 3♦ turn with a ton of chips already in and the two players vying for them were Wei Zhang and Tian Le Wang, the Day 1B chip leader.

Zhang checked and Wang moved all in, which was enough to cover her. She made the call though and when the cards were turned over, she was the massive favourite.

Wei Zhang: J♣ J♠
Tian Le Wang: 7♥ 8♦

Wang called for an eight but the 10♦ river didn’t oblige him Zhang scoops more than half a million chips, which is a strong contender for the chip lead. Wang meanwhile is down to fumes with just three big blinds left.

Wei Zhang

5:45pm: Chip Updates
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Here are how some of big names in the field are faring…
Xuming Qi – 370,000
Yoshitaka Okawa – 370,000
Xing Long Huang – 205,500
Tae Hoon Han – 77,500
Victor Chong – 45,000

5:35pm: Monster hands hold for Kwok and Li
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Ho Yuen Kwok and Yiyao Li have just doubled with pocket kings and pocket aces respectively.

Kwok is now playing with 260,000 and Li has 120,000 in front.

5:20pm: Nearing the top 100
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Blinds have gone up and there are 108 entrants still in with a shot. There will be 72 paid today and that is likely to happen in the next few hours. All those surviving past the bubble will be guaranteed a minimum payout of â‚©4,410,000.

5:05pm: Lu’s incredible celebration
Level 15: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

There was an awful lot of excitement coming from one of the near tables. We hot-footed it over to find out what all the commotion was about, just in time to see a three-way all-in hand. Zhenhua Lu had gotten it in with A♠ 8♥ against A♣ J♥ and A♥ 6♥ .

8♠ 2♠ 8♦ J♦ K♥

The flop locked the hand up for Lu and to stay he was pumped is an understatement. Alongside crying out in delight (we have it on good authority that even if we got a translation from Mandarin to English, we would not be able to repeat what he said here), Lu also stepped away from the table in order to get the space the needed to jump up and down in celebration. It was very impressive to behold, with Lu attaining the kind of height you’d only expect someone on a trampoline to reach.

With around 160,000 chips in play, Lu is now in a decent position to hang around for a while. Without wanting to show favouritism, we must admit we hope that is the case, as Lu will undoubtedly continue to add colour (and colourful language), whilst he remains in the game.

4:50pm: Table 2 is one to watch
Level 15: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Another table that has a bunch of notables on it is Table 2. Day 2 chip leader Jian Le Wang, High Roller Finalist Xing Long Huang and PokerStars Festival Korea winner Tae Hoon Han are all sat on the same table and each one of them is doing better than average stack-wise.

Tian Le Wang – 305,000
Xing Long Huang – 225,000
Tae Hoon Han – 125,000

4:35pm: Li out
Level 15: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

High Roller Champion Yin Gui Li hasn’t managed to continue his run through the Main Event. He had gotten short over the last couple of hours and got it in with a flip with pocket fives against Chi Ying Tsai’s king-queen. Tsai paired her queen on the turn and that signalled the end for Li who finished outside the money.

Yin Gui Li

4:25pm: Qi running hot
Level 15: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Xuming Qi has been a very busy bee during the first two hours of play. Currently 23rd on China’s all-time money list with almost $800,000 in recorded live tournament results, Qi began the day with one of the largest stacks at 113,800 but he has more than doubled and now has a hefty 268,000 to play with.

Xuming Qi

4:15pm: Play resumes
Level 15: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

There are 131 remaining of the 613 entries and they are all back in their seats and raring to go.

4:05pm: First break of the day
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

It’s that time and players will take a short break, before returning in ten minutes.

4pm: Some updated counts
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Here’s how some of the big names in the field are currently getting on:

Tae Hoon Han – 120,000
Yoshitaka Okawa – 117,000
Yin Gui Li – 67,000
Alan Lau – 52,200
Victor Chong – 43,500
Chi Ling Tsai – 39,000

3:50pm: No double title for Lee
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Baby Dragon winner James Won Lee has been eliminated. Coming into Day 2 with a short-stack, Lee failed to spin up and so will not be able to win back-to-back Baby Dragon and Red Dragon titles.

3:40pm: Red Dragon Main Event breakdown by country/region
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

The record-breaking 613-strong field drew players from 20 different countries with China (74.1%) making up the largest portion of the field with 454 unique entries. Hong Kong (5.1%) and Taiwan (4.7%) were close to tied for the next largest representation with 31 and 29 entries respectively.

Jeju Red Dragon Main Event by Country

3:25pm: Schedule update
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

There have been a couple of changes to the original tournament schedule. We will now play down to 27 players or a maximum of 10 Levels, whichever comes first.

There will also be a one-hour dinner break taking place around 6:30pm.

3:10pm: The field continues to thin
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

We have lost 36 players in the first level, which leaves 198 hopefuls still in. The average stack is 62,000 at the moment, which at this level is only 21 big blinds and as a result we expect the bustouts to continue coming thick and fast.

3pm: Xie drops a little
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

Overall Day 1 chip leader Hao Qi Xie had remained steady for the first hour of the day, sitting on 217,000 at the start of the hand. The action folded to Xie and he opened to 4,500. There was a big blind defend from Xiaosheng Zheng and the two went heads up to the flop.

K♦ 4♠ 9♣

Zheng checked to Xie, who continued for 5,700 and Zheng peeled. The 8♥ turn saw Zie barrel for a pricier 13,000 and again Zheng called. Finally the dealer laid a 10♦ on the river and both players took their time before checking.

Zheng turned over 8♣ 9♦ for middle pair on the flop that improved to two pair on the turn and Xie mucked. Zheng’s stack has increased to 128,000, whilst Xie has dropped to 204,500.

Hao Qi Xie

2:50pm: Table 13…unlucky for some?
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

That may be how the rest of the table feels, as the are playing against two-time Asia Player of the Year Alan Lau, High Roller Champion Yin Gui Li, Day 1B second chip leader Kun Wang and Baby Dragon finalist Chi Ying Tsai. Table 13 is certainly one to keep an eye on.

2:40pm: Han finds help
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

There was a premium hand clash in a hand involving Jian Han and one other player just now. Han had shoved 24,000 all-in and found a caller a couple of seats to his left. Everyone else got out of the way and when the cards were flipped over, Han saw that he needed help with A♦ K♣ against K♠ K♦ .

He found it straight away with an ace in the window on 4♥ J♥ A♠ . This meant he only one out to dodge, the case king, in order to stay in the game. The A♣ on the turn locked it up, with the 10♥ river making no difference as his oppenent was drawing dead. Han has doubled to 54,000 in play now.

2:30pm: Okawa doubles through quads
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

Former APPT Champion Yoshitaka Okawa has secured an early double. Following a middle position open, Okawa jammed 37,000 and was called by his opponent. Okawa was a long way ahead with Q♣ Q♦ against 10♣ 10♦ .

The flop fell 7♥ Q♠ J♥ , giving Okawa a set and by the Q♥ improved his hand to quads, rendering the 5♣ meaningless. Okawa has moved up to 80,000 chips now.

Yoshitaka Okawa

2:20pm: Jeju Red Dragon Official Payouts
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

The numbers are in for the Main Event with the 613-strong field generating a â‚©1,226,000,000 prize pool. The top 72 places will payout, with a min-cash good for â‚©4,410,000 with the winner walking away with the â‚©266,060,000 (~US$237,700) top prize, in addition to the trophy and title.

You can view all the Official Payouts here.

2:15pm: Nine bustouts in nine minutes
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

With some very short stacks coming back today, it is perhaps no surprise that we have seen a string of eliminations within ten minutes of the start today. Still, that means 234 have become 225.

2:05pm: Day 2 is underway
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

The sound of chips riffling can be heard across the card room, which means one thing…cards are in the air for Day 2.


Today sees 234 runners return to the felt for Day 2 of the prestigious Red Dragon Main Event. There were 613 players in total, across two starting days, which has officially set the country record for the largest Main Event field in Korean history and generating a massive â‚©1.226 million (almost US$1.1 million) prizepool in the process.

Landing Casino, Jeju Island

Hao Qi Xie finished top of the counts with 218,000 chips and was the only player to exceed the 200,000 mark, leaving him in the best position to take home the â‚©266,060,000 (~US$237,700) first place prize. Xie is followed by Tian Le Wang (144,100) in second and Kun Wang (139,500) in third. Chun Kong Kwok (128,800) and Qiang Xu (126,100) rounded out the top five.

The schedule has been adjusted for Day 2, with 9 one-hour levels on the clock now. This should take the pressure off of Day 3, which given the large field, would have meant a very long day tomorrow. The action will kick-off at 2pm and with ten-minute breaks every two hours, play will finish around 12:30am.

There are still some big names in contention. Qiu Ming Qin (92,900), Alan Lau (66,700) and Bold Buyanjargal (39,600) are all former Red Dragon Champions and will bring experience as well as their chips with them for Day 2. Joining them are Victor Chong (115,800), Xuming Qi (113,800), Xing Long Huang (101,900), Tae Hoon Han (95,200), Justin Chan (87,700), Sumit Sapra (87,000), Celine Li (80,700), Yin Gui Li (63,600) Yoshitaka Okawa (46,400) and James Won Lee (31,600). Please click here for the Day 2 seat draw.

The schedule has been adjusted for Day 2, with 9 one-hour levels on the clock now. This should take the pressure off of Day 3, which given the large field, would have meant a very long day tomorrow. The action will kick-off at 2pm and with ten-minute breaks every two hours, play will finish around 12:30am. We will see you back here at 2pm, when we will bring you live updates from the start, taking you right through to when the last chip has been bagged.

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