Welcome to Day 1a of the 2019 PokerStars Red Dragon Jeju ?2,500,000 Main Event
Originally launched as part of the Macau Poker Cup Series back in 2008 when poker in Macau was in its infancy, just 33 players entered the first-ever Red Dragon Main Event, which boasted an HK$10,000 buy-in and was held at the Grand Waldo Hotel.
The first Red Dragon champion back then was Kenny Leong who took home the lion’s share of the HK$316,000 (US$40,612) prize pool and one of live poker's most-unique looking tournament trophy, in addition to the HK$126,700 (US$16,242) top prize.
Since then, the Red Dragon Main Event has established itself as one of the most popular live events in Asia and set records for the largest freeze-out tournament ever held in the Asia Pacific Region multiple times. The Red Dragon still holds the current record, set during the September 2017 edition of the Main Event, which drew a staggering 1,308 runners and generated a HK$17,128,260 (US$2,189,058) prize pool, with China’s Qiuming Qin slaying the dragon for a HK$3,141,000 (US$401,432) payday.
There were a total of 29 Red Dragon Main Events throughout the last 11 years and just two players managed to claim two titles to their name: PokerStars ambassador Celina Lin and UK's Tom Alner. Furthermore, Lin also has an additional runner-up finish as well. She won't be around this time, however, after giving birth to her daughter Nova just one week ago.
The first Red Dragon Main Event outside of Macau took place one year ago right here at the Landing Casino in Jeju and it was also the first time the freezeout format changed to a single re-entry per flight. China’s Yuechun Shi was crowned the first-ever Jeju Red Dragon Main Event Champion, defeating a 613-strong field for a payday of ?266,060,000 (~US$237,700). It was also the largest field for a Main Event in South Korean history and this record may fall in the 2019 edition.
There will be three starting days for the 2019 PokerStars Red Dragon Jeju Main Event on November 10th and 11th, 2019, with 12 levels scheduled in each flight. The tournament comes with a buy-in of ?2,500,000 (~$2,150) and a guaranteed prize pool of ?1,000,000,000 (~$862,990).
Day 1a and 1b will feature levels of 40 minutes each while the turbo Day 1c has a level duration of 20 minutes. The registration and single re-entry period for each flight conclude after the end of level nine.
Day 1 Level Structure
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 2 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 3 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 4 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 5 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| 7 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 9 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 10 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 11 | 800 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| 12 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
While the PokerNews live updates for the day will focus on the conclusion of the ?5,000,000 High Roller, the full chip counts for all Day 1a survivors and a recap of the day will be published at the end of the night.