Strong Turnout for Day 1a of the 2019 PokerStars Red Dragon Jeju ?2,500,000 Main Event
While the final day of the ?5,000,000 High Roller gathered most of the attention at the Landing Casino on Jeju Island in South Korea, the flagship event of the 2019 PokerStars LIVE Asia Red Dragon Jeju festival has seen an excellent turnout for the ?2,500,000 Main Event.
Rich in history throughout 11 years in Macau, it was the second time the Red Dragon Main Event was held in Jeju and a new record for a major live poker event on South Korean soil may be set as the 613-entry strong field of 2018 may be surpassed with two starting days remaining.
Yuechun Shi was the man to slay the dragon back during its last outing at the Jeju Red Dragon 2018, taking home the iconic red dragon trophy and top prize of ?266,060,000 (US$237,700) one year ago at the Landing Casino. Expectations were already high thanks to the impressive turnout in the High Roller and Day 1a certainly did'nt disappoint.
A total of 252 entries including 223 unique players and 29 re-entries were generated and after 12 levels of 40 minutes, only 80 players bagged and tagged for the night. Shi's countryman Xiaqing Ji took over the pole position after the opening flight, bagging up 355,500 in chips.
Ji has previously tasted success in South Korea, having won his first PokerStars LIVE title after taking down the ?250k APPT Korea Short Deck Event back in April for a ?6,400,000 (US$5,644) payday and boasts three live titles to his name, in addition to over US$180,000 in live tournament winnings
China’s Hanze Wang (332,000) finished close behind Ji in the counts - the only other player to bag over 300k in chips.
China’s Yifan Cao (248,000) and Dong Jiang (240,000) also enjoyed the rub of the green, with Taiwan’s Wen Kai Chen (235,500) rounding out the top five.
Main Event Day 1a Top 10 Stacks
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xiaqing Ji | China | 355,500 |
| 2 | Hanze Wang | China | 332,000 |
| 3 | Yifan Cao | China | 248,000 |
| 4 | Dong Jiang | China | 240,000 |
| 5 | Wen Kai Chen | Taiwan | 235,500 |
| 6 | Jun Su | China | 232,000 |
| 7 | James Lee | United States | 228,000 |
| 8 | Ben Lai | Honh Kong | 220,000 |
| 9 | Nan Zhao | China | 175,500 |
| 10 | Tianliang Guan | China | 170,000 |
Other notables to succeed in their quest to lock up a Day 2 berth included Singapore’s Alex Lee (133,500), reigning APPT Korea Main Event Champion Sparrow Cheung (99,500), Taiwan’s Pete Chen (58,500), Hong Kong’s Carson Wong (45,000) and Malaysia’s Natalie Teh (38,000).
Notable eliminations included APPT Jeju Main Event Champion Huidong Gu, former APPT Korea Main Event Champion and high roller extraordinaire Michael Soyza, New Zealand’s Tae Hoon Han and a former Asia player of the year in Taiwan’s Hung Sheng Lin.
All those that busted have another two chances to earn a stack for Day 2 and retain their chances at a portion of the guaranteed prize pool of ?1,000,000,000. Day 1b gets underway at 1 p.m. local time on Monday, November 11th, 2019, with the same 40-minute levels as Day 1a, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, sports slightly faster 20-minute levels and kicks off at 8 p.m local time.
The PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide updates for both flights and until a champion has been crowned in the flagship event of the festival in Jeju on Wednesday, November 13th, 219.