Two Starting Days Remain for the 2019 PokerStars Red Dagon Jeju ₩2,500,000 Main Event
One of the most popular live events of the Asia Pacific Region will once again lure poker enthusiasts from near and far to the poker tables of the Landing Casino on the island of Jeju in South Korea all in the hopes of engraving their name into the history books and attempting to win one of the most-unique trophies.
The flagship event of the 2019 PokerStars LIVE Asia Red Dragon Jeju festival is the ₩2,500,000 Main Event and takes place for the second time outside of Macau. One year ago, the largest Main Event in South Korean history saw a field of 613 entries and it was Yuechun Shi that lifted the shiny red dragon for the winner shots, also taking home ₩266,060,000 for his efforts.
There were a total of 29 editions of the Red Dragon Main Event so far, which was typically hosted as part of the Macau Poker Cup, and Tom Alner, as well as PokerStars ambassador Celina Lin, are the only two-time champions so far. Lin won't be in Jeju to possibly make it three wins as she just gave birth to her daughter Nova a week ago, Alner has not been spotted at the Landing Casino so far either.
The History of the Red Dragon Main Events at a Glance
| # | Year | Entries | Buy-in | Prize Pool | Winner | Country/Region | Top Prize | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | 33 | HK$10,000 | HK$316,000 | Kenny Leong | HK | HK$126,700 | $16,242 |
| 2 | 2008 | 31 | HK$10,000 | HK$297,600 | Denny Deng Feng Yu | China | HK$119,040 | $15,261 |
| 3 | 2008 | 37 | HK$10,000 | HK$355,200 | Jason Jia | HK | HK$142,080 | $18,323 |
| 4 | 2008 | 57 | HK$10,000 | HK$535,800 | Wing Cheung Chong | HK | HK$214,320 | $27,653 |
| 5 | 2009 | 112 | HK$10,000 | HK$1,052,800 | Zhenjian Lin | China | HK$284,300 | $36,671 |
| 6 | 2009 | 119 | HK$10,000 | HK$1,118,600 | Victor Chen | Taiwan | HK$302,000 | $38,967 |
| 7 | 2009 | 168 | HK$10,000 | HK$1,579,200 | Celina Lin | China | HK$394,800 | $50,932 |
| 8 | 2009 | 247 | HK$10,000 | HK$2,321,800 | Hui-chen “Kitty” Kuo | Taiwan | HK$557,230 | $71,899 |
| 9 | 2010 | 321 | HK$10,000 | HK$2,953,200 | Raymond Wu | Taiwan | HK$664,000 | $85,520 |
| 10 | 2010 | 295 | HK$10,000 | HK$2,686,860 | Kenichi Takarabe | Japan | HK$617,700 | $79,297 |
| 11 | 2010 | 314 | HK$10,000 | HK$2,859,912 | James McCarty | Japan | HK$643,000 | $82,650 |
| 12 | 2011 | 509 | HK$11,000 | HK$5,090,000 | Mark Benasa | Philippines | HK$1,100,000 | $141,305 |
| 13 | 2011 | 447 | HK$11,000 | HK$4,470,000 | Kwan Pao Mah | Canada | HK$983,400 | $126,355 |
| 14 | 2011 | 478 | HK$11,000 | HK$4,780,000 | Patrick Lee | Singapore | HK$1,039,700 | $133,215 |
| 15 | 2012 | 635 | HK$11,000 | HK$6,297,676 | Nicky Tao Jin | China | HK$1,192,500 | $153,783 |
| 16 | 2012 | 391 | HK$11,000 | HK$3,956,290 | Celina Lin | China | HK$854,000 | $110,077 |
| 17 | 2013 | 532 | HK$11,000 | HK$5,222,325 | Yoshitaka Okawa | Japan | HK$1,123,000 | $144,869 |
| 18 | 2013 | 891 | HK$11,000 | HK$8,746,412 | Terry Fan | Taiwan | HK$1,771,000 | $228,121 |
| 19 | 2013 | 645 | HK$11,000 | HK$6,331,578 | Tom Alner | UK | HK$823,000 | $106,103 |
| 20 | 2014 | 995 | HK$11,000 | HK$9,651,500 | Buyanjargal Bold | Mongolia | HK$1,492,000 | $192,404 |
| 21 | 2014 | 808 | HK$11,000 | HK$7,837,600 | Zhenru Xie | China | HK$1,667,000 | $215,090 |
| 22 | 2015 | 987 | HK$12,000 | HK$10,339,812 | Yuguang Li | China | HK$1,848,000 | $238,230 |
| 23 | 2015 | 945 | HK$12,000 | HK$9,889,820 | Yue Feng Pan | China | HK$2,108,000 | $271,986 |
| 24 | 2016 | 1075 | HK$12,000 | HK$11,261,700 | Ying Lin Chua | Malaysia | HK$1,904,000 | $244,842 |
| 25 | 2016 | 1145 | HK$12,000 | HK$11,995,020 | Tom Alner | UK | HK$2,509,000 | $323,469 |
| 26 | 2017 | 1216 | HK$15,000 | HK$15,923,520 | Alan “King Lun” Lau | HK | HK$3,265,000 | $420,802 |
| 27 | 2017 | 1308 | HK$15,000 | HK$17,128,260 | Qiuming Qin | China | HK$3,141,000 | $401,432 |
| 28 | 2018 | 1122 | HK$15,000 | HK$14,692,590 | Alvan Yifan Zheng | China | HK$3,055,000 | $390,631 |
| 29 | 2018 | 613 | ₩2,200,000 | ₩266,060,000 | Yuechun Shi | China | KRW266,060,000 | $240,124 |
Back in 2018, it was the first time that the event was hosted in Jeju and the tournament format switched from Freezeout to a single re-entry per flight. This format has carried over into the 2019 edition as all players are allowed to fire two bullets on each Day 1. The first of three starting days saw a strong turnout with 252 entries of which 80 players bagged up and the man to beat for the overall lead is Xiaqing Ji with 355,500.
All participants receive 30,000 in chips and a total of12 levels are scheduled for Day 1. In the regular Day 1b as of 1 p.m. local time the level duration remains at 40 minutes each while the third and final flight as of 8 p.m. local time features levels of 20 minutes each. For both remaining chances to run up a stack for Day 2, the registration and re-entry period concludes at the start of level 10.
Whether or not the 613 entries of the previous year will be surpassed to possibly set a new record on South Korean soil remains to be seen. The PokerNews team will provide updates from start-to-finish for Day 1b and switch over to the second half of Day 1c for a full day filled with plenty of poker action.