The WPT Prime Korea Main Event, the flagship opener of the 2025 Jeju Poker Festival (JPF), has concluded in style at Les A Casino, Jeju — with China’s Zengxiang Chen emerging as the champion. His triumph marks a major milestone in his rapidly rising poker career.
The Main Event, featuring a ₩1,500,000 buy-in (≈ USD $1,070), attracted 515 entries across three starting flights, surpassing its ₩350,000,000 guarantee to generate a total ₩667,440,000 prize pool (≈ USD $467,430).
Despite having focused primarily on cash games for several years, Chen only began competing in tournaments six months ago. Yet his disciplined play and fearless decision-making propelled him to victory, earning him his first-ever WPT Prime title and the ₩129,030,000 (≈ USD $90,365) top prize.
This victory also marks the first Main Event championship of the three-part Jeju Poker Festival series.
The Jeju Poker Festival (JPF) unites three major brands — World Poker Tour (WPT), K Poker Cup, and Red Dragon Poker Tour — making it one of Asia’s largest and most prestigious multi-brand poker celebrations.
WPT Prime Korea Main Event – Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country / Region | Prize (KRW) | Prize (~USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
🥇 1 | Zengxiang Chen | China | ₩129,030,000 | $90,365 |
🥈 2 | Changliang Sun | China | ₩85,150,000 | $59,635 |
🥉 3 | Akihide Shimizu | Japan | ₩63,010,000 | $44,130 |
4 | Patrick Liang | Taiwan | ₩46,920,000 | $32,860 |
5 | Daniel Lei | United States | ₩35,240,000 | $24,680 |
6 | Chenxu Zhang | China | ₩26,760,000 | $18,740 |
7 | Jingxuan Zhu | China | ₩20,560,000 | $14,400 |
8 | Jia Xiao | China | ₩15,890,000 | $11,130 |
9 | Duy Thuc Nguyen | Vietnam | ₩12,410,000 | $8,690 |
🏆 Champion’s Reflections — Zengxiang Chen: Six Months from Learning to Winning
Following his victory, Zengxiang Chen spoke through a translator, showing remarkable composure and humility.
Rather than celebrating, his focus remained on learning and self-improvement.
“I’ve been playing cash games for about four years,” Chen explained.
“I only started playing tournaments roughly six months ago. After busting the WSOP Online Main Event in September, I began studying champion-level courses, which helped me tremendously.”
Despite the life-changing win, Chen had no plans to rest or celebrate.
“No celebration,” he said with a smile. “I’ll keep playing — tomorrow, I plan to join the KPC Main Event Day 1d or 1e.”
Poker, Chen noted, has now become an inseparable part of his daily life.
“My wife came with me this week — she’s been supporting me all along. She plays a bit too, just for fun. A few friends also came; they’ll be playing tomorrow.”
When asked about the Jeju Poker Festival’s tournament structure, Chen gave high praise:
“The structure is really well-designed. Even if you lose one event, there are plenty of others to play. Each tournament feels unique — it’s very enjoyable.”
WPT Prime Korea Main Event — Day 1 & Day 2 Highlights
The WPT Prime Korea Main Event featured three starting flights:
Day 1A:
A total of 122 players entered the first flight, with 16 advancing to Day 2.
Zengxiang Chen led the pack with 775,000 chips, highlighted by a spectacular hero call with bottom pair that earned him early momentum.
Day 1B:
The second flight drew 280 entries, with George Tomescu finishing on top of the leaderboard with 690,000 chips.
Day 1C (Turbo):
The final starting flight brought the total field to 515 entries, officially surpassing the ₩350M guarantee.
Day 2 — The Battle for the Final Table
All 66 remaining players reached the money.
After nine hours of intense play, the field was narrowed down to the final table of nine.
Changliang Sun entered the final day as the chip leader with 3,455,000, while Zengxiang Chen started in 5th place with 1,630,000, still well within striking distance.
Final Table Recap
The final table action was fast and furious — it took just five hands for the first elimination.
9th Place – Duy Thuc Nguyen (Vietnam)
Nguyen’s pocket J♣J♦ fell victim to Chen’s 6♠5♠, which rivered a straight to score the first knockout.
8th Place – Jia Xiao (China)
Short-stacked Jia laddered up a few spots but eventually busted when her A♠8♦ ran into Chenxu Zhang’s A♣K♣.
7th Place – Jingxuan Zhu (China)
Zhu’s deep run ended after losing a critical hand to Changliang Sun, exiting in 7th.
6th Place – Chenxu Zhang (China)
Despite picking up A♠A♥, Zhang was outdrawn when Patrick Liang’s K♣Q♣ hit trip kings on the board — a brutal reversal of fortune.
5th Place – Daniel Lei (USA)
Lei’s K♦Q♠ couldn’t improve against Sun’s pocket 5♣5♠, which flopped a set, eliminating him in 5th.
4th Place – Patrick Liang (Taiwan)
Liang’s run ended after losing a key pot holding Q♦Q♠ against Chen’s K♠4♠ — Chen spiked the board to cripple Liang and take control.
After that, Sun continued to apply pressure, setting up the final three.
3rd Place – Akihide Shimizu (Japan)
Shimizu shoved 34 big blinds with Q♠T♣, and Chen called with K♦4♦. The board ran out clean for Chen, sending the Japanese pro to the rail in 3rd.
Heads-Up Battle: Zengxiang Chen vs. Changliang Sun
The heads-up match was short and decisive.
In the defining hand, Chen’s pocket 9♣9♠ hit a full house on the river, while Sun’s Q♥T♥ made a straight on the same card — Chen’s full house held strong.
Down to his last few blinds, Sun made one final stand with 7♣4♣ against Chen’s K♦2♦, but failed to connect.
Moments later, Zengxiang Chen raised his hands in triumph, lifting the WPT Prime Korea Championship Trophy — capturing his first-ever major live title and delivering a historic victory for Team China at the 2025 Jeju Poker Festival (JPF).
Red Dragon Poker APP Officially Launched
The long-established tournament brand Red Dragon Cup has now released its own app — “Red Dragon Poker.”
The Red Dragon Cup is a well-known Asian poker brand with a strong reputation across the region. Originating in Macau, it quickly became one of the most influential poker events in Asia. Red Dragon Poker tournaments regularly attract players from all over the world, offering massive fields and impressive prize pools.
For those interested, we highly recommend downloading the “Red Dragon Poker” app to join more exciting tournaments.