Jeju Red Dragon 2018: Yuechun Shi Clinches Maiden Live Title in Red Dragon Main Event For ₩266,060,000

After four days of thrilling poker action, the ₩2.2M Red Dragon Main Event at the 2018 PokerStars LIVE Asia Jeju Red Dragon has finally concluded. Registering a record-breaking field of 613 entries which culminated in a prize pool of ₩1,226,000,000, China’s Yuechun Shi (cover image) outlasted the massive field to take down the inaugural Jeju Red Dragon Main Event title.

The 47-year-old logistics manager is the 11^th Chinese Red Dragon Champion. Shi is a less known player in the Asian circuit with only two prior cashes to his name before this win.

Shi had entered the final table with the sixth-largest stack and in an impressive display of skill, eliminated former Red Dragon Champion Zhenru Xie and PokerStars Festival Korea Main Event Champion Tae Hoon Han from the running, to reach the heads-up play against fellow countryman Bin Di. The heads-up confrontation was short-lived as Shi had a 2:1 chip lead over Di which the later found hard to overcome. The Ningbo native took down the event for career-best score of ₩266,060,000.

“It’s amazing!” said Shi immediately after booking his largest-ever tournament win.

“It feels great. I’m not a professional, so am maybe not as skilled as some of the other players in the tournament, so when I came into Day 3, for me that’s enough,” he continued via the aid of a translator.

“Then when I made the final table, that was an advantage – a bonus – and today, playing on the Final Table felt amazing, it feels incredible to win!”, Shi concluded.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Tae Hoon Han – 2,555,000

2. Zhenru Xie – 2,460,000

3. Qi Wang – 2,165,000

4. Bin Di – 1,410,000

5. Zhibin Zhang – 1,300,000

6. Yuechun Shi – 700,000

7. Christopher Young Park – 650,000

8. Guangliang Xiao – 620,000

9. Ho Yuen Kwok – 420,000

Final Table Recap

The first finalist to hit the rail was Christopher Park in ninth place. Park got entangled in a hand against former Red Dragon Champion Zhenru Xie when Park pitted his against Xie’s . The board opened and Xie flopped a pair of kings to overpower Park’s pocket jacks, sending the latter to the rail while Xie overtook the chip lead from Tae Hoon Han.

Xie further extended his chip lead by eliminating Ho Yuen Kwok in eighth place. Yuechun Shi opened to 110,000 and Xie called from the small blind. Kwok raised to 280,000, prompting Shi to fold, while Xie called to see the flop . Xie checked and Kwok moved all-in. Xie called and tabled . Kwok turned over . Xie had the lead with a set of eights, as Kwok was hoping for a king on the remaining two streets to win the pot. But the and completed the board, knocking Kwok out of the competition.

During level 26, Guangliang Xiao and Shi moved all-in against one another in a late position. While Xiao held , Shi tabled . The runout missed both players, and Shi’s higher pair railed Xiao in seventh place.

Finishing in sixth place was Qi Wang when his ran into Hans . Han’s hand improved to a pair of jacks with the board running , which sent Wang packing to the rail.

Down to five-handed play, Zhibin Zhang was down to less than one big blind and failed in his deperate bid to hang on. Bin Di opened under-the-gun to 180,000 and Zhang put his last chips in the middle, while Xie called from the button and Han and Shi both called from the blinds. The flop fell , Han led out for 300,000. Shi raised for 2.1 Million and everyone on the table folded.

Zhibin Zhang

Yuechun Shi

The turn was inconsequential for both players, but on the river Shi hit a clubs flush to win the pot, eliminating Zhang in fifth place.

On the biggest hand of the tournament, the only former Red Dragon Champion still in contention, Zhenru Xie, was ousted in fourth place. Shi had opened from the button to 175,000 and Xie defended the big blind. The dealer laid out the on the flop and Xie led out for 200,000 and Shi raised 520,000. Xie called to see the turn card open . Xie led out once again for 300,000, Shi raised to 1.3 Million and Xie called. On the river , Xie moved all-in with his remaining stack of about 1.25 Million. Shi looked uncomfortable and got out of his seat whilst he went into the tank. Ultimately, Shi decided to call and showed against Xie’s . Shi’s one pair beat Xie’s missed draws, crashing all hopes of the former Champion .

The next elimination came a level later when Tae Hoon Han locked horns with Shi. In the end, Han’s were cracked by Shi’s . As the community cards fanned out , Shi’s hand bettered to a pair of queens which ended Han’s deep run in third place.

The heads-up battle between Yuechuan Shi (7.75 Million) and Bin Di (4.35 Million) began with the former holding a 3.4 Million chip lead over Di. The final showdown did not last very long and in the end Shi’s chip lead helped him win him the title.

On the final hand of the event, Shi shoved all-in with and Di quickly called with . The board spread out . While Di found a pair of jacks on the flop, Shi hit a king-high straight on the turn to win his maiden Red Dragon Champion title for a life-changing ₩266,060,000 (₹1.67 Crores) payday.

Final Table Results (KRW)

1. Yuechun Shi – ₩266,060,000

2. Bin Di – ₩164,900,000

3. Tae Hoon Han – ₩102,370,000

4. Zhenru Xie – ₩78,100,000

5. Zhibin Zhang – ₩53,940,000

6. Qi Wang – ₩42,910,000

7. Guangliang Xiao – ₩34,940,000

8. Ho Yuen Kwok – ₩29,420,000

9. Christopher Young Park – ₩24,520,000

Content & Images courtesy – PokerStars LIVE Asia

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the 2018 PokerStars LIVE Asia Jeju Red Dragon!