KPC Jeju Station Report | Zhang Jiahao wins the Mystery Bounty Tournament, Xu Lida takes the Mixed Event and then heads to the Main Event

The 2026 KPC Jeju Station reached its first major turning point in the series. Event 1, the TP5T5 Mystery Bounty Tournament, concluded with the final showdown. ZHANG JIAHAO made a final breakthrough in the competition for all nine final table seats held by Chinese players, successfully claiming the championship.

On the same day, Xu Lida won the Event #17 Limit Drawmaha Mixed Event (High/2-7), adding another championship trophy to the Chinese contingent. With the conclusion of these two events, the KPC Main Event, with a guaranteed prize pool of 880 million Korean won, will take over, and the series will officially enter its core schedule.

The Mystery Bounty Tournament saw 595 participants, with 76 advancing to Day 2.

This year's KPC Mystery Bounty Tournament featured four starting groups, with a buy-in of 1,000,000 KRW. Of this, 700,000 KRW went into the general prize pool, and 300,000 KRW was allocated as the bounty, guaranteeing a total prize pool of 300,000,000 KRW. The tournament ultimately attracted 595 entries, with only 76 advancing to Day 2.

Entering Day 2, players not only compete for the regular ranking prizes but also need to seize the opportunity to draw a mystery bounty after each opponent elimination. The uncertainty of the bounty value increases the frequency of all-in duels and gives players with deep card counting a greater tactical advantage in the mid-to-late game.

All nine seats are occupied by Chinese players, intensifying competition across the board in the Financial Times.

After a bubble phase and multiple rounds of elimination, the final table of nine for the Mystery Bounty Tournament has been officially set.

The official final table scoreboard in the screenshot shows that the last nine seats are all marked as belonging to China, resulting in Chinese players dominating the final table.

This final table competition isn't just about the championship trophy. Each eliminated opponent can earn a mystery prize, so the all-in range of short stacks, the leader's call decisions, and the risk-reward ratio of the prize money will all directly impact the pace of the game.

After the final table began, several players finished their matches in crucial pots, gradually reducing the number of players remaining. Zhang Jiahao maintained his competitiveness in a highly volatile bounty environment and ultimately made it to the championship stage.

Zhang Jiahao achieves final breakthrough

As the tournament entered its final stages, the blinds and ante increased, gradually narrowing the room for maneuver. Zhang needed to manage chip pressure, the value of elimination bounties, and the potential for ranking jumps simultaneously; any all-in duel could decide the champion.

Facing his final opponent, Zhang successfully maintained his key advantage, completed the final elimination round of the Mystery Bounty Tournament, and officially claimed the championship trophy.

This victory makes Zhang one of the key champions in the first half of the 2026 KPC Jeju event. He fought his way through a field of 595 entries, and then faced off against Chinese players in a nine-player final table, ultimately finishing the tournament as champion.

The original screenshot did not clearly list Zhang's ranking bonus, total mystery bounty income, and the full prize money for the champion and runner-up, so this article will not include the unconfirmed amounts.

Xu Lida wins the Limited Drawmaha Mixed Tournament.

In addition to the mystery bounty tournament, Event #17 Limit Drawmaha Mixed Tournament (High/2-7) also produced a champion, with Xu Lida taking the final victory.

This tournament has a buy-in of 800,000 Korean Won, uses a 25-minute level format, and combines Drawmaha High with 2-7 play. Compared to No-Limit Texas Hold'em, players not only need to judge the strength of the community cards but also manage their draw strategies and equity distribution across different pots.

Mixed tournaments typically have a smaller field than major No-Limit Texas Hold'em events, but they demand a higher level of overall skill from players. Xu Lida's victory in this unique format demonstrates his competitiveness in off-the-beaten-path poker variations.

KPC Main Event Day 1A officially begins.

After the mystery bounty tournament, KPC Jeju will enter the most anticipated main event stage.

Event #23 KPC Main Event Day 1A will start at 12:00 PM on July 29th, with a buy-in of 1,300,000 KRW and a guaranteed prize pool of 880,000,000 KRW. Players will start with 30,000 chips, and each level will last 40 minutes. Late registration is open up to Level 9.

KPC Main Event Core Information

The main event consists of multiple starting groups. After Day 1A, there are Day 1B, Day 1C (fast group), Day 1D, Day 1E, and Day 1F (fast group). All the advancing players will meet on Day 2 on August 2.

The multi-group format provides players with more flexible participation arrangements and also helps to push the scale of participation to a higher level. Judging from the registration enthusiasm of the previous Jeju opening tournament and mystery bounty tournament, whether the main event can break through the guaranteed prize pool of 880 million won will be an important data focus in the coming days.

Monster Stack is progressing in tandem with the High Roller tournament.

On the first day of the main event, Day 1A, the series also included several side events.

Among them, Monster Stack will host a nine-player final table, along with Dealer's Choice, NLH Big Bounty, Day 1 of the 7,000,000 KRW High Roller, and Venus Event and Big O Turbo Tournament.

With the main event and high-stakes events taking place on the same day, the venue will simultaneously gather players from major tournaments, regulars in mixed events, and professional high rollers, further increasing the competitive intensity of the KPC Jeju event.

Chinese players continued their winning streak in the series.

From Jiang Daqiao becoming the first double champion of this station, to Zhu Jingxuan winning the Five Cards PLO Turbo event, and then to Zhang Jiahao and Xu Lida taking the top spot on the latest competition day, Chinese players have continued to win championships in various formats at this KPC Jeju station.

These victories cover:

• Mysterious Bounty Tournament

• Limited Drawmaha Mixed Race

• Limited-bet Stud Poker Mixed Tournament

• Three-card draw mixed game

• Five-card PLO Quick Tournament

The results are not only concentrated in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, but also reflect the increasing participation of Chinese players in mixed events, draw events, and Omaha variations.

With the KPC Main Event officially underway, the focus of the series will shift from side event champions to the 880 million won guaranteed prize pool. After Zhang Jiahao's significant breakthrough in the first half with his Mystery Bounty title, whether the Chinese contingent can maintain their winning streak and establish a lead in several starting groups in the Main Event will be a key point of interest in the next stage of the Jeju event.

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