Red Dragon Cup PLUS Main Event Day 1A | Deng Yawei leads with 900,000, 54 players advance to the second round

On July 13, 2026, the Red Dragon Cup PLUS Summer Jeju event entered its sixth day of competition, with the highly anticipated Main Event officially kicking off. Day 1A, the first event to take place, attracted 163 entries. After fierce competition across 10 weight classes, 54 players successfully sealed their bags and secured their spots for Day 2 of the Main Event.

Deng Yawei accumulated 900,000 chips with a consistent performance throughout the day, becoming the Day 1A chip leader. Zhuo Dajie, on the other hand, staged a rare AA vs AA showdown at the end of the tournament, doubling up with a flush of four hearts on the board, and ultimately finishing second with 545,000 chips.

LI AICHUN and LI Jingjing both remained in the leading group, advancing with 517,500 and 510,000 chips respectively.

Deng Yawei revealed a straight flush on the river, severely damaging Sun Guodong's chances.

Day 1A brought together many professional poker players active in the Asian arena, with numerous large pot battles occurring from the early stages. The ongoing duel between Deng Yawei and Sun Guodong became one of the most anticipated storylines of the day.

Midway through the match, Sun Guodong pressured Deng Yawei with an all-in on the river, successfully forcing him to fold and taking the pot. However, when the two faced off again later in the tournament, the tide turned completely.

The community cards were 7♠6♠T♣K♠5♠, and the pot was approximately 35,000 on the river. Sun Guodong bet 4,800 from the small blind, Qiao Dapeng folded from the big blind, and Deng Yawei raised to 42,000 from middle position after a long deliberation.

Faced with a near-full pot raise, Sun Guodong pondered for a long time before finally calling. Deng Yawei then revealed 3♠4♠, winning the pot with a seven-high flush. After this hand, Sun Guodong had only about 40,000 chips left.

After several hands, the two clashed again. Sun Guodong, holding T♣9♣, ultimately lost to Deng Yawei's A♣Q♠, ending his Day 1A run. Deng Yawei continued his lead, eventually topping the group leaderboard with 900,000 chips.

Li Jingjing continued to win, advancing to the next round in fourth place.

Li Jingjing and Huang Weiwei played a crucial big pot midway through the match. Huang Weiwei called Li Jingjing's pre-flop 3-bet from the small blind in middle position, leading to a post-flop battle.

The community cards on the turn were 9♣3♠Q♠T♥. Huang Weiwei raised to 45,000, immediately facing all-in pressure from Li Jingjing. After much deliberation, Huang Weiwei folded, losing a significant number of chips in this hand, and was eliminated a few hands later.

Li Jingjing used this to establish a lead, and went on to win several more large pots, eventually sealing the pot with 510,000 chips, ranking fourth on the Day 1A leaderboard.

Zhuo Dajie doubled her score by playing AA against AA and relying on a flush in A-rank.

Zhuo Dajie accumulated a large number of chips early in the tournament. In a three-way all-in match, he held pocket fours and hit three of a kind on the flop, eliminating two opponents in one go and quickly joining the leading group.

However, as the competition progressed, several key hand losses caused his score to drop significantly. Near the end of Day 1A, Zhuo Dajie faced a crucial hand that would determine whether he could advance.

Zhuo Dajie went all-in with A♥A♦, and a player in the next position with a deep chip stack quickly called. After the showdown, the opponent also revealed pocket aces, and the hand would most likely have ended in a tie.

However, the community cards eventually revealed four hearts. Since Zhuo Dajie held A♥, he completed an Ace-high flush, defeating his opponent who did not hold the Ace of Hearts and taking home the important double-up pot.

With this rare AA vs AA victory, Zhuo Dajie finished second on Day 1 with 545,000 chips, successfully qualifying for Day 2.

LI AICHUN maintains its leading position

LI AICHUN established a chip lead early on Day 1A through a consistent play. Unlike many players who experienced significant fluctuations in the mid-to-late stages, she maintained control of the pot size, preventing her early lead from being significantly lost.

After all 10 levels were completed, LI AICHUN sealed the bag with 517,500 chips, ranking third in his group, behind only Deng Yawei and Zhuo Dajie.

Main Event Day 1A Leading Scoreboard

Main Event Day 1A Data Summary

Other champions in the series

During the main event Day 1A, several other events at the Red Dragon Cup PLUS Summer Jeju Station also produced champions.

With Day 1A completed, the 54 qualifying players will return to the competition on July 16 to join other starter group winners in the main event Day 2.

The Main Event Day 1B will begin at 12:00 PM local time on July 14th. Deng Yawei currently holds a significant lead with 900,000 chips, but the overall chip count and field of qualifiers could still change as subsequent events progress.

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