China’s Tony Ren Lin is running hot, winning over KRW 861.5M (~USD 598K) in back-to-back tournaments
Vanuatu’s Junh Young Ki Tops Main Event Flight C, Japan’s Yasuhiro Yamamoto Leads Flight D
APT JEJU CLASSIC 2026 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | LIVE REPORTING | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS
JEJU, SOUTH KOREA, February 3, 2026 – Rail birds watching the APT Jeju Classic 2026 play out at the tournament tables of LES A Casino at the Jeju Shinhwa World resort witnessed something truly special as the festival entered its fifth day.
It was Chinese poker professional Tony "Ren" Lin who served as the catalyst, claiming back-to-back title wins in the festival’s biggest buy-in event — the KRW 35M (~USD 24.1K) Superstar Challenge — just 48 hours after taking down the KRW 15M (~USD 10,400) Super High Roller.
To further add to the already electric atmosphere, there was also the conclusion of the final two starting flights of the Main Event, with the KRW 2.2 billion (~USD 1.5 million) guarantee reached and breached midway through Flight C.
With late registration remaining open until the end of level 11 at 12:15pm (KST) on Day 2, the chance of the tournament setting a second consecutive international poker record remains a distinct possibility.
In addition to Lin’s astounding second title win there was also plenty of other high stakes action, with the thrilling finale of the record-breaking KRW 4.5M (~USD 3.1K) High Roller – Ultra Stack.
With a further ten side events running, including the KRW 800K (~USD 550) Women’s Main Event and the KRW 3.5M (~USD 2.4K) High Roller - Single Day, plus two Natural8 promotional events, all 71 of the tournament tables were in play.
Highlights of the Main Event and Superstar Challenge tournaments can be found below, and you can read all about the side event action in the APT Jeju Classic 2026 Day 5; Results for Side Events: #31, #42 - #51 press release.
Linsanity! Tony Ren Lin Goes Back-to-Back With KRW 465M (~USD 323K) Superstar Challenge Win
Lin claimed a second APTC Main Event seat with his Superstar Challenge victory
When Icharus flew too close to the sun, his wings melted and he plunged into the sea and drowned.
However, Tony “Ren” Lin’s wings appear to be made of Teflon; he is running so hot it’s a wonder he had not spontaneously combusted and there seems to be no limit on how high he can climb.
The Chinese poker professional cemented his superstar status by claiming back-to-back title wins in the two biggest buy-in events on the APT tournament schedule, all in the space of 48 hours.
“Honestly, it’s hard to explain. This year feels kind of magical to me,” said Lin in Mandarin immediately following his victory in the KRW 35M (~USD 24.4K) Superstar Challenge.
“Maybe it’s because a lot of bad things happened last year. But I’m the kind of person who gets stronger the more setbacks I face,” Lin continued.
“So this year, I really wanted to prove to myself that I can play very well. When the pressure gets higher, I actually perform better and make bigger comebacks.”
Having already achieved an epic comeback in the Super High Roller on Sunday Lin raised the bar further in the Superstar Challenge.
Lin returned in pole position after bagging the overnight chip lead and put on a master class in high stakes tournament poker to clinch the KRW 465,270,000 (~USD 323,100) top prize and Black Stealth Lion Superstar Challenge Trophy.
In addition, Lin also claimed a second seat to the APT Championship 2026 (APTC) Main Event – the USD 5M guaranteed season-ending showpiece taking place from November 13–29, 2026 in Taipei. Being as the tournament is a freezeout, this will be converted into USD 10,000 of APTC tournament credits.
Lin celebrates the win with his vocal Chinese rail
Just 16 players out of a field of 49 initial entries comprising some of Asia’s top tournament players returned for the Final Day, all looking to cash for a share of the KRW 1,609,950,000 (~USD 1,118,020) prize pool.
With only the top nine places paid, seven would be leaving empty-handed with Poker Hall of Famer John Juanda, Natural8 Ambassador Eric “Six Poker” Tsai, Super High Roller finalist Guoliang Wei and China’s Weiran Pu just some of those unable to make the money.
The departure of Japan’s Haruhiko Shinohara on the money bubble at the hands of two-time Superstar Challenge champion Joseph Cheong at the close of the fifth 40-minute level played guaranteed the nine finalists a KRW 51,520,000 (~USD 35,780) min-cash.
Two-time Superstar Challenge champion Joseph Cheong
Lin played a patient game, with several of the other competitors thinning the field early on in the final table action and two-time Main Event champion Lester Edoc drew first blood with the elimination of Japan’s Ryuta Nakai in ninth.
Eventual runner-up Quang Minh Nguyen scored the next two knock outs, beating out compatriot Huu Dung Nguyen in eighth before ending Cheong’s dreams of a record third Superstar Challenge title and sending the US player out in seventh.
After Super High Roller fourth place finalist Khoa Anh Ngo ousted Lithuania’s Paulius Plausinaitis to take play five handed, Nguyen struck again to cripple Edoc and take the chip lead before showing the Filipino player to the exit in fifth place.
Lin then doubled through Nguyen with his favorite hand, pocket queens, to take the chip lead.
“There was one key hand — my pocket Queens. I doubled up with QQ. After winning that pot, I felt like the tournament was basically mine. QQ has been incredibly lucky for me.I’m a huge Lady Gaga fan, so whenever I get QQ, it feels like I always win big pots,” confided Lin in his post-match interview.
Following the hand Lin went on a tear-up, eliminating Ngo in fourth after the latter shoved king queen into the Chinese player’s ace king.
Lin immediately found the same hand, suits and all, to send Indonesia’s Fendy Kosasih to the rail in third to bring close to a 2-to-1 chip lead into heads-up against Nguyen.
Quang Minh Nguyen poses for a photo with Tony “Ren” Lin following the latter’s win
APT Taipei 2025 Super High Roller champion Nguyen proved to be no push over, battling back to take the chip lead for a spell before Lin took to the streets to win successive hands in a row.
A huge pot then played out between the two which saw Lin lay one hand on the trophy after rivering a straight to take over a 10-to-1 chip lead he would not relinquish.
All the chips went into the middle two hands later with Lin moving all-in from the button with ten-five and Nguyen defending with king-three suited.
Lin paired his five on the flop and, despite flopping a straight draw and turning a flush draw, Nguyen’s outs failed to materialise and Lin closed out the victory by spiking two pair on the river.
Showing great sportsmanship, Lin immediately got up to shake Nguyen’s hand and share a hug, before celebrating with his watching rail and saying a few words.
“I want to thank all my friends, my family, and all my fans. They’ve always supported me no matter what I went through. I want to repay them by achieving the best results and playing my best poker,” said Lin immediately following his win.
“Today, looking back, this year has started in a really magical way — four championships in four weeks!” he continued.
“As for the Main Event, even though I really want to win that Golden Lion, maybe that’s a bit too greedy. So I’ll leave that lion for next year. Getting second place for Main Event is fine for now,” Lin joked.
With the way Lin is running right now, that doesn’t seem too much of a stretch.
BACK: (L-R) Lester Edoc, Khoa Anh Ngo, Ryuta Nakai, Quang Minh Nguyen, Joseph Cheong
FRONT: (L-R) Paulius Plausinaitis, Tony “Ren” Lin, Fendy Kosasih, Huu Dung Nguyen
SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE RESULTS
For Superstar Challenge Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE
For Superstar Challenge Results please CLICK HERE
All tournament information can be found on the Superstar Challenge Final Day tournament page and you can read about how all the high stakes action played out via the APT Blog.
Vanuatu’s Junh Young Ki Tops Main Event Flight C
Junh Young Kim summited the Flight C leaderboard
The third of the APT Jeju Classic 2026 Main Event starting flights—Flight C—got underway at 11am local time (KST), drawing 290 entries (225 unique) with the action playing out over six 30-minute levels and four 45-minute levels.
Following the same format at Flight C, the fourth and final Flight D kicked off at 6pm local time (KST) and saw 209 entries (169 unique) pile into the tournament.
Combined with the 421 Flight A entries, the 317 Flight B entries, and the Flight C entries, that brings the field up to 1,237 for the four live flights.
Adding in the 255 OnLive entries who competed on Natural8, that brings the total field up to 1,492 entries with late registration remaining open until the end of level 11 on Day 2 at 12:15pm on Wednesday, February 4.
A total of 127 Flight C players fought their way through to Day 2, with Vanuatu’s Junh Young Ki topping the chip counts after bagging up a stack of 302,000, which puts him sixth in the overall pecking order of survivors.
Ki was the only Flight C player to bag over 300K, with China’s Lingfeng Sun (275,900), and Cheng Xu Hu (232,800) rounding out the top three stacks.
APT Super High Roller finalist Quang Dinh Do of Vietnam bagged a top ten stack, as did Mystery Bounty finalist Shun Bo Yu and the Philippines’ James Mendoza.
MAIN EVENT FLIGHT C TOP TEN STACKS
For Main Event Flight C Player List please CLICK HERE
For Main Event Flight C Survivors please CLICK HERE
Other notables to make the cut included APT Manila 2024 Super High Roller champion William Teoh (57,600), APT Jeju 2024 Main Event champion Xixiang Luo (45,100), Super High Roller finalist Guoliang Wei (44,200), bracelet winner Renji Mao (36,100), and APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 Main Event champion Rene von Reden (35,600).
All tournament information can be found on the Main Event Flight C tournament page and you can follow all the Flight C action as it played out via the APT Blog.
Japan’s Yasuhiro Yamamoto Leads Flight D
Yasuhiro Yamamoto bagged biggest to top Flight D
Just 87 players fought their way through from Flight D, with Yasuhiro Yamamoto leading the charge. The Japanese player concluded the action with a stack of 331,000, putting him fourth in the overall standings coming into Day 2.
Vietnam’s Do Quang Trinh (257,000), and Vanuatu’s Jongwon Yoon (256,600 ) rounded out the top three, with the top ten stacks as follows:
FLIGHT D TOP TEN STACKS
For Main Event Flight D Player List please CLICK HERE
For Main Event Flight D Survivors please CLICK HERE
For Main Event Day 2 Draw please CLICK HERE
Other notables to fight their way through included Japan’s Jun Obara (130,000), two-time Main Event champion Lester Edoc (128,000), and Natural8 Ambassador Chih Wei Fan (106,700).
Continuing the blistering run of form that saw him claim back-to-back tournament titles, Tony “Ren” Lin jumped straight into the action and bagged a stack of 96,300.
You can follow all the APT Main Event APT Main Event Flight D action as it played out via the APT Blog.
All tournament information can be found on the Main Event Flight D tournament page.
While the combined survivors from the four starting flights—143 from Flight A, 118 from Flight B, 127 from Flight C, and 87 from Flight D—total 475, Cai Weijue made it through twice.
The Chinese player’s shortest stack has been removed from play, meaning 474 players will return for Day 2 at 11am (KST) and attempt to fight their way through to the paying positions, with play concluding at the bursting of the money bubble.
Join us then for more tournament thrills and spills, with full coverage available on the APT Blog. You can also watch the action as it happens via the Main Event Day 2 Live Stream on the official APT YouTube channel.