Top Joy Poker Tour concluded its first venture outside of mainland China with five days of games taking place at the Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. Running from September 28 to October 2, 2023, the brand experienced tough challenges with a lower Main Event turnout than expected but ultimately, it was a highly praised festival that paid out a sizable KR￦1,874,169,450 (US$ 1.37 Million). 

Festival review

Date: September 28 to October 2, 2023
Venue: Swiss Grand Hotel
Festival prize pool: ￦1,874,169,450(~US$ 1,375,740)
Events: 14
Main Event prize pool: US$ 1,000,000
Biggest Earner: Hyeon Ho Shin – ￦261,000,000 (~US$ 192,900)
Most final table cashes: Woo Seok Kim – 4th (Mini NLH), 4th (Deep Stack Turbo), 7th (Super Deep Stack Rush)
Trophies by Flag: South Korea (6), China (6), Australia (1), USA (1)

You can check out all the winners and results in the TJPK Festival Results page
For the full coverage, head to our TJPK Coverage.

On the final day of the series, the 24-year old Hyeon Ho Shin shipped the TJPK Main Event for a career high payout of ￦261,000,000.  Relive the final table action via the TJPT YouTube channel.

In addition, the festival awarded the final three side event winners. Jaesung Lee topped the 91 entry field of the Mystery Bounty while Yu Wen Pan accrued the highest amount of bounties. Immediately following his bust out in 3rd place, Pan jumped in the Super Deep Stack Rush and finished in an impressive 4th  place for back to back final tables.

At the two-day High Roller, Xu Chen emerged as champion after a grueling heads up match against Young Hee Park. It ended dramatically with Chen’s improving to a set on the river to deny Park’s top pair at the flop.

At the Super Deep Stack Rush, it was China’s Tong Zhao claiming the last TJPK trophy of the festival. Zhao outlasted the 72 entry field for a career high score of ￦10,368,000 (~US$ 7,600). 

In other news, numerous players cashed and reached the final table however only South Korea’s Woo Seok Kim cashed at the final table three times. Although Kim missed out on a trophy, those deep runs were an achievement. In the trophy race, it was a tie between China and South Korea, both flags capturing six trophies.

That concludes our coverage of the inaugural TJPT Korea. Congratulations to all of the winners! Stay tuned for the next TJPT festival!