Jiawen Xue Wins TLPT Jeju Main Event, Conquering 968-Entry Field for KRW 330 Million
China's Jiawen Xue won the TLPT Jeju 2026 Circuit Main Event, defeating a massive 968-entry field to claim the title and a KRW 330,000,000 (approximately USD 224,085) top prize. Held at the LES A Casino in Jeju Shinhwa World, the Main Event generated a total prize pool of KRW 2,100,000,000 (approximately USD 1.4 million). Xue, the last remaining female player at the final table, produced a dominant run to secure the biggest result of her career.
The Last Woman Standing Takes the Title
Xue entered the final day second in chips but played fearlessly at the final table. She eliminated Yang Yi on the final-table bubble, then knocked out Songlin Li and Di Jin in succession, before busting starting chip leader Kai Shi in one of the biggest pots of the tournament. Three-handed, Kai Shi committed his stack with a suited connector but could not get past Xue's A-K, finishing third for KRW 160,000,000.
Heads-Up Sealed with Trip Sevens
Heads-up play came down to an all-Chinese duel against Haiyang Wang. Xue began with a commanding chip lead, though Wang briefly closed the gap by picking off a bluff with flopped two pair. Xue quickly regained control, and on the final hand, Wang moved all in with pocket nines only to be called by Xue's trip sevens. Wang failed to find one of the remaining two outs needed to survive and settled for runner-up and KRW 230,000,000.
An All-Chinese Final Table
Another defining feature of this Main Event was that all nine final-table finishers were Chinese players. Beyond champion Xue, runner-up Wang, and third-place Kai Shi, the lineup included Di Jin (4th), Yinchao Shen (5th), Songlin Li (6th), Zongxin Liu (7th), Zhihui Zhang (8th), and Qin Li (9th) — all from China. Despite TLPT being an emerging tour that originated in Australia, the result underscores how the Jeju stage has become a powerful gathering point for Chinese grinders.
David Peters Wins the High Roller Bounty
In the TLPT High Roller Bounty held the same day ($5,350 buy-in, 20 entries), American high-stakes star David Peters came out on top. He banked $23,000 (approximately KRW 31 million) in prize money along with $12,500 (approximately KRW 17 million) in bounty rewards from five knockouts. China's Shuang Li finished runner-up, with Vietnam's Nguyen Le rounding out the top three. The event also drew global high rollers including Daniel "Jungleman" Cates.
Circuit Main Wraps as Focus Shifts to the High Rollers
With the Circuit Main Event complete, TLPT Jeju 2026 shifts its focus to the Super High Roller schedule. The TLPT High Roller Main Event kicks off Friday at 4 p.m., with the festival running through May 25 in Jeju. While the 968-entry Circuit Main Event fell somewhat short of its $1.5 million guarantee, the overwhelming Chinese turnout and clean sweep of the final table once again confirmed Jeju's standing as a core hub of the East Asian grinder scene.
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