Kyung Min Lee Wins GOP Incheon Main Event, Conquering 356-Entry Field to Claim Black-and-Gold Gauntlet
South Korea's Kyung Min Lee won the GOP Incheon 2026 "The Prophecy Unfolds" Main Event, defeating a 356-entry field to capture KRW 148,280,000 (approximately USD 98,000) and the coveted Black-and-Gold Gauntlet. Held at Paradise City Casino in Incheon from May 18 to 23, the Main Event carried a KRW 2,200,000 (approximately USD 1,500) buy-in and built a prize pool of KRW 700,000,000 (approximately USD 480,000), with 51 players reaching the money. Lee became just the fourth player in GOP history to win the Black-and-Gold Gauntlet.
Chaos at the Top: A Constantly Shifting Chip Lead
The nine-handed final table opened as a back-and-forth scramble, with the chip lead changing hands almost level by level. China's Haisheng Qiu entered as the chip leader, but Woo Hyon Shin and Dong Yan each surged into the top spot during the early stages. Russia's Evgenii Chzhen also looked poised to take command, while short-stacked Chien Te Lee of Taiwan briefly stole the spotlight with a huge hero call against Shin to drag a massive pot. Through it all, Lee quietly built his stack.
Lee and Lo Pull Away
The turning point came when Lee eliminated Dong Yan in eighth, his pocket tens holding against pocket eights to vault him near the top of the counts. Soon after, Taiwan's Yi Cheng Lo exploded into contention by making a straight against Chien Te Lee's set in one of the biggest coolers of the day. From there, the final table gradually narrowed into a two-man race, with Lee and Lo repeatedly trading the chip lead while distancing themselves from the field. Lee regained momentum by eliminating Qiu in sixth, while Lo answered by knocking out Shin in fifth.
Karatsu and Chien Te Lee Refuse to Bust
While Lee and Lo dominated the spotlight, Japan's Hiroki Karatsu and Chien Te Lee produced remarkably stubborn four-handed performances, surviving all-in after all-in to repeatedly stay alive on the brink of elimination. Karatsu's run finally ended in fourth at Lee's hands, leaving three players in the hunt for the title.
The Hand That Changed Everything
Three-handed, Lee and Lo collided in the biggest pot of the tournament. After heavy action across all three streets, Lo called off his tournament life holding ace-eight for second pair and a nut-flush blocker. Lee revealed ace-four and had rivered a straight after spiking one of only two remaining fives in the deck. The brutal hand sent Lo out in third and handed Lee a commanding chip lead heading into heads-up play.
Seven Hands to Glory
Lee entered heads-up against Chien Te Lee with roughly a six-to-one chip advantage, and just seven hands later it was over. On the final hand, Chien Te Lee committed his stack with king-ten against Lee's ace-king, and Lee turned a flush to lock up the title and become the newest Black-and-Gold Gauntlet champion. Runner-up Chien Te Lee took KRW 90,440,000, while Yi Cheng Lo earned KRW 61,280,000 for third. GOP Olympians champion Ryoma Yamamoto of Japan rounded out the final table in ninth.
Why It Matters
Lee's victory caps off the inaugural GOP Incheon festival with a home win, crowning a South Korean player as the event's first-ever Main Event champion. The result is a fitting finish to a festival that drew international fields to Paradise City and underscored Incheon's growing role as a destination on the Asian live poker circuit, with players from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, and beyond filling the deep run.
Comments
0