The Red Dragon Poker Tour (RDPT) Plus Jeju Summer 2026 festival launched in style at the LES A Casino , delivering an action-packed opening day under spectacular sunny skies. Anchored by the unique team event format, the schedule also saw the first solo champions step into the winner’s circle.

The marquee attraction of the opening day of RDPT Plus Jeju Summer 2026 was the Red Dragon Team Event , attracting a robust field of 21 teams comprising 84 players. Round 1 saw a clinic from team The BLUFF, who completely commanded the floor to seize the lead with a massive 100 points.

Hot on their heels was Space-X, who confidently secured the second automatic qualification spot for the final day by compiling 83 points. It was initial heartbreak for No Crumbs Left, who barely missed the cut by just two points, wrapping up the round with 81 points.

Determined to rewrite their story, No Crumbs Left unleashed absolute vengeance in Round 2. They put on an unparalleled showing to accumulate an astonishing 208 points, sweeping both first and second place in individual standings while aggressively harvesting 16 Hunter Cards to lock down their spot in the finals.

The struggle for the last remaining seat quickly dissolved into total chaos, with a dead heat landing between The Turtles, Really New, and SWIFT ASCENT. According to the strict regulations laid out in the Players’ Handbook, a tie across the two rounds forces a tiebreaker check on total team eliminations. If that is also tied, it defaults to the team carrying the player with the highest single placement in that specific round.

SWIFT ASCENT was the first to fall out of contention under the metric for having the lowest overall elimination count. The final final-day ticket was ultimately punched by The Turtles, thanks to a clutch fourth-place finish from Tianxing Jiang, which stood as the highest individual rank among the tied groups. Really New was unfortunately left empty-handed.

The final four teams returning for the championship battle are:

• The BLUFF
• Space-X
• No Crumbs Left
• The Turtles

The honor of claiming the first trophy of the RDPT Plus Jeju Summer 2026 fell to Rama Prema of the Czech Republic . Prema navigated the specialized field in the #2 PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better event, ultimately finding himself heads-up against Hong Kong’s Tsz Kin Heung . Prema won the final showdown to secure the first-place glory and a KRW 4,564,000 (~USD 3,035) cash prize, forcing Heung to settle for an agonizing runner-up finish.

The pain of a second-place finish didn’t linger long for Heung. Shaking off the heads-up defeat from earlier in the day, Heung immediately hopped into the late-night action of the #5 NLH Hyper Turbo . Outlasting the entire field, Heung converted his deep-run momentum into a outright victory, pocketing a crisp KRW 6,734,000 (~USD 4,480) and his own piece of Red Dragon gold.

Yankai Zhang continued an almost unbelievable heater, picking up his fifth live tournament trophy of the calendar year. Zhang conquered a field of 40 entries in the #4 No Limit Hold’em event to walk away with a KRW 9,440,000 (~USD 6,280) top prize. While small compared to some of the massive scores that have pushed him near the coveted USD 900,000 milestone in total live career earnings, the triumph further cements his status as one of the most clinical closers in the game today.

Unforeseen scheduling shifts caused the cancellation of the marquee event’s opening flight, The Dragon Awakening Day 1A. The tournament structure pivots swiftly to give players plenty of options today, deploying two replacement flights with a premium KRW 1,500,000 (~USD 995) buy-in. Day 1B is locked to kick off at 12:00 PM local time, with the faster-paced Day 1C Turbo flight scheduled to follow at 6:00 PM local time.

Simultaneously, the high-roller arena prepares for heavy action as the elite Dragon’s Gate High Roller makes its debut at 3:00 PM local time. Carrying a hefty KRW 5,000,000 (~USD 3,300) buy-in, the premier two-day event keeps late registration wide open through the night before officially slamming the gates shut tomorrow at the conclusion of Level 14.

The full livestream schedule for the festival running from July 8 to 19 is now available on the official RDPT social media channels. Fans can tune in daily to catch all the featured action, starting with the Red Dragon Team Event Final Day and moving through premier events like The Dragon Awakening, Baby Dragon Plus, and the Red Dragon Plus Championship, before wrapping up with the massive Red Dragon Prestige Super High Roller Day 2.

Source: SOMUCHPOKER
Original article: SoMuchPoker