Yang Zhang Defends King’s Debut Title at King Poker Cup
The WSOP bracelet winner topped 282 entries in Jeju for $238,700 after also winning the January opener.
Yang Zhang defended his King’s Debut title at the King Poker Cup in Jeju, South Korea, topping a 282-entry field for $238,700. The $5,000 buy-in event generated a $1,292,300 prize pool. The festival concluded in Jeju and ran in partnership with the K Poker Cup at Les A Casino.
According to PokerNews, Zhang returned as the defending champion after winning the January edition of King’s Debut for $330,500. PokerNews described him as a WSOP bracelet winner and said the latest result was the third-largest cash of his career. It also said the win extended what it called his most productive live year in 2026, when he had already recorded $898,099 in tournament cashes.
SoMuchPoker’s earlier report said that edition drew 362 entries across three starting flights and built a $1,658,900 prize pool. It said 54 players moved on to Day 2, and a double knockout on the Day 1B bubble meant everyone who came back was already guaranteed a slightly larger share of the money.
Zhang said he had been playing poker for more than 10 years, mostly in U.S. tournaments or in Jeju when he comes to Asia. He said the key hand came when he had queen-jack and raised on the river, which changed the momentum, and he picked out Ryan Plant as the most impressive foreign player at the table.
He also said he felt “happy, but also quite calm,” and thanked his friend Hui Chao, who watched the livestream and gave advice while he was playing. Zhang said he planned to watch the video later to see whether anything in his game could be improved. SoMuchPoker also said he ranked 18th on China’s all-time money list with more than $3.6 million in live earnings.
