Dong Li Shen Wins the First WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship
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Quick answer: China's Dong Li Shen won the inaugural WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship, the first World Poker Tour main event in South Korea. The official WPT Seoul results and the WPT results page list the champion as Dong Li Shen and the first-place prize as ₩256,578,000 ($188,149), a figure they say reflects a heads-up deal with Japan's Yosuke Sekiya and includes a seat in the WPT World Championship. WPT Global, which spells his name Dongli Shen, reported that the deal locked up KRW 252,378,000 (about $185,000) for Shen, with a $10,400 World Championship seat still to play for.
A first Korean WPT main event
WPT Global said the KRW 1,750,000 buy-in championship was held at the new YY Poker Club inside the INSPIRE Entertainment Resort near Incheon. It drew 1,033 entries across four starting flights and built a prize pool of KRW 1,561,896,000, about $1.14 million, above a KRW 1 billion guarantee. One hundred twenty-eight places were paid. The 11-day festival, with 46 events, closed on Nov. 9.
The official WPT Seoul results page and the WPT season results board name the champion Dong Li Shen and list ₩256,578,000 ($188,149), noting that the figure reflects the heads-up deal and that first place includes the WPT World Championship seat. WPT Global's recap used the spelling Dongli Shen and said the deal locked up KRW 252,378,000 (about $185,000) for Shen and KRW 246,238,000 for Sekiya, with the title, a further sum, and the $10,400 seat still to play for. This article uses the official WPT prize of ₩256,578,000 ($188,149) and treats the Global numbers as a more detailed, slightly different breakdown of the same deal.
A chip lead, then a heads-up deal
WPT Global said Shen started the final table with 13,300,000 chips, nearly double the 6,775,000 held by Jun Li, and "spent the whole day in front." Li finished third. Shen then played heads-up against Sekiya.
With two players left, the recap said they struck a deal that locked up KRW 252,378,000 for Shen and KRW 246,238,000 for Sekiya, leaving the title, a further sum, and the Las Vegas seat to play for. Shen won. The pre-deal advertised first prize, according to the same article, had been KRW 301,816,000; the deal reshaped the top two payouts.
WPT Global's nine-handed payouts were:
- 1st: Dongli Shen (China) — KRW 252,378,000, plus the $10,400 World Championship seat (about $185,000)
- 2nd: Yosuke Sekiya (Japan) — KRW 246,238,000 (about $180,000)
- 3rd: Jun Li (China) — KRW 124,950,000 (about $91,500)
- 4th: Tomoharu Hikino (Japan) — KRW 92,310,000 (about $67,600)
- 5th: Juhyun Lee (United States) — KRW 68,720,000 (about $50,300)
- 6th: Myagmardorj Batsukh (Mongolia) — KRW 54,670,000 (about $40,000)
- 7th: Andrew Tomoya Matahira (Japan) — KRW 45,290,000 (about $33,200)
- 8th: Hayato Nagasawa (Japan) — KRW 36,700,000 (about $26,800)
- 9th: Yumi Hanzawa (Japan) — KRW 28,900,000 (about $21,200)
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The dollar figures in that table are WPT Global's approximations, not separate official USD payouts. The official WPT Seoul results instead list first place as ₩256,578,000 ($188,149) and second as ₩246,238,000 ($180,566), both reflecting the deal, with first place including the World Championship seat. The recap did not publish the final-hand holdings.
Japan took most of the festival, not the title
WPT Global said Japanese players swept most warm-up and side-event titles, and that five of the Championship's final nine were Japanese, but the main title still went to Shen. Russia's Nikita Ustiuzhanin won the KRW 3,500,000 High Roller for KRW 84,254,000 (about $61,700) from 101 entries, and Satsuki Suzuki won the Mini Championship from 416 entries.
Shen's $10,400 seat is for the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, Dec. 13–20, the Season 24 finale. That is the same December event Craig Mason also qualified for by winning the WPT Venetian Fall Championship this week.
Deep, multi-flight main events reward the same stack-management habits players can practice on Superintelligencepoker.com.
For more poker news and tournament coverage, see Japanese poker on the international tour and no-limit hold'em strategy. Browse the Superintelligence Poker blog for more.
FAQ
Who won the first WPT Seoul Championship?
Dong Li Shen of China, also styled Dongli Shen by WPT Global. He beat Yosuke Sekiya heads-up after a deal.
How much did he win?
Official WPT results list ₩256,578,000 ($188,149), a figure that reflects the heads-up deal and includes the WPT World Championship seat. WPT Global reported the deal locked up KRW 252,378,000 (about $185,000) plus a $10,400 seat.
How large was the field?
1,033 entries and a KRW 1,561,896,000 prize pool, about $1.14 million, above a KRW 1 billion guarantee, according to WPT Global. One hundred twenty-eight places were paid.
Where was it played?
At YY Poker Club in the INSPIRE Entertainment Resort near Incheon, South Korea, per WPT Global. The festival ended Nov. 9, 2026.
Sources
1. WPT Global, "Dongli Shen Wins the First-Ever WPT Seoul INSPIRE Championship," updated Nov. 10, 2026: https://wptglobal.com/poker/blog/news/wpt-seoul-championship-2026-results
2. World Poker Tour, Season 2026 results (Dong Li Shen, $188,149; WPT Seoul INSPIRE; Nov. 5–9): https://www.worldpokertour.com/event/results
3. WPT Seoul, official Championship results (Dong Li Shen, ₩256,578,000 / $188,149; Nov. 9, 2026): https://www.wptseoul.com/results
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