Event #12: US$25,000 8 Handed
Day 2 Completed
2025 The Lord Poker Tournament Jeju
Event #12: US$25,000 8 Handed
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2025 The Lord Poker Tournament Jeju
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Entries
14
Level
16
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
30,000
Entries
7
Players Left
1
Level 16
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
After an exhilarating week of both low and high-stakes action at the Landing Casino inside Shinhwa World Hotel Jeju, The Lord Poker Tournament series has officially come to a close.
Capping off the series in style was TLPT co-founder Ivan Zhang, who emerged victorious in Event #12: US$25,000 8-Handed after besting a 15-entry field to claim the title, the trophy, and a cool $162,000. The win marks Zhang’s largest live tournament score to date and serves as a fitting redemption after firing — and missing — multiple bullets in the $20K event just days prior.
The atmosphere throughout the event carried a laid-back, “home game” feel, with smiles all around and few players taking the result too seriously. Zhang, in particular, thrived in this setting, regularly dishing out playful table talk and never hesitating to speak his mind.
Zhang entered the final day with a commanding chip lead and looked back. He put on a masterclass in well-timed aggression — mixing in light three-bets, floating with air, and pulling off overbets to apply maximum pressure. While he didn’t always hold the best hand, Zhang dominated the table en route to a well-earned victory.
TLPT $25,000 8-Handed Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Zhang | China | $162,000 |
| 2 | Lei Yu | China | $108,000 |
| 3 | Quan Zhou | China | $70,000 |
| 4 | Renji Mao | China | $35,000 |
Final Day Action
Renji Mao joined the fray at the last moment, which meant seven players would compete for the title in what turned to be a a fairly long finale.
Two of the shorter stacks at the table, Gary Thompson and Lei Yu, were forced to make stands early that resulted in Yu winning a race to double up, while Thompson was eliminated after shoving with a flush draw against Mao's top pair and bricking out.
A relatively tame period saw Zhang extend his chip lead, including a hand where he got Dominik Nitsche off of a chop. Following the first break, Ami Barer and Nitsche were eliminated back-to-back after shoving preflop, getting called, and ending up second best.
The remaining four players immediatley agreed to a deal that guaranteed $30,000 to fourth place — opting to skip the money bubble altogether.
Following the deal, another lengthy period of modest action saw little chip movement. Zhang slowly chipped down to under a million at one point before a preflop cooler saw Mao jam ace-queen into Zhang's ace-king to be eliminated in fourth place and vault Zhang back into a solid chip lead.
Perhaps sensing a bit of passive play from his opponents, Zhang notably shifted gears and increased his aggression to great success — including three-betting with rags, floating with air, and overbetting the river.
Unable to gain any momentum against Zhang, Zhou finally made a stand by shoving preflop with ace-ten against an open from Zhang, but Zhang held a dominating ace-jack and held to set up heads-up play.
Armed with an overwhelming chip lead, Zhang continued to apply pressure to Yu and was aided by making the best hand in the first few hands of play to leave Yu short.
Yu was gifted a small glimmer of hope after backdooring a flush for a substantial pot, but just a couple of hands later, Yu was dealt pocket sixes against Zhang's pocket kings. Yu shoved preflop with his pair and Zhang snap-called with a big smile on his face. The board ran out clean — sealing Zhang's victory and wrapping up the TLPT in style.
That's a wrap for PokerNews coverage of the inaugural Lord Poker Tournament series. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for additional coverage from events across the globe.
Level 16
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Ivan Zhang limped in on the button and Lei Yu shoved all in for 420,000 from the big blind. Zhang snap-called with a big smile on his face and the cards were tabled.
Lei Yu: 6♥6♦
Ivan Zhang: K♥K♣
Yu picked up a pocket pair but ran straight into the pocket kings of Zhang. The board ran out 3♠3♥2♥A♣8♣ and Yu was unable to find any help in the form of a six. Zhang threw his arms up in the air as he was crowned the champion of the final event at The Lord Poker Tournament in Jeju, South Korea.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,000,000
650,000
|
650,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 16
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Ivan Zhang raised to 85,000 on the button with K♦5♦ and Lei Yu defended from the big blind with the inferior K♣2♥. The flop fell A♥8♣2♣ and Yu took the lead with a measly pair of deuces.
Yu checked to Zhang who continued with a bet of 50,000 and Yu called. The turn was the Q♣ and both players checked to the J♣ on the river. Yu made a king-high flush and counted out a bet of 115,000. Zhang gave it some thought but made the wise decision to lay his hand down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,350,000
335,000
|
335,000 |
|
|
650,000
335,000
|
335,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 16
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 30,000
Level 15
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Lei Yu limped in on the button with K♥4♦ and Ivan Zhang made it 80,000 in the big blind with J♠5♥. Yu called and the dealer fanned the flop of J♣8♠3♣. Zhang led out with a bet of 60,000 after making top pair and Yu quickly ditched his cards to the muck.
Following that, Zhang pushed all in on the button with K♠4♠ and Yu was forced to discard his 6♦2♦ as he saw a good portion of his short stack disappear in just a couple of hands.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,685,000
85,000
|
85,000 |
|
|
315,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
|
||
Level 15
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Ivan Zhang and Lei Yu are taking a quick break before beginning their heads-up battle.
Zhang currently holds an overwhelming chip lead over Yu, with 86 big blinds separating the two.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,600,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
430,000 | |
|
|
||
Level 15
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Ivan Zhang raised to 50,000 on the button and Quan Zhou announced all in for 430,000 from the big blind. Zhang snap-called and the cards were on their backs.
Quan Zhou: A♠10♣
Ivan Zhang: A♣J♣
Zhang was in a dominating position and the flop of A♦7♥5♦ left it that way. The 7♠ on the turn gave Zhou some chop possibilities but the 5♣ on the river was not one of them. Zhou was eliminated in third place and the final two players are taking a quick break before the action resumes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,570,000
570,000
|
570,000 |
|
|
430,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 15
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Ivan Zhang limped in with the K♠Q♦ from the small blind and Lei Yu checked the J♣7♥ from the big blind to the K♦J♥6♥ flop.
Both had a piece but checked to the 5♠ turn on which Zhang bet 35,000 and earned a call. Zhang then also bet the 10♠ river for 85,000 and Yu called to get shown the bad news.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,000,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
500,000
280,000
|
280,000 |
|
|
||
Level 15
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Ivan Zhang on the button raised to 50,000 with A♠10♥ and Lei Yu called in the small blind holding the A♥Q♣. Both checked the 7♠5♥2♥ flop to the 3♣ turn and Yu bet 75,000 with the superior hand. Zhang increased his aggression once again and bumped it up to 200,000 to force a reluctant fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,900,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
|
780,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
|
||
