Yu Jui Chen Secures Home Victory in the 2026 Gods of Poker Taipei II Main Event

On the final day of The Trial of Wisdom, the sixth edition of the Gods of Poker live poker tour has wrapped up at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City and all eyes were set on the conclusion of the NT$ 17 Million guaranteed Main Event.

Out of a field of 520 entries, only nine players returned to their seats of the live stream table and seven players from Taiwan were trying to keep the trophy on home soil. However, the first six eliminations were all from local players and suddenly it seemed quite unlikely.

That's when Yu Jui Chen stepped up to the challenge and rose from shortest stack to chip leader when the biggest cash prizes were up for grabs in the NT$ 33,000 buy-in. The final three players actually cut an ICM deal in which Chen secured the biggest slice and he knocked out Singapore's Ravn Teo in the very first hand thereafter.

What may have appeared to be over soon turned into a gruelling heads-up encounter with South Korea's Daeyoung Park, who already had a trademark victory to his name at this very venue.

During the second heads-up break after more than three hours, Chen said “I try so hard” when describing his efforts to take down the tournament as the last local Taiwanese player still in contention. He also mentioned that he has only been playing for two years. “This year I went to Las Vegas for the first time and everyone there is so different, it is much easier than here.”

Park had doubled twice after getting short prior to that and earned a third double after they returned to play to retake the lead. He then needed an ace to crack the pocket kings of Chen, who held for the vast majority of the chips in play and finally secured the home victory in the very next hand.

In July 2027, Park came out on top of the NT$ 9,000 Main Event as part of the homegrown Taiwan Millions Tournament (TMT) brand by the hosting CTP Club. In a huge field of 9,094 entries, Park cut a heads-up deal with Cheng Jing Lim from Malaysia and won the trophy as well as NT$ 6,120,000 ($189,309) for his efforts then - the largest of his live poker career so far. This time, he had to settle for the runner-up spot and NT$ 2,209,000 ($69,539).

Chen's largest reported cash according to The Hendon Mob so far was for a fraction of what he walked away with today, as he earned the top prize of NT$ 2,761,600 ($86,935). He even worried that the Gods of Poker gauntlet trophy was too heavy to carry home today, if it wasn't for the rolling carry-on case that came with it.

Final Table Result

*the final three players agreed to an ICM deal and played for an additional NT$ 268,600 for the winner

Yu Jui Chen - GOP Taipei II Main Event Champion

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The final table started somewhat timid as no player busted in the opening half an hour. Several double-ups then followed most notably including a clash between Daeyoung Park and early frontrunner Tsu Yun Yang. The latter floated a flop to turn a flush draw and check-shove, trying to force out Park with two pair nines and eights. After burning through all of his time banks, Park called and doubled thanks to a blank river.

This monstrous pot kind of opened the flood gates as half an hour later, three of the hopefuls had been sent to the payout desk. Yu You Ci Tsai was down to fumes and in the big blind to call a shove by Ravn Teo with ace-king, finding himself flipping with pocket treys. Another trey on the turn left Tsai drawing dead.

Right after that, Chieh Wei Lee pushed pocket fours into the pocket jacks of chip leader Park and the field lost the second player in as many hands. Sin Ren Chen had lattered twice as a result and then bowed out in a single-raised pot when his king-queen flopped top pair. Hung Te Lee had set the trap with slow-played pocket aces behind and soared back into the middle of the pack.

Tsu Yun Yang

What may have almost always been a preflop all-in saw Park get away from pocket kings when Yu Jui Chen only called his three-bet with pocket aces following a timid restart after the first break until. Then, the seemingly inevitable happened. Soon after, Park got the chips into the middle against Yang with the latter at risk holding ace-trey. His foe from South Korea had pocket tens and held, even spiking a set on the river to score the knockout in style to further grow his lead.

Sheng Hung Kao suffered an unfortunate blow when he put his hopes on pocket tens and Teo looked him up with the inferior pocket fours. Two jacks and as many spades on the flop were not a threat, but another two spades followed thereafter to complete the four-card flush for Teo.

Four-handed play was a very deep-stacked affair and the players traded blows back and forth with very volatile chip movements. Lee had the chance to knock out Chen with ace-queen versus ace-jack but a jack on the river was a disastrous setback. It didn't take long thereafter until Lee made a move at the wrong time with queen-high and jammed right into a full house.

Hung Te Lee

A few hands later, the three remaining players inquired about a possible ICM deal and indeed shook hands upon agreeing to the numbers. Right after play resumed, Teo was all-in with ace-ten against the ace-queen of Chen and couldn't escape despite both remaining aces appearing on the flop. For heads-up play, the average showed a staggering 104 big blinds

Chen could have maybe won it in the first hand of heads-up play when his king-queen turned broadway and Park had flopped two pair with ace-deuce. However, the Taiwanese just called and the river paired the jack for Park to check-fold. In the first all-in and call of the duel, Park flipped with 10 ♣️ 10 ♠️ versus A ♣️ J ♣️ and had to dodge an additional flush draw on the turn to stay in contention.

It was just the start of a tense duel in the trenches and Park became short after a hand that could have ended it all in his favour. Chen jammed the river of an ace-high board with just a pair of fives and the king-high flush blocker, smacking down his semi-bluff on the felt after Park had folded his wheel. During the entire heads-up duel and most of the final table, the South Korean had to act without time banks after he used them all very early on in a crucial spot and that may have contributed to the fold.

The fold represented a significant setback for sure but Park managed to double once more with ace-king versus king-eight. When the stacks were almost even thereafter, both players agreed to cut down the number of hands per level in half to fifteen each. The came rinse and repeat when Chen had pulled away and had Park at risk with ace-nine versus ace-trey only for a trey in the window to essentially level things for the third time.

The fourth all-in showdown of heads-up play had Chen at risk with pocket kings against ace-deuce and this time, he prevailed to gain an overwhelming lead. Park was all-in blind the very next hand and couldn't escape this time to be denied a second major victory at this very venue.

Ultimately, it took more than three and a half hours of heads-up play and a total of 179 hands on the final table in this incredibly deep-stacked conclusion. The trophy stays on home soil here in Taiwan in the sixth edition of Gods of Poker.

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The battle for the Player of the Series title went into the final day and points leader Shi Rong Wang was still in contention with five players remaining in the Kraken Stack to potentially cement his top spot. A full wrap of the entire festival with key event results will be published in the next couple of days.

In a few weeks from now, precisely from October 30 until November 8, 2026, the seventh edition of Gods of Poker under the festival dubbed as The Labyrinth Trail will take place at the Paradise City Casino near the international Seoul Incheon airport. A total of 73 trophy events await headlined by the KRW 600 Million Main Event - the full schedule is available right here.