The World Poker Tour (WPT) made a triumphant return to Korea for another unforgettable ten-day poker festival at the Landing Casino on the picturesque Jeju Island. Following a massive success in last year’s event, the 2024 WPT Korea set an even higher bar. If the 2023 edition saw a record-breaking field of 757 participants, this year, the event soared to an impressive 1,065 entrants for the Main Event, creating a staggering prize pool of KRW 2,603,286,000 (~$1,928,000) and effortlessly surpassing the 2 billion KRW guarantee.
The tournament attracted many poker stars to Korea, including the legendary Phil Ivey, high-stakes regular Steve O’Dwyer, online superstar Daniel “SmilleThHero” Smiljkovic, and the 2022 WSOP champion Espen Jorstad, along with last year’s winner, Yin Tao. All five players advanced through the starting flights into Day 2. Despite early exits for Ivey and Tao during Day 2, the remaining trio finished in the money.
Emerging victorious from this highly competitive field was Mate Hanusi from Hungary, who clinched the WPT Korea Main Event title along with a handsome prize of ~$320,000. Remarkably, Hanusi secured his seat in the tournament through a $109 WPT Global satellite, making his journey from Europe to Korea not just a tourist trip.
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To make the story even better, Hanusi entered the final table as the underdog with the shortest stack of only 11 big blinds. Still, despite the dominance of Po-wen Fang and Yayun Ding as the runaway chip leaders at the final table, the stacks were close for the other seven, and even one double could change the power rankings.
Hanusi’s early double-up at the final table against Yayun paved the way for an incredible comeback. Facing Ma Li in the heads-up match with a slight disadvantage, Hanusi played aggressively, allowing him to chip away at Li’s stack and seize the lead.
The decisive moment came when Hanusi, holding 8♥8♣, pushed all-in, and Ma Li called with A♦9♠. The board rolled out J♦5♠Q♦K♥4♣, and Hanusi dodged any potential threats, securing his victory and the coveted title of WPT Korea champion.
2024 WPT Korea Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (KRW) | Prize (~USD) |
| 1 |  Mate Hanusi | Hungary | 434,936,000 | ~$320,000 |
| 2 |  Li Ma | China | 290,150,000 | ~$215,000 |
| 3 | Chi Zhang | China | 214,400,000 | ~$159,000 |
| 4 | Linghui Dai | China | 160,100,000 | ~$119,000 |
| 5 | Po Wen Fang | China | 120,750,000 | ~$89,000 |
| 6 |  Farhad Aghayev | Azerbaijan | 92,050,000 | ~$68,000 |
| 7 | Yayun Ding | China | 70,950,000 | ~$53,000 |
| 8 |  Valeriy Fokin | Russia | 55,250,000 | ~$41,000 |
| 9 |  Duy Khanh Nguyen Pham | Vietnam | 43,500,000 | ~$32,200 |
