Record-Breaking $5,029,000 Pot at the King Poker Cup

The Chinese are playing at extremely high stakes

At the South Korean King Poker Cup series, hosted in Jeju in January 2026, high-stakes cash games with $1,000,000 buy-ins were also held. One hand featured the largest pot in live poker history, captured on video.

Aaron Zang lost a $5,029,000 pot to Zuo "ST Wang" Wang in KPC Live Million Dollar Cash Game.

This is almost $2 million more than the previous record, set at Hustler Casino Live in 2023.

Why did the poker community only hear about this milestone in April? Unlike the festival’s tournaments, the KPC Live Million Dollar Cash Game wasn’t broadcast live; it was recorded and released later, with episodes uploaded to YouTube over several days in April.

Background: The KPC Live Million Dollar Cash Game is a high-stakes cash game series organized by the South Korean brand King Poker Cup, which launched in 2026. Its debut festival took place in Jeju in January, featuring both tournaments and cash games across multiple stakes. The biggest game ran with blinds of $1,000/$2,000 and a minimum buy-in of $1,000,000.

It’s clear that King Poker Cup is positioning itself alongside brands like Triton Poker, Hustler Casino Live, PokerGO, and Onyx Club — all aiming to turn elite high-roller games into must-watch entertainment.

Timeline of the hand: 2:33:30

How the hand was played

The hand lasted almost 15 minutes. Preflop, the pot consisted of (just calls):

• Zuo on UTG+1 (mystery hand — hand doesn't show up on tape)
• Aaron Zang with ♦J♣9 on HJ
• Hu on CO with ♥8♥7 suited

Wiktor Malinowski on the button with ♥K♣J squeezes to $35K, and all three opponents call.

On the flop (pot $147,000) ♣7♦T♠Q, Malinowski has second pair and an open-ended straight draw, betting almost a third of the pot. ST Wang and Zang call, and Hu folds.

On the turn (pot $282,000), ♠K comes. Malinowski, now with two pairs, bets $135,000. ST Wang calls. Aaron, who has a low straight draw, after much deliberation, overbets $635,000. Wiktor, after less than a minute of thought, folds. ST Wang calls again.

On the river (pot $1,687,000), the dealer puts down ♦8. Zang bets half the pot, and his opponent moves all-in. Aaron called, and ST Wang showed pocket ♥A♥J for the nut straight.

Players at the table

The table featured six Chinese players with varying degrees of high-stakes experience, along with one well-known European player:

1. Tang Xuan is a Chinese high roller and frequent participant in high-stakes cash games in Asia and Europe. His largest live tournament score was $2,308,384 for second place in a Triton Poker Short Deck event in 2018. He lost almost $8 million in cash games on Triton and was the lowest-scoring player in the KPC Live Million Dollar Cash Game, losing $4.3 million.
2. Elton Tsang is one of Asia's most famous high rollers and a private games organizer. He is a businessman and financier. He won the €1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop tournament in Monte Carlo in 2016.
3. Zuo "ST Wang" Wang is a Chinese player known for his high-stakes cash games on Triton Poker (he has lost almost $2.5 million). Here, he also earned one of the largest payouts of his career ($1,234,000) for fourth place in the Short Deck High Roller in 2025.
4. Hu is a relatively unknown player from China.
5. Ye Wang is another player from the Chinese Triton High Roller pool. He is known for his tournament achievements: four seven-figure cashes in MTTs with buy-ins of $100K–$150K.
6. Wiktor Malinowski is a top world-class cash game player, both online and live. He has won approximately $5 million in cash games on Triton alone, and almost the same amount for winning the $200K series tournament in Montenegro in 2024.
7. Aaron Zang is one of the most famous players from China. He competes in high-stakes games at Triton Poker, Hustler Casino Live, and WPT Cash. In 2019, he took first place in a £1,050,000 buy-in tournament in London.