Yuan Shu Zhou Wins Mystery Bounty Hunter on his APT debut

To cash the very first poker tournament you play is special. To outright win one in an open field with several hundred competitors? Incredible.

And that's exactly what Yuan Shu Zhou did in the KRW 1.1M (~USD 760) Mystery Bounty Hunter – Sponsored by Natural8 after besting a 991-entry field and steamrolling the final table.

Zhou's fearless and relentless style proved to be a perfect fit for the popular event, leading the Chinese player to collect a staggering KRW 48,200,000 in bounty prizes alone (~$33,223) — largely as a result of eliminating all but one player on the final table.

When added with his first-place prize of KRW 119,356,000 (~$82,885), Zhou was the sole player to walk away with a six figure score, which represents a significant portion of the KRW 941,846,400 (~$654,060) prize pool. Additionally, Zhou will walk away with a Silver Lion Silhouette Trophy with what will surely be a life-long memory.

Winner's Reaction

Speaking with the aid of a translator, Zhou readily admitted he was ecstatic to win the event.

"This is my first tournament in Jeju. It's my first time going out of China!" Zhou explained. "It is my first time playing an MTT, so I am very excited."

"I've been playing poker for about three years, but wanted to shift to [tournaments] just in the last three months," Zhou said.

When asked if the mystery bounty dynamic affected his strategy at all, Zhou simply said he did what he felt was "right."

"I just did things my way. I did what I thought was necessary to win."

As far as his plan for the rest of the series, Zhou said he will definitely play in the Main Event following his victory.

"I'll probably play just one flight. And I'll definitely continue to play in future APT events," Zhou concluded with a smile.

Yuan Shu Zhou

MYSTERY BOUNTY HUNTER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Day 2 Action

Of the 991 original entrants, 140 returned to Les A Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World having already secured a min-cash worth KRW 1,200,000 (~$830) and eager to score some mystery bounties. Given that the highest bounty pull was worth a bit more than a fifth-place finish, players were hesitant let a decent chance for a knockout pass them by.

It didn't take long for the mystery bounty dynamic to become apparent, with Australia's Yita Choong claiming a double knockout on one of the first hands of play holding queen-five offsuit. Unsurprisingly, the field was halved to just 70 players within the first hour of play.

Yita Choong

A few notable chip leaders began to emerge about half way through the day, and in particular was Qi Heng Liu, who scored a big double up against Chzhen Evgenii after making a large shove over Evegenii's raise with ace-queen and getting called by ace-jack.

A couple other players who successfully navigated their day to a deep run were Wen Jie Sun, who entered Day 2 as the chip leader, and Gao Qian Zhang after scoring a massive pot without a showdown in a three-way clash between him, Guang Mang Huang, and the last lady standing — Yingfei Gu.

As play consolidated down to the final two tables, the appetite for bounties remained as high as ever with no one having yet claimed the largest bounties available.

In another "bounty hunting" hand, Kaihua Huang limped from the cutoff and Shenglai Zhang shoved for about 10 big blinds on the button. Action folded back to Huang, who quickly called with king-five suited. Zhang held the best of it with pocket sixes, but the board ran out with a king to send Zhang out on a bad beat.

The final table bubble burst on another beat after Hong Yu Yang shoved with Big Slick and got called by Liu holding ace-trey. Despite being dominated, Liu caught a three on the flop and Yang was unable to catch back up to get sent out just shy of the finish line.

The final nine players were sent on a short break before play resumed on the final table, and Shun Bo Yu took that time to cash in his bounty chips. It turned out to be impeccable timing, as Yu pulled the highest bounty worth KRW 32,500,000 (~$22,570), much to the dismay of the remaining players.

Shu Bo Yu Scores the Largest Bounty

The final table started off with flurry of action that saw Liu briefly take over the chip lead before a huge clash between him, Zhou, and Wei Ni took place within the first few hands of play.

In the hand, Ni shoved all in preflop with ace-five and was isolated by Zhou, who three-bet holding pocket nines. Liu was undeterred and also went all in with ace-jack suited, which got a reluctant call from Zhou for a three-way all in. Zhou ended up with a full house, both eliminating Ni in ninth place and leaving Liu short while growing his own stack to over ten million.

Liu, as mentioned, was left short and shortly followed Ni out the door in eighth place after calling a shove from Zhou and failing to improve.

Sun's momentum finally ran out after calling a shove from Zhou holding ace-queen. Zhou held rags in the form of six-three, but Zhou paired up to end Sun's run in seventh and claim his third elimination of the final table.

With an overwhelming chip lead, Zhou wasn't shy about his intention to shove and call shoves light in an attempt to secure more bounties. Zhang ended up being the next victim of Zhou after shoving with ace-three and getting called by Zhou holding eight-deuce. Zhang flopped two pair, but Zhou turned a wheel to send Zhang out in sixth.

Yuan Shu Zhou

A small chink in Zhou's amour appeared, however, as Chi Ngong Tang and Huang both took turns doubling up through Zhou, though, the setback proved only temporary.

Following Huang's exit in fifth after running pocket sixes into Yu's pocket kings, a three-way all in resulted in Gu tripling up her short stack and Yu getting eliminated in fourth by Zhou, who claimed yet another bounty.

Three-handed play began with Gu more than doubling her stack without a showdown by shoving over the top of raises from Zhou and Tang and getting folds. During this time, Tang fell into the short stack and shoved preflop with king-three suited only to get looked up by Zhou holding seven-five sutied. Unsurprisingly, Zhou hit a runner-runner flush for his sixth knockout at the final table to set up heads-up play.

Chi Ngong Tang

Gu entered their battle with just under a 3:1 chip deficit against Zhou, but managed to chip up a bit in a series of small pots.

However, it didn't take long for the final hand of the tournament to unfold. Several hands into their battle, Gu raised with ace-eight and was called by Zhou holding four-deuce suited. The flop paired Gu's ace, but also gave Zhou a flush draw. Zhou ended up shoving over a continuation bet by Gu, which Gu called and found herself a favorite to double up.

It was just Zhou's day, however, as Zhou immediately drilled his flush on the turn to leave Gu drawing dead and put an end to the tournament.

Yuan Shu Zhou

That's a wrap for coverage of the APT Mystery Bounty Hunter. Be sure to check back for ongoing coverage of the 2026 APT Jeju Classic, as many more events, including the Main Event, have yet to unfold.

Yuan Shu Zhou

Yuan Shu Zhou had a monster stack through most of the final table and put it to good use, eliminating almost every other player, save for one.

Zhou also accumulated a whole bunch of bounties to go along with his winnings.

A full recap of the Mystery Bounty Hunter Day 2 Final will follow soon.

Yifeng Gu

Yifeng Gu did well to improve her stack against Yuan Shu Zhou in the final heads-up action. In the final hand, she had an opportunity to double up. However.

Gu raised to 1.2 million and Zhou called to defend the big blind.

The flop arrived A T J

Zhou checked and Gu bet out 1 million. Zhou then shoved allin with Gu making the call, to risk her last 6 million chips.

Yifeng Gu tabled A 8 for top pair aces while Zhou showed 4 2 for a flush draw.

The dealer threw in a 6 on the turn, giving Zhou the winning flush and leaving Gu drawing dead.

The Q was a formality to finalize the championship to Zhou while sending Gu out as a formidable second place finisher.

Chi Ngong Tang

After a bit of a lull in the action, Chi Ngong Tang shoved for just under 4,000,000 on the button and it was folded to Yuan Shu Zhou, who asked for a count before calling to put Tang at risk.

Yuan Shu Zhou: 7 5

Chi Ngong Tang: K 3

Zhou was eager to claim another elimination, and he did just that after the 4 9 Q 3 8 runout provided him with a runner-runner flush to eliminate Tang in third place and set up heads-up play.

Zhou wasted little time claiming his bounty and pulled the second-highest one overall, good for KRW 26,050,000 (~$18,000).

Yingfei Gu

Yinfei Gu has been putting her short stack to work by shoving over open raises from Yuan Shu Zhou and getting folds.

In just a few hands, Gu has grown her stack to over seven million without a showdown.

Shun Bo Yu

Yingfei Gu went allin for her last 1,600,000 from the dealer button. Shun Bo Yu went allin, hoping to isolate and claim Gu's bounty. However, big blind Yuan Shu Zhou woke up with a monster and also declared allin for a three-way.

Yingfei Gu: 4 4

Shun Bo Yu: A 7

Yuan Shu Zhou: K K

The flop came 6 J 4 giving Gu a set. And while she was ecstatic to be leading, there was tension for Yu and Zhou.

The turn came 7 improving Yu and adding more outs. However, the river gave a Q sealing his fate at the hands of Zhou.

Gu tripled up while Yu bowed out.

Yu must still be happy after pulling the biggest bounty of KRW 32,500,000 (~USD 28,000)

In the first of two clashes between the two, Shun Bo Yu opened to 1,000,000 from the small blind and Yuan Shu Zhou defended his big blind.

Yu check-called an 800,000 bet from Zhou on the 4 5 T flop and then both players checked on the K turn.

The 6 completed the board and Yu checked once more, prompting Zhou to move all in. Yu let his hand go and Zhou collected the pot.

A couple of hands later, Yu opened to 700,000 first to act and was called by Zhou on the button.

Yu checked to Zhou, who bet 600,000 on the 6 4 3 flop. Yu then check-raised to 2,500,000 and Zhou called.

The 4 paired the board on the turn and Yu went back to checking. Zhou moved all in again and Yu let his hand go.

Kaihua Huang

Kaihua Huang shoved for his last 1,900,000 from the cutoff and just behind him, Shun Bo Yu called on the button with a covering stack. Everyone else got out of the way and hands were revealed.

Kaihua Huang: 6 6

Shun Bo Yu: K K

Huang was in trouble against Yu's Cowboys, and the 3 8 8 5 2 runout changed nothing to eliminate Huang in fifth place.

Yuan Shu Zhou

Yuan Shu Zhou has maybe 75% of the chips in play and has been dominating the final table with the luxury to call with any two cards.

However, while it has been working for him. Maybe the poker gods decided to sweat him out a little bit.

Chi Ngong Tang risked his last 2,010,000 from under the gun and was snap-called by Zhou when action fell to him in his big blind.

Chi Ngong Tang: 8 8

Yuan Shu Zhou: 8 2

Board ran 2 Q T 3 3

Zhou hit his deuce and had 2 outs, but it wasn't enough as Tang made a crucial double up.

Following that, Kaihua Huang shoved his last 775,000 allin and once again Zhou called without even looking at his cards.

Kaihua Huang: 9 9

Yuan Shu Zhou: K 9

The board ran 3 5 3 Q 6 offering no help for Zhou and giving Huang a lifeline double-up to help him escape the ICU.

Gao Qian Zhang

Gao Qian Zhang shoved for his last 1,200,000, when first to act and it was folded around to Yuan Shu Zhou in the big blind. Zhou verified the amount before announcing a call in an attempt to claim yet another bounty at the final table.

Gao Qian Zhang: A 3

Yuan Shu Zhou: 8 2

Zhou's rags were live, but the A 5 3 flop signicantly increased Zhang's chances of doubling up with two pair.

The hand wasn't over, however, and Zhou's rail began shouting for a four.

Sure enough, the dealer brought the 4 on the turn, completing Zhou's wheel draw and leaving Zhang drawing to a full house.

It wasn't meant to be, as the J bricked out, eliminating Zhang in sixth place and earning Zhou his fourth knockout at the final table.