Ren Lin has made a lot of headlines in recent months that had nothing to do with his success on the global tournament circuit. That changed in late January thanks to a couple of victories at a new poker festival held in South Korea.
The former GGPoker ambassador’s rocky few months began when he was disqualified from the 2025 World Series of Poker Super Circuit Cyprus main event last fall, after being accused of violating GGPoker’s terms of service. He soon released a public statement acknowledging that he had indeed offered advice in real time to a friend who was at a $10,000 online tournament final table on the platform. Lin said that he ‘… failed to recognize it as a rule violation at that moment.’
He was indefinitely suspended from GGPoker, WSOP, and all partner platforms in late October following that incident. That suspension turned out to be quite short, as he recorded three cashes at the WSOP Paradise festival less than two months later, including finishing 28th in the massive $60 million guaranteed $25,000 super main event.
Then, in January, WPT Global announced that the site was hiring Lin as an ambassador, kicking off a new round of drama that saw various World Poker Tour-branded entities seemingly at odds on social media. The development also led to Chip Race podcast hosts David Lappin and Dara O’Kearney cutting ties with the brand, which had sponsored the show since last summer.
Back In The Winner’s Circle
Lin was sporting his new WPT Global patch when he went on a run at the King Poker Cup, which was held at LES A Casino in Jeju.
He wound up taking down two titles at the festival, which ran from Jan. 11-18. First, he took down a $10,000 mixed no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha tournament, besting 12 entries to earn $70,000.
🔥 2026 King Poker Cup – Event #S5 🔥
💰 USD 10K Buy-In | NLH/PLO MixElite poker on full display as Tony Ren Lin dominated the field from start to finish, capturing the title and the USD 70,000 top prize.
👏 Congratulations, Champion! 👑♠️ pic.twitter.com/4gTOiKocSZ
— King Poker Cup (@KingPokerCup) January 16, 2026
Lin then hopped into King’s Main Event, a $15,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair. He overcame 191 entries to earn $600,700.
While full results are not yet posted, these triumphs are set to increase Lin’s career earnings to nearly $18.5 million. His win in the main event became the sixth-largest recorded score yet for the Chinese player.
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Ren Lin | $600,700 |
| 2 | Trung Hieu Nguyen | $400,000 |
| 3 | Abraham Ceesvin | $286,000 |
| 4 | Zengxiang Chen | $193,000 |
| 5 | Matas Cimbolas | $143,000 |
| 6 | Takumi Odani | $108,000 |
| 7 | Seunghyun Nam | $83,000 |
| 8 | Zikai Li | $68,000 |
Photo via social media post by King Poker Cup.
