After months at the center of interrelated poker controversies, Ren Lin has gotten back to his winning ways on the tournament circuit. The Chinese player has already come out on top in four events just over a month into 2026, accumulating more than $1.2 million across those triumphs.
Lin’s involvement in the aforementioned scandals began when he was disqualified from the 2025 World Series of Poker Super Circuit Cyprus main event last October for violating GGPoker’s terms of service, counseling a friend who was on the final table of a $10,000 online tournament on the platform via a video call.
At the time, he was a GGPoker ambassador. He was suspended from the platform and its partners, including the WSOP, and dropped from the team. His indefinite suspension lasted less than two months, though, as he was soon playing and cashing at the WSOP Paradise in December.
The drama continued when WPT Global announced that the site was hiring Lin as an ambassador in January. The social media post revealing the move kicked off a spat between multiple World Poker Tour-branded entities online. 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.
Lin Back In The Winners Circle
Not long after the WPT Global announcement, Lin took down back-to-back titles at the debut of the King Poker Cup Series in South Korea in mid-January while wearing the brand’s patch. He earned $600,700 as the main event champion and another $70,000 for a triumph in a mixed no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha high roller.
Then, just a couple of weeks later, he scored another pair of victories in rapid succession at the Asian Poker Tour Jeju Classic, which was also held inside the same venue, LES A Casino.
First, Lin topped a field of 115 entries in a $10,000 buy-in, earning $275,220 and 600 Card Player Player of the Year points on Feb. 1 (pictured above). Then, just two days later, Lin overcame 49 entries in a $25,000 Superstar Challenge high roller (see below) to add another $321,364 and 420 points.
Strong Start Sees Lin Claim POY Race Lead
With 2,028 total points accrued so far, Lin has moved into first place in the 2026 POY standings presented by CoinPoker. Only three of his four wins came with points, as the $10,000 NLH/PLO mixed event did have a large enough field or prize pool to qualify. His win in the main event at that stop added 1,008 points.
Lin is no stranger to success in the POY race. He finished fifth in the overall standings in 2023 and seventh the following year.
This strong start to the new year has seen Lin’s career haul grow to nearly $19.1 million, with 13 recorded victories and 275 in-the-money finishes.
APT Jeju Classic $10,000 Buy-In
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Ren Lin | $275,220 | 600 |
| 2 | Ryuta Nakai | $185,960 | 500 |
| 3 | Quang Dinh Do | $120,875 | 400 |
| 4 | Khoa Anh Ngo | $100,090 | 300 |
| 5 | Guoliang Wei | $80,730 | 250 |
| 6 | Ryan Plant | $63,670 | 200 |
| 7 | Yosuke Miki | $48,680 | 150 |
| 8 | Kento Nasu | $36,645 | 100 |
| 9 | Paulius Plausinaitis | $27,350 | 50 |
APT Jeju Classic $25,000 SuperStar Challenge
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Ren Lin | $321,364 | 420 |
| 2 | Minh Quang Nguyen | $236,828 | 350 |
| 3 | Fendy Kosasih | $158,445 | 280 |
| 4 | Khoa Anh Ngo | $119,517 | 210 |
| 5 | Lester Edoc | $85,041 | 175 |
| 6 | Paulius Plausinaitis | $63,366 | 140 |
| 7 | Joseph Cheong | $50,578 | 105 |
| 8 | Huu Nguyen | $41,129 | 70 |
| 9 | Ryuta Nakai | $35,571 | 35 |
Photo credits: Asian Poker Tour.
