Sung Joo Hyun has only 16 recorded tournament places to his name. However, what Hyun's resume may lack in quantity, it is more than made up for in quality.

The 30-year-old South Korean has amassed an impressive list of achievements, including a win World Series of Poker gold bracelet and amassing over seven figures in tournaments with several major titles won along the way.

Hyun was born and raised in Seoul, and after graduating from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, he did the mandatory military service required of young South Korean men, serving for two years.

In recent years, he has started to take poker seriously, reaching major tournaments around the world. His first recorded cash came in 2015 WSOP . Just three years later, he reached the finals of the $1,111 buy-in table Little One For One Drop in the summer series, finishing fourth with his first six-figure live score of $, 098.

During last year's live hiatus, Hyun cleared a field of 2, 307 entries in WSOP Online $ 500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament to earn your bracelet dream. He took home a $ 161,898 as champion and became only the third South Korean player to ever win a bracelet, joining Sejin Park who won the 2019 Colossus and Jiyoung Kim who won the Ladies Event title the same year.

After the live tournament poker returned, Hyun made a long trip to Las Vegas to play in some major events. He left with two titles and earnings in excess of half a million dollars.

The first series of Hyuna 2021 titles arrived in February World Poker Tour DeepStacks 1 $, 600 No Limit Hold'em Main Event held at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The event drew 812 entries, and after four days of action, Hyun was the last player left. He received a $ 208, 335 as champion, which was the highest of his career at the time.

However, this personal record only lasted about six weeks. In mid-March, Hyun overcame a field of 614 entries and won the Wynn Spring Classic $3, 500 Buy-in Main Event. Hyun made a heads-up deal to secure the title and $'s top payout of 323,409. The career best score increased his lifetime earnings to $1,033,602.

Hyun received a total of 2,172 Card player Player of the Year points for those two titles, it was enough to see him climb to second place for 2021 POY race scoreboard. We recently caught up with Hyun to talk about how he found the game, South Korea's poker scene, and his hot start to 2021 POY race.

Card player: Can you talk about how you found poker?

Sung Joo Hyun: My first encounter with poker was at a high school festival. The English Championship was doing something to represent Las Vegas and that was where I first saw the game and tried it out for myself. It was done with fake money but I really fell for it.

CP: What do you find interesting about this game?

SJH : It felt like a small version of the world that forces us to make decisions every hand and choose our own destiny.

CP: Do you think you have any particular skills or personality traits that have helped you succeed at poker?

SJH : I'm interested in how people think psychologically about certain things. It tires me out sometimes, but in the past this habit has helped me with my game. At present, however, I am focusing more on a theoretical approach.

CP: Do you have experience in other strategy games or sports?

SJH : Yes. I loved playing soccer and Starcraft. I was quite competitive and after the loss I couldn't focus on anything.

CP: How did you go from playing for fun to taking it more seriously? Was the decision to play bigger events supported by your family or was it difficult for them to understand?

SJH : Watching videos from tournaments such as World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour ) always makes me want to go to Vegas. I kept it a secret until my first trip to the US to play. I won money in my first tournament and was able to explain every single detail about how fun and unique poker is to me. Fortunately, my parents were helpful.

CP: What is the perception of poker and poker players in Korea?

SJH : The funny thing is that we have poker rooms in the biggest casinos in our country, but only foreigners can play. On the other hand, many live tournaments take place in places called hold'em pubs. The poker scene in general is growing, but I really wish our government would open poker rooms to both Koreans and foreign players.

As we know, poker is a game of skill. Just because people can lose money at poker doesn't justify banning Koreans from playing it. There are many legal ways for people to burn money if they are irresponsible.

CP: What is the poker community like in Korea?

SJH : It's certainly growing with some online tournament apps and live tournaments, as well as some YouTube content like my "ArtePokerTV" channel. There are communities that enjoy poker and rooting for players who take up a lot of space in big tournaments. But from a research point of view, I'd say the community is pretty weak.

CP: How do you hope the poker scene in Korea will develop?

SJH : Allowing The main hope would be for people in the country to play casino tournaments, but I would also like our people to know more about the game in general.

CP: How did you rank up?

SJH : I played mostly live games, from 500 to $ 10,000 tournaments, moving up and down multiple times. I started taking online more seriously in 2020, playing medium to high stakes with buy-ins ranging from $100 to $1,000.

I mainly played on WSOP events because my first goal was to win WSOP title . But I don't think that's what's happening. I got this bracelet after I started crushing mid-stakes tournaments. Now I want to prepare myself and play for higher stakes. I'm sure I need more improvements.

CP: Were there any complications on your way to improvement?

SJH : Yes. I was doing well in both live cash games and tournaments until 2018. When I started taking poker courses which was 2019 I struggled in both. I guess I needed more time to adjust to what I learned.

PK: Can you tell me about winning WSOP Online bracelet in 2020? Was it exciting to win a bracelet, even if it wasn't in Rio with the fans and the brace and all that?

SJH : This was my second time on WSOP at the final table, and I knew an opportunity like this didn't come around often. I kept telling myself I had to win this. My people watched the game and cheered me on IM. I think winning live would be more exciting, but I don't want to ask too much. I was happy enough.

CP: I heard you're streaming, you're going to play a tournament and start vlogging online.

SJH : I started in 2020 which was a turning point for me in online tournaments. I started because it was very difficult to find winning players from my city who would like to help themselves and have fun. Doing vlogs wasn't originally my plan, but winning two trophies definitely made me change my mind. Overall, I would like this game to become more popular in Korea.

CP: What do you attribute to your success on the live tournament scene so far in 2021?

SJH : First of all, loving this game leads to everything. When I'm not playing, I watch poker courses and content from coaches like bencb (online tournament star Benjamin Rolle) and Pokercode (Fedor Holz's training site). I believe every second I spend learning poker helps me in some way. Yes, I'm a better player than before, but we still have a long way to go. Playing online changed my game a lot and watching good poker content was what really made my breakthrough.

CP: Your two big wins in the early months of this year were in Las Vegas. What made you travel to the US for these live events?

SJH : I was just tired of grinding online and just wanted to fly somewhere safe. I heard they have tournaments, so why not Vegas?

CP: What do these victories mean to you? Will you continue to play more live events?

SJH : I think these results are a bit like vitamins throughout my poker journey; Just getting started. I will continue to play wherever I can safely do so.

CP: Do you have any goals for the coming years?

SJH : I would like to make this great game more popular for everyone and at the same time I am trying to take my game to the highest possible level.