Hong Jin-Ho

Hong Jin-ho (; born 31 October 1982) is a South Korean television personality, poker player, and former professional StarCraft player who plays under the alias [NC]...YellOw or simply YellOw. In 2012, he became the coach of the Xenics Storm League of Legends pro gaming team. As a television personality, he is most known for his appearances in the reality survival show The Genius and the variety show Crime Scene.

StarCraft career Hong, nicknamed the "Storm Zerg" and "Kong (means bean in Korean) Jin-ho", is known for his aggressive and harass-style play, and for his rivalry with BoxeR.

He is famous for never having won first place in major StarCraft tournaments despite his strong performances. Hong managed to finish second place six times in events which earned him the title "King of Silver". While there are some tournaments in which he finished first, these records were invalidated when the KeSPA announced that it would accept only OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) and MSL records. His notable victories include first place in the 2003 ITV 5th Starleague, the Snickers All-Star league in 2005,

Post-retirement On 16 June 2011, Hong announced his retirement from his StarCraft career.

In 2012, he became the head coach of the Xenics Storm League of Legends pro gaming team.

In 2013, he was cast along with eleven contestants in the first season of the Korean reality television game show, The Genius: Rules of the Game. The series debuted on tvN starting on 26 April 2013. It featured weekly game challenges involving team politics and individual tactical play. Hong quickly became a fan favourite as he demonstrated his mental fortitude in strategic game play. He finished the series as the final champion, beating out other participants including celebrities, Harvard graduate and politician Lee Jun Seok, Mensa member Choi Jung Moon, and legendary pro gambler Jimmy Cha. The prize money was KRW 79,000,000 (approx. USD 70,000). With this achievement, he received positive comments that he had enhanced the image of pro gamers, not to speak of his own recognition as a genius.

In November 2013, the second season of the programme, which was named The Genius: Rule Breaker, began broadcasting. Hong was recast as a returning contestant, along with Lim Yo-Hwan (SlayerS_`BoxeR'), his longtime StarCraft rival. He was eliminated in Episode 7. He was eventually invited as a guest to appear on a new spin-off programme Genius Behind. This programme focuses on analyzing the episode that transpired in the previous week, and is meant as a lead-up to the airing of each new episode.

In 2014, Hong appeared on popular TV programmes such as Radio Star and I Live Alone on MBC TV; Happy Together on KBS 2TV; and was recruited as a cast member of Crime Scene on JTBC.

He also collaborated with other veteran StarCraft players to organise tournaments featuring former pro gamers, with the eventual goal of setting up a league for veteran StarCraft players and reviving the fortunes of StarCraft. The first activity was the inaugural "Star Final Four" event match held on 5 February 2014. Hong competed with Kang Min (Nal_rA), Park Jun-Suk (Reach) and Lee Byung-Min (GoodFriend). He eventually won the event.

Hong came out of retirement after he was one of eight players invited to the GOMtv classic in February 2014, one of the first televised Brood War tournaments in years.

In 2015, Hong returned for the fourth season of The Genius entitled The Genius : Grand Final and the second season of Crime Scene, getting 4th on The Genius: Grand Final and 1st on Crime Scene 2.

Poker Hong has recently made a successful transition to professional poker, even though he has been playing online poker since the 2000s, especially on PokerStars.

He is currently sponsored by the online Japanese Brand J88Poker.

He has won major Asian tournaments such as Asian Poker Tour Championships Event in Taiwan and the J88Poker Tour Shanghai Main Event.

In 2022, Hong won his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold'em event, winning $276,067.

Personal life On 25 May 2023, Hong announced his upcoming marriage to his girlfriend. On 17 March 2024, Hong married his girlfriend, who is 10 years younger than him, in Gangnam. On 16 November 2024, Hong announced the birth of his first child, a daughter.

Major achievements Title Notes World Cyber Games 2002 Grand Final Runner-up BlizzCon 2005 First place KTEC KPGA Winner's Championship 2005 Snickers All-Star League TG Sambo MSL Runner-up KPGA 1st Tour (MSL) KPGA 2nd Tour (MSL) Olympus OnGameNet Starleague Coca-Cola OnGameNet Star League

Television appearances

Web shows Year Title Role 2023 The Time Hotel Contestant 2023 Bloody Game Season 2 Contestant 2024 Bloody Game Season 3 Contestant 2026 Bloody Game X Contestant