In 2026, the Triton Poker Series will celebrate its tenth anniversary. Since its inception in 2016, Triton has set the standard for high stakes tournament action – consistently elevating and building upon its successes throughout a decade's worth of festivals in far-flung destinations such as Kyrenia, Monte Carlo, and Hoi An.
Rather than rest on its laurels, Triton maintains its focus on the future and readies itself for the first three events of the 2026 calendar.
Triton ONE – the organization's newly-introduced mid-stakes tour – will make its triumphant return from March 1-15 after an encouraging initial outing back in September of this year. From March 15 - April 1, the Triton Super High Roller Series kicks off its offerings with the tour's biggest festival to date – featuring events in short deck, pot-limit Omaha, and no-limit hold'em across an eighteen-day schedule in Jeju. Later, from May 13-28, the Triton SHRS touches down in Montenegro for a sixteen-day series which will feature the return of the Triton Invitational event.
While Triton clearly has its eyes on fixed on the coming year's slate, we thought it an apt time to take stock of the tour's first decade – and highlight the defining moments of the Triton Poker Series.
Fedor finishes first first
When looking back on the Triton Poker Series' first decade, there's only one place to start: the beginning.
The World Poker Tour (WPT) National Philippines series in Paranaque played host to the inaugural event run by the fledgling tour – the first steps of the high stakes, high production value brainchild dreamt up by founders Paul Phua and Richard Yong. In early January of 2016, the $200,000 NLH Cali Cup drew a total of 52 entries, generating a prize pool of $10,039,120.
Fedor Holz emerged from the stacked field as the first-ever Triton Champion, outlasting the likes of Phil Ivey, David Peters, Steve O'Dwyer, Daniel Colman, and Mike McDonald en route to a $3,072,748 score.
Expansion and the Triton Million for Charity
The Philippines played host to several more events through 2016 and into early 2017 before the tour expanded its territory to include Montenegro – now a familiar destination on the Triton schedule. Macau entered the fold as the year drew to a close (though has yet to be revisited) and, in 2018, Jeju followed suit. Sochi, in Russia, came next (also yet to be revisited, though not for lack of trying), but it was the tour's first trip to London, England in 2019 which provided arguably the largest impact on its growth.
Enter, the Triton Million for Charity. At the time, the £1,050,000 buy-in (£50,000 from each buy-in was set aside for charitable causes) was the largest in poker's history. The invitational event's 54 participants were separated into two groups: non-professionals, mostly from the business world, and their invited professional poker counterparts – a first-of-its-kind format then, but now semi-regular fare on the tour.
After outlasting the field and maneuvering through the final table, Bryn Kenney and Aaron Zang struck a heads-up deal which saw the former walk away with the largest-ever tournament cash, an eye-watering £16,890,509 ($20,563,324). While Kenney took home the lion's share of the remaining cash, it was Zang who emerged from the ensuing bout with the title.
It was around this time that the Triton Poker Series seemingly doubled down on delivering the highest level of production quality for its live-streamed events – as evidenced by the video series above.
Tragedy strikes amidst Coin Rivet Invitational highs
The Triton Poker Series, like all poker tours, was not immune from the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. As the world shut down, the tour was forced to cancel stops scheduled for early 2020 in Jeju and Montenegro. In 2022, a proposed return scheduled for February and destined for Bali was similarly nixed as the pandemic continued to impact daily life. Furthermore, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the same month led to the postponement of a Special Edition stop set to play out in Sochi.
Kyrenia, in North Cyprus, provided salvation for the tour as host of the Special Edition series in April of 2022 and, with that, it was off to the races. An expanded slate in Madrid came the following month, bringing Tom Dwan his first and second titles. In September, the tour returned to Kyrenia with the Coin Rivet Invitational highlighting the schedule.
There, Ebony Kenney made tour history as the first female player to take part in an invitational event on the professional side of the field and proved herself more than comfortable with the competition as she finished 5th for $1.7M. While Kenney came close, it was Sam Grafton who triumphed over the field to collect the $5.5M first-place prize.
In the days following, tragedy befell the Triton family. Ivan Leow, a founding member of Triton Poker Series and respected and well-liked player, passed away due to natural causes. In honor of his passing, the remaining events on the schedule were cancelled. "It is with great sadness we announce that our dear friend, partner, supporter and founding Triton member, Ivan Leow, 41, passed away this morning of natural causes," read a statement from tour founders Phua and Yong.
The new era dawns
In the wake of Leow's passing, the tour did not reconvene until March of 2023. Hoi An, Vietnam played host to the next stop – adding another destination to the ever-expanding list of tour locations. Amongst the many narrative threads woven throughout the stop, Mark Rubbathan's $636,000 Mystery Bounty score stood out. The ACR Poker Team Online professional earned a $100,000 prize package on the site and turned it into the largest cash of his life.
From there, the Triton Poker Series turns into a rollercoaster ride of sorts, ridden by a faithful band of regulars interspersed with a rotating cast of characters that provide the unexpected element.
In August of 2023, Kenney triumphed once more at an invitational event in London as he won the Luxon Pay Invitational for $6.8M. Monte Carlo in October closed out the year and Jeju rang in the next.
In May of 2024, Chris Moneymaker launched a career renaissance of sorts with a $903K victory in Montenegro. Monte Carlo beckoned once more a few months later where players and fans alike were introduced to the mysterious and unpredictable Vladimir Korzinin – later dubbed 'Gambledore' for his willingness to mix it up and resemblance to the Harry Potter wizarding world figure. The Estonian came, saw, and conquered, winning the better part of $8M across three cashes – including a runner-up finish in the invitational event and a win in the $150K 8-Handed. While he popped up in 2025 at a stop in Montenegro, Korzinin has yet to grace the Triton felts since.
'Gambledore' wasn't the only character to emerge at the 2024 Monte Carlo stop. Ossi 'Monarch' Ketola, the divisive and controversial online casino owner made his debut appearance in the principality as well. While he finished runner-up to Korzinin in the $150K 8-Handed event, Ketola's impact on the tour came earlier this year as he took on all comers in a series of nosebleed stakes heads-up matches. The Finnish terror battled it out against Dan 'Jungleman' Cates, Kayhan Mokri, Wiktor 'Limitless' Malinowski, and Alex Foxen – setting and then breaking the record for richest televised poker hand numerous times.
Xuan Liu breaks the mold, Paradise beckons
In 2025, two players made headlines with their first Triton Poker Series titles – though they took vastly different routes to the same result. The Montenegro stop, in May, brought about a new chapter in the tour's history as Xuan Liu became the first woman to hold aloft a Triton trophy in victory – in her first tour event, no less.
Later, in September, Isaac Haxton laid claim to his first piece of Triton silverware. In contrast to Liu, it took Haxton the better part of a decade to earn his – though it wasn't for lack of trying as he racked up 36 top ten finishes before sealing the deal.
With the winter poker war raging, the Triton Poker Series allied itself with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2024, hosting two events as part of the WSOP Paradise schedule. In 2025, the tour concluded its first decade of operations with a ten-event schedule alongside this year's festival – with no shortage of memorable moments.
What do the next ten years have in store for the organizers, players, and fans of the Triton Poker Series? There's no way to know for sure, but it's safe to expect another thrilling decade of high stakes dreams.
Images courtesy of Triton Poker Series/Joe Giron Photography
