On Sunday, action in the $100,000 Main Event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series stop in Jeju, South Korea came to a conclusion. In a week full of record-breaking turnouts, the Main Event garnered a field of 285 entrants (105 re-entries) to generate a prize pool of $28,500,000 — setting a record for the biggest six-figure buy-in event in poker history.
Only 16 players returned to start the final day of play and the $5,555,000 first-place prize was in sight, but there was still a long way to go before a winner was crowned.
When the final table of nine was set, Santhosh Suvarna held the chip lead – thanks, in part, to his elimination of Paulius Vaitiekunas in tenth place – with Sam Greenwood, Huang Wenjie, Artur Martirosian, and Daniel Cates hot on his heels. Clemen Deng led the bottom half of chip counts with more than double the stack of Alex Boika while James Hopkins and Nacho Barbero were the clear short stacks to start proceedings – each with less than 15 big blinds to work with.
Barbero ladders on short stack; Hopkins, Deng out
While Barbero started on fumes, an early double offered the Argentinian a little bit of breathing room in the opening frames of play. For Hopkins, it was a different story. In his first attempt at a double, Hopkins committed the rest of his stack – roughly 9 big blinds – with 
. When the action folded around to Suvarna in the big blind, he peeled 
and quickly called to put his opponent at risk. It was a flip pre-flop, but the 
runout favored Suvarna and left Hopkins to collect his ninth-place prize.
After having his pocket aces cracked by Cates' 
on a 
board, Deng was left with just four big blinds to work with. He managed to stick around for about an orbit, but when he got the last of his chips in the middle with 
against Wenjie's 
and failed to improve to the winner on the 
runout.
Cates coolers Barbero; Boika sneaks into 7 figures
After scoring two unlikely pay ladders, Barbero's day ended with a cooler. Facing a raise from Cates in early position, Barbero peeled 
and moved his roughly 9 big blinds into the middle – only to see Cates snap call with 
when the action folded back around to him. Barbero needed a great deal of help to survive this one, but the 
runout failed to provide and his Main Event run came to an end in seventh place.
With a seven-figure payout now guaranteed for the six remaining players, Boika found a decent spot to double up with 
facing an open jam from Martirosian on the button. Boika made the call from the small blind and was in great shape against Martirosian's , but the 
run had other ideas in mind.
Greenwood was next up on the chopping block when his 
ran headlong into Wenjie's 
. There was no miracle two-outer for Greenwood across the 
runout, and his day ended in fifth place.
Suvarna and Martirosian bow out
It was a blind versus blind confrontation which saw Suvarna headed for the exit. With only six big blinds to work with, Suvarna looked to double or steal the blinds when he moved all in with 
. Wenjie, in the big blind, called it off with to put his opponent at risk. On the 
flop, Suvarna appeared primed for a double up, but the on the turn drove a dagger into his hopes for survival and the on the river confirmed his elimination.
The three-handed battle saw Wenjie holding a sizable chip lead against Cates and Martirosian – a lead which he increased with the elimination of Martirosian. In a blind versus blind confrontation, the Russian limped in from the small blind with 
before Wenjie put in a raise with . Martirosian made the call and the flop guaranteed fireworks as his top pair and flush draw squared off against Wenjie's set of fives.
After check-calling on the flop and turn, Martirosian arrived at the river without any improvement and Wenjie moved all in. Martirosian thought through his decision and eventually landed on a call – only to see the bad news as Wenjie turned over the winner.
No comeback for Cates
Wenjie held a commanding chip lead at the start of his heads-up battle against Cates. On the very first hand off the deck, he took another chunk of Cates' chips to leave him with less than 20 big blinds.
In the face of a limp from Cates, Wenjie opted to exert maximum pressure and moved all in over the top with . Cates made the call with and Wenjie found himself one fortuitous run out away from the biggest win – by far – of his career. Both players improved to full houses on the runout, but Wenjie held the winning hand to lay claim to his first Triton victory and the $5.5M top prize.
2025 Triton Jeju $100K Main Event results
| Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huang Wenjie | $5,555,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Cates | $3,528,000 |
| 3 | Artur Martirosian | $2,644,000 |
| 4 | Santhosh Suvarna | $2,140,000 |
| 5 | Sam Greenwood | $1,687,000 |
| 6 | Alex Boika | $1,288,000 |
| 7 | Nacho Barbero | $946,000 |
| 8 | Clemen Deng | $695,000 |
| 9 | James Hopkins | $570,000 |
Images courtesy of Triton Poker/Drew Amato
