Joao Simao Wins Record-Breaking Triton Invitational for $7.25 million

Two poker superstars clashed heads-up in the $200,000-entry Triton Jeju Invitational in South Korea. Biao Ding, veteran of more World Poker Tour wins than anyone other than Darren Elias and Joao Simao, Brazil’s second-best live tournament pro of all-time before the conclusion, met across an epic heads-up battle where Simao grabbed victory and became an all-time legend.

Records Broken in Jeju

The Triton Poker Series in Jeju has once again pushed high roller attendances on to another level. There was a time when players from the Orient and Americas dominated the fields in Triton events, but last year’s Montenegro series confirmed that European heavyweights are just as inclined to get in amongst the regular winners of the biggest events. Back in Montenegro earlier in the year, Adrian Mateos topped 137 entries in the $200,000 Triton Invitational.

Today, Simao sat atop a huge field of 173 entries. Triton is getting even bigger.

The biggest action was at the final table but 20 players earned payment from the event, including the Montenegro champion Adrian Mateos. The Spaniard was among the 16 players who reached the final day of this event, but all-in with pocket jacks, he couldn’t win a flip against the ace-king of Emilien Pitavy. The Frenchman hit a king on the flop and on the river, sending Mateos to the rail with $512,000.

Before the final table was reached, both Dutch pro Teun Mulder (12^th for $568,000) and American tournament crusher Jesse Lonis (11^th for $635,000) made their way from the felt to the cash desk to collect their winnings. Only nine would make the final table and one more need to go. That player was the Austrian Pokercode co-founder Matthias Eibinger. All-in with ace-deuce, he ran into Simao’s ace-king, the Brazilian easily surviving the board to grab a big chip lead at a pivotal time, as Eibinger left with $635,000 in 10^th place.

Boivin Bounces Early

After the exit of Eric Tsai in ninth place for $749,000, Belgian tournament star Thomas Boivin was eliminated from the event. All-in with ace-jack, Boivin lost to Seth Davies’ ace-king, and collected $905,000 as he left the competition. Soon, seven remaining players became six as German player Hannes Jeschka was busted for $1,237,000. The GGMillion$ regular ran king-seven into Winfred Yu’s king-ten as just half a dozen players chased the title.

Soon, Yu was on the outside looking in too. All-in with ace-seven, he couldn’t hit an ace against the pocket tens of Joao Simao as the chip leader heading into the final began having a dominant influence over proceedings. Yu cashed for $1,693,000 and he was soon joined by the French player Pitavy. King-jack was no good against Biao Ding’s ace-eight, as the Chinese pro remained ahead to reduce the field to five and send Pitavy to the rail with $2,245,000.

Four-handed play lasted only a little longer, with Chinese player Yang Wang the unfortunate player to miss the podium places. Shoving with pocket fives, he lost  coinflip to Simao’s ace-ten when the Brazilian hit running cards to make a Broadway straight on the river, Wang exiting for a score of $2,820,000.

Brilliant Brazilian Breaks Records

“I came back, readjusted my strategy, did well, and got lucky to be the champion.”

With just three men left chasing the ultimate glory, Seth Davies was the man to miss out on the heads-up battle for the ‘trident’ trophy.  Calling off less than five big blinds with queen-nine, Davies didn’t hit and soon was out, off to claim a score of $3,470,000 and to watch on as Simao and Ding went into the final duel.

The chips were by no means equal at that stage, with Simao in a lead of roughly 2:1 by the time the camera lenses had retreated to the rail and the two men began the final fight for glory. Ding drew level amid a period of correct but marginal calls were made by both players. Edging into a lead himself, he was pegged back by Simao’s own heroics. With the Brazilian retaking the lead, a nine-high board by the turn prompted the Chinese player to move all-in. Simao, who had been slow-playing pocket kings expertly, snap-called, flipped over his cowboys and rode out the river to claim victory and make sure Sing exited as runner-up with $4,940,000.

“I think we both played very well,” Simao said after victory. “I came back, readjusted my strategy, did well, and got lucky to be the champion.”

By winning the event, Simao not only claimed the top prize of $7,250,000. He also became the most successful Brazilian tournament player to date, overtaking his countryman Yuri Dzivielevski in the process. In the summer, Simao’s big win in the $50,000 WSOP PLO High Roller won him $1.3m and his fourth bracelet. Back in NLHE today, he was on the fence about which game he now prefers.

“I’m always swinging between loving PLO or Hold’em more,” he admitted. “For the last 15 months, I’ve been completely in love with Hold’em and playing very little PLO. Then came a massive score during the Super High Roller Series where I won the $50K PLO, which was amazing, and my passion for PLO came back. But now, this score shows me it’s a moment where I want to enjoy Hold’em more.”