Nick Petrangelo Wins Triton Anniversary Special After Deal with Joao Simao

Three players took home seven-figure scores in Jeju, South Korea, as the final Triton Poker event of the series came to a conclusion at a final table featuring stars such as Adrian Mateos and Danny Tang. In the end, a heads-up deal between Nick Petrangelo and Joao Simao guaranteed Simao the bigger score, while the American Petrangelo went on to take home the trident trophy.

* after heads-up deal

Eight Figures in the Pot

With a total of 67 entries, a prize pool of $10.5 million was divided between 11 in-the-money players in Triton Jeju II’s last event of the super high roller series. Someone had to bubble and there was an irony to it being one of Triton’s favorite sons in Wai Kiat Lee. The Malaysian has made Triton events his playground over the last few years and in this series specifically. His exit in 12^th place was evidence again of the fact that when it comes to poker, the cards don’t care for sentiment.

One man had hit the rail, and soon after two more joined him, albeit with min-cashes to soften the blow. Both Alex Foxen (11^th) and Ben Tollerene (10^th) claimed $251,000 for Uncle Sam and bowed out, leaving nine to take to the final table and face off under the gaze of the cameras and the glare of the lights.

When the final began, Thomas Boivin held the chip lead. But the Belgian was to endure another frustrating final table, typifying his trip in many ways. He wasn’t the first to leave the party, however, with that dubious honor held by Daniel Dvoress. Now only eclipsed by Jason Koon at the top of the Triton charts, the Canadian’s pocket queens meaning he committed his stack on the flop of A-A-T. Sadly for Dvoress, there was to be no eighth title for the Canadian, as he missed the rest of the board to bow out for a score of $286,000.

Boivin Bounces

With eight players left, there was a domination defeat for Seth Davies that was worth $377,000 to him. The American’s ace-eight went down to Petrangelo’s ace-queen and he departed, soon to be followed by the multiple Triton event winner Danny Tang, who won $483,000 in seventh.

In sixth place, the Malaysian player Murly Manokharan won $613,000, while with five players left, it was the turn of Thomas Boivin to depart. All-in with pocket fours just a few hands after doubling with aces, the Belgian lost to Mateos’ seven-six in clubs as the Spanish player flopped a seven and Boivin missed turn and river to leave with $783,000.

After Bulgarian Miroslav Atanasov left in fourth place for $990,000, Adrian Mateos was the unfortunate player to miss out on the heads-up battle. All-in with ace-ten of spades, the Spanish player was unable to hit against the pocket threes belonging to Joao Simao, as a king-high board played out without ever looking like helping Mateos survive. He left for a score of $1,286,000 and play moved heads-up.

Deal Inspires Petrangelo to Claim Trophy

With two players left and Simao leading around 3:1 in chips, a deal was discussed and eventually the Brazilian and Petrangelo agreed on a pure ICM chop, leaving $80,000 and the trophy left to play for. With the deal giving Simao $2,517,090, the pair battled on, and Petrangelo quickly turned the tables. Doubling up with ace-jack, the American then won with ten-deuce against Simao’s threes, the ‘Texas Dolly’ hitting a ten on the turn to take around 94% of the chips in play.

Soon, all the chips sat in front of the winner. Both players committed their chips blind and Simao’s eight-five was beaten by Petrangelo’s ace-nine, an ace coming on the flop to end the event and give Petrangelo $2,212,910 and the Triton trophy.

Across this second Jeju High Roller Series of 2026, 13 different winners took home Triton’s iconic ‘trident’ trophy. From Greek player Alex Theologis to Canadian Daniel Dvoress (pictured below), winners like Matthew Wantman and good friend Nick Schulman all celebrated.

Here are all the tournament winners from the Triton Jeju II series, which broke attendance records across the board in South Korea.