Nick Schulman Captures Triton Main Event Crown in Jeju

The Poker Hall of Famer and American poker great Nick Schulman won the Triton Jeju II Main Event for $3.85m last night after striking a heads-up deal with Austrian pro Bernhard Binder. At a final table filled with some of the world’s greatest poker players, including Schulman’s compatriot Isaac Haxton, Schulman’s latest win saw him move into The Hendon Mob’s top 50.

*after heads-up deal

A Star-Studded Main Event

There were 196 entries in this Triton Jeju Main Event, the second to be held in 2026. The events are growing, both in size and stature. This time around,  record-breaking numbers, and 32 players in the money. The first two amongst them only got back $86,500 of their $100,000 buy-in, with Austrian Samuel Mullur and the German pro Hannes Jeschka banking that amount due to busting simultaneously on the bubble.

Everyone else made a  profit on their investments, and stars of the felt such as Patrik Antonius (28^th for $173,000), Jean-Noel Thorel (25^th for $192,000), Alex Foxen (17^th for $260,000), Jessica Teusl (15^th for $290,000) and Jesse Lonis, who ended in 13^th place for $320,000. His tournament was a rollercoaster, as he survived earlier in the event by hitting a two-outer with sevens against queens, only to fall to a two-outer to exit outside the final table.

It was the multiple Triton winner Danny Tang who bubbled the nine-handed final table, cashing for $359,000. The Hong Kong player was short on chips when he was shoved on by Gytis Lazauninkas. The Lithuanian was in the small blind with ten-seven of clubs and Tang’s pocket kings, including one in that suit were well ahead as he looked poised for a double-up, but a seven on the flop and another on the river sent Tang home and set the final nine players in place.

Haxton Not the Hero

When the final table started, Roberto Perez called off his stack with ace-ten and soon found himself in a coinflip situation. Losing to Binder’s pocket fours, the Spanish player departed for a score of $424,000. Next to go was Wesley Fei, who left in eighth place for $512,000 when his own pocket fours were unable to overtake Xu Yang’s pocket kings.

Serbian player Danilo Velasevic led the field for some time earlier in the day but eventually fell in seventh place for $700,000. All-in with king-deuce in the very next hand, Velasevic had the misfortune of being dominated by Bernhard Binder’s ace-deuce, and a clear run-out for the Austrian saw the field reduced to six players.

Soon, that number was five. Isaac Haxton has made a spectacular recent living by running deep in high rollers the world over but the latest major title of his career would have to wait. After his countryman Nick Schulman doubled through his ace-three with ace-king, Haxton returned the favor with ace-ten beating Schulman’s ace-seven, but soon, ace-high didn’t hold for him, as Binder’s king-three got the better of Haxton’s ace-deuce, the American heading home with $958,000 after a three came on the flop.

Schulman Captures Record Score

Down to five players, the Japanese player Ryuta Nakai made his bow. Cashing for $1,263,000, Nakai was ousted by Schulman when king-three was no match for ace-six, and an ace on the flop eventually left the Japanese player drawing dead to the river.

Soon, one player from the Far East was joined by another, as China’s Yang bowed out for $1,596,000. Holding the chip lead, Yang lost the lot as he went from hero to zero, his eventual exit hand being king-eight, which lost to Lazauninkas’ pocket nines after a paint-free board.

The Lithuanian may have won that hand, but soon, he was on the rail too. Calling all-in with pocket eights, he was shoved on pre-flop by Schulman with pocket tens, and the board of Q-5-3-Q-2 did nothing to give Lazauninkas hope before it was confirmed he would be leaving. Out for $1,968,000 in third place, his departure preceded a chat about a deal between the eight-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Schulman and the WSOP Paradise Main Event winner Binder. Each man was guaranteed over $3m.

Heads-up, Schulman worked his way into a 3:1 lead before the pivotal hand played out. All-in with pocket kings on a board of A-8-2-5-T, Schulman got a call from Binder with just king-jack, as the Austrian decided wrongly that it was the right time to make a hero-call. Binder took home $3,080,112 as runner-up, with Schulman collecting $3,854,888 as the winner.

Schulman Speaks After Record Win

“When you make a big score like this, you just have to be very, very grateful.”

Despite winning over $30m and eight WSOP titles in a glorious past, Schulman’s victory in Jeju symbolized his biggest ever single tournament result.

“It’s really incredible,” he said. “I think it’s no secret that when you look at this Triton scene, sometimes you see truly great players get wrecked for a year or two. You see some spicy players make scores. And I think for all of us as live players, when you make a big score like this, you just have to be very, very grateful because it can be really hard out here. Things have to go right.”

Asked about his recent play, Schulman told host Triton host Alex Gray that the win ‘means the world to me’ as he described how far he’d come.

“I’ve been playing since I was 15’” he said. “It’s been such a big part of my life. I’m very thankful. I really do love to play. I’m not goal-oriented as far as wins. It’s just when I can continue to feel like I can hold my head high, win or lose. That’s a good feeling for me because I haven’t always had it. I feel I have it now and I just want to keep that going as long as I enjoy it, which I think will be for a while.”

With so many great players out in South Korea over the past fortnight, Schulman acknowledged that the latest title of his career made it all the more memorable.

“There’s just very few holes anywhere. Even the Chinese VIPs [like] ‘Big Boss Man’ are so fearless and hard to play against. People say that about Tritons sometimes, like those guys, the big boss type dudes, they’ll still put you in crazy spots, you know? They’re real gamblers, these guys, and he was so icy. So, yeah, I’m over the moon.”