The high-stakes Triton Poker tour has kicked off its 2025 marketing campaign in type, with the primary occasion of the Triton Jeju competition drawing a record-setting discipline of 379 entries. The unprecedented turnout for the $15,000 buy-in occasion resulted in a prize pool of $5,685,000.
After three days of high-roller motion, 43-year-old Zhao Hongjun emerged victorious with the title, incomes $818,000 for the win. This was the primary recorded dwell event title for the Chinese participant, who informed Triton reporters. that poker hadn’t even been the driving drive of his determination to attend this competition.
“I’m very happy to have won this tournament. I actually came to Jeju Island mainly to play golf and joined the tournament on the side. My work keeps me quite busy, and although I’ve been playing poker for over a decade, I haven’t participated in many tournaments,” mentioned Zhao.
Indeed, Zhao had solely three prior cashes to his title, together with a closing desk exhibiting in a PokerStars Championship Macau occasion for $162,630. He now has simply over $1 million in recorded scores.
The prime 63 finishers earned a share of the prize cash on this occasion, with massive names like Steve O’Dwyer (twenty eighth), Espen Jorstad (twenty seventh), Danny Tang (twenty second), Adrian Mateos (twelfth), and all-time Triton titles chief Jason Koon (tenth) working deep.
Zhao scored his first knockout of the ultimate desk when his pocket jacks bested the pocket aces of Damir Zhugralin (eighth – $129,000). Nikita Kuznetsov (seventh – $182,000) quickly adopted when his Okay-J was unable to come back from behind towards the A-Q of Yuzhu Wang.
Michael Jozoff’s run got here to an finish when his A
Okay
misplaced out to the Q
10 of Weiran Pu, which improved to a flush on the river after all of the chips went in preflop. The two-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner from America earned $243,000 because the sixth-place finisher.
Pu was quickly concerned in one other preflop showdown, with A-J dropping to A-Okay. He was left on fumes after that, and was quickly despatched packing in fourth place ($309,000).
Paulius Plausinaitis was the subsequent to fall, along with his Okay-Q unable to outrace the pocket nines of Wang. The Lithuanian walked away with $395,000 for his efforts, a brand new excessive rating for him on the dwell scene.
Zhen Chen bowed out in third place ($497,000) when his A-Q suited bumped into the pocket aces of Wang. The massive pair held as much as see Wang enter heads-up play with roughly a 2:1 chip lead over Zhao. The pair hashed out a deal that left the title and $40,000 to play for whereas locking up $778,000 for Zhao and $975,000 for Wang.
Zhao discovered a fast double up with A-9 besting A-4 after which took the lead and ran with it. Wang managed to bounce again with pocket jacks holding towards pocket fives, however was quickly all-in on the opposite finish of a pair-over-pair conflict. Zhao’s AA held towards the 66 of Wang, with the ultimate board studying A94
97 to offer Zhao aces full and the victory. Despite ending because the runner-up, Wang walked away with the most important payout because of the deal that was agreed upon earlier within the match. The $975,000 he earned was by far the most important event rating but for the Chinese participant.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Zhao Hongjun | $818,000 | 1800 |
| 2 | Yuzhu Wang | $975,000 | 1500 |
| 3 | Zhen Chen | $497,000 | 1200 |
| 4 | Paulius Plausinaitis | $395,000 | 900 |
| 5 | Weiran Pu | $309,000 | 750 |
| 6 | Michael Jozoff | $243,000 | 600 |
| 7 | Nikita Kuznetsov | $182,000 | 450 |
| 8 | Damir Zhugralin | $129,000 | 300 |
Photo credit score: Triton Poker.
