Over the last week, the poker action in Jeju, South Korea was focused on a brand new venture. The Triton Super High Roller Series‘ expansion into a lower buy-in bracket, the Triton One Series, enjoyed a massive turnout. The culmination, the $8,000 Triton One main event in Jeju, saw the top two players split well over $2.1 million in prizes.
But with the Triton One Series wrapping up in Jeju, it was time for the high rollers to step back in. On Tuesday, the first of the Triton Super High Roller events played out its final table. When the final card hit the felt in the $50,000 no-limit hold’em short deck event, it was none other than Richard Yong who emerged victorious from the field of 47 entries.
The Triton co-founder captured his third career title on tour, claiming the $705,000 first-place prize. It was both Yong’s first win and first Triton final table appearance since a victory in Cyprus back in 2023. During that festival, Yong took down a $25,000 no-limit hold’em short deck event. Yong’s first career Triton title came in Montenegro back in 2018 in a six-max no-limit hold’em event.
“I want to play poker until I’m 80 years old!” Yong said shortly after his victory. “It’s a very good feeling. It’s very difficult to become a Triton champion because so many super pros are here.”
With this win, Yong earned 510 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race, presented by CoinPoker. He also pushed his total career tournament earnings to over $17.9 million.
A Battle Of Short Deck Standouts
Among the seven players at this short deck final table, there was a considerable record of success. Mikita Badziakouski, who is tied for the second-most Triton titles overall with five, has two short deck wins. He took down a $100,000 short deck event in Jeju in 2024, and another in Montenegro back in 2019.
Kiat Lee won a $25,000 short deck event back in March in Jeju, earning his second career Triton title. Michael Zhang finished second to Lee, and third in another short deck event during the March Triton Jeju festival. Coming into this tournament, Zhang had six Triton short deck final table appearances, with a pair of runner-ups.
Lee would not have a repeat performance in this event. He lost a coin flip with pocket tens to Rene Van Krevelen’s A♣Q♠, and then lost the rest of his chips to Badziakouski when A♦10♠ couldn’t catch up to pocket queens. Lee settled for seventh. Lee now sits in 29th place overall with 3,990 total points from six qualified final-table finishes after adding 128 with this deep run.
Van Krevelen, who also made short deck final tables in each of his previous two trips to Jeju, didn’t hang on for long. Badziakouski got Van Krevelen’s chips as well, with A♣K♦ holding off K♠10♠ to eliminate Van Krevelen in sixth.
Zhang later eliminated Ruslan Khadartsev in fifth, as his pocket tens held against Khadartsev’s K♣Q♥.
Yong’s Come Up
Yong appeared to run into some tough luck four-handed. Facing a four-bet shove from Martin Nielsen, Yong called the all-in with A♥K♣. Nielsen tabled pocket kings. The Q♥9♠6♦ offered only a glimmer of hope, but the A♦ flipped the script on the turn. With a blank on the river, Yong claimed the pot, and when the chips were counted down Yong had slightly more.
Mikita Badziakouski
It was a bit of deja vu a short time into three-handed play. Zhang opened, Badziakouski three-bet with K♣Q♥ and Yong four-bet all-in with Q♣Q♦. Badziakouski eventually called.
The J♥10♥7♥ flop gave Badziakouski a world of outs. But the 10♦ turn and 8♣ river kept Yong’s queens best. The chips were once again counted down, and Yong once again had just a little bit more.
With his third-place finish, worth $329,000, Badziakouski also earned 340 Card Player POY points. That puts him in 30th place on the leaderboard. The Belarusian superstar now boasts more than $67.3 million in lifetime cashes.
An Exciting Finale
Yong and Zhang began heads-up play nearly even. But Yong pulled ahead, and had the chance to lock up the tournament with A♣Q♣ against Zhang’s 10♣9♣. Zhang turned a jack-high straight, though, and took a big lead of his own.
Yong doubled twice to pull back even, and then took most of the chips by turning K♦Q♣ into two-pair to beat Zhang’s A♦J♦. Yong completed his run to the title with an unlikely hand in short deck, taking 10♠6♥ across the finish line for the victory.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Richard Yong | $705,000 | 510 |
| 2 | Michael Zhang | $510,000 | 425 |
| 3 | Mikita Badziakouski | $329,000 | 340 |
| 4 | Martin Nielsen | $249,000 | 255 |
| 5 | Ruslan Khadartcev | $193,000 | 213 |
| 6 | Rene Van Krevelen | $150,000 | 170 |
| 7 | Kiat Lee | $120,000 | 128 |
Photos courtesy of Triton Poker.
