Jonathan Jaffe has enjoyed success at every level of tournament poker. He’s a World Poker Tour champion, with a Triton Super High Roller Series title, a PokerGO Tour trophy and major final tables all over the world.
But in 2025, prior to this current series in Jeju, Jaffe was on something of a cold streak. He went 0-for-9 at Triton Montenegro in May, and failed to cash in his last nine events during the March Triton series in Jeju after a min-cash in the opening event.
Jaffe’s cashless streak extended to 19 Triton Super High Roller events after the $25,000 WPT Global Slam to start this festival in Jeju. But Jaffe made sure that the 20th event would be a memorable one.
In event 2 at Triton Jeju, a $30,000 no-limit hold’em event, Jaffe broke through. He won his second career Triton title and, after a heads-up deal with Renji Mao, took home $1,061,672 in prize money. The result also garnered Jaffe 1,176 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race presented by CoinPoker.
It’s the third seven-figure score of Jaffe’s career. Previously, Jaffe claimed $1.33 million for fifth in a Triton Monte Carlo event in 2024, and $1,537,600 for winning a WPT Alpha8 for One Drop title at Wynn Las Vegas in July 2023.
A Long-Awaited Victory
Jaffe’s second Triton title comes nearly two years after his first victory on the tour. In October 2023 in Monte Carlo, Jaffe took down a $52,000 bounty event.
After his recent run of difficulty, Jaffe emphasized the challenges of battling in the super high roller environment.
“It’s a grind,” Jaffe told Ali Nejad on the Triton broadcast. “Kind of knowing that great players that I’m friendly with had crazy long dry spells helps you not feel so entitled that there’s something good coming your way. You really don’t even control it.”
Jaffe’s path to this second Triton title was anything but straightforward. He started nine-handed play just behind Mao in the chip counts, with the pair well ahead of the rest of the field.
A pair of Triton champions went out in short order. Michael Soyza lost with A♣K♣ against Masashi Oya’s pocket nines, going out in ninth. Jaffe picked up a few chips when his J♠Q♠ held off Brian Kim’s J♠10♠, eliminating Kim in eighth.
Mao picked off short stack Edward Pak in seventh, making a straight with J♥8♥ on a Q♥9♠2♣10♦9♥ board to beat Pak’s K♥8♦.
Two-time Triton champion Ramin Hajiyev went out in sixth. His pocket eights stayed ahead of Oya’s Q♣10♠ until a queen spiked the river.
Clemen Deng, at his second career Triton final table, fell in fifth. His J♦9♥ was no match for Mao’s A♦5♥ as the board ran out clean.
From Four To A Winner
Oya did a lot of the dirty work at this final table, but his run came crashing down in fourth. He shoved 15 big blinds from the button with A♣9♠, but ran into Jaffe’s A♥Q♦ in the small blind.
Chi-Jen Chu hadn’t played a single Triton event until the start of the Triton One series that preceded this Triton Super High Roller festival in Jeju. But after three cashes, including third place in a $20,000 high roller, Chu stuck around for the bigger events. It turned out to be a great decision.
Chu got down to three-handed play, and took his shot with a flush draw. His J♣5♣ had a live over on the 8♣7♣7♥ flop against Mao’s pocket tens, but he bricked out on the turn and river. For third, Chu earned $551,000.
Jaffe entered heads-up play with a 2-to-1 chip lead over Mao, and the pair adjusted the payouts before beginning their battle. They left $40,000 to play for, along with the Triton trophy.
Mao flipped the script, taking a 5-to-1 lead when his pocket threes held off Jaffe’s K♠3♣. But Jaffe battled back with a couple of doubles, including a lucky spike with a dominated K-3 against A-3 all-in.
That set Jaffe and Mao up for a wild final hand and a runout for the ages.
⚡️ ELECTRIFYING finish to the $30K NLH 8-Handed!
Jonathan Jaffe and Mao Renji flip for it all. pic.twitter.com/zJoHbdym4e
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 11, 2025
With his rivered two-pair, Jaffe secured victory in the most dramatic of ways.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Jonathan Jaffe | $1,061,672 | 1176 |
| 2 | Renji Mao | $882,328 | 980 |
| 3 | Chi-Jen Chu | $551,000 | 784 |
| 4 | Masashi Oya | $447,000 | 588 |
| 5 | Clemen Deng | $353,000 | 490 |
| 6 | Ramin Hajiyev | $268,000 | 392 |
| 7 | Edward Pak | $196,000 | 294 |
| 8 | Brian Kim | $144,000 | 196 |
| 9 | Michael Soyza | $119,000 | 0 |
Photo credit: Triton Poker.
