Another day, another multi-million-dollar winner crowned at the 2025 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju festival in South Korea.
The $125,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event drew a total 69 entries to pile up more than $8.6 million in prize money. The largest chunk was ultimately awarded to Michael Watson, who was already a four-time trident trophy winner. The Canadian poker pro from Toronto, Ontario secured $2,130,812 and his fifth Triton title as the champion. He now sits in a six-way tie for second on the high-stakes-centric tour’s title leaderboard, joining Phil Ivey, Mikita Badziakouski, Danny Tang, Bryn Kenney, and recent addition to this list Punnat Punsri. Jason Koon remains alone on top with 12 Triton wins.
This was Watson’s first win over $2 million on the circuit. It grew his career earnings to more than $35.6 million.
“Anytime you get a new career high score, it feels good,” Watson told Ali Nejad in his winner’s interview for the Triton broadcast. “Considering how many of these big buy-ins I play at Triton, it’s a little upsetting that it’s taken this long to top it. But it feels great to get another title. It’s amazing.”
The 41-year-old is not only one of the most decorated Triton players ever. He is also one of just 10 players to have ever completed poker’s triple crown, which entails winning a World Series of Poker bracelet along with a World Poker Tour main event and a European Poker Tour championship. Watson ticked the final box with an online bracelet win in 2024.
Thinning The High-Stakes Herd
The healthy turnout to Landing Casino Jeju for this event led to the money bubble bursting with the 12th-place finisher. Alex Foxen, fresh off of losing the largest pot in broadcast poker history, was the last to be sent to the rail empty-handed in this event. His wife, five-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen, went on to make a podium finish.
Among those who cashed but failed to make the official seven-handed final table were Isaac Haxton (11th), Tom Fuchs (10th), Santhosh Suvarna (9th), and current POY race leader Jesse Lonis (8th). Lonis took home $323,000 for his efforts, ensuring that the remaining players all earned at least $414,000.
That sum ultimately went to none other than five-time Triton champion Mikita Badziakouski (7th). He got the essentially of his stack in with A♦J♠ leading the A♥10♥ of Artur Martirosian. Badziakouski’s final 25,000 did find its way into the pot after the Q♦10♣2♥ flop had turned the tables, though. The turn and river were no help and the Belarusian headed to collect his 49th Triton cash. He now has more than $69 million in career earnings to his name.
Sean Winter’s last 15 big blinds went in with A♥2♥. He raised to 6x from the button and called Martirosian’s jam from the small blind. A♣J♣ remained best for the Russian and Winter was eliminated in fifth place ($526,000). The American poker pro grew his lifetime haul to nearly $36.4 million.
Watson Picks Up Steam
Despite scoring those first two knockouts at the final table, Martirosian was the next to fall. He got all-in with Q♥Q♦ leading the A♠Q♠ of Watson, who had three-bet ripped from the button over Foxen’s hijack min-raise to 300,000. Martirosian called all-in for 2,155,000 from the big blind and the pair saw a flop of K♠10♠10♥. Watson picked up a royal flush draw to take the slight mathematical edge in the hand. Card Player’s poker odds calculator gave Watson nearly a 52 percent chance of coming out on top, but the 3♣ turn made Martirosian roughly a 2:1 favorite heading into the final card. The 7♠ completed the board and Watson’s flush, ending Martirosian’s run in fifth place ($673,000). The three-time bracelet winner grew his overall earnings to more than $33.1 million with this performance.
Kristen Foxen
Jun Obara’s incredible 2025 continued with a fourth-place showing in this event. The Japanese player recently took down the $40,000 mystery bounty event for more than $1.7 million in total earnings. That was his second seven-figure score of the year, having also earned $1.6 million as the runner-up in the massive $10,000,000 guaranteed $10,000 event at the Wynn Summer Classic. Obara now sits in eighth place on the POY leaderboard after recording this, his ninth final-table finish of the year.
His final hand saw him commit most of his stack preflop with A♦9♦ leading the K♠6♣ of Watson, the preflop aggressor. Obara got his final 1.5 small blinds in after the 9♥8♣7♣ flop gave him top pair, and Watson called with his straight draw. The 10♣ turn improved Watson and all but sealed Obara’s fate. The 2♦ completed the board, sending Obara home with $849,000.
That left Foxen as the short stack heading into three-handed play. She dwindled down to just a few big blinds early before finding a double up. She was well positioned to double again when she got all-in with J♥J♣ leading the Q♥8♦ of Stephen Chidwick. A queen-high flop changed everything, though, and Foxen was eliminated in third place after bricks on the turn and river. She took home a career-best payday of $1,104,000 for her efforts. With nearly $13.8 million in career earnings, this windfall extended her advantage on top of the women’s all-time money list. She leads second-ranked Vanessa Selbst by $2,865,658.
Straight Flush To Seal It
Heads-up play began with Watson holding 8,500,000 to Chidwick’s 5,300,000. The two quickly agreed to a deal to reshape the remaining payouts based on ICM numbers, which saw Watson lock up $2,072,812 while Chidwick secured $1,927,188. Those totals left $58,000 and the title to play for on the side.
Watson’s lead had grown a bit ahead of the final hand of the tournament. With blinds of 125,000-250,000 and a big blind ante of 250,000, Watson limped from the button with Q♦9♦ and Chidwick checked with J♠7♦. The flop came down J♦10♦2♠ to give Watson an open-ended straight flush draw. Chidwick checked and Watson bet a single big blind. Chidwick called and the 6♠ rolled off on the turn. It went check-check again and the K♦ river completed Watson’s straight flush.
Chidwick fired 800,000 on the end with his pair of jacks. Watson moved all-in, an effective shove of 2,800,000 more. Chidwick thought over the spot for a few minutes before making the call. Watson revealed his monster holding to bring the tournament to a close. Chidwick earned as the runner-up, less than a week after he took down the $200,000 short deck event for $3.4 million. This latest score brought his lifetime haul to $74.4 million, good for second on poker’s all-time money list. He also climbed to 12th in the POY standings, putting him within striking distance of a third POY award, having already won in both 2019 and 2022.
🤯 IS THAT A STRAIGHT FLUSH?@SirWatts defeats @ChidwickStephen in style to claim his fifth Triton title. Well played! pic.twitter.com/bLcCRY207v
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 18, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Michael Watson | $2,130,812 | 720 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | $1,927,188 | 600 |
| 3 | Kristen Foxen | $1,104,000 | 480 |
| 4 | Jun Obara | $849,000 | 360 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | $673,000 | 300 |
| 6 | Sean Winter | $526,000 | 240 |
| 7 | Mikita Badziakouski | $414,000 | 180 |
Photo credit: Triton Poker.
