Joao Simao Wins Triton Jeju Invitational For $7.25 Million

Joao Simao was already the top poker tournament earner from his home country of Brazil. Now, he is running away with the lead on that nation’s all-time money list after winning the 2026 Triton Jeju Invitational $200,000 no-limit hold’em event for a staggering $7,250,000.

This was the largest payday yet for the 37-year-old poker pro, more than doubling the $3,067,000 he earned as the champion of the $150,000 Triton event at last year’s World Series of Poker Paradise. The four-time bracelet winner and two-time Triton champion now has more than $28.2 million in career cashes, putting him over $12 million ahead of second-ranked Yuri Dzivielevski in the Brazilian earnings race.

“There’s no comparison. I’ve had so many good results that I’m very proud of, but this is by far the happiest moment of my career,” Simao told Triton reporters after coming out on top.

As an invitational affair, this event did not award Card Player Player of the Year points. Despite that fact, Simao is currently ranked among the top 100 in the 2026 POY standings presented by CoinPoker. He had two POY-qualified victories and seven such final-table finishes before recording this monumental win.

Thinning The Record Field

This tournament features a unique format in which the field is split in two for the early action, with 60 pairs of players divided into two halves: the official Triton invitees and the pros. The fields later combine as one and play to a winner, with five pros ultimately making the final table to four contenders from the invitee pool, which is largely composed of businessmen. Simao discussed his enjoyment of this unusual event after closing out the title.

“It’s completely different but a lot more fun,” said the champion. “It’s a great experience. Of course, because of the buy-in and the prize it’s more special, but if it was a $10k, or a $1k buy-in, I would love to play this tournament. It’s a really, really special tournament.”

The event drew a record field of 173 entries to Les A Casino in South Korea, the largest showing ever for the nosebleed-stakes affair. That meant 120 unique players and another 53 re-entries. The unprecedented turnout made for a prize pool of $34,600,000, with the top 31 finishers earning a share. As a result, the top seven all earned seven figures, with multiple millions for each of the final five.

The $305,000 money bubble burst with the elimination of Semi Sun, who ran a bluff into the sevens full of aces of Wang Yang. Plenty of big names were then sent packing, including Ben Heath (21st), Daniel Rezaei (27th), David Coleman (25th), Alejandro Lococo (24th), Alisson Piekazewicz (23rd), and the only woman to cash in this event: Jessica Teusl (22nd).

The long list of fallen stars grew as the final table approached, with Stephen Chidwick (19th), Eric Wasserson (15th), Adrian Mateos (14th), Teun Mulder (12th), and Jesse Lonis (11th) all hit the rail.

Nine To Five

The last nine were decided on day 3, with seven-time Triton champion Matthias Eibinger eliminated on the final-table bubble. Simao was out in front when the final table began. Eric Tsai (9th – $749,000) was the second shortest-stack, but the first to be eliminated. He was left on fumes after getting a bluff picked off by Simao, with the last of his meager holdings eventually seized by Ding Biao. Thomas Boivin then ran A♦J♦ into the A♠K♦ of Seth Davies to finish eighth for $905,000. The Belgian’s career earnings grew to over $19.5 million with this latest deep run.

Davies slid back down the leaderboard after a dramatic hand that pitted his pocket eights against the pocket aces of Ding. Davies flopped a set after the chips went in preflop, but Ding turned a higher set and held from there to secure a double-up.

🤯 NOW THAT’S A FINAL TABLE RUN OUT!

Aces against eights, and Ding Biao and @Sdavies22 with nothing left to do but watch.

The Triton Invitational final table continues. pic.twitter.com/juCuFqyiLM

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 14, 2026

Hannes Jeschka was the first to walk away with over a million. He got his last few blinds in with K♦7♠ and lost to the K♠10♠ of Winfred Yu to finish seventh ($1,237,000).

Despite scoring that knockout, Yu was ultimately the next to head to the payout desk. He ran A-7 into the pocket tens of Simao for his last half dozen blinds to finish sixth ($1,693,000). The two-time Triton winner now has over $13.8 million in career cashes.

Setting The Final Showdown

Emilien Pitavy got the last of his chips in with K♣J♠ in fair shape against A♣8♥ for Ding. Pitavy was unable to connect in any meaningful way, though, and was eliminated in fifth place ($2,245,000). He was soon joined by Wang, who got all-in with 5♦5♣ racing against A♦10♦ for Simao. The J♥9♠4♦K♥Q♦ runout saw Simao make a straight on the river to narrow the field to three. Wang earned $2,820,000 as the fourth-place finisher, his largest result yet on the live circuit by far.

Davies was down to just 13 big blinds when he called all-in from the big blind facing a small-blind shove from Ding, who had K♦J♥. Davies was plenty live with his Q♥9♣, but the 8♦6♠5♦A♣8♥ whiffed both players. Ding’s king earned him the pot and a spot in the final battle for the title. Davies, a bracelet winner and Triton champion, cashed in for $3,470,000 with this podium finish. He now boasts over $50.6 million in lifetime earnings.

Simao entered heads-up play with 66 big blinds to Ding’s 38. A deal was discussed, but ultimately not agreed to. Ding turned the tables thanks to a big pot early, calling down a multi-street bluff attempt by Simao with top pair.

After a Simao bounce back, a similar scenario soon played out. This time around, Ding looked up another Simao bluff with second pair to take nearly a 5:1 lead.

Simao Fights Back, Closes It Out With Pocket Kings

The Brazilian remained resilient, though, and began to climb back into the match. He soon got value with Q♠10♥ on a 10♣9♥9♣3♥3♣ board, drawing another hero call from Ding (with K♦6♥) on the end to all but close the gap.

Simao won a hefty pot with trip eights to then jump out to a sizable lead. Ding was down to just over 10 big blinds when the final hand arrived. He limped the button for 1,000,000 with 10♥9♠ and Simao raised to 2,300,000 with K♠K♦. Ding called and the flop came down 9♥5♠5♦. Simao led out for 1,400,000 and called when Ding raised to 3,000,000. The 2♠ turn drew a check from Simao. Ding moved all-in for 5,600,000 and Simao quickly called. The 7♦ completed the board, bringing Ding’s run to an end in second place ($4,940,000).

🔱 VAMOS! The final hand of a marathon heads-up duel. And the Triton Invitational belongs to João Simão. Take it all in, champion. pic.twitter.com/AG8pyuAwLN

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 14, 2026

Ding, a three-time Triton champion, now has over $20.1 million in recorded scores. This was his largest yet, topping the $2.9 million he earned for a runner-up finish in a $150,000 event at this stop in the spring of 2024.

Final Table Results

Photo credit:  Triton Poker.