Joao Simao claimed the crown jewel of the Triton Super High Roller Series, winning the $200,000 buy-in Triton Invitational for an astonishing $7,250,000. But as the final day of action at Triton Jeju came to a close, the 37-year-old pro decided that simply wasn’t enough of a win for this trip.
Simao went on to chop the $150,000 Triton 10th Anniversary Special no-limit hold’em event with Nick Petrangelo to close out the series. Petrangelo walked away with the second trident trophy of his career and $2,212,910. But Simao secured the biggest prize as the second-place finisher, earning $2,517,090 as part of the agreement between the final two. Simao’s total earnings for the Triton Jeju series hit $9,874,090 as a result. That represents nearly a third of Simao’s total career earnings of $30,730,529, which is the most of any Brazilian tournament player in poker history. He is also a four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner.
Petrangelo’s win earned him 720 Card Player Player of the Year points, pushing him inside the top 100 in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker. Simao, whose Triton Invitational win did not qualify for POY points, added 600 POY points to his total for the year with this result, and jumped up to 48th in the standings.
Seventh place finisher Danny Tang (8th in POY) and ninth-place finisher Dan Dvoress (9th in POY) edged closer to the top spot in the 2026 rankings, as well.
A Memorable Triton Jeju Finale
The second-biggest buy-in event of this Triton Jeju series, and the final multi-day tournament on the schedule, saw 67 entries made at $150,000 apiece. With a prize pool of $10,050,000, there was everything to play for as the biggest winners of the last two weeks looked to pad their numbers, and others looked to save their series.
After registration closed at the start of day 2 on Sept. 16, the final day of action at Triton Jeju, it was a race to reach the final 11 spots to find a cash. Kiat Lee went out on the $251,000 bubble, but the recently crowned four-time Triton champion did, at least, have other successes at this series to fall back on.
Alex Foxen and another recent Triton winner, Ben Tollerene, went out just before the final table, leaving the final nine to battle for the final trophy of the series. Thomas Boivin held the chip lead, with Petrangelo close behind. Simao was in the middle of a bunched-up pack, but there weren’t any particularly short stacks in the mix.
Dvoress was the first to fall, in ninth place ($286,000), failing to find a short-stacked double-up with pocket queens, as Miroslav Atanasov turned A♥9♥ into trip aces. Dvoress’ five Triton wins on the season make him the prohibitive Triton Player of the Year favorite heading into November’s finale in Cyprus.
Big Swings, Big Falls
The next knockout saw Seth Davies run A♦8♥ into Petrangelo’s A♥Q♣. Davies couldn’t improve, falling out in eighth place ($377,000). Atanasov then won one of the biggest pots of the tournament to that point, persevering in a classic coin flip as his pocket jacks bested Danny Tang’s A♦K♦ on a nine-high runout. Tang, a six-time Triton champion, finished in seventh place ($483,000).
Adrian Mateos, largely quiet to this point in the final table, took this moment to step forward. His red pocket queens were too much for Murly Manokharan’s A♣Q♣, and Mateos’ stack surged while Manokharan headed to the rail in sixth place ($613,000).
Boivin’s early chip lead did little to soften the blow, when his A♠J♠ went up against Simao’s pocket aces. While Boivin soon doubled back and chipped up to nine big blinds, he eventually lost a race with pocket fours against Mateos’ 7♣6♣. Boivin, still hunting his first Trident trophy despite nearly $6 million in Triton earnings, was out in fifth place ($783,000).
The pot of the tournament is sitting in the middle, and @joaosimaobh has one decision to make against @Amadi_17.
Get it right, and everything changes. pic.twitter.com/9AUFOkXcRS
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 17, 2026
The final four players were briefly bunched together, but Atanasov lost big pots to both Simao and Petrangelo. On Atanasov’s final hand, he got one big blind into the middle as he watched Simao and Mateos battle it out on a 10♦8♥3♦K♠4♥ board.
Mateos made a massive raise on the river, and Simao thought for a considerable stretch before calling, tabling K♦Q♣. Mateos’ massive flopped draw with Q♦J♦ had missed everything, and while Atanasov was out in fourth place ($990,000), Mateos was left without much room to maneuver.
The End Of The Line
Mateos doubled back off his remaining stack, but the last of his chips landed in Simao’s stack when A♠10♠ failed to improve against Simao’s pocket threes. The Spanish all-time money leader earned $1,286,000 to bring his career haul to nearly $72.4 million, the fifth-most of any player in the game.
🔱 Two winners, one trophy. Nick Petrangelo and João Simão settle the 10th Anniversary Special the only way left, and the cards crown Petrangelo. pic.twitter.com/arnmXKZtu7
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 17, 2026
Simao led by a margin of more than 3:1 going into heads-up play against Petrangelo. The pair agreed to an ICM chop, leaving $80,000 to play for. Petrangelo quickly doubled up twice into a massive lead, and then put Simao away to secure the victory.
With that, the second Triton Jeju series of 2026 wound towards its close. One festival remains for the year, with the high roller tour heading to North Cyprus. Following a Triton One series, from Nov. 5-15, the Triton Super High Roller Series Cyprus will run for over two weeks, from Nov. 15-30.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Nick Petrangelo | $2,212,910 | 720 |
| 2 | Joao Simao | $2,517,090 | 600 |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | $1,286,000 | 480 |
| 4 | Miroslav Atanasov | $990,000 | 360 |
| 5 | Thomas Boivin | $783,000 | 300 |
| 6 | Murly Manokharan | $613,000 | 240 |
| 7 | Danny Tang | $483,000 | 180 |
| 8 | Seth Davies | $377,000 | 120 |
| 9 | Daniel Dvoress | $286,000 | 60 |
Photo credit: Triton Poker
