Joao Simao Wins Record $7.25 Million Triton Jeju Invitational
The Brazilian beat Biao Ding heads-up in South Korea, lifted his second Triton trophy and set a new benchmark for his country's tournament earnings.
Joao Simao won the $200,000 Triton Jeju Invitational at Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju II for $7.25 million at LES A Casino in South Korea. The score was his biggest payday to date, his second Triton victory, and the result that put him on top of Brazil’s all-time tournament earnings list.
According to PokerNews, the run had plenty of turbulence before it turned into a title. Simao reached the money on Day 2, dropped to just two big blinds after one preflop encounter, and still fought back to return for the final day with 25 big blinds. He later burst the final-table bubble by sending Matthias Eibinger out in 10th place for $635,000.
As covered in our earlier Jeju update, Yang Wang had led the Invitational into the final 16 after the bubble hand. Simao then started the final table with the chip lead and the nine-handed finish unfolded from there. Eric Tsai went out in ninth, Thomas Boivin in eighth, Hannes Jeschka in seventh, Winfred Yu in sixth, Emilien Pitavy in fifth, and Wang in fourth, before Seth Davies finished third for $3.47 million. Card Player said Davies became the first player to appear on three Triton Invitational final tables.
Heads-up against Biao Ding, the players discussed a deal but never settled on one, so the full first prize stayed in play. Ding finished second for $4.94 million after a late turn all-in went Simao’s way, and the match lasted about two and a half hours. Simao said afterward that it was “by far the happiest moment of my career.”
The Invitational drew 173 entries, made up of 120 unique players and 53 re-entries, and built a $34.6 million prize pool. The top seven all earned seven figures, the bubble min-cash was $305,000 when Semi Sun exited one place shy of the money, and Card Player said the event did not award Player of the Year points because it was an invitational affair. Card Player also described the format as one that split early action between invited players and professionals before the fields merged later.
