Yang Wang will take the chip lead into the final day of the biggest Triton Invitational ever staged after a dramatic Day 2 in Jeju reduced a record field of 173 entries to just 16 players.
The $200,000 Triton Invitational has generated a $34.6 million prize pool, with $7.25 million waiting for Monday’s champion. Every remaining player has already secured at least $460,000, but the jumps become enormous from here.
Wang finished Day 2 with 7.31 million chips, equivalent to 58 big blinds when play resumes. Austria’s Hannes Jeschka is his closest challenger with 5.84 million, while Emilien Pitavy sits third on 4.18 million.
Adrian Mateos remains firmly in contention as he attempts something even more remarkable.
The Spaniard won the previous $200,000 Triton Invitational in Montenegro for a career-best $6.37 million. He returns sixth with 3.575 million and now has a realistic opportunity to win consecutive editions of one of poker’s most expensive tournaments.
Triton Invitational Final 16 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yang Wang | 7,310,000 | 58 |
| 2 | Hannes Jeschka | 5,840,000 | 47 |
| 3 | Emilien Pitavy | 4,180,000 | 33 |
| 4 | Teun Mulder | 3,760,000 | 30 |
| 5 | Thomas Boivin | 3,580,000 | 29 |
| 6 | Adrian Mateos | 3,575,000 | 29 |
| 7 | Joao Simao | 3,075,000 | 25 |
| 8 | Biao Ding | 2,950,000 | 24 |
| 9 | Winfred Yu | 2,790,000 | 22 |
| 10 | Jesse Lonis | 2,775,000 | 22 |
| 11 | Matthias Eibinger | 2,390,000 | 19 |
| 12 | Seth Davies | 1,965,000 | 16 |
| 13 | Mehdi Chaoui | 1,690,000 | 14 |
| 14 | Eric Wasserson | 1,340,000 | 11 |
Play resumes with 35 minutes remaining in Level 23 at blinds of 50,000/125,000 with a 125,000 big blind ante.
Yang Wang Goes From At Risk to Chip Leader
Wang’s route to the lead was built around an extraordinary sequence near the money bubble.
He was himself at risk when he picked up pocket aces against Jesse Lonis and doubled. Only a few hands later, Wang became the player responsible for bursting the bubble after clashing with Semi Sun, who had entered hand-for-hand play with one of the largest stacks in the tournament.
Sun held 8♣5♣ on a 7♣ 7♠ 8♠ A♥ Q♠ board and moved all-in for around 2.1 million on the river. Wang had A♦7♥ for a full house and made an immediate call, sending Sun out in 32nd place with nothing while everybody else locked up at least $305,000.
It was a brutal reversal.
Sun had been among the leaders shortly before the bubble. Wang had been fighting for survival, yet emerged from the sequence with the stack that would ultimately carry him to the Day 2 lead.
Joao Simao Comes Back From Almost Nothing
Joao Simao produced one of the other major recoveries of Day 2.
At one point, the Brazilian was reduced to just 145,000, worth fewer than two big blinds. Several successful all-ins later, he completed the day with 3.075 million and sits seventh among the final 16.
That leaves Simao only a little over four million chips behind Wang despite having been on the brink of elimination earlier in the session. It also puts another experienced high-stakes player into an already dangerous final-day field.
Stephen Chidwick Falls Short of Final Day
Stephen Chidwick had entered Day 2 among the players with genuine hopes of winning the event after building one of the largest stacks during the opening session.
His stack began moving in the wrong direction during the middle stages. In one televised hand, Punnat Punsri held K♦Q♦ against Chidwick’s K♣Q♠ and made a king-high flush on a 6♥ 4♦ 4♥ 7♦ 2♦ board to win a 705,000 pot.
Chidwick eventually exited in 19th place for $412,000.
His final hand was an extreme cooler. Chidwick held pocket queens against Winfred Yu’s pocket kings, before the flop produced two more kings and gave Yu quads.
The result ends another deep Triton run only days after Stephen Chidwick passed $80 million in live tournament winnings.
Day 1 Leaders Disappear
The final 16 looks very different from the leaderboard that emerged during Day 1.
Jules Dickerson had taken control of the tournament during the opening session, climbing beyond 1.5 million chips as the field continued to grow. Ethan “Rampage” Yau and Chidwick were also among the prominent stacks before the professional and invitee fields combined.
None of Dickerson, Rampage or Chidwick will return for Day 3.
Day 2 instead claimed a long list of elite players. Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Daniel Dvoress, Mike Watson, Nick Schulman, Isaac Haxton, Bryn Kenney, Mikita Badziakouski, Alex Kulev, Alex Foxen, Artur Martirosian and Wiktor Malinowski were among those eliminated before the final two tables were reached.
The scale of the field underlines just how difficult reaching the final day has been. The Invitational began with 173 entries, creating a prize pool of $34.6 million.
Mateos Chasing Back-to-Back Triton Invitationals
Mateos may be the most dangerous name immediately behind the leaders.
He won the $200,000 Invitational in Montenegro earlier this year, defeating a then-record field and collecting $6.37 million. Another victory in Jeju would give him consecutive Invitational titles and an additional $7.25 million.
His stack of 3.575 million is almost exactly level with Thomas Boivin and only 185,000 behind fourth-placed Teun Mulder.
Mateos has already been involved heavily throughout Triton Jeju II, which began with another packed schedule of elite high-roller events. Poker Type followed the start of the series as Phil Ivey and other high-stakes stars returned to Jeju.
Eric Wasserson Still Alive With 11 Big Blinds
Eric Wasserson also survives, although his margin for error is considerably smaller.
Wasserson returns with 1.34 million, worth roughly 11 big blinds at the restart. That leaves him among the shortest stacks, but still only a double-up or two away from moving back into contention.
His deep Invitational run comes shortly after another remarkable televised cash-game result. Wasserson recently won the record $4.26 million High Stakes Poker pot after calling down a huge bluff from Texas Mike.
$7.25 Million Waiting for the Winner
The final 16 are already playing for substantially more than simply another Triton title.
Sixteenth place pays $460,000, while reaching the final table pushes the payouts rapidly higher. Ninth is worth $749,000, eighth receives $905,000 and every player reaching seventh place or better will collect at least $1.237 million.
The final three payouts are particularly large.
| Finish | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $7,250,000 |
| 2nd | $4,940,000 |
| 3rd | $3,470,000 |
| 4th | $2,820,000 |
| 5th | $2,245,000 |
| 6th | $1,693,000 |
| 7th | $1,237,000 |
| 8th | $905,000 |
| 9th | $749,000 |
| 10th-11th | $635,000 |
| 12th-13th | $568,000 |
| 14th-15th | $512,000 |
| 16th | $460,000 |
Day 3 begins at 1 p.m. local time in Jeju on Monday, September 14 and will continue until a champion is crowned. Wang starts in front, but Mateos, Lonis, Simao, Davies, Wasserson and several other experienced high-stakes players remain within striking distance.
Triton’s 10th Anniversary Finale Comes Next
Jeju is not the end of Triton’s major 2026 schedule.
The series will head to the Merit Royal Diamond in North Cyprus from November 15 to 30 for its 10th-anniversary finale. Another $200,000 Triton Invitational is scheduled for November 20 to 22, alongside $100,000 NLH and PLO Main Events and a $150,000 10th Anniversary Special.
The stop opens with the $25,000 Titi Poker event from November 15 to 17. The $100,000 NLH Main Event follows from November 22 to 24, the $150,000 anniversary tournament runs November 24 to 25, and the $100,000 PLO Main Event is scheduled for November 27 to 29.
For now, however, there is still one enormous tournament to finish in Jeju.
Yang Wang has the chips. Fifteen players are trying to take them from him. And $7.25 million is waiting at the end.
