Nick Petrangelo has won the $150,000 Triton 10th Anniversary Special in Jeju for $2,212,910 after a heads-up deal with longtime friend Joao Simao. The American closed out one of the toughest events of the festival after a 67-entry field created a $10.05 million prize pool.
Simao officially finished second but actually collected the larger payout of $2,517,090 after the deal, while Adrian Mateos took third for $1,286,000. Petrangelo’s victory capped an excellent Triton Jeju II run that included five cashes and a runner-up finish earlier in the series.
Petrangelo Finally Converts a Deep Jeju Run
Petrangelo had been hovering around the business end of events throughout the festival without quite finishing one off. He appeared near the top of the counts from the opening stages of Triton Jeju II, which Poker Type followed from the $15,000 opening event onward.
The $150,000 Anniversary Special finally gave him the breakthrough. Petrangelo reached heads-up against Simao after a final table packed with players who would be comfortable in almost any high roller on the planet.
Triton $150K Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Petrangelo | $2,212,910* |
| 2 | Joao Simao | $2,517,090* |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | $1,286,000 |
| 4 | Miroslav Atanasov | $990,000 |
| 5 | Thomas Boivin | $783,000 |
| 6 | Murly Manokharan | $613,000 |
| 7 | Danny Tang | $483,000 |
| 8 | Seth Davies | $377,000 |
| 9 | Dan Dvoress | $286,000 |
The field grew to 67 entries after late registration remained open into Day 2. Phil Ivey, Jesse Lonis, Michael Watson, Punnat Punsri and Samuel Mullur were among the players who entered late but failed to build a run into the final table.
A Deal Between Two Friends Ends With Blind All-Ins
Once Petrangelo and Simao reached heads-up, the pair agreed a deal that locked up seven-figure payouts for both players. The trophy still had to go somewhere, but the final contest took a considerably less serious turn as they agreed to settle matters through a series of blind all-ins.
Petrangelo eventually won with ace-nine to take the title, while Simao left with the larger share of the money. It was an unusual finish, but one that made sense between two experienced high-stakes players who had already removed most of the financial pressure from the match.
Simao’s result added another enormous score to a ridiculous Jeju stop. He had already won the record-breaking $200,000 Triton Invitational for $7.25 million, a result Poker Type covered in the Invitational final-table run.
Petrangelo Adds Another Major Title
For Petrangelo, the $2.21 million score is the third-largest live tournament cash of his career. More importantly, it converts a string of strong finishes into a title at one of the most difficult buy-in levels on the Triton schedule.
The victory also fits a pattern that has defined this Jeju festival. Established elite players have repeatedly reached the final stages, with Nick Schulman recently winning the $100,000 Main Event for $3.85 million after another deep run earlier in the series.
Triton designed the $150,000 event as a centerpiece for its 10th anniversary celebrations, and the final table delivered the kind of lineup the buy-in promised. Petrangelo, Simao, Mateos, Davies, Dvoress and Tang all made the last nine, leaving very little room for anyone hoping to coast through a soft spot.
Petrangelo did not coast. After spending much of Jeju close to a breakthrough, he finally turned another deep run into a trophy and more than $2.2 million.
