The festival's opening tournament, with a $15,000 buy-in, attracted 204 entries, generating an impressive prize pool of $3,090,000. Cash prizes are set for the top 34 players, with the future champion set to take home $642,000.
Day 1 played out at a brisk pace, culminating late at night at the bubble point. Brazilian player Alisson Piekazewicz was the unfortunate bubble boy, finishing in 35th place.
Early on, spectators witnessed a rare hand. Nevan Chang opened with 7 h 5 h, with only Li Yiming joining in from the big blind holding K h Q c. The flop came 6 h 8 h 9 h, giving Chang an immediate straight flush while Yiming was chasing a flush draw. The 2 h on the turn completed Yiming’s flush, but fortunately for him, it only cost two-fifths of his chips.
🤯 When's the last time you flopped a straight flush?!
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 4, 2026
The action is officially underway. pic.twitter.com/VmsFL1GuO2
Legendary Phil Ivey, holder of 11 WSOP gold bracelets and 5 Triton titles, also made waves. However, after a failed bluff against Artur Martirosian, he lost a significant portion of his stack and exited just short of the money.
Into the final day went 28 top players. Leading the field are two friends and Asian representatives, Wai Kiat Lee from Malaysia (3,500,000) and Punnat Punsri from Thailand (3,465,000), closely followed by Alexandros Theologis from Greece (3,215,000).
The final lineup boasts tremendous quality, with well-known players such as Bernhard Binder, Adrian Mateos, Nick Petrangelo, and Daniel Dvoress still in contention.
Current Standings After Day 1 in Event #1: $15,000 NLH 8-Handed
|
Position |
Player |
Country |
Stack |
|
1. |
Wai Kiat Lee |
Malaysia |
3,500,000 |
|
2. |
Punnat Punsri |
Thailand |
3,465,000 |
|
3. |
Alex Theologis |
Greece |
3,215,000 |
|
4. |
Bernhard Binder |
Austria |
2,785,000 |
|
5. |
Adrian Mateos Diaz |
Spain |
2,225,000 |
|
6. |
Nick Petrangelo |
USA |
2,200,000 |
|
7. |
Ehsan Amiri |
Australia |
2,170,000 |
|
8. |
Joao Simao |
Brazil |
2,105,000 |
|
9. |
Daniel Rezaei |
Austria |
2,015,000 |
|
10. |
Yin Tao |
China |
1,680,000 |
|
11. |
Victor Chong |
Malaysia |
1,490,000 |
|
12. |
Justin Saliba |
USA |
1,365,000 |
|
13. |
Ryuta Nakai |
Japan |
1,275,000 |
|
14. |
James Mendoza |
USA |
1,275,000 |
|
15. |
Huang Hongbiao |
China |
1,260,000 |
|
16. |
Aleks Ponakovs |
Latvia |
1,110,000 |
|
17. |
Li Yuan |
China |
1,105,000 |
|
18. |
Jesse Lonis |
USA |
1,090,000 |
|
19. |
Manuel Fritz |
Austria |
1,080,000 |
|
20. |
Liu Qiang |
China |
910,000 |
|
21. |
Wang Yang |
China |
880,000 |
|
22. |
Winfred Yu |
Hong Kong |
815,000 |
|
23. |
Foo Tuck Wai |
Malaysia |
580,000 |
|
24. |
Vladas Tamasauskas |
Lithuania |
510,000 |
|
25. |
Daniel Dvoress |
Canada |
490,000 |
|
26. |
Xuan Liu |
Canada |
480,000 |
|
27. |
Ethan Yau |
USA |
340,000 |
|
28. |
Xu Yang |
China |
90,000 |
Sources: Triton Poker, X, YouTube
#result
