Champion Daniel Rezaei!

There was a late-night battle of title-less regs on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju on Saturday, with one of two hotshot European pros finally set to get their hands on the famous silverware.

At one end of the table, Austria's Daniel Rezaei, a 31-year-old World Series of Poker bracelet winner, with a string of huge scores across a long career. At the other, Alex Boika, from Belarus, a winner on the European Poker Tour and no stranger to the final table on the Triton Poker Series, but bafflingly without a win as well.

Something had to give, and this time the momentum ultimately swung in Rezaei's favour. He was the only player able to halt Boika's surge from short stack to chip leader, and closed it out at close to 3 a.m. local time thanks to a heads-up cooler.

Rezaei's AQ beat Boika's KQ, when Boika called for everything. By that point, Rezaei had hit his ace and Boika missed his straight draw. It gave Rezaei a new career-high $1,939,000 prize along with his first title. Boika's $1,313,000 runner-up prize was a new top mark for him as well.

The winning hand for Daniel Rezaei

A relieved Rezaei reflected on some of the near misses he had had in previous attempts at the Triton Poker Series, frustration that had finally given way to satisfaction.

"2025 was great," he said. "I tried to get my hands on one of these trophies, but I couldn't quite manage that. So it feels pretty good to have it on my first live stop [this year]. I really wanted one of these and now I have my first Triton trophy."

Rezaei was made to battle for it from an outrageously talented final table, full of many stars of the game. But he won a crucial flip against American star Nick Petrangelo to catapult him into the lead, and then it was only Boika who threatened to halt him.

"It was a stacked final table," Rezaei said. "I came in mid-stacked and I got kind of short, then I got one lucky spot, took the flip, and from there one everything went my way, every flip went my way. I was hitting the perfect flops and I was just stacking up hand after hand."

He added: "Variance was today on my side and I'll take it."

The trophy lift for Daniel Rezaei

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The buy-in of $60,000 was a new point for the Triton Poker Series, but five zeroes on the end of any number is enough for the regs to show an interest. Registration closed with 139 entries through the turnstile and a prize pool of $8.34 million, with two longs days ahead.

The bubble burst on the afternoon of Day 2, with former Triton ONE winner Sasaki Yoko losing her last handful of blinds to Isaac Haxton. It put 23 into the money, but the turbulence was only just beginning.

A bubble for Sasaki Yoko

Numerous players held the chip lead as they closed in on the final. Nick Petrangelo won with aces against Stephen Chidwick's kings to rake in a huge one. Juan Pardo sat pretty at the top for a while before Eelis Parssinen beat his jacks with AK. Then Haxton re-emerged as the biggest stack, thanks mainly to turning a 104 big blind special into a full house. Chris Nguyen lost almost all his stack as a result.

By the time it all stopped, all of Parssinen, Petrangelo, Pardo and Haxton were still in the top five. But Mike Watson, who knocked out Manuel Fritz with jacks holding against AQ, had edged into the lead. They lined up as follows:

Mike Watson - 4,175,000 (42 BBs)

Isaac Haxton - 4,150,000 (42 BBs)

Juan Pardo - 4,025,000 (40 BBs)

Nick Petrangelo - 3,900,000 (39 BBs)

Eelis Parssinen - 3,550,000 (36 BBs)

Daniel Rezaei - 2,925,000 (29 BBs)

Leon Sturm - 2,400,000 (24 BBs)

Alex Boika - 1,700,000 (17 BBs)

Kazuomi Furuse - 975,000 (10 BBs)

Event 6 final table players (clockwise from back left): Leon Sturm, Mike Watson, Alex Boika, Juan Pardo, Nick Petrangelo, Kazuomi Furuse, Eelis Parssinen, Isaac Haxton, Daniel Rezaei.

This was an elite-level table to conclude an elite-level contest, with it impossible to pick a favourite — particularly given the parity of the stacks. But in the opening exchanges, two players rose to prominence: Mike Watson and Leon Sturm, who seemed to be tangling most often.

Watson's final started in the best possible way. He knocked out the short-stacked Kazuomi Furuse before they had even really settled in. Furuse jammed his seven blinds in from the hijack and Watson found A10 in the small blind with which to call.

Furuse had A9, which wasn't good enough. Watson ended with a straight. Furuse earned his first cash of the trip, worth $194,000.

A first final for Kazuomi Furuse

The pot kept Watson right near the top of the counts, but it proved to be the start of a decline rather than a surge to the title. Watson doubled Alex Boika, when Boika'e A4 flopped trips to beat Watson's AK. That was sandwiched between two pots against Sturm where the German came out on top.

All of a sudden, Watson had only 11 blinds and lost them in another pot against Boika, with KQ in Watson's hand losing out to A10 for Boika. Five-time champion Watson had to settle for eighth this time and $243,000.

Mike Watson endured a rough time at the final

Sturm was now the leader, but he lost a chunk in doubling Daniel Rezaei -- tens beating AQ -- and fell back into a dense pack. The principal opponent now seemed to be the tournament clock, whose inevitable progression began to leave everyone knowing one false move could cost them everything they had.

Isaac Haxton is obviously more than accustomed to this. He's been at dozens of short-stacked finals in his time, and you can be sure he'll make the right play. However, Haxton became the next man on the rail after losing back-to-back coolers. In the first, his AK went down to Parssinen's pocket eights. That doubled Parssinen. And then on the very next hand, Haxton picked up A10 and Parssinen had aces.

Haxton didn't lose everything in that pot, but the single chip he retained went to Nick Petrangelo a couple of hands later. Deuces were no match for kings. Haxton won $330,000 for seventh.

A second final of the trip for Isaac Haxton

The average stack was now less than 20 blinds and everyone was resultantly short. Boika doubled again, through Sturm. But when the now short-stacked Juan Pardo tried it, calling from the big blind after Petrangelo shoved the small blind, he suffered the latest disappointing beat to send him out.

Petrangelo open-shipped 13 blinds holding J8 and Pardo, with eight blinds, found A8. The dominant hand turn to dust after the Q10A2K run-out. Pardo won $446,000 for sixth, but continues to look for a first win.

Juan Pardo must try again for his first win

The joy was short-lived for Petrangelo, who became the next player to get all his chips in and lose a flip. It was becoming one of those tournaments. Petrangelo opened from under the gun holding AQ, and Daniel Rezaei three-bet from the small blind. Petrangelo jammed the rest of his 21 blinds and Rezaei called for two thirds of his 31-blind stack.

Rezaei tabled pocket nines, and the dealer put five cards on the table, all ranked 10 or lower. That didn't help Petrangelo, whose day came to an end with $576,000 heading to his account.

Nick Petrangelo lost a decisive flip to the eventual champion

For the first time at this final table, one player, Rezaei, had what might be considered a big chip lead. He had 54 blinds, ahead of Parssinen's 37, Sturm's 14 and Boika's six. Boika doubled through Rezaei, with his 45 making a full house, but the order stayed the same.

Boika was on an upswing, and he doubled again, this time through Sturm. Boika's nines held against Sturm's AQ, and that left Sturm on the ropes. He was in the small blind the next hand and shoved his last six blinds in, opening the pot. Rezaei called in the big blind with K7 and the king on the flop all but sealed it.

Sturm is another player who is long overdue a Triton title, but departed this tournament in fourth for $717,000.

Another deal, another Boika double. This time his A8 won against Parssinen's pocket fives. That had the effect of putting him into second place, with Parssinen sitting in third, and it was the Finn next under threat when the red light went on again.

Parssinen shoved for 13 blinds with Q7. Boika, again, found a pocket pair. This time it was pocket sixes. And though the flop J108 brought some additional outs, the turn of 10 and river 3 didn't help. Parssinen, still best known for his PLO skills, won another $876,000 in the two-card game.

The PLO crusher Eelis Parssinen demonstrated his versatility

Boika had now completed his journey from short stack to chip leader, though his 36 blind stack was only two bigger than Rezaei's 34.

Neither of these European pros had ever got over the line at a Triton tournament, despite 35 cashes between them and $5 million in combined earnings. But one of them would have to end the drought — and it would be a new career high for either of them.

Alex Boika lost out in the heads-up battle

There was no talk of a deal, and they quickly settled down to play. Boika's lead was particularly short lived. Rezaei won the first pot to move back ahead and never looked back, all the way until that final showdown.

In it, Boika's stack had reduced to 13 blinds and he limped from the small blind with KQ. Rezaei raised his AQ. Boika called and they saw the flop of 8A10. Rezaei bet, Boika called, and the 6 came on the turn.

Rezaei put out a bet big enough to put Boika all-in, and Boika couldn't find the fold. He had outs, but the K river was too little, too late.

This one was over, and Rezaei now has the title he so dearly desired.

Friends and fellow pros Mario Mosbock and Kayhan Mokri were first to congratulate the new winner