Champion Jun Hao Wu!

As the Triton ONE Main Event played to its conclusion on Monday night in Jeju, the $15K Triton High Roller — the real concluding event of the series — was still going strong. It finally wrapped in the wee small hours of Tuesday morning, and crowned Jun Hao Wu as the champion, $969,000 richer.

With that, the curtain came down on the first Triton ONE festival.

Wu is another player who is a perfect fit for Triton ONE: an enthusiastic player of mid-stakes events, with a record to date that suggested a breakout performance could be imminent. And in claiming this title, he not only beat a field of 353 entries, he also had to deny numerous familiar Triton Poker Series faces at the final.

None more so than Ebony Kenney, who Wu beat heads-up.

Kenney, who became the first woman to win a $1 million prize on the Triton Series when she came fifth for $1.7 million at the Coin Rivet Invitational in Cyprus in 2022, was aiming for the first high-profile victory of her career. But she could not get past Wu, a Singaporean player who cashed both Triton ONE events he played here in Jeju.

Kenney had to make do with a $614,500 runner-up finish, which became the second-largest cash of her career after the Cyprus score. It was her third six-figure win.

Wu, for his part, improved his previous mark seven-fold. With a near million-dollar score, his bankroll may now lead him to the Triton Super High Roller Series, which continues in the Landing Resort today.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The $15,000 buy-in Triton ONE High Roller occupied a perfect slot in the schedule, bridging the gap between Triton ONE and the Triton Super High Roller Series. It packed the field with players of all levels of experience, eventually flowing through two days to a final table that lined up as follows:

Yeu Wei Hsiang - 12,375,000 (41 BBs)

Jun Hao Wu - 10,375,000 (35 BBs)

Mike Watson - 10,150,000 (34 BBs)

Yu Xiangyu - 9,275,000 (31 BBs)

Stephen Chidwick - 8,925,000 (30 BBs)

Vamerdino Magsakay - 8,100,000 (27 BBs)

Ebony Kenney - 5,850,000 (20 BBs)

Luo Xixiang - 3,350,000 (11 BBs)

Teng Kah Yew - 2,225,000 (7 BBs)

Triton ONE High Roller final table players (clockwise from back left): Jun Hao Wu, Stephen Chidwick, Yeu Wei Hsiang, Teng Kah Yew, Yu Xiangyu, Luo Xixiang, Vamerdino Magsakay, Ebony Kenney, Mike Watson.

Between Mike Watson and Stephen Chidwick there was six Triton Super High Roller titles and close to $40 million in earnings, and those pair will have fancied their chances of building their stash further in this event. But proceedings did not pan out as expected, with Chidwick tumbling out of contention in eighth, shortly after the short-stacked Teng Kah Yew's tournament ended.

Teng could do very little about his elimination. He had only five blinds when he found AJ and put in a raise. Yu Xiangyu three-bet from the small blind and Teng called all in. Yu had Teng pipped with AQ and the board bricked. Teng earned $95,500.

Teng Kah Yew

Chidwick, however, had higher hopes when he got off to a good start at the final. He won a decent pot from Yu, sticking in a raise on the river looking at a terrifying board of 52768. Yu folded and no one watching will know what either player had. Chidwick then consolidated a top-three stack as the blinds went up and a good few more orbits passed.

But after getting three-bet off a few hands, Chidwick then picked up AQ and put in an early-position raise. Watson, in the small blind, found pocket eights and jammed his 15 blind stack. Chidwick had almost precisely as much and made the call, setting up a flip for almost all of it. Watson won it and Chidwick was cut down to 25,000 chips, or one-eighth of a small blind.

He couldn't do anything with that, and technically surrendered it to Xi Xiang Luo a couple of hands later. Chidwick won $117,500 for seventh.

Stephen Chidwick fell at the hands of fellow SHRS player Mike Watson

The tournament was now a short-stacked shootout, with multiple pre-flop jams usually picking up stray chips. Kenney got her chips in on two successive pots, and the second time found a double through Watson. This was another flip, with Kenney's AQ beating Watson's pocket 10s. Kenney and Watson both ended the hand with around 18 blinds.

Having been unable to get anything going at the final, Vamerdino Magsakay was now the short stack and he three-bet for almost everything over an early position raise from Wei Hsiang Yeu. Hsiang four-bet to get the last scraps in, and Magsakay called for all of it with A10.

Hsiang had only pocket threes, and after four blank cards, a third three came on the river to seal the deal for Hsiang. Magsakay, the lone Philippines representative at the final, won $162,700.

Vamerdino Magsakay

Hsiang took over the chip lead, and extended it further on a very nasty next hand. Yu Xiangyu opened with QJ and Hsiang called from the button with A4. Both players flopped a pair as the dealer put J8A out. Hsiang checked, Yu bet, and Hsiang called.

The Q turn was great for Yu, giving him two pair. Hsiang checked again, Yu bet, and Hsiang jammed with the covering stack. Yu was no doubt delighted to call, but things turned quickly sour as the 8 gave a better two pair to Hsiang and left Yu on the rail. He earned $218,500.

Yu Xiangyu was counterfeited out

Everything was looking rosy for Hsiang at this point, but an enormous three-way cooler soon put a damper on things for him, as well as ridding the field of Watson. Difficult to imagine how this one might have played out any differently, especially with the stack sizes around the table.

Hsiang, with 67 blinds, opened from early position. Jun Hao Wu called on the button from his 31-blind stack and then Watson squeezed all-in from the small blind with 15 blinds.

Hsiang re-jammed with the most of all of them, and Wu called all-in.

Wu won this tournament, so it follows that he won this hand. And he did it by laying a trap with pocket queens and then surviving the peril presented by both Watson's pocket tens and Hsiang's AK. A flop of 822 followed by a turn of Q sent the enormous pot in Wu's direction. Hsiang was back in the pack, while Watson was out in fifth for $284,003.

Mike Watson came close to adding Triton ONE glory to his SHRS wins

Luo Xixiang lasted precisely one hand longer.

Wu began acting like a dominant chip leader should and open-jammed his button with only two short stacks in the blinds. Luo looked down at A9, however, and called for his last 11 blinds. Wu had KQ, but his momentum couldn't be halted. The flop brought a king and Luo couldn't catch up.

Luo's fourth place came with $359,000.

Luo Xixiang couldn't halt Wu

As three-handed play began, Kenney had only a third the chips of Hsiang, who in turn had less than a third of Wu. But Kenney's comeback began by winning with AK against Wu's A3, then by beating Hsiang out of a huge pot with AQ against 66.

The massive flip left Hsiang with only eight blinds, which Kenney then hoovered up in another pretty grim outdraw. The chips all went in pre-flop with Hsiang jamming pocket jacks and Kenney calling six blinds more from the big blind with Q10.

Hsiang hit a set on the 106J flop, but the 9 turn followed by the K river gave Kenney a set. That was the end of the run for Hsiang, who added $444,000 to his ledger.

Yeu Wei Hsiang perished in third

It set up an intriguing heads-up duel between Kenney, with 51 blinds, against Wu, with 67.

The tournament played out away from the streaming table, which means very little information is publicly available about the players' hole cards. However, Kenney brought the stacks close to level when she won a 12 million chip pot with QJ on a run-out of 39610J, but gave them all back when a failed bluff found a gutsy hero call from Wu.

Wu limped from the small blind with 96 and Kenney checked her option. The flop came 637. Kenney checked, Wu put out a small bet and Kenney check-raised to three blinds. Wu called.

The turn was the 2 and Kenney now led for 4.5 blinds, which Wu called. And that took them to the 2 river. Kenney now fired again, about a third of the pot, and Wu looked her up with his second pair. Kenney tabled Q4 and watched the pot slid to Wu.

Ebony Kenney: A stellar festival ended with a runner-up finish

Kenney was not able to turn the tide. Wu continued to grind away until Kenney had fewer than five blinds. And though AQ was plenty good enough to commit those to the pot, Wu's 38 rivered another three and this one was over.

Kenney had an exceptional Triton ONE festival, making two final tables including this runner-up finish. But Wu took the spoils in this one.

Jun Hao Wu celebrates

It was the end of a fascinating and hugely encouraging Triton ONE debut festival. There's a significant expectation that this tour, like the two dogged competitors who concluded the event, will be back.