The Triton Poker Series in Jeju has begun and South Korea is alive with the excitement of the world’s most popular high roller series. With the opening event already underway, players have descended on the Far East poker hub to play for millions of dollars, with many PokerStake players in the mix. We’ve got the latest news from the opening tournament, who is in the running for the Ivan Leow Player of the Year award and who you can back to win in Jeju this September.

Kicking Off the Drama

With the opening event already underway, some very recognisable names to PokerStake stakers rose through the ranks early on. With 204 entries in the $15,000-entry No Limit Hold’em 8-Max Event #1, players such as Samuel Mullur, David Coleman (pictured below) and Brock Wilson were all in the upper limits of the leaderboard when the first break was reached.

By the time just 101 players remained, it was the Austrian professional Daniel Rezaei who held a large lead with over 1.37 million chips. Players were starting to fall with regularity, such as the Norwegian Kayhan Mokri, whose shove with the top pair of a king was no good when Ren Li turned over pocket queens to match the one that had landed on the flop.

After late registration closed, the payouts were confirmed, with the top prize of $642,000 up for grabs to the 92 players still remaining in the field, with just 34 places being paid. With $25,500 for a min-cash, the battle to reach the business end of the event was on.

When the field had been reduced to 52 players, Rezaei still  led, this time with over 3 million chips, some way clear of Ensan Amiri in second place on 2.48 million. Others to feature in the top 10 chipcounts included Triton legend, Malaysian Wai Kiat Lee (1,810,000), Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau (1,195,000) and Justin Saliba, with the PokerStake seller on 1,165,000, the equivalent of 47 big blinds.

Can Daniel Dvoress Be Caught in POY Race?

The Canadian poker professional Daniel Dvoress’ two titles in Montenegro, combined with a slew of other cashes, have put him in pole position in top gear as he races for the finish line on 3,181 points. Isaac ‘Ike’ Haxton sits in second place with 2,517 points, while British-based Hong Kong pro Danny Tang is in third place on 2,405 points.

Outside the podium places, Austrian Pokercode pioneer Matthias Eibinger totals 2,156 points, with Latvia WSOP bracelet winner Aleks Ponakovs (2,089) and Thai Triton regular Punnat Punsri (2,050) close behind him. American Ben Tollerene (2,039) and Event #1 chip leader Daniel Rezaei (2,020) are the other players above 2,000 points, while the record-holding 12-time Triton title-winning player Jason Koon (1,993) and Canada’s Michael ‘Sir Watts’ Watson (1,974) round out the top ten as they stand heading into Jeju. With Rezaei and Tang both flying high in the opening event, the leaderboard could be changing sooner rather than later.

After Jeju, the Triton POY race, named after the late, great Ivan Leow, heads to Northern Cyprus in November for a full schedule of Triton ONE and Super High Roller Series events. If someone can replicate the results Dvoress posted earlier this year, then they’ll have a chance of overtaking him by December’s end.

Here are the current 2026 Triton Player of the Year top 10 standings before any Jeju points have been added.

Triton Poker Series 2026 Ivan Leow Player of the Year Top 10:
Place	Player	Country	Triton Points
1st	Dan Dvoress	Canada	3,181 Pts
2nd	Isaac Haxton	United States	2,517 Pts
3rd	Danny Tang	Hong Kong	2,405 Pts
4th	Matthias Eibinger	Austria	2,156 Pts
5th	Aleks Ponakovs	Latvia	2,089 Pts
6th	Punnat Punsri	Thailand	2,050 Pts
7th	Ben Tollerene	United States	2,039 Pts
8th	Daniel Rezaei	Austria	2,020 Pts
9th	Jason Koon	United States	1,993 Pts
10th	Michael Watson	Canada	1,974 Pts

Which PokerStakers Are Playing Triton Jeju Events?

We already tipped some of the early bird sales from players who were very organized before the start of the Triton Jeju series in our preview last month. Here are several more who have since put their action on sale and should be invested in given the value and their experience.

Brandon Wilson has enjoyed a very profitable 2026 so far and looks set to continue that trend in the Far East if recent form is anything to go by. Wherever he is in the world, Brandon’s professionalism and dedication are unmatched and he has become one of our favorite players to both invest in and pull for. Selling to several events in Jeju, Brandon is terrific value at the highest stakes and the $106,000 Triton Main Event, otherwise known as Event #11 is right at the center of his wheelhouse. Brandon’s action is on sale at a very reasonable 1.11 markup to that event and we consider this amazing value given his edge in both form and consistency on a large percentage of the field.

David Coleman is already showing exactly why he is so fancied by PokerStake stakers and is selling to very similar events to Brandon over the next fortnight in Jeju. David’s winnings on the site are a thing of legend and he looks set to crush in events around the $25,000-$40,000 price-point. With his vast experience and devilish live poker skills, David’s chances in events such as Event #3, the ‘Titi Poker’ event, look superb at a markup of between 1.15 and 1.17.

Finally, having already covered the attraction of players such as Jessica Teusl and Valadas Tamasauskas in pre-event preview, we must mention Justin Saliba. As we mentioned earlier on, Justin is flying high early in Jeju and we can’t see him dropping off at all. Already in a great rhythm, Justin is selling to Events #2, #3, #5, #6 and #12, so get in quick, especially in the first and last of those events, where Justin is only selling between 3% and 5% of his action… unlike him in the tournament, it won’t last long before it’s gone!

Head to our dedicated Triton Poker Series Jeju staking page and invest in your champion so you can cheer them on to victory this weekend from afar and share in their winnings.