The latest Triton ONE event played down to a winner in Northern Cyprus as the so-called ‘King of China’, Quan Zhou, reigned supreme. The Chinese player, who has won more money in poker tournaments than all bar three players from his home country, triumphed in the $5,000-entry event where PokerStake’s Renji Mao also cashed.

Bumper Attendance in Northern Cyprus

The stunning Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa resort in Northern Cyprus is the place to be this week as the Triton ONE festival plays out. Taking place in advance of the latest Super High Roller Series, the series gives players with slightly lower bankrolls the chance of glory and big paydays.

In the end, it was one of China’s finest ever players who grabbed the title of Mystery Bounty king, as Quan Zhou beat the Belarussian player Ihar Soika heads-up to take the top prize of  $293,000. There was drama at the end of the event as an extra day was added to the tournament, which played out across four hours to produce a winner.

The event was attended by 607 entries, creating a prize pool of $1,545,422, with Zhou and  Soika due to pull five bounties. The biggest bounty winner might yet be Eric Tsai, however, with the Taiwanese professional busting 12 players within the bounty period. Zhou, who won both a $25,000 PLO tournament in 2024 and a $25,000 Jupiter event in Jeju, claimed the title this time out too in Northern Cyprus.

Badziakouski Among Early Exits

Nine players started the final table and none of them had more chips than Eric Tsai. Sitting pretty on 70 big blinds, he was hoping to hold off the unique challenge of Punnat Punsri, who knew that an outright win would put him on top of the Triton ONE All-Time Money List in the fledgling tournament series.

Earlier this week, we previewed the main PokerStake players to stake in this event, and already, one has cashed deep in this event with Renji Mao making profit in the event. By the time the final table began, though, he was on the rail and Tsai was chasing glory. After taking out Israeli player Asaf Groofi in ninth for $23,100, Tsai then removed Chines player Chengxu Hu, who rivered trips but lost to Tsai’s full house of queens over tens to leave with $29,100.

The second of two Israeli players to make the final table, Daniel Braude, made his exit in seventh place, as he lost his stack to Ihar Soika to cash for $43,000. The next player to leave was the most experienced player at the final table, but Belarussian high stakes pro Mikita Badziakouski still couldn’t beat Lady Luck. All-in with , he couldn’t hit against the as, even after a flop of offered him four more outs to a Broadway straight, the turn and river ended Badziakouski’s hopes of glory for a score of $59,122 in sixth place.

Zhou the King Once Again

Russian player Raul Yunusov busted in fifth place for $77,000, before a big clash ended with Punnat Punsri on the rail in fourth for $97,000. The Thai poker great moved all-in for around eight big blinds with [J] but ran into Quan Zhou’s and no help came for Punsri, a seven on the river confirming his fate as the podium places were left.

Eric Tsai led the final table but bowed out in third place for $128,000. The Taiwanese player was short when he shoved with just jack-six, and after being called by Zhou’s king-eight, he lost his stack to depart before heads-up. Zhou lead by 87.6 million to Soika’s 34 million, and got off to a good start, increasing his stack until he had 80% of the chips in play.

The final hand was a simple trap executed well. Quan Zhou limped and Ihar Soika bought the bait, moving all-in with . Zhou snap-called with and soon had all the chips, as a board of played out to give the Belarussian early hope only to take it away from him by the river. Soika won $179,000 as runner-up but it was Quan Zhou who took the Triton trophy and the $293,000 up top.

Triton ONE North Cyprus $5,000 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Quan Zhou	China	$293,000
2nd	Ihar Soika	Belarus	$179,000
3rd	Eric Tsai	Taiwan	$128,000
4th	Punnat Punsri	Thailand	$97,000
5th	Raul Yunusov	Russia	$77,000
6th	Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	$59,122
7th	Daniel Braude	Israel	$43,000
8th	Chengxu Hu	China	$29,100
9th	Asaf Groofi	Israel	$23,100