As the calendar turns over to March, poker tournament action is ramping up towards what will be an incredibly busy spring and summer. The Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju sees the tour making it’s first trip to Korea since 2019, kicking off a 19-event series featuring No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and Short Deck tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $15,000 all the way up to $150,000 on Tuesday, March 5. The centerpiece event, a $100,000 buy-in Main Event, begins on Thursday, March 14.
The staff at The Hendon Mob will likely have their work cut out for them over the next few weeks, as the top of poker’s All-Time Money List will likely look differently by the time the action concludes at Landing Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World. One of the prime candidates to make such a move is Jason Koon, the Triton standard bearer with a record 10 titles on the tour, who currently sits third on the all-time list behind Bryn Kenney and Justin Bonomo.
Ahead of Triton’s debut event of 2024, and more than two weeks of high roller tournaments in Jeju, let’s dig into the stories you’ll want to keep an eye on during this Triton Series.
Commentary Shakeup as Henry Kilbane Departs, Super Team Steps In
If you’ve watched poker streaming content from Triton, the World Poker Tour World Championship, or a variety of other platforms, you’ve almost certainly enjoyed the commentary of Henry Kilbane. But over the last few weeks, the Global Poker Award nominee for Best Broadcaster announced that he’d be stepping away from the booth to focus on the hotel he recently opened in Phuket, Thailand. You’ll still see Kilbane during the Triton Jeju streams, but this time it’ll be at the table instead of on the microphone.
Triton plans to replace Kilbane, a beloved voice so strongly associated with the series, on the broadcast team by essentially building out the commentary equivalent of The Avengers. Ali Nejad, who won the GPA for Best Broadcaster, returns to the Triton booth alongside longtime partner Nick Schulman. Will Jaffe has also been added to the team, as has 2023 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Brian Rast.
Milestone Opportunities Abound in Jeju
As with any well-attended high roller event, there will be millions of dollars flying around during the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju. Several pages of record books for both Triton and tournament poker at large seem likely to be rewritten, or at least adjusted. Bryn Kenney’s stranglehold on the Triton all-time money list seems safe for now, with his $20 million cash in the 2019 Triton Million for Charity in London making up the entirety of the difference between himself and Koon, who sits in a distant second.
Kenney’s hold on the all-time money list is considerably more tenuous. His current lead on Justin Bonomo in that category sits at just under $1.8 million, a difference that could easily be made up with one or two major results in Jeju, should Bonomo be in attendance.
With 19 events on the schedule, Jeju could be the moment in which several of the most consistent regulars at Triton Super High Roller events finally break through for their first title. Among the top 50 on Triton’s all-time money list, 10 players have yet to reach the winner’s circle. Most notably, Isaac Haxton (13th overall, with 31 cashes for over $10.8 million) enters the Jeju series without a Triton win to his credit, though he is coming off a career year in 2023.
Other notables looking to Triton trophy hunt include Aleksejs Ponakovs (who is fresh off a third-place finish at EPT Paris), Wei Leong Chan, Peter Jetten, Kiat Lee, Cary Katz, Seth Davies, Adrian Mateos, and Ben Heath.
Jason Koon Begins his Post-GG Poker Era
No player is more closely tied in name to the Triton Super High Roller Series than Jason Koon. He holds the all-time record for most tournament titles, with 10, and he’s steadily climbed toward the top of the all-time Triton money list through consistency over the last few years.
Koon, who counts himself as a Triton Tournament Series Ambassador, announced in February that after two-and-a-half years as a representative of GGPoker he was walking away from the online poker site. Less than a week later, Koon signed on with Poker Royalty as his new representation. Koon’s first public appearance since that shift will (so long as he’s in attendance) happen in Jeju.
As Koon looks to stake his claim to more of the Triton record books and continue his ascent up the all-time money list (currently third), the poker world will be curious to see what Koon has up his sleeve next.
Jeju Continues Ascent as a Poker Hotbed
Triton’s Super High Roller Series event in Jeju marks the first such event for the tour in five years. Triton most recently visited Jeju Shinhwa World in 2019, with a return trip in 2020 called off due to COVID.
In the interim, Jeju has played host to a number of major events, including a comprehensive World Poker Tour festival in 2023. Centered around the WPT Korea main event, a tournament that drew 757 entrants and was won by Yin Tao, there was also a WPT Alpha8 High Roller won by Steve O’Dwyer.
Just weeks after the Triton Super High Roller Series wraps up, WPT Korea returns to the schedule, running from March 28 through April 2.
Phil Ivey Looks for Continued Success at Triton
While no one is within easy striking distance of Koon’s 10 Triton victories, two players currently sit tied for second with five wins on tour: Danny Tang, and a player you may have heard of before by the name of Phil Ivey.
Ivey had his best Triton showing to date in August 2023 in London, capturing a pair of titles along with a second- and a sixth-place finish for over $2 million in cashes for the festival. Ivey will be active in the region over the course of the next month, as he’s set to play at both Triton and WPT Korea.
Continued success at Triton may well be a strong harbinger for the summer as well, as Ivey looks to break a longtime tie at 10 WSOP bracelets that he’s been in since winning his tenth in 2014.