button in SafariNick Schulman Adds to Poker Legacy With Triton Main Event Title
There are few résumés in poker quite like Nick Schulman's. At just 41 years old, the American pro is already an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner, two-time WPT champion and Poker Hall of Famer, having spent more than two decades excelling across tournaments and high-stakes cash games.
Now, he can add a Triton Main Event title to that extraordinary list after conquering a 196-entry field at LES A Casino and defeating Bernhard Binder heads-up in a hard-fought battle for $3,854,888 — the biggest single cash of his career.
Triton Jeju II $100k NLH Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Schulman | United States | $3,854,888* |
| 2 | Bernhard Binder | Austria | $3,080,112* |
| 3 | Gytis Lazauninkas | Lithuania | $1,968,000 |
| 4 | Xu Yang | China | $1,596,000 |
| 5 | Ryuta Nakai | Japan | $1,263,000 |
| 6 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $958,000 |
| 7 | Danilo Velasevic | Serbia | $700,000 |
| 8 | Wesley Fei | China | $512,000 |
| 9 | Roberto Perez | Spain | $424,000 |
*denotes heads-up deal
“It Means the World to Me”
For Schulman, the victory was about much more than the money or another prestigious title. After playing poker since he was 15, the veteran said he has learned to appreciate just how difficult it is to consistently succeed at the highest stakes.
“Yeah, it's really incredible. I think it's no secret that when you look at this Triton scene, sometimes you see truly great players get wrecked for a year or two. You see some spicy players make scores. And I think for all of us as live players, when you make a big score like this, you just have to be very, very grateful because it can be really hard out here. Things have to go right. And it means the world to me because I've been playing since I was 15. It's been such a big part of my life. I'm very thankful.”
Despite a list of poker milestones that now includes two Triton titles, Schulman said he isn't particularly motivated by adding more trophies to the collection.
“For me, I really do love to play. I'm not goal-oriented as far as wins. It's just when I can continue to feel like I can hold my head high—win or lose. That's a good feeling for me because I haven't always had it. I feel I have it now and I just want to keep that going as long as I enjoy it, which I think will be for a while. Hopefully, I'm finding that level.”
The quality of the opposition made the victory even more meaningful.
“It is extra special to win something like this when you know there's just very few holes anywhere. And even the Chinese VIPs—'Big Boss Man' is so fearless and hard to play against. People say that about Tritons sometimes, like those guys, the big boss type dudes—they'll still put you in crazy spots, you know? They're real gamblers, these guys, and he was so icy. So, yeah, I'm over the moon.”
Schulman also isn't expecting the victory to suddenly turn him into a Triton regular, saying most of his poker volume will continue to come in Las Vegas.
“Maybe. Well, I get a fair amount of volume in Vegas, but, as far as coming to these, I will come sometimes. But for the most part, I'm going to stick around Vegas.”
How Schulman Won the Triton Main Event
Just 12 players returned to Les A Casino to battle for the prestigious title, and the action didn't disapoint, with several dramatic double-up and reversals of fortune right out the gate.
Wesley Fei entered the final day dead last in chips, but, thanks to a couple of pair of fortunate double-ups, Fei managed to come all the way back and briefly assume the chip lead.
Meanwhile, Miroslav Atanasov and Chahnhoon Jung were the players eliminated after getting all-in preflop with dominated hands and failing to improve.
In one of the more bizarre hands of the day, Danny Tang found himself facing a shove holding top pair against the exposed aces of Roberto Perez. With no time banks remaining, Tang was forced to make a pot-odds calcuation and ended up folding, leaving himself just a few big blinds. Not long after, Tang ultimately bubbled the final table after getting his kings cracked by Gytis Lazauninkas.
While Binder got off to a hot start at the final table by winning a race to eliminate Perez and then putting a beat on Danilo Velasevic to double up, Fei was on the wrong end of a brutal cooler to lose the majority of his stack. In the hand, Fei turned a king-high flush, while Xu Yang turned an ace-high flush. All of their chips got into the middle on the river and Fei was shown the bad news. Unable to recover, both Fei and Velasevic bowed out in eighth and seventh, respectively.
A series of hands that went Yang's way saw him take a commanding chip lead six-handed, and it didn't take long for Isaac Haxton to get short and take a stand with an ace against Binder. Unfortuantely for Haxon, Binder his a pair holding king-three, ending Haxton's run in sixth. Coincidentally, Ryuta Nakai also got all in preflop with king-three against a low ace from Schulman. The eventual champion caught a pair, however, sending the lone Japanese player out in fifth.
Binder asserted himself four-handed with a series of aggressive plays, but eventually made a misstep after shoving king-nine into Schulman's Big Slick — vaulting Schulman into the lead.
Desite his earlier lead, Yang lost all his momentum and ultimately fell to Gytis Lazauninkas' pocket nines. With hardly a lull in the action, Schulman then woke up with pocket tens facing a preflop shove from Lazauninkas holding pocket eights — eliminating the Lithuanian pro in third.
Heads-up between Binder and Schulman got off to a fierce start even though Schulman held a considerable chip lead, with both players showing a willingness to bluff and neither player willing to easily back down to early aggression.
After a bit of jousting, Binder got the best of Schulman after two savage bluffs went his way to claw his way to narrow the gap.
However, Schulman wouldn't be denied. With escalating blinds, Schulman got a large portion of Binder's stack after turning a queen and getting value. Just a few hands later, Schulman laid a trap by slowplaying with pocket kings.
Despite an ace-high flop, Schulman called two streets from Binder, who then check-called all in against Schulman with just king-high , securing the title for Schulman and putting an end to the tournament.
