button in SafariPoker Legend Cracks Aces With Quads to Claim Triton Jeju Main Event Lead
The $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event at the 2026 Triton Poker Series Jeju II is still in its relevant infancy, but there's a chance that we have already seen the hand of the tournament.
The hand in question happened during Level 5, when the blinds were 1,000/2,500, and involved Nick Petrangelo and French veteran Jean-Noel Thorel.
Thorel, who is known for an unorthodox style of play, opened to 5,000 from middle position, Nick Petrangelo three-bet to 20,000 from the button, and Thorel tossed in calling chips.
A 3♥2♦3♦ flop saw Thorel check-call a 20,000 continuation bet from Petrangelo. It was a similar story on the K♥ turn, with Thorel check-calling a chunkier 80,000 second barrel. The 3♠ completed the community cards, and Thorel checked for a third time. Petrangelo fired a 300,000 bet, which left only 36,000 chips behind. Thorel check-raised, and Petrangelo called all-in.
Petrangelo turned over A♥A♣ for a full house, and what most people at his table thought would be the winning hand. However, Thorel had opened the betting and then called a three-bet out of position with 3♣2♣ and had improved to quads.
The hand boosted Thorel's stack to more than one million chips and gifted him an early chip lead. Petrangelo, on the other hand, busted.
At the latest scheduled break, Thorel is still the man to catch with 1,200,000 chips. China's Quan Zhou (966,000) and Defeng Chen (720,000) make up the podium places, with such luminaries as Artur Martirosian (621,500), Thomas Muehloecker (510,000), Daniel Rezaei (506,000), and Pedro Padilha (479,000) owning top 10 stacks.
Can Thorel Capture His First Triton Trophy?
Thorel has 16 cashes in Triton events, worth a combined $11,269,800, but a victory has proven elusive. The Frenchman has come close to becoming a Triton champion on numerous occasions, including in this very event in 2024. Thorel finished second in the 2024 Triton Poker Jeju $100K NLH Main Event and banked $2,875,000.
That princely sum was a career-best for Thorel until his runner-up finish in the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise Super Main Event earned him $6 million.
Can Thorel build on this early momentum and finally capture a Triton title? Follow the PokerNews live reporting from the $100,000 NLHE Main Event and find out.
