button in SafariYue Zhao Bags Biggest on Final Starting Flight of Triton ONE North Cyprus Main Event
Today, the poker players who have gathered at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa for Triton ONE North Cyprus got one last shot in the flagship tournament of the series: the €8,000 Main Event. Day 1c was the last of the three starting flights, and it registered 377 entries, making it the biggest starting day and pushing the total number of entries in the Main Event to 1,006.
After its 15 levels had concluded, Day 1c brought forth 72 survivors, who will join the players who made it through Day 1a and Day 1b to form a field of 191. They will battle for a piece of the massive $7,316,638 prize pool, as only a few dozen players will need to be eliminated before the money is reached.
Chinese player Yue Zhao will be looking forward to that bubble, as he ended Day 1c with the chip lead and will be able to use the 3,475,000 he gathered to put pressure on his shorter-stacked opponents. Zhao already has two Triton ONE final tables to his name, both in Jeju this year, but a cash in the Main Event eludes him so far.
Benjamin Winsor finished not far behind Zhao with 3,390,000, while Triton Super High Roller Series regulars Manuel Fritz and Juan Pardo also bagged more than 3,000,000 for a top five appearance.
End of Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yue Zhao | China | 3,475,000 | 87 |
| 2 | Benjamin Winsor | United Kingdom | 3,390,000 | 85 |
| 3 | Manuel Fritz | Austria | 3,125,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Maksim Shornikau | Belarus | 3,090,000 | 77 |
| 5 | Juan Pardo | Spain | 3,065,000 | 77 |
| 6 | Zhuoqun Zhang | China | 2,670,000 | 67 |
| 7 | Xuan Liu | Canada | 2,670,000 | 67 |
| 8 | Jeremy Chan | Malaysia | 2,600,000 | 65 |
| 9 | Mihai Trofim | Moldova, Republic of | 2,585,000 | 65 |
| 10 | Artur Vyborov | Russian Federation | 2,340,000 | 59 |
Six-time Triton SHRS champion Punnat Punsri survived Day 1c with 1,560,000. Punsri finished runner-up in the first-ever Triton ONE Main Event back in 2025 and will be looking to claim the trophy this time around. Triton ONE Player of the Year leader Jon Vallinas Santos will likely extend his lead as he made it through Day 1c with 1,550,000.
Other big names who secured a Day 2 appearance include Leon Sturm (1,140,000), Boris Kolev (1,050,000), Nacho Barbero (945,000), Leo Margets (895,000), Roman Stoika (750,000), Arsenii Karmatckii (705,000), Klemens Roiter (435,000), and Punsri's fellow six-time Triton champion Danny Tang, although he ended the day with the shortest stack of 285,000.
The survivors of the three starting flights will combine for Day 2 on November 13 at noon local time. The blinds will start at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante, and the duration of the levels will increase to 60 minutes, with a break after every two levels. An exact plan has not yet been announced for the second day of the four-day tournament.
PokerNews will continue its live report of the Triton ONE North Cyprus Main event at the start of Day 2, so make sure to tune back in tomorrow.