button in SafariYiwen Yuan Leads 24 Remaining Contenders After Day 2 of Triton ONE Main Event
Day 2 of the Triton ONE North Cyprus $8,000 Main Event began with 191 hopefuls returning to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa, but after twelve and a half hours of poker, only 24 players are still in contention for the massive $1,320,000 first-place prize.
Pieces of the $7,316,600 prize pool started being awarded halfway through the second level of the day, thanks to Yernur Kurbanov becoming the bubble boy in 160th place. However, the majority of the money is still up for grabs, and Yiwen Yuan ended the day in prime position to navigate herself to some of the biggest payouts.
Yuan bagged 25,450,000 after Day 2's long grind. It was the biggest stack of all, and will be worth 85 big blinds when play resumes on Day 3. Yuan already had a Triton ONE Main Event cash to her name, but she has already far surpassed her 82nd-place finish in Jeju in 2025. Yuan is followed in the counts by Mohamed El-Wely. El-Wely hails from Mauritania, a country with just five players on its The Hendon Mob all-time money list, but he is looking to put his country on the poker map and will bring 22,800,000 into Day 3.
Mahmoud Bedoui rounds out the top three as the last player to finish with more than 20 million chips, while Triton Super High Roller Series champion and two-time bracelet winner Alex Anton makes a top-ten appearance with 13,250,000.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yiwen Yuan | China | 24,450,000 | 82 |
| 2 | Mohamed El-Wely | Mauritania | 22,800,000 | 76 |
| 3 | Mahmoud Bedoui | Germany | 22,275,000 | 74 |
| 4 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russian Federation | 17,150,000 | 57 |
| 5 | Ken Tong | Hong Kong | 15,100,000 | 50 |
| 6 | Mehmet Samsa | Turkey | 13,800,000 | 46 |
| 7 | Alex Anton | United States | 13,250,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Zhuoqun Zhang | China | 11,700,000 | 39 |
| 8 | Jingyao Yan | China | 11,700,000 | 39 |
| 10 | Anatolii Savin | Russian Federation | 11,000,000 | 37 |
However, Anton is not the only Triton champion still in contention. Paulius Vaitiekunas has hoisted a Triton SHRS trophy before and sits just outside the top ten with 10,025,000. Meanwhile, five-time winner Mikita Badziakouski lost a big pot in the final minutes of the night and will return as the absolute short stack with 1,450,000, and Jon Vallinas Santos, Triton ONE Player of the Year Leader and runner-up in the Triton ONE Jeju Main Event in March, bagged 5,575,000, continuing his dominance this year just days after binking his first-ever Triton ONE trophy.
Many poker luminaries added a cash to their Triton resume but missed out on a deep run. Triton Poker co-founders Winfred Yu (154th - $12,500) and Paul Phua (63rd - $19,400) both cashed, as did Triton SHRS champions Klemens Roiter (149th - $12,500), Dimitar Danchev (124th - $13,000), Wai Kiat Lee (90th - $16,200), Nacho Barbero (80th - $16,200), Andras Nemeth (66th - $19,400), Punnat Punsri (65th - $19,400), Joao Vieira (60th - $19,400) and Isaac Haxton (50th - $23,000). Most, if not all, of them are expected to stick around as the five- and six-figure buy-ins of the Super High Roller Series are just around the corner.
For now, the spotlight is deservedly on the Triton ONE Main Event. It will resume tomorrow, November 14, at noon local time. Two minutes and 27 seconds remain in Level 25: 150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 big blind ante. Afterward, levels will continue to be 60 minutes long, with a break after every two levels. Day 3 is scheduled to play down to the final six players, who will then bag up and return for the final day on November 15.
The 24 returning players have all secured at least $37,000 for making it this far, and are one elimination away from the pay jump to $44,000. The final eight will all receive six-figure payouts, while making it to Day 3 will guarantee $235,000. However, only the eventual champion will walk away with a seven-figure sum.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,320,000 | 9 | $98,000 | |
| 2 | $793,000 | 10-11 | $83,000 | |
| 3 | $561,000 | 12-13 | $73,500 | |
| 4 | $420,000 | 14-15 | $66,000 | |
| 5 | $321,000 | 16-17 | $58,500 | |
| 6 | $235,000 | 18-20 | $51,000 | |
| 7 | $177,000 | 21-23 | $44,000 | |
| 8 | $127,000 | 24-27 | $37,000 |
PokerNews will be back tomorrow to report the road from 24 to the final six, so make sure to return for our coverage of Day 3.