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Joao Simao Comes Back From Two Big Blinds to Win $7,250,000 in Record-Breaking Triton Invitational
The $200,000 Triton Invitational at the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju II obliterated all records.
The event, which has become a staple at Triton Poker, gathered 173 entries and collected a gargantuan $34,600,000 prize pool. And after three days of poker, Brazil's Joao Simao was the final player standing, banking an eye-watering $7,250,000 for his second-ever Triton victory, not only Simao's largest-ever poker haul, but also the highest amount won by a Brazilian player in tournament poker history.
"It's unreal, really. There are no words, you know? I feel so, so lucky, so blessed. It's the type of stuff that happens once in your life," an elated Simao shared with PokerNews shortly after hoisting the trophy at LES A Casino.
Simao's first Triton victory in the $150k event at last year's WSOP Paradise was remarkable, as the top three consisted entirely of Brazilian players. This time, it was a much more international affair, with eight different countries represented at the final table. Simao bested China's The Hendon Mob all-time money list leader Biao Ding after a long, back-and-forth heads-up battle.
Ding earned $4,940,000 — marking a new high score for him as well — after the players decided not to make a deal. Meanwhile, USA's Seth Davies set a record of his own by finishing third, becoming the first-ever player to appear on three Triton Invitational final tables.
Triton Invitational Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao Simao | Brazil | $7,250,000 |
| 2 | Biao Ding | China | $4,940,000 |
| 3 | Seth Davies | United States | $3,470,000 |
| 4 | Yang Wang | China | $2,820,000 |
| 5 | Emilien Pitavy | France | $2,245,000 |
| 6 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | $1,693,000 |
| 7 | Hannes Jeschka | Germany | $1,237,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | $905,000 |
| 9 | Eric Tsai | Taiwan | $749,000 |
Simao's Cinderella Story
It may seem a distant past after his victory, but a while before being crowned the champion, Simao's situation in the tournament was looking dire. Shortly after reaching the money on Day 2, a preflop encounter left him with just two big blinds to his name, but he battled back to make the final day with a stack of 25 big blinds.
"Of course [it felt unlikely that I would win]. When you enter a tournament, you hope for the win, but I've played for 20 years, and I know that first place is something that doesn't happen that often. It feels amazing to be the winner," Simao stated, looking back on his ultimate comeback.
While the most recent Triton Invitational champion, Adrian Mateos (14th - $512,000), quickly departed on Day 3, Simao continued where he left off on Day 3, slowly chipping up and building a stack. Eventually, Simao had the honor of bursting the final table bubble, sending Matthias Eibinger home in 10th place, earning Eibinger $635,000 and allowing Simao to start the final table as chipleader.
At nearly every opportunity, Simao increased his lead over the other players at the table. When Simao sent Winfred Yu — one of Triton Poker's founding fathers — to the rail in sixth, the Brazilian phenom had about half the chips in play. Simao then eliminated Yang Wang in fourth, and Ding took care of Davies in third, setting up a heads-up battle for the ages.
Duelling Bing Heads-Up
Simao started the duel with a roughly two-to-one advantage, which he quickly increased to four-to-one. Ding seemed to be on the ropes, but Simao fired various unsuccessful bluffs, and the roles were quickly reversed. In fact, Simao was the first one to be at risk during heads-up play, and was staring down the barrel of elimination with his ace-four against Ding's ace-jack preflop. Luckily for Simao, the board split the pot between the two opponents, and Simao remained in contention for the title.
After a fabulous hero-call with queen-high, Simao retook the lead, and he never surrendered it again. Eventually, Ding found himself at risk with top pair against Simao's overpair on the turn, and the river remained clean for Simao, earning him the title, the trophy, and the monstrous first-place prize.
"I think we both played very well," Simao reflected on his heads-up battle with Ding, which took about two and a half hours, "but I came back, readjusted my strategy, did well, and got lucky to be the champion."
Simao's Final Thoughts
With his victory, Simao added a second seven-figure score in no-limit hold'em to his resume. However, the Brazilian player is also known for his prowess in four-card poker, most recently winning the $50k PLO event at the WSOP for $1,368,7000.
"To be honest, throughout my career, I'm always swinging between loving PLO or Hold'em more. For the last 15 months, I've been completely in love with Hold'em and playing very little PLO. Then came a massive score during the Super High Roller Series where I won the $50K PLO, which was amazing, and my passion for PLO came back. But now, this score shows me it's a moment where I want to enjoy Hold'em more," Simao explained regarding his passion for both forms of poker.
Finally, despite just winning a life-changing sum of money, something much more important took the forefront in Simao's mind after the adrenaline had waned: "I want to enjoy every second of it and see my family. I can't wait to see them — I've been here for maybe 12 days already and miss them a lot. In these moments, you really want the people you love around you. What I really want to do is go home and celebrate with them."
That concludes the PokerNews coverage of the Triton Invitational, but there is much more Triton action coming up. Live reporting of Day 1 of the flagship $100k Main Event is up and running, and a daily highlight blog of other events is available as well. Make sure to check out all things Triton over at our tournament hub.