Huang Wenjie Stuns the High Roller Circuit in Triton Jeju Main Event

The Path to the Triton Jeju Main Event Final Table

Huang’s tournament run got off to a modest start, as the Chinese native bagged 475,000 chips (48 big blinds) on Day 1. But by Day 2, he had surged to the top of the leaderboard with 9,875,000 (79 BBs), just ahead of Cates, who carried 9,375,000 (75 BBs) into the final stretch.

The day also saw a brutal bubble phase if there ever was one, with Phil Ivey falling just short of the money after Gytis Lazauninkas’ pocket kings were cracked by Alex Foxen’s Big Slick. As the field thinned, high-stakes regulars like Anatoly Filatov, Vincent Huang, and Paulius Vaitiekunas all bowed out just in time for the final table.

Huang Wenjie and Some Final Table Action

The final nine players brought varying stacks to the table, but Santhosh Suvarna led the way with 60 big blinds, closely followed by Greenwood, Martirosian, Cates, and Huang, all hovering around the 50 BB mark. At the other end of the spectrum, Nacho Barbero sat in the danger zone with just 4 BBs.

Despite his short stack, Barbero found an early double through Greenwood, but the first elimination came when James Hopkins shoved with A J against Suvarna’s 10 10 . The board bricked, and Hopkins was the first to hit the rail in ninth place.

Shortly after, Clemen Deng fell in brutal fashion, losing with pocket aces to Cates’ K 10 on a K Q 2 10 8 runout. Now down to just a few big blinds, Deng was forced all-in, only for Huang to call with 5 5 and send him packing.

Barbero was next to go, running A K into Cates’ A A — a stone-cold cooler that sealed his fate in seventh place. The elimination of Aliaksei Boika soon followed, and suddenly, the remaining players were all guaranteed seven-figure payouts.

By this point, Huang and Cates were exchanging the chip lead, with Martirosian still in the mix. Then came a defining hand: Huang picked up pocket kings K K and called Greenwood’s shove with J J . The kings held, and Greenwood departed in fifth.

With just four left, Huang continued his aggressive approach, eventually eliminating Suvarna in a blind-versus-blind confrontation. Suvarna shoved six big blinds with queen-nine, only for Huang to snap him off with king-four. A 10 3 2 flop initially looked promising for Suvarna, but the Suvarna 6 river sealed his fate in fourth place.

Martirosian Falls, but Cates Falls Harder

Three-handed play saw Huang Wenjie extend his lead, and he soon found himself in a dream scenario against Martirosian. The Russian pro came in with J 10 , and Huang raised with 5 5 .

The 3 5 10 1 flop was a disaster for Martirosian — he had top pair and a flush draw, but Huang had flopped a set. After check-calling the flop and turn, Martirosian faced a shove on the river and decided to call, only to see Huang table the winning hand.

That left Huang heads-up against Cates, who had an uphill battle with a 3:1 chip deficit. The match lasted just four hands.

In the final hand, Cates limped in with J 9 , and Huang moved all-in with K Q . Cates made the call, but the flop came, giving Huang trips and leaving Cates in desperate need of a miracle. The J turn improved him to a full house, but Huang still held the better hand. The river blanked, and with that, Huang Wenjie completed his Triton debut in unforgettable fashion.

Final Table Results – 2025 Triton Jeju $100K Main Event

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Huang Wenjie		$5,555,000
2nd	Dan Cates		$3,528,000
3rd	Artur Martirosian		$2,644,000
4th	Santhosh Suvarna		$2,140,000
5th	Sam Greenwood		$1,687,000
6th	Aliaksei Boika		$1,288,000
7th	Nacho Barbero		$946,000
8th	Clemen Deng		$695,000
9th	James Hopkins		$570,000

Photo Credit: Triton Poker Series