Michael Watson and Tan Xuan Win Triton Poker Jeju Short Deck TitlesMore Than $4.6 Million In Prize Money Was Paid Out Across The Two High-Stakes Short Deck Events |
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The final four events of the 2024 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju feature short deck as the game. The first pair of short deck events featured $25,000 and $50,000 buy-ins respectively.
The $25,000 buy-in event drew 52 entries to create a prize pool of $1,300,000. The top nine finishers made the money, with Canada’s Michael Watson earning the largest share. Watson, a World Poker Tour champion and two-time European Poker Tour main event winner, secured $380,000 and his third Triton title for the win.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing different variants of poker,” Watson told Triton reporters after the victory. “The short deck and the PLO are games that I really enjoy. A lot of fun. It keeps you motivated and keeps you interested as well. You’re always learning new things. It’s not so formulaic, not the same thing every day.”
This score increased Watson’s career tournament earnings to more than $26 million. This was already his second title and eighth final-table finish of the year, with three top-four showings so far at the Landing Casino Jeju in South Korea. With 3,036 Card Player Player of the Year points and more than $3.5 million in to-date POY earnings, Watson is currently sitting in second place in the POY race standings presented by Global Poker.
“Obviously, a run like I’ve been on the last couple of weeks takes a bit of luck," said Watson. "But I do feel that I’ve been getting better, playing a lot of my best poker lately.”
Watson overcame a stacked final table on his way to hosting the trophy, contending with the likes of Triton champion Tan Xuan (8th), four-time Triton champion Wai Kin Yong (6th), four-time Triton champion Mikita Badziakouski (4th), WPT champion Seth Davies (3rd), and Ren Lin (2nd).
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Michael Watson | $380,000 | 420 |
| 2 | Ren Lin | $273,000 | 350 |
| 3 | Seth Davies | $177,500 | 280 |
| 4 | Dong Chen | $133,000 | 210 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | $104,000 | 175 |
| 6 | Wai Kin Yong | $80,500 | 140 |
| 7 | Lun Loon | $64,000 | 105 |
Just a day removed from his eighth-place showing in the $25,000 buy-in, Tan Xuan emerged victorious from a field 67 entries in the $50,000 buy-in short deck event, earning $922,000 and his second Triton trophy for the win.
The 37-year-old Xuan now has nearly $9.2 million in career earnings to his name, with almost all of that coming from his 15 cashes in Triton events.
“Luck is very important, but my experience was bigger than his,” Xuan said in his interview with Triton staff after defeating Martin Nielsen of the Faroe Islands heads-up for the title.
This was Xuan’s first POY-qualified score of 2024. The 612 points he earned for the victory were sufficient to move him inside the top 300 in the points race.
Plenty of big names joined Xuan in securing a piece of the $3,350,000 prize pool in this event. Among them were 10-time bracelet winner and five-time Triton champion Phil Ivey (11th), two-time POY award winner Stephen Chidwick (8th), Seth Davies (7th), recent pot-limit Omaha event winner Quan Zhou (5th), and ten-time Triton champion Jason Koon (4th).
Both Davies and Chidwick now sit inside the top 15 in the 2024 POY rankings after this event, with seven final-table finishes for Davies and nine so far for Chidwick.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Tan Xuan | $922,000 | 612 |
| 2 | Martin Nielsen | $655,000 | 510 |
| 3 | Rene Van Krevelen | $428,000 | 408 |
| 4 | Jason Koon | $330,000 | 306 |
| 5 | Quan Zhou | $261,000 | 255 |
| 6 | Michael Zhang | $205,000 | 204 |
| 7 | Seth Davies | $161,000 | 153 |
Photo credits: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.
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