Malaysia’s Kiat Lee has won the $50,000 Short Deck PLPF at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju for $840,000, defeating series co-founder Paul Phua heads-up to claim his third Triton title in 12 months.
The result produced an all-Malaysian podium at the LES A Casino on Jeju Island, with Phua collecting $594,000 for second and Lun Loon taking third for $400,000. It was the first completed SHRS event at the $50K level on the Triton Jeju 2026 schedule, drawing 60 entries and generating a $3,000,000 prize pool.
Lee now has three Triton trophies since March 2025, with escalating paydays of $264,000, $586,000, and $840,000. That run puts him alongside Alex Foxen, Jesse Lonis, and Kayhan Mokri as one of only four players to complete a hat-trick of Triton titles.
The heads-up finish carried extra weight. Lee has spoken openly about Phua’s role in his career, and after the win he didn’t hold back:
“He’s like a father to me. Paul is pretty important in my poker career. Without him, I wouldn’t be here in this Triton field.”
Action Recap
The $50,000 Short Deck PLPF drew 60 entries across two days of play. Ten players made the money from a field that included some of the most experienced names on the Triton circuit.
Five-time Triton champion Mikita Badziakouski was among the final eight, as was Elton Tsang, the Hong Kong player best known for his €11.1 million win at the 2016 Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza. Michael Zhang also returned to the final table having lost to Lee heads-up in his first Triton title win exactly 12 months earlier in the same venue.
Malaysian sweep: Lee (1st), Phua (2nd), and Lun Loon (3rd) made it an all-Malaysian podium. Lun Loon also finished 5th in Lee’s first Triton win last March, making him a recurring figure in Lee’s biggest results.
Badziakouski exited in fifth for $240,000, and Tsang followed in sixth for $188,000. The field thinned quickly from there, with Winfred Yu (7th, $146,000) and Zhang (8th, $114,000) both bowing out before three-handed play.
That left Lee, Phua, and Lun Loon to contest an all-Malaysian finale. Lun Loon’s departure in third for $400,000 set up the heads-up showdown between the student and the man who helped put him at the table.
Phua co-founded the Triton Poker Series alongside fellow three-time champion Richard Yong in 2015 and has more than $33 million in tracked live cashes, making him Malaysia’s all-time leading tournament earner. But Lee has been the form player on the tour over the past year, and the result reflected that. He closed it out for $840,000 while Phua banked $594,000.
$50,000 Short Deck PLPF Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $840,000 |
| 2 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | $594,000 |
| 3 | Lun Loon | Malaysia | $400,000 |
| 4 | Ding Biao | China | $304,000 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $240,000 |
| 6 | Elton Tsang | Hong Kong | $188,000 |
| 7 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | $146,000 |
| 8 | Michael Zhang | UK | $114,000 |
| 9 | Wu Kuisong | China | $94,000 |
| 10 | Ivan Ermin | Russia | $80,000 |
Lee’s Three Triton Titles
Lee’s hat-trick has come entirely in the space of a year, with each win bigger than the last.
| Title | Event | Date | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $25K Short Deck Turbo, Triton SHRS Jeju | March 2025 | $264,000 |
| 2nd | $30K NLH Turbo, Triton SHRS Montenegro | May 2025 | $586,000 |
| 3rd | $50K Short Deck PLPF, Triton SHRS Jeju | March 2026 | $840,000 |
Before the hat-trick run, Lee had endured 12 full Triton festivals, 32 cashes, 17 final tables, and five heads-up defeats without a title. His tracked live earnings now sit above $21.4 million, per The Hendon Mob, with more than 84% of that total coming from Triton events alone.
Phua’s influence extends well beyond the tournament circuit. Court documents surfaced in February 2026 confirming he backed Tom “durrrr” Dwan during the Macau high-stakes years, underlining just how central the Triton co-founder has been to poker’s biggest games over the past decade.
The SHRS is still in its early stages in Jeju, with the biggest events on the schedule yet to play. The $100,000 NLH Main Event runs March 24 to 26, and the $150,000 10th Anniversary Special follows immediately after as the highest buy-in event Triton has ever offered.
For ongoing results from the festival, follow our poker news coverage.
