Malaysia’s Austin Ang has taken down the $15,000 NLH High Roller at Triton ONE in Jeju for $932,000, beating Isaac Haxton heads-up after a three-way deal that gave Haxton the largest payout of $940,000.
The 29-year-old from Malaysia came into the nine-player final table as the shortest stack with just 19 big blinds. He left it as a Triton champion, knocking out all-time money list leader Bryn Kenney in third and then finishing off Haxton to close the Triton ONE Jeju 2026 festival.
The event drew 490 entries and generated a $6,933,990 prize pool across three days at the LES A Casino. It was the final event on the Triton ONE schedule before the Super High Roller Series takes over.
Ang had never played a Triton event before this festival. He entered six events in Jeju, cashed in four, and saved the best for last. After the win he credited a pre-final table handshake with Triton co-founder Paul Phua:
“I think I just got lucky, to be honest. But one fun fact. Before I got to the final, I was so short-stacked, but I saw Paul Phua sitting right there and I said, ‘Hey, can I steal your luck? Can I shake your hand?’ And I ran super-hot.”
Action Recap
The final table assembled with Christopher Nguyen leading on 61 big blinds and Ang bringing up the rear on 19. The full starting lineup:
| Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Nguyen | Germany | 18,400,000 | 61 |
| Bryn Kenney | United States | 14,975,000 | 50 |
| Paulius Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | 14,400,000 | 48 |
| Manuel Fritz | Germany | 11,700,000 | 39 |
| Aren Bezhanyan | Armenia | 10,300,000 | 34 |
| Zhang Yang | China | 8,350,000 | 28 |
| Isaac Haxton | United States | 7,425,000 | 25 |
| Sergio Aido | Spain | 6,750,000 | 23 |
| Austin Ang | Malaysia | 5,700,000 | 19 |
With the tournament already running long, officials added an extra day and agreed to play down to six on Day 2 before returning for the finale on Day 3.
Sergio Aido was the first to fall. He shoved J♠ 8♦ into Nguyen’s Q♦ 10♣ on a paired flop and couldn’t improve, collecting $117,000 for ninth. Zhang Yang followed in eighth for $149,090 after his pocket deuces were counterfeited by a board of J♣ J♠ 6♥ 6♦ 7♣.
Armenia’s Aren Bezhanyan had cashed five times during the Triton ONE festival but couldn’t convert this one into a title. He lost the bulk of his stack to Vaitiekunas’s flush, then ran Q♣ 6♠ into Haxton’s career earnings of over $62 million and an A♠ 5♣ that rivered a straight. Bezhanyan banked $214,000 for seventh.
Day 3 stacks: Vaitiekunas led six players back for the finale. Nguyen, the Day 2 chip leader, lost a flip to Haxton (pocket tens against A♠ K♣) and never recovered. Kenney finished him off with an 8♣ 7♣ flush.
Nguyen collected $287,100 for sixth. Vaitiekunas followed in fifth for $366,000, and Fritz departed in fourth for $466,000 after tangling with Kenney.
Three-handed, the remaining players struck a deal. Haxton, who won his maiden Triton title in Jeju last September, held the chip lead and locked up the largest payout at $940,000. Kenney secured $891,000. The trophy was still up for grabs.
Kenney was the first to go post-deal. He completed from the small blind with 15 big blinds, shoved over Ang’s raise, and Ang called. The runout favoured Ang, leaving him with roughly twice Haxton’s stack heading into heads-up.
Haxton cracked Ang’s pocket aces early in the heads-up to stay alive, but Ang kept the pressure on. He survived three all-ins on the final stretch to close it out, capping a run from shortest stack to champion.
$15,000 NLH High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Ang | Malaysia | $932,000 |
| 2 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $940,000* |
| 3 | Bryn Kenney | United States | $891,000 |
| 4 | Manuel Fritz | Germany | $466,000 |
| 5 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | $366,000 |
| 6 | Christopher Nguyen | Germany | $287,100 |
| 7 | Aren Bezhanyan | Armenia | $214,000 |
| 8 | Zhang Yang | China | $149,090 |
| 9 | Sergio Aido | Spain | $117,000 |
*Payouts reflect a three-way deal. Haxton received the largest share but Ang won the title.
The $15K High Roller was the final event of a Triton ONE series that opened with a record-breaking 1,236-entry field in the QQPK Genesis. For Ang, whose previous best score was a third-place finish at the 2024 Poker Dream 11 Main Event, the win pushes his career earnings past $1.1 million.
For ongoing results from the SHRS events now underway, follow our poker news coverage.
