Dan Dvoress Completes Triton Hat-Trick with $100K Short Deck Victory in Jeju

Dan Dvoress has completed his Triton Poker hat-trick, winning the $100,000 Short Deck PLPF at Triton SHRS Jeju for $1,380,000.

The Canadian did it the hard way, surviving an all-in where he was one card from elimination before spiking a miracle river straight to stay alive. From there he rode the momentum all the way through, denying 12-time Triton champion Jason Koon what would have been a record-extending 13th title.

The 46-entry field attracted the usual cast of short deck regulars to the Triton SHRS Jeju 2026 festival. Koon collected $997,000 for second. Hong Kong’s Winfred Yu banked $646,000 for third.

Dvoress, 37, has been a fixture on the Triton circuit through the first decade of the series. Asked to comment on those 10 years, he kept it simple:

“It was a pleasant but unpleasant experience. It was just tough… I try to trust my intuition, but I don’t really know what I’m doing and there’s several people at this table that know better than me. And that’s uncomfortable.”

He could just as well have been talking about himself when he added: “Everything’s just gotten better.”

Action Recap

As ever with high-stakes short deck, the atmosphere was jovial despite the cost of entry. Seth Davies made much of the early running but slipped near the bottom as the bubble approached.

The bubble burst at eight when two players went out on separate tables almost simultaneously. Davies lost with Q♥ J♣ against Ruslan Khadartsev’s A♦ J♠. At the exact same moment, Ferdinand Putra perished with K♠ K♥ against Koon’s Q♣ Q♦.

That was a brutal exit for Putra, who had already bubbled another short deck event earlier in the week. Koon’s queens flopping a set sent him soaring to the top of the counts.

Michael Zhang was eliminated in eighth to set the final seven.

A big chip lead at a short deck final table is no guarantee. But when the man behind all those chips is Koon, who has dominated the Triton title race since 2018, the conversion rate goes up considerably.

Koon picked up aces early and it was bad news for Mike Watson. Watson raised with Q♣ Q♦ after a limp from Yu, Koon three-bet, Yu folded, and Watson jammed.

The aces held on a low board and Watson couldn’t add another short deck crown to his collection. He collected $235,000 for seventh.

Only one hand later, Dvoress got involved and sent Chan Wai Leong to the rail in sixth. All the money went in preflop, and it ended flush over flush with Dvoress’s A♠ 9♠ beating Chan’s K♣ J♣.

It wasn’t quite as gross as it looked given the preflop action, but the result was the same. Chan collected $293,000 and Dvoress’s march to the title had begun.

Khadartsev was next, getting his last chips in with A♦ 9♣ but losing to Yu’s A♠ J♥ after the turn filled a straight. Khadartsev has been coming to Jeju since last year, and the $378,000 for fifth was the biggest prize he’s taken from the series so far.

That pot put two-time short deck champion Yu into the lead. But all three remaining players still had plenty to work with.

Three-handed is where the event descended into short deck madness. Stacks were shallow and any of the three could have gone at any moment.

Dvoress got all his last 17 antes in preflop holding K♣ 7♦. Yu three-bet with the covering stack and Dvoress called off. Yu tabled A♦ 10♠ and seemed to have a stranglehold when the flop fell A♠ 10♣ 7♥.

The Q♥ on the turn gave Dvoress some extra outs. Then the J♦ hit the river to fill his straight. Dvoress and Koon chuckled, though Yu was less amused.

Yu fought back with two near-doubles and retook the lead. But when Dvoress was on the brink again, his A♠ K♣ doubled through Koon’s 9♣ 8♦ and he vaulted back to the top.

The average stack was now 17 antes. At this level, short deck with stacks this shallow is close to a lottery.

Yu slipped to four antes, doubled with J♣ 10♦ (the short deck nuts), but couldn’t sustain the run.

He got his chips in with A♦ 10♣ and Dvoress called with 9♠ 7♣. The board ran K♣ 9♦ 6♣ J♠ K♦ and Dvoress’s pair of nines held up. Yu banked $646,000 for third, two spots short of his own short deck hat-trick of titles.

Koon had 23 antes and Dvoress 18. The two good friends agreed to play it out pure, no chop.

Dvoress won the first two hands to move into the lead. Then the inevitably tournament-ending pot arrived: Dvoress with A♠ J♣ against Koon’s Q♣ Q♦. The dealer put the ace right on the flop and Koon couldn’t catch up.

The pair embraced warmly at the conclusion, drained by the effort but pleased to see each other at either end of the table to close it out. Three Triton titles for Dvoress, and a reminder that even the greatest closer in the game’s history can be denied.

$100K Short Deck Final Table Results

Dvoress now has three Triton titles across short deck and PLO, with career earnings above $47 million per The Hendon Mob. The Triton SHRS Jeju festival continues through April 1. Follow our latest poker news for ongoing coverage.