Ben Tollerene captured his second Triton Main Event title Thursday, taking down the $100,000 NLH Main Event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju for $3,766,000.
The Fort Worth native, now past $36 million in live earnings, held off Philip Sternheimer heads-up to add to his PLO Main Event title from Triton Montenegro last year. Kristen Foxen also posted a career-best score with a fourth-place finish worth $1,449,000.
Tollerene Gets It Done, Doyle-Style
Tollerene entered the final table with a chip lead and faced challenges from reigning GPI Player of the Year Punnat Punsri, third-placed Elton Tsang, and Foxen, who was chasing the all-time record cash by a female player.
The final hand did the rest. Tollerene completed from the small blind with 10♥ 2♥. Sternheimer checked K♦ 7♥, and the flop came 2♦ A♦ 10♠, giving Tollerene two pair. Sternheimer check-called a bet on the turn 6♦, picking up a nut-flush draw. The river 2♠ filled Tollerene up. He bet 5.5 million into the 6.5 million pot, Sternheimer shoved his remaining 12 million as a bluff, and Tollerene called instantly.
The full house with ten-deuce is the same hand Doyle Brunson used to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events in 1976 and 1977. The result gave Tollerene his fourth Triton title and made him a two-time Triton Main Event winner alongside close friend Jason Koon.
"I'm obviously very pleased," Tollerene said. "I had no cashes going into today on this trip, so I was feeling not so great about how everything was going. And then everything aligned today and yesterday and I somehow did it again."
He added: "These are the biggest tournaments in the world. I also think just having all the best players in the world here, it kind of lifts me up. I want to show them I'm on that level and that I can compete against them. That motivates me."
Foxen Banks Another Record Score
Foxen, the reigning GPI Female Player of the Year and all-time money leader on the Triton circuit, entered the day sixth in chips and finished fourth. Her $1,449,000 payout is a career-best and comes at a venue where she has found success before. Her only other seven-figure Triton score was $1,104,000 in the $125,000 NLH 7-Handed at Jeju last September.
The Canadian has now cashed sixteen times on the Triton circuit. At this final table, she made the most-discussed hand of the day, folding pocket kings preflop with nine players left after landing in a tough ICM spot. She then climbed past two more opponents before finishing fourth.
Foxen had been chasing the all-time record cash by a female player, currently held by Liv Boeree. At $1,449,000, she set a new personal best but fell short of that mark.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ben Tollerene | $3,766,000 |
| 2nd | Philip Sternheimer | $2,535,000 |
| 3rd | Elton Tsang | $1,787,000 |
| 4th | Kristen Foxen | $1,449,000 |
| 5th | Punnat Punsri | $1,146,000 |
| 6th | Sean Winter | $870,000 |
| 7th | Xu Yang | $635,000 |
| 8th | Tom Fuchs | $464,000 |
| 9th | Felipe Ketzer | $385,000 |
What's Next in Jeju
With the NLH Main Event wrapped, Jeju shifts to Triton Poker's $150,000 NLH 10th Anniversary Special, set to begin on Thursday and play down to a winner on Friday. The series runs through April 1. Full coverage is available on the Triton Plus Poker app.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 26-27 | Event #12 – $150,000 NLH 10th Anniversary Special |
| March 27-28 | Event #13 – $30,000 PLO/NLH |
| March 28-29 | Event #15 – $50,000 PLO 6-Handed Mystery Bounty |
| March 29-31 | Event #16 – $100,000 PLO Main Event |
| March 30-31 | Event #17 – $25,000 PLO 6-Handed |
| March 31-April 1 | Event #18 – $75,000 PLO 6-Handed |
| April 1 | Event #19 – $30,000 PLO Turbo Bounty Quattro |
