Joao Simao triumphs over biggest Triton Invitational field to win $7.25M

The eliminations of Mehdi Chaoui (13th, $568,00), Teun Mulder (12th, $568,000), Jesse Lonis (11th, $635,000) and Matthias Eibinger (10th, $635,000) set the stage for the final table. 

The final table action

Brazil's Joao Simao held the chip lead to begin proceedings at the final table and, despite conceding the lead at times, he managed to ride the momentum to a win. 

Simao defeated China's Biao Ding during heads-up play to claim his second Triton title. 

Taiwan's Ting-Yi Tsai was the first player eliminated at the final table. After a bluff gone wrong sent the majority of his chips to Simao, he had a shot to more than triple up when he committed his two big blinds with – but failed to connect with the runout. 

Thomas Boivin was next on the chopping block. 

In the face of an open from Simao, the Belgian 3-bet for most of his chips from the button with before Seth Davies moved all-in over the top from the small blind. Boivin called it off, but saw the bad news as the American showed . The runout failed to provide Boivin with the three-outer he needed to survive and his run came to an end in eighth-place. 

The final table finishers in the Triton Jeju $200,000 Invitational.

Hannes Jeschka followed suit soon after, taking a stand with for his last few big blinds. Winfred Yu called to put him at risk with and the runout offered no improvement to the German. 

Despite the infusion of chips, Yu's run came to an end just a few hands later when he moved all-in from the button with and ran smack dab into Simao's in the big blind. 

The runout kept the Brazilian's pocket pair best and put an end to Yu's title hopes. 

With five players remaining, Simao had a monster chip lead and was able to watch on as the shorter stacks collided. Ding took out Emilien Pitavy – his holding against the Frenchman's on a board. 

The Brazilian notched another elimination when he took out Wang Yang in a hand that saw him go runner-runner to make a straight. After raising with from the cutoff, Simao called off Yang's ensuing jam from the small blind. The flop looked good for Yang and his , but the turn and river improved Simao to a broadway straight. 

SPECIAL OFFERS

• 
• 
• 
• 

Davies' exit leaves Simao and Ding fighting for the title

With three players remaining, Davies was the clear short stack. In a blind versus blind confrontation with Ding, the American called off his last 13 big blinds with . 

Davies was drawing live against his opponent's , but the runout left his hand second best.

Simao and Ding discussed numbers for a deal, but were unable to settle on a figure – and so they took their seats for a $2.3M heads-up match. 

The battle between Simao and Ding lasted quite a while as neither player was willing to settle for second. Both players took big swings throughout the match and the chip lead changed hands more than once. 

Biao Ding came agonizingly close to the Triton Invitational title, but an unlucky river card kept his opponent in the fight.

In the early goings, Ding cobbled together a string of pots to take control of the situation. 

At one point, he had a chance to win it all with against Simao's . With the title on the line, the board had Ding one card away from victory – but the river completed the board, resulting in a chop pot. 

After a brief break from play, Simao returned to his seat to catch a heater. With several significant pots going his way from there, he was able to close out the victory. 

Joao Simao's total career earnings are unknown as he has opted out from reported figures on The Hendon Mob tracking website. 

^{Images courtesy of Triton Poker Series}