Nick Schulman Wins Triton Jeju Main Event for Career-Best $3.85 Million

Poker trophy and stacks of chips on a table overlooking a coastal sunset.

By Sandra Gaweda · Published September 18, 2026 · 4 min read

American Poker Hall of Famer Nick Schulman won the $100,000 Triton Jeju II Main Event in South Korea for $3,854,888, the biggest single score of his career.
He beat Austria’s Bernhard Binder heads-up out of a 196-entry field that built a $19.6 million prize pool.
The win came just two days after Schulman finished runner-up in a $50,000 event, and it vaulted him into the outright lead in the 2026 Card Player Player of the Year race.

Introduction

Nick Schulman just had the best week of a 20-year career. On September 16, the 41-year-old New Yorker won the $100,000 no-limit hold’em Main Event at the 2026 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju II, held at Les A Casino in Jeju, South Korea, for $3,854,888. It is the largest single payday the Poker Hall of Famer has ever recorded. Schulman topped a 196-entry field and beat Austria’s Bernhard Binder heads-up to claim the title, capping a run that started two days earlier when he finished second in a $50,000 event for $810,279. Together, the two results added nearly $4.7 million to his lifetime earnings.

A Career-Best Score at the Game’s Highest Stakes

The $100,000 Main Event drew 196 entries and built a $19.6 million prize pool. The tournament scheduled payouts for 31 places. However, Samuel Mullur and Hannes Jeschka busted at the same time on the bubble. They split the $173,000 payout, receiving $86,500 each. From there, everyone left was guaranteed a six-figure result.

For Schulman, the win is his second title on the Triton Super High Roller Series. His first came all the way back in 2018, when he won a short deck event on his tour debut at the same Jeju resort where he claimed this trophy eight years later. “It’s pretty unbelievable,” Schulman told Triton staff afterward. “I really want to go home and see my wife.”

How the Final Table Played Out

Several well-known players fell before the final nine, including Wiktor Malinowski (29th), Patrik Antonius (28th), Alex Foxen (17th), and Jesse Lonis (13th). Six-time Triton winner Danny Tang also fell short after his pocket kings were cracked by ten-seven suited, setting the final table.

Once nine-handed play began, the eliminations came in order of the short stacks. Roberto Perez went out ninth ($424,000), followed by Wesley Fei in eighth ($512,000) and Serbia’s Danilo Velasevic in seventh ($700,000). American Isaac Haxton finished sixth for $958,000. He now sits seventh on poker’s all-time money list with roughly $69.3 million in cashes. Japan’s Ryuta Nakai finished fifth for $1,263,000. China’s Xu Yang took fourth for $1,596,000, setting a new career-best. Lithuania’s Gytis Lazauninkas finished third for $1,968,000. For both Nakai and Lazauninkas, it was the first seven-figure score of their careers.

That left Schulman heads-up against Binder with a 3-to-1 chip lead. The two agreed to a deal that guaranteed Schulman $3,714,888 and Binder $3,080,112. That left $140,000 and the title to play for. On the final hand, Schulman limped the button with pocket kings. Binder raised from the big blind with king-jack, and the money went in on an ace-high board. Binder eventually called all-in with king high and was shown the winning pair of kings.

The Résumé Behind the Win

Schulman is one of the most accomplished American players of his generation. Alongside his two Triton trophies, he owns eight World Series of Poker bracelets with the most recent coming this summer in a $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, as well as the World Poker Tour Main Event title he claimed back in 2005 at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for more than $2.1 million. He is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame, joining a short list of players — like fellow high-stakes regular Phil Ivey — recognized for sustained excellence across formats.

A New Player of the Year Leader

The Jeju title did more than pad Schulman’s bankroll. Schulman collected 1,680 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. That pushed him into the 2026 lead with 7,556 points, 58 ahead of second-ranked Punnat Punsri. Schulman has now made 13 final tables and won three titles this year, cashing for more than $6.2 million. Five of those final tables came at the WSOP. They included a bracelet win and a runner-up finish in the $10,000 deuce-to-seven triple draw championship. He also won the $10,000 eight-game event at the PGT Mixed Games festival in February.

Schulman Builds Momentum in the Player of the Year Race

For US players following the world’s biggest buy-ins, this is a reminder that experience still travels. Schulman didn’t reinvent his game to win in Jeju. He leaned on two decades of mixed-game and no-limit skill to beat one of poker’s toughest fields. His week also shows how quickly momentum can build at the top. A runner-up finish on Sunday became a career-defining title by Tuesday. He is now a key name to watch in the Player of the Year race heading into the final stretch of 2026.

Sandra is a content writer and digital creative with 10+ years of experience across Web3, crypto, NFTs, iGaming, wellness, and media. She creates blog content, email campaigns, and brand copy for companies ranging from early-stage ventures to established platforms. She currently writes for Legal US Poker Sites, continuing to grow her presence in the digital content space.