Triton Poker celebrates a decade of high-stakes tournament poker this week with the $150,000 10th Anniversary Special on May 23 in Budva, Montenegro. The marquee event headlines a 16-day Triton Super High Roller Series running through May 28 and arrives at a moment when the Triton tour has solidified its position as the most prestigious live circuit on the planet.
Quick answer: The Triton Poker $150,000 10th Anniversary Special begins Saturday, May 23, 2026 in Montenegro. Last year's equivalent event drew 108 entries, generated a $16.2 million prize pool, and was won by Jason Koon for $3.39 million. The 2026 Montenegro series runs May 13-28 and features 16 events including a $100K PLO Main Event, $100K NLH Main Event, and the Triton Invitational.
How Triton Reshaped Tournament Poker
When Triton launched in 2016 with a stop in Cebu, Philippines, the prevailing wisdom was that high-stakes live tournaments were too thin to support a regular tour. A decade later, Triton has reversed that math by combining controlled buy-ins, generous tournament credit structures, and a steady recruiting pipeline of Asian and European recreational players who treat the events as luxury vacation experiences as much as competitive poker.
The result is the wealthiest single tour in the game's history. Triton stops now routinely produce prize pools that dwarf full WSOP bracelet events, and recurring fixtures like the $1 million one-day Invitational have become annual rallying points for the world's top live tournament professionals.
The 2026 Anniversary Special Format
The $150,000 10th Anniversary Special on May 23 is a single-flight event with 60-minute levels, 200,000 starting stacks, and unlimited re-entries through the end of Level 8. The structure favors deep-stack play through the early levels and is designed to reward thoughtful preflop range construction over high-variance turbo decisions.
Expected field composition skews heavily toward Triton's regular roster of high-roller pros, but recreational interest in the anniversary event has pushed early registration tallies past 75 entries with bullets still firing. A repeat of 2025's 108-entry field would generate a prize pool north of $16 million and a winner's share approaching $3.5 million.
Storylines to Watch
Jason Koon's Title Defense
Koon's victory in the equivalent 2025 event was his fourth Triton tournament win and pushed his all-time live tournament earnings past $65 million. He arrives in Montenegro on the back of a deep finish at the recent Triton Invitational and is among the early favorites at any high-roller. Pinch-hitting strong open-raise ranges from late position has been a signature of his tournament style.
Dvoress's Hot Run
Daniel Dvoress kicked off the Montenegro stop with a victory in the $25,000 opener, banking $849,000 and his fourth career trident trophy. The Canadian high-roller has racked up nearly $2.3 million in cashes already on this Triton series and enters the Anniversary Special as one of the form players on the schedule.
Tollerene Defending $100K PLO
The $100,000 PLO Main Event from May 25-27 features Ben Tollerene defending his $2.39 million title from 2025. Tollerene has cashed in five of the last six Triton PLO events globally and remains the gold standard in high-stakes Pot-Limit Omaha. Players studying advanced PLO concepts should review the range construction resources in DeucesCracked's training library.
Where to Watch the Action
Triton continues to deliver one of the highest-production-value streams in live poker. The TritonPoker Twitch channel will livestream featured tables daily through May 28, with hole-card coverage on the final tables of all premier events. Vince Van Patten and the regular Triton commentary team return for the anniversary stream.
U.S. viewers should note that Triton's stream schedules to European time, so most coverage windows fall between 7 AM and 3 PM Eastern. Replays go up within 24 hours and embed cleanly across major podcast and YouTube platforms for players who prefer asynchronous viewing.
What Triton's Decade Means for the Game
The most lasting impact of the Triton era has been the normalization of high-stakes tournament poker as a viable professional path. A generation of pros who arrived in the game during the post-Black Friday cash-game collapse now structure their schedules around Triton stops the way an earlier generation built around WPT and EPT majors. The tour's expansion into Cyprus, the Bahamas, and Jeju has created a year-round international high-stakes circuit that did not exist a decade ago.
For aspiring players, the lesson is that there is a roadmap from mid-stakes online success to live high-stakes contention. It runs through disciplined bankroll management, satellite qualification into mid-major events, and steady reinvestment of cashes into the next rung of buy-ins.
Online Path to a Triton Seat
Triton itself does not run satellites, but the broader high-stakes ecosystem has converged with online live qualifiers. GGPoker has run periodic packages to Triton-affiliated events through its high-roller series, and the WPT Global app awards live packages monthly. Recreational players who finish well in $1,000-buy-in high-roller events online increasingly find themselves with the bankroll and confidence to play smaller live Triton side events.
2026 Triton Calendar Ahead
Beyond Montenegro, the 2026 Triton calendar includes stops in Madrid, Jeju, Cyprus, and London. Triton has signaled that it will continue to add at least one new market per year, with discussions reportedly underway about a North American return after the tour briefly visited Las Vegas during the WSOP in earlier years. A formal Vegas calendar event would be a major shift in the high-stakes landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the buy-in for the Triton 10th Anniversary Special?
The 10th Anniversary Special carries a $150,000 buy-in, making it one of the larger Triton events of the Montenegro series outside the $1 million Invitational format.
Who won the 2025 Triton Anniversary equivalent event?
Jason Koon won the comparable 2025 event for $3,393,656 in cashes after navigating a 108-entry field. The 2026 event is expected to draw a similar or larger field given the tour's continued growth.
Where can I watch the Triton stream?
TritonPoker streams on Twitch daily through May 28, with featured tables for the Anniversary Special on May 23. Coverage typically runs from approximately 7 AM to 3 PM Eastern.
What's the rest of the 2026 Triton schedule?
After Montenegro wraps May 28, the 2026 Triton tour continues with stops in Madrid, Jeju, Cyprus, and London. A 10th anniversary celebration is also planned across the full year of events.
Final Thoughts
The Triton 10th Anniversary Special is exactly the kind of event that justifies the tour's reputation: a deep-structured high-roller with a stacked field, a meaningful prize pool, and a celebratory backdrop. Whether you tune in for the lineup, the structure, or the production, this is one of the must-watch live tournaments of the year. Keep up with daily coverage and study the hands that shape the bubble at DeucesCracked's poker training videos archive.
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