Triton Jeju II | Phil Ivey's first-lap AA was overtaken by Set, becoming the first player to be eliminated from the $200,000 Invitational.

On September 11, 2026, the highly anticipated $200,000 Invitational of the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju II officially commenced. This first Triton Invitational held in Asia kicked off with a dramatic moment: Phil Ivey, holding AA in the first level and even the first round, ran into Gytis Lazauninkas' 99 flop, which resulted in a set, ultimately leading to his elimination in a massive pot of over 445 big blinds.

This made Ivey the first contestant eliminated from this year's Invitational, and he had to re-register at the Rebuy counter.

Ivey gets into a huge pool in the first lap, AA vs 99

When the crucial hand occurs, Gytis Lazauninkas has:

295,000 Scoreboard

He was the first to raise his bet to:

2,500

Phil Ivey holds the following in the BTN position:

212,000 Scoreboard

And received:

A♣A♥

Ivey selected 3-bet to:

10,000

Lazauninkas followed suit.

Flip the card:

4♣ 9♦ 2♥

Lazauninkas checked the card.

Ivey continues to bet:

15,000

Lazauninkas again opted to simply call.

But at this point he actually already had:

9♥9♣

Set in the flop hit.

Turn card 3♦, Lazauninkas suddenly received a huge check-raise.

Turn Card:

3♦

Lazauninkas checked again.

Ivey's betting:

45,000

This time, Lazauninkas is no longer playing slowly; they've directly increased the betting amount to:

250,000

This size is equivalent to directly pushing Ivey into a full-on decision.

Faced with this extremely stressful check-Raise, Ivey went into deep thought.

He spent several minutes trying to assess his opponent's possible hand strength, but ultimately chose to call.

Both sides reveal their cards:

At this point, Ivey's pocket Aces were already behind his opponent's three 9s.

River card 3♣, Lazauninkas completes a full house.

Ivey still has a small chance to turn things around on the river.

Any remaining Ace can allow him to complete a larger set, while some 5s can also create special structures on the board, potentially leading to a reversal.

But the river card is dealt:

3♣

Final community cards:

4♣ 9♦ 2♥ 3♦ 3♣

Lazauninkas's 99 ultimately formed:

9 gourds 3

Ivey's AA was unable to overtake.

This pool is larger than:

445 Great Blinds

For an Invitational with a buy-in of up to $200,000, such an early deep chip battle is particularly noteworthy.

Phil Ivey becomes the first to be eliminated.

With the river card down, Phil Ivey became the invitational for the entire $200K game.

First eliminated player

Moreover, the entire elimination process even occurred during:

Day 1, Round 1

This is not the first time Ivey has been eliminated very early in Triton Invitational.

PokerNews points out that he was also eliminated in the first round of the Triton Super High Roller Series Cyprus Invitational.

This time at Jeju Station, a similar scenario almost played out again.

Ivey's performance at this year's Jeju station was actually not bad.

Although the Invitational's opening shot ended quickly, Ivey's overall performance in this Triton Jeju II tournament was not bad.

Prior to this match, he had already:

Two Final Table

Moreover, it was drawn from the $40,000 NLH Mystery Bounty:

A top prize of $400,000

Therefore, this AA being reversed by a Set is more like a huge fluctuation in a single hand, rather than a slump in performance throughout the series.

After being eliminated, you can immediately rebuy, and the prize pool continues to grow.

Ivey's elimination did not end his journey in this year's Invitational.

He then went to:

Rebuy counter

He became the first additional participant to register for this competition.

Because each purchase is as high as:

$200,000

Ivey's return has further increased the already substantial prize pool.

When PokerNews reported, the total prize pool had already accumulated to:

More than $24,000,000

60 Invitee and Pro teams participated, breaking the Invitational record.

This year's Jeju Invitational not only boasts an astonishing amount of money, but also breaks Triton's record for the number of participants.

Officially confirmed total:

60 groups of Invitee and Pro

Participate in the competition.

That is to say:

120 contestants

The pairs consist of amateur invited players and professional players.

The previous record for Triton Invitational was set in May 2026 at the Montenegro event:

48 pairs

The number of teams at this Jeju station has been increased to 60, breaking the series' historical record.

Invitational makes its Asian debut

This event also has another layer of historical significance.

Triton Invitational has been held in Europe and other regions in the past, and this time in Jeju is:

First time held in Asia

The competition venue is located at:

Jeju Shinhwa World

Day 1 will use a special traffic diversion method:

• Invitees - a separate venue

• Pros has a separate arena.

The two groups of contestants continued until:

Day 2

Only then will the merger officially take place.

The main purpose of this tournament format is to allow Invitees to compete in a relatively fair environment on Day 1, without having to sit at the same table with all the top professional players from the very beginning.

Triton CEO: 60 sets is a major milestone

Triton CEO Andy Wong expressed high praise for the 60 participating teams.

He described it as an event:

"sensational achievement"

It also points out that Triton Invitational is attractive because both Invitees and Pros can gain different values from this special format.

For Invitees, Day 1 allows them to compete in an environment closer to their own skill level; for professional players, Invitational provides opportunities to face a large number of opponents who rarely appear in high-stakes tournaments.

This is precisely why Invitational has been able to maintain its unique positioning for so many years.

Ivey's AA move was cracked, but it was only his first move in this year's Invitational.

From the perspective of the hand itself, Phil Ivey's elimination was quite straightforward.

Pre-flop, AA had a huge advantage over 99, but the flop came:

4♣ 9♦ 2♥

Everything can change in an instant.

Lazauninkas slow-played the flop with a set, and then successfully forced Ivey to commit all his chips with a huge check-raise on the turn. Finally, the river card 3♣ even upgraded him into a full house.

For Ivey, this hand made him the first player eliminated.

But since the event allows rebuys, his invitational journey wasn't truly over.

With the total prize pool exceeding $24 million and a record-breaking 60 pairings, whether Ivey can bounce back with a second shot will be a key focus of observation on Day 1 and Day 2.

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