Phil Ivey Joins the $200K Triton Invitational in North Cyprus: Full Player List So Far

The richest pairs event in poker is filling up again. Twenty-eight players, in 14 pairs of businessperson and pro, have registered for the $200,000 Triton Invitational at the Super High Roller Series in North Cyprus, and Phil Ivey is among them. The event runs November 20–22 at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Casino in Kyrenia. It will be the tenth Triton Invitational, and it comes just two months after the format set a world record in South Korea.

Here’s who’s in, how the format works, and why this could be one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

Key facts at a glance

• Event: $200,000 Triton Invitational (Event #7, Triton SHRS North Cyprus)
• Dates: November 20–22, 2026
• Venue: Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Casino, Kyrenia, North Cyprus
• Edition: 10th Triton Invitational
• Registered so far: 28 players (14 pairs)
• Notable pros: Phil Ivey, Stephen Chidwick, Alex Foxen, Mikita Badziakouski, João Vieira, Seth Davies
• Current record: 173 entries and a $34.6 million prize pool (Jeju II, September 2026)

How the Triton Invitational works

The Invitational is unlike any other tournament. Triton invites wealthy businesspeople, usually recreational players, and each one brings a professional player into the event. Both players pay the $200,000 buy-in.

At recent editions, invitees and pros started in separate fields on Day 1 and combined on Day 2. That gives the recreational players a softer start before they meet the pros. It’s also why the prize pools are so large: two big buy-ins per pair, with the entire buy-in going to the prize pool, which is why entries times $200,000 equals the pool.

The format also produces some unusual pairings. Leo Margets is listed here as an invitee, but she’s a decorated Spanish pro in her own right, and she brought João Vieira as her partner. Moves like that blur the line between “businessperson” and “pro”, which is part of what makes the line-up interesting.

The current Invitational player list

Invitee	Pro
Yu Zhang	Danny Tang
Santhosh Suvarna	Michael Watson
Alexey Lozuyk	Nick Petrangelo
Diana Kalietina	Mario Mosböck
Xu Yang	Alex Foxen
Sosia Jiang	Kristen Foxen
Jean-Noel Thorel	Christoph Vogelsang
Ramin Hajiyev	Mikita Badziakouski
Steve Enriquez	Juan Pardo
Paul Phua	Phil Ivey
Wesley Fei	Seth Davies
Murly Manokharan	Stephen Chidwick
David Einhorn	Taylor von Kriegenbergh
Leo Margets	João Vieira

Registration is still open, and Triton lists pairings as they’re confirmed. Recent editions have added most of their entries close to the start, so expect this list to grow a lot before November 20.

Storylines to watch

Phil Ivey’s Invitational record. Ivey is one of the biggest draws in poker, but this format hasn’t been kind to him. At the Jeju II Invitational in September he was the first player eliminated: his pocket aces lost to pocket nines that made a full house on the river. That was reportedly his second time going out first in a Triton Invitational, after a previous exit at a Super High Roller Series in Cyprus. He rebought in Jeju. This time he’s paired again with Paul Phua, a long-time high-stakes regular and Triton fixture.

Alexey Lozuyk returns after a $4.3 million finish. Lozuyk finished runner-up in the Montenegro Invitational in May 2026 for $4,316,000, losing heads-up to Adrian Mateos. He’s back as an invitee alongside Nick Petrangelo, one of the most consistent high-roller pros of the past decade.

Seth Davies is in form. Davies finished third in the Jeju II Invitational for $3,470,000. He returns with invitee Wesley Fei.

Two Foxens, two pairings. Alex and Kristen Foxen, poker’s most successful married couple, are playing as pros for separate invitees, Xu Yang and Sosia Jiang. There’s a real chance they end up at the same table.

A hedge fund name at the table. David Einhorn, a well-known investor who has played big charity and high-roller events for years, is partnered with Taylor von Kriegenbergh.

The numbers: how big could it get?

The Invitational has grown fast in 2026. Here’s how the last two editions compare:

Edition	Date	Entries	Prize pool	Winner	First prize
Triton Montenegro	May 2026	137	about $27.4M*	Adrian Mateos (Spain)	$6,370,000
Triton Jeju II	Sep 2026	173	$34,600,000	João Simão (Brazil)	$7,250,000
Triton North Cyprus	Nov 2026	28 so far	TBD	TBD	TBD

*Calculated from entries × $200,000. The source didn’t publish the prize pool.

Jeju II drew 60 pairs, beating Montenegro’s previous record of 48. Simão won $7.25 million after coming back from just two big blinds. In Montenegro, Mateos’ $6.37 million win took his career live earnings above $62 million.

With 28 players registered almost a month out, North Cyprus probably won’t match Jeju’s record. Asian fields have driven much of the recent growth. Still, if it reaches even 100 entries, the prize pool would be $20 million, enough to pay a first prize of around $4–5 million based on recent payout structures.

The wider Triton North Cyprus festival

The Invitational is the centrepiece of a busy month at Merit Royal Diamond:

• Triton ONE (November 5–15): 16 events with buy-ins from $1,500 to $15,000, including an $8,000 Main Event (November 10–15), a $15,000 High Roller and women-only One-W events. Five $1,500 satellites feed the Main Event, making this the realistic entry point for ambitious amateurs.
• Super High Roller Series (November 15–30): 16 events with buy-ins from $25,000 to $200,000.

Date	Event	Buy-in
Nov 15–17	NLH TITI Poker	$25,000
Nov 17–18	NLH Mystery Bounty	$40,000
Nov 20–22	Triton Invitational	$200,000
Nov 22–24	NLH Main Event	$100,000
Nov 24–25	10th Anniversary Special	$150,000
Nov 27–29	PLO Main Event	$100,000
Nov 29–30	PLO 6-Handed	$75,000

Why this matters for everyday players

Most of us will never pay $200,000 to enter a tournament\, but the Invitational is worth following. Triton streams its biggest events with hole cards shown, so you can watch elite pros and recreational players in the same field. That makes it one of the clearest demonstrations of how professionals adjust against weaker opponents: they widen value bets, cut down on bluffs and pick their spots.

The Ivey hand in Jeju is also a reminder that even the best players lose with the best starting hand. Aces lose to a pocket pair that hits a full house on the river, and the right response is simply to make good decisions and accept the variance.

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