Aren Bezhanyan Wins Triton Jeju $20,000 Event, Secures $990,000

Aren Bezhanyan had just a handful of small live poker tournament results to his name prior to the live circuit shutdown of 2020. In the post-pandemic era, he has taken his game to a whole new level. The Armenian player has accumulated nearly $4 million in total earnings in the past half-decade, with his latest score being the largest yet. In March of 2026, he emerged victorious from a field of 247 entries in the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju $20,000 no-limit hold’em event, earning his first trident trophy and $990,000 as the champion.

Bezhanyan's latest run came with 1,224 Card Player Player of the Year points, growing his total to 2,624 for the year. As a result, he has surged up the standings and into second place on the POY leaderboard presented by CoinPoker.

The prize pool swelled to $4,940,000 in this event, with that sum split amongst the top 39 finishers. Bezhanyan was closer to the bottom of the chip counts when the final nine combined onto a single table. He survived to the final four, then eliminated Luka Bojovic with J♥10♣ besting 8♥7♥. Norwegian high-stakes star Kayhan Mokri was the next to fall at Bezhanyan’s hands. The preflop race pitted A♣6♠ against pocket fives. The pair held up, and Mokri was eliminated in third place ($482,000). Three-time bracelet winner Aleksejs Ponakovs held almost a 2:1 chip lead going into heads-up play. That dynamic soon shifted, though, as Bezhanyan took down several early pots in a row to seize the advantage and then expand it. Ponakovs was able to bounce back from the brink a couple of times, but was eventually all-in at risk with J♦8♦ trailing the A♣3♣ of Bezhanyan. The board came down A♠4♥2♣J♠K♠ to give Bezhanyan top pair and the title. Ponakovs walked away with $658,000 as the runner-up.