The Triton Super High Roller Series visited Vietnam between March 1-13, 2023. It featured 13 tournaments in no limit hold’em and short deck. You’ll find all you need to know about the event below, including links to completed tournament reports and results.
EVENT 1 – 25,000 GG SUPER MILLIONS LIVE
Malaysia’s Webster Lim paid emotional tribute to his friend and mentor, the late Ivan Leow, after winning the first record-breaking No Limit Hold’em event at Triton Vietnam. Lim’s victory means he now has a NLH and a short deck Triton title and put him in the exclusive ranks of the double champions.
Top five finishers:
1 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – 965,000
2 – Roman Hrabec, Czech Republic – 653,600
3 – Chris Brewer, USA – 435,500
4 – Seth Davies, USA – 357,000
5 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – 286,300
166 entries | 4,150,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 2 – 15,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
A Triton trophy is heading to South America for the first time after the Argentinian pro Nacho Barbero beat a new record-setting field to win the 15K NLH event in Vietnam. Barbero was playing only his third Triton event, and knocked out seven of eight of his final table opponents, including Triton debutant Jans Arends heads up for the win. Barbero’s title came with a 600K payout.
Top five finishers:
1 – Nacho Barbero (Argentina) – 600,000
2 – Jans Arends (Netherlands) – 406,000
3 – Brian Kim (USA) – 271,000
4 – Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – 222,000
5 – Aleks Ponakovs (Latvia) – 178,000
172 entries | 2,580,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 3 – 20,000 10K + 10K MYSTERY BOUNTY
Mark Rubbathan was one of a team of streamers and pros sent to Vietnam by the online site Americas Card Room with a bankroll of 100,000 to play on the Triton Series. He enjoyed a dream run to the title in the Mystery Bounty event, banking nearly 400K from the main prize pool and a further 240K in bounties. “This was a really good time to run better than I’ve ever run in anything,” Rubbathan said.
Top five finishers:
1 – Mark Rubbathan (UK) – 396,000
2 – Wiktor Malinowski (Poland) – 268,000
3 – Victor Chong (Malaysia) – 184,000
4 – Daniel Dvoress (Canada) – 150,400
5 – Calvin Tan (Malaysia) – 120,000
179 entries | 1,790,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 5 – 30,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Best known as one of online poker’s most reliable tournament players, Jans Arends — aka “Graftekkel” — decided on a trip to the Triton Series in Vietnam and picked up a title alongside his biggest tournament score. After a three-way deal, the Dutchman beat Kiat Lee heads up to bank 921,178, plus a trophy and Shamballa Jewels bracelet.
Top five finishers:
1 – Jans Arends (Netherlands) – 921,178
2 – Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – 851,932
3 – Jonathan Jaffe (USA) – 766,890
4 – Brian Kim (USA) – 441,000
5 – Seth Davies (USA) – 353,700
171 entries | 5,130,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 6 – 50,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
He only learnt poker three years ago, but chose to take on the superstars when they came to his home country to play. And then Dao Minh Phu, a 42-year-old amateur, managed to beat one of the toughest fields in the game to record a famous 1.67 million triumph and vault him, in one fell swoop, into the top three in Vietnam’s all time money list.
Top five finishers:
1 – Dao Minh Phu (Vietnam) – 1,670,000
2 – Biao Ding (China) – 1,135,000
3 – Dan Smith (USA) – 750,500
4 – Viacheslav Buldygin (Russia) – 618,000
5 – Patrik Antonius (Finland) – 497,000
139 entries | $6,950,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 7 – 75,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
The London-based Turkish businessman Orpen Kisacikoglu has been on a heater than any of poker’s super high roller elite would be proud of, and he managed to overcome the POY leader Stephen Chidwick heads up to win a second Triton title and more than 1.7 million.
Top five finishers:
1 – Orpen Kisacikoglu (Turkey) – 1,753,000
2 – Stephen Chidwick (UK) – 1,245,000
3 – Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland) – 816,000
4 – Santhosh Suvarna (India) – 628,000
5 – Henrik Hecklen (Denmark) – 497,500
85 entries | 6,375,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 8 – 25,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM TURBO
Andrew Leathem, from Edinburgh, Scotland, became the latest first-time Triton champion on this trip to Vietnam, overcoming the heartbreak of bubbling the first event to emerge victorious from a typically turbulent turbo event. He denied Nacho Barbero and Dao Minh Phu their second victory of the week.
Top five finishers:
1 – Andrew Leathem (UK) – 670,000
2 – Nacho Barbero (Argentina) – 460,000
3 – Dao Minh Phu (Vietnam) – 301,000
4 – Matthias Eibinger (Austria) – 245,000
5 – Sebastian Gaehl (Germany) – 196,000
104 entries | 2,600,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 9 – 100,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM MAIN EVENT
There was a record-breaking number of entries and one of the toughest final tables ever assembled on the Triton Series, but British businessman Talal Shakerchi beat them all to record the biggest tournament score of his career — or hobby, depending on who you ask…
Top five finishers:
1 – Talal Shakerchi (UK) – 3,250,000
2 – Michael Soyza (Malaysia) – 2,207,000
3 – Daniel Smiljkovic (Germany) – 1,450,000
4 – Adrian Mateos (Spain) – 1,201,000
5 – Fedor Holz (Germany) – 965,000
135 entries | 13,500,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 10 – 50,000 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM SINGLE-DAY TURBO
The Triton Ambassador Jason Koon became the only player to have five Triton titles after he beat Artur Martirosian heads-up in the 50K Turbo and add yet another trophy to his bulging cabinet
Top five finishers:
1 – Jason Koon (USA) – 574,000
2 – Artur Martirosian (Russia) – 395,000
3 – Chris Brewer (USA) – 252,000
4 – Punnat Punsri (Thailand) – 182,000
5 – Isaac Haxton (USA) – 147,000
31 entries | 1,550,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 11 – 25,000 SHORT DECK
The British/Hong Kong pro Danny Tang had suffered a difficult trip to Vietnam until he decided to do everything it would take to cash the first short deck event of the week. His five buy-ins eventually translated to a first, emotional title.
Top five finishers:
1 – Danny Tang (Hong Kong) – 427,000
2 – Stephen Chidwick (UK) – 310,000
3 – Richard Yong (Malaysia) 199,300
4 – Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – 151,000
5 – Isaac Haxton (USA) – 117,000
57 entries | 1,425,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 12 – 50,000 SHORT DECK
Mike Watson was an early adopter of short deck and is now its latest champion after overcoming a dominant Michael Zhang, and beating Ike Haxton heads-up, to claim his first Triton title after 14 cashes on the tour.
Top five finishers:
1 – Mike Watson (Canada) – 695,000
2 – Isaac Haxton (USA) – 500,000
3 – Michael Zhang (UK) – 320,000
4 – Phil Chiu (Hong Kong) – 242,000
5 – Jason Koon (USA) – 187,000
44 entries | 2,200,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 13 – 100,000 SHORT DECK MAIN EVENT
The winner of the £1m Triton Helping Hand for Charity tournament, Aaron Zang, proved that victory was no fluke, taking down the Vietnam short deck Main Event for more than 1.5 million and adding a second major title to his collection. It consolidates his position at the top of the China money list.
Top five finishers:
1 – Aaron Zang (China) – 1,544,000
2 – Michael Zhang (UK) – 1,115,000
3 – Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – 710,000
4 – Phil Chiu (Hong Kong) – 540,000
5 – Mikita Badziakouski (Belarus) – 416,000
49 entries | 4,900,000prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
EVENT 14 – 20,000 SHORT DECK
The final event on the Triton Vietnam schedule was a fast-paced, all-action 20K short deck turbo, and the last man clinging to the wreckage was the Canadian pro Sam Greenwood, who wins a second Triton title.
In the money players:
1 – Sam Greenwood (Canada) – 207,000
2 – Lun Loon (Malaysia) – 143,000
3 – Isaac Haxton (USA) – 91,000
4 – Seth Davies (USA) – 65,800
5 – Wei Hsiang Yeu (Malaysia) – 53,200
28 entries | 560,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS
Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive