After multiple high six-figure swings during the first two days of the Triton Cash Game Invitational at the Maestral Resort in Montenegro, there was only one thing for it: it was time to raise the stakes.
For Day 3, players on the televised table needed to pull up at least $500,000 to play and they’re going to be posting blinds of $1,000/$2,000 with a $5,000 big blind ante. To the surprise of no one, every seat could have been filled several times over.
As it was, Phil Ivey returned for another few hours in the coveted Hot Seat, reserved for a poker pro, with Danny Tang subbing in halfway through the day. Meanwhile, the conquering hero from Day 1, Elton Tsang, returned to the scene of his enormous early plunder. Could he do it again?
If you scroll to the bottom of this post and look straight at the profit/loss section, you’ll quickly learn the answer to that. But if you can deny yourself that instant gratification, let’s take a look at how some of the major hands played out first.
Alongside Ivey, Tang and Tsang, the following all took a seat: Rob Yong, Tan Xuan, Handz, Paul Phua, ST Wang and Andy Ni. If you’ve been following closely over the past two nights, you’ll know that’s a combustible line-up. And there were indeed plenty of fireworks.
Strap in.
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PRE-FLOP AGGRESSION WINS IT FOR XUAN
It didn’t take long for Elton Tsang to get involved in the action, but despite what we saw earlier in the week, it doesn’t always go his way. He played a small part in a hand that showed just how powerful it can be to get your chips in no matter what the action ahead of you.
Handz got things going with a limp from under the gun with 
. Tsang then raised to $10,000 from the hijack, sitting with 
. Paul Phua, in the cutoff, looked down at 
and felt the time was right for a three-bet. He made it $35,000.
Tan Xuan was on the button and the uber-aggressive Chinese player looked at pocket jacks. Even with all the action ahead of him, he put in a four-bet, making it $85,000 to go. Handz, whose limp had made the ensuing action so weird, quickly folded. And Tsang took a while, but also decided to get out of the way. Phua was similarly tempted, but eventually binned his hand as well. Xuan therefore took down about $100,000 without having to see a flop.
IVEY ISN’T AFRAID
Action folded all the way around to Handz in the small blind and he called the $4,000 straddle amount with his 
. Phil Ivey, in the big blind, had 
and he decided to raise it up to $16,000.
Tsang, in the straddle with seven-deuce, chucked it away. But Handz stuck around.
The flop was absolutely beautiful for Ivey. It fell 
, giving him a straight and a straight-flush draw. Handz, meanwhile, had middle pair, top kicker. Handz checked and Ivey checked too. The 
completed Ivey’s flush, but both players just checked it. That brought them to the 
on the river.
Handz now thought he might as well take a stab. He bet $10,000. Ivey bumped it up to $40,000, even though he was sitting with only the third nuts. Handz folded.
XUAN AND WANG GO AT IT
Tan Xuan was the real source of most of yesterday’s action, even if things didn’t quite work out for him. But he only knows one way to play, which is why he opened to $7,000 from UTG+1 sitting with 
. ST Wang has had a great couple of days in Montenegro, and was enough for him to put in a three-bet, making it $25,000 to go.
These two had plenty of skirmishes yesterday, and Xuan wasn’t backing down today. He bumped it up to $100,000. And Wang was convinced. He let it go. Xuan therefore won pre-flop with five high.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Shortly after, Xuan found and raised to $7,000 again from under the gun. Wang this time had 
and three-bet to $23,000. Everyone else left these two to it again.
Xuan again found the four-bet. Again it was to $100,000. Wang again decided to get out of the way. Was this the long game?
WANG PICKS OFF NI TO LAND BIGGEST POT YET
This time, Tan Xuan was in the straddle, which left Andy Ni, UTG+1, to open things with a raise of $11,000. He was in the Mystery Hand, so we didn’t know initially what he was sitting with. ST Wang, in the hijack, had a real hand. He raised it to $35,000 with and that persuaded everyone else out of the way.
Ni, however, called and saw a flop of 
. They both checked, but then the turn gave even more potential to Wang’s hand. Both players checked, however.
The river was very interesting. It gave Wang the nut flush. But it was Ni who led out, putting $52,000 into the middle. Wang bumped it up. He wasn’t scared. He made it $135,000 to play. But there might have been an element of regret as Ni now jammed for $447,000. Could Wang really think about folding this top flush?
He certainly thought about it. He took his time to ponder his options. Eventually, however, he found the call and learned at the same time as the rest of us that he had made a very good decision. Ni was at it with 
and the flush was indeed good.
This $976,000 pot, the biggest of the week so far, headed to ST Wang.
XUAN HAS IT FOR ONCE; IT’S WORTH $1M+
When you play as many hands as Tan Xuan, you have a right to expect action when you find a monster. And it was good news for Xuan when he saw Elton Tsang open to $8,000 from the hijack with 
and then looked down at pocket aces in the cutoff. Xuan three-bet to $25,000 and Tsang called.
Tsang got a piece on the 
flop and check-raised against Xuan’s $28,000 c-bet. Tsang made it $75,000. Xuan three-bet to $182,000, putting the pressure back on Tsang. Did he believe the ultimate bluffer this time?
Tsang did not believe Xuan. He called. The pair then saw the 
turn. Tsang checked and Xuan now barrelled $230,000. Tsang responded with a shove, putting his whole $309,000 in the middle, which Xuan covered. Xuan’s call gave us the first seven-figure pot of the week: $1,040,000 to be precise.
They agreed to run it only once and the 
river was a blank. The aces held and this huge pot went to Xuan, eroding Tsang’s profit from Day 1 in one fell swoop.
YONG FALLS INTO TSANG’S TRAP
Rob Yong showed up slightly late to Tuesday night’s session, but hands like this one probably left him wishing he’d never shown up at all. Elton Tsang was the beneficiary, giving him a brief upturn in fortune.
Tsang picked up pocket fives and raised to $12,000 from the button. Yong looked down at 
in the small blind and three-bet to $40,000. Phil Ivey let his straddle go, but Tsang went set-mining.
His mining shoved clanked immediately on the ore he was looking for. The flop was 
. Yong flopped top pair, but Tsang found his set.
Long checked. Tsang bet $40,000 and Yong called. The turn must have seemed like a blank to Yong. He checked again, Tsang sized up to $135,000, and Yong called again.
The pot was now $441,000 and the dealer put the on the river. Yong maybe thought that was a bad card. But it turned out to be good for him. Yong checked and Tsang bet $320,000. The ace allowed Yong to find the correct fold.
TENSE, SLOW-MOVING FLIP BETWEEN HANDZ AND TSANG
As so often is the case, Tan Xuan got things started with a raise to $12,000 from the hijack. The straddle was on, and an opening raise was usually five figures. Xuan had 
, but it didn’t really matter. That’s because Handz, on the button, found pocket 10s and three-bet to $35,000. Elton Tsang, in the big blind, found and made it $100,000 to go. We were in six-figures pre-flop once again.
Xuan folded, but Handz counted out his stack and looked at what was potentially at risk. He had $503,000 behind, about half of what Tsang had in his stack. Handz called.
The flop was 
and Tsang led out. He bet $55,000. Handz called for the turn. Tsang sized up to $125,000, but it still didn’t shift Handz, who called once again.
The river was the 
, meaning the most obvious flush draw got there. Tsang now slowed down to a check allowing Handz to check behind. A relieved crypto investor took the $587,000 pot as Tsang pondered whether a river shove would have got it done.
TANG GETS TSANG TO FOLD BETTER
Things hadn’t been going well for Elton Tsang, and Danny Tang continued to apply the pressure on his friend. The pair played a pot in which Tsang opened to $12,000 with black pocket nines in the hijack, and Tang picked up one of the favourite hands of the solver generation: 
. Tang three-bet to $50,000. Tsang called.
The flop brought the and a c-bet of $40,000 from Tang. Tsang called to take them to the 
turn. Tsang’s hand was now relegated to third pair, while Tang now had a bigger draw. Tang fired out $85,000, which got it done, and added another $200K to Tang’s stack.
PHUA’S DEUCES FIND A WAY TO CRACK ACES
Triton co-founder Paul Phua hasn’t been involved in many of the big pots from the opening few days of this invitational and has resultantly recorded a small loss each night. But he’d have enjoyed this one against Tan Xuan, where the smallest pocket pair prevailed against the biggest.
Tan Xuan picked up pocket aces again. He raised to $12,000 from the cutoff. Phua had the Mystery Hand for viewers on the stream, but we eventually found out it was pocket twos. That meant the 
flop, which appeared after Phua called, brought something for both of them.
Phua checked, Xuan bet $15,000 and Phua called. The turn was the , i.e., the get-there card for Phua. He checked again and Xuan bet $34,000. Phua found the check-raise to $85,000. Xuan called.
The 
river made it even more hazardous for Xuan’s set of aces, but it also wasn’t great for Phua’s bottom straight. He checked. Xuan tossed out a tiny bet of $30,000 and Phua made the mandatory call.
A chuckling Phua learned he was good and finally picked up a pot of around $294,000.
YONG’S TURN TO CRACK ACES; GREAT FOLD FROM NI
One of the highlights of Monday night’s play came when Andy Ni had pocket aces, but was persuaded to lay them down on the river by a gutsy bluff from Rob Yong. Tonight they played a near repeat, but with one crucial difference.
Ni had the aces UTG+2 and he opened the pot to $11,000. Yong was in the hijack and he three-bet to $50,000 with what we eventually discovered was pocket kings. This had the potential to get very ugly. Ni four bet to $170,000 and Yong called.
Thus the two biggest pairs went up against one another, with more than $350K in the pot pre-flop. Neither player put any more in the middle after the flop. However, the turn vaulted Yong into the lead and, after Ni checked, Yong bet $175,000. Ni called. The river changed nothing.
Ni checked again and Yong stuck $400,000 over the line. Ni took a long time to think it through, but let this one go. This time he was right.
MORE FOR XUAN AS TSANG’S SLUMP CONTINUES
The night was drawing to its conclusion when Andy Ni put on the mandatory $4,000 straddle. One seat along, Elton Tsang put on the double straddle. And then Tan Xuan, one seat further, put on the triple. That meant there was $1,000 from the small blind, $2,000 from the big blind, plus the $5,000 ante, and then an additional $28,000 in straddles. When Paul Phua wanted to open the pot from the small blind with red pocket 10s, his opening raise was $65,000.
Ni folded his , but Tsang came along with pocket sixes and Xuan called with pocket fours. And there was a four in the window on the flop. After two checks, Xuan bet $88,000 with his bottom set. The jack allowed Phua to fold his tens, but Tsang called. The turn was the . Tsang checked and Xuan bet $200,000 into $382,000. Tsang now got away. At least for a moment.
On the very next hand, Tsang found himself in the $4,000 straddle and encouraged Xuan, to his immediate left, put on the $8,000 double straddle. That meant $20,000 was in the middle on this hand before a card was dealt.
After all players received their hands, Handz picked up pocket threes and opened to $20,000 from the cutoff. Tsang looked down at 
and called, but then Xuan saw pocket jacks in the bigger straddle and bumped it up even more. It was now $110,000 to play. He must have liked the encouragement from Tsang to put on that straddle.
Handz folded, but Tsang played on. The pair saw the flop. Tsang checked, Xuan bet $65,000, but Tsang now tried some strong-arm tactics. He raised to $175,000. With air.
Xuan did not seem bothered. He made the call as the pot ballooned to $600K. The on the turn was another over-card to Xuan’s jacks. Tsang checked once more, and Xuan checked behind. That took them to the on the river. Tsang checked again. Xuan checked again. The jacks stayed good as Xuan won another, leaving Tsang licking his wounds once more.
*****
Despite winning those last two significant hands, as well as the $1m+ pot earlier in the day, this was still a night that ended in the red for Tan Xuan. The way he plays, everybody knows that it could easily turn around for him very sharply.
Instead, the big winner from this session was ST Wang, who combined quiet accumulation with winning most of the major pots he entered. It gave him the first seven-figure profit of any player in any session so far.
Handz also bounced back from some early setbacks to record a tidy sum, with Danny Tang and Andy Ni (who folded those aces quite excellently) in the black.
At the other end of the spectrum, this was a difficult one for Elton Tsang. He finished more than $1.3 million down for the day. But, knowing Elton, he will be back.
DAY 3 PROFIT/LOSS
UP
ST Wang: +$1,389,000
Handz: +$647,000
Danny Tang: +$346,000
Andy Ni: +$34,000
DOWN
Phil Ivey: -$184,000
Paul Phua: -$227,000
Tan Xuan: -$246,000
Rob Yong: -$436,000
Elton Tsang: -$1,323,000
Photography by Drew Amato