Many of the usual suspects of the Triton Super High Roller Series returned to the Maestral Resort in Montenegro on Friday night to play the penultimate session of the inaugural Triton Cash Game Invitational — and it was every bit the incendiary showdown we have come to expect.
Elton Tsang, the man whose Triton Series account has swelled by seven-figure amounts this week, again pulled up a seat, alongside fellow cash-game crushers Andy Ni, Tan Xuan and ST Wang. But, for once, this was a night to forget for those high rolling recreationals. The pros finally got some revenge.
Four of the absolute elite had two frames each in the cash game hot seats, and each of Phil Ivey, Dan “Jungleman” Cates, Patrik Antonius and Adrian Mateos this time emerged with their reputations intact. Furthermore, they were all in the black when things were finally done.
That’s not to say everything was predictable. Far from it. There was a return for the man known only as Ferdinand, and he managed to lay everyone to waste. Paul Phua finally got his festival moving in the right direction too. As for Handz, the mysterious American crypto investor, well, he’ll be needing to dip back into his portfolio before returning to the Triton Series.
Here’s a selection of some of the biggest and best hands from the night. This time they were playing blinds of $1,000/$2,000 with a $5,000 big blind ante and a minimum buy-in of $500,000. Oh, and a mandatory straddle of $4,000.
TSANG COOLERS XUAN
The first significant pot of the night had a very familiar feel to it. That’s because it ended with $840,000 heading in the direction of Elton Tsang. His benefactor was Tan Xuan, who can consider himself pretty unlucky to land on the wrong side of this one.
It all started so passively. Tsang, Phil Ivey and Andy Ni all limped pre-flop and Xuan, in the straddle, checked. That meant four players saw the 
flop. Xuan’s 
meant he now had an open-ended straight draw, and he bet $20,000. Only Tsang, playing the Mystery Hand, made the call.
The turn was the 
. That was bingo for Xuan. He now bet $35,000, but Tsang seemed happy too. He raised to $100,000. Xuan thought about it for a bit, but put in calling chips and the dealer delivered the 
river.
That now completed the flush draw, but Xuan still thought his straight was good. He bet $130,000. However, Tsang gave him cause for thought. Tsang moved all in for $289,000, setting up the first potential felting of the night.
Xuan, with the marginally bigger stack, eventually decided to call. Tsang did not have the flush. But his 
was a pip bigger than Xuan’s straight and earned him this big one.
HANDZ CLIPS NI DOWN
Andy Ni had been one of the biggest winners of the week, but he took an early and sizeable dip tonight when he turned top pair into a bluff and slammed into the nuts. C’est la vie. The beneficiary was Handz, who padded his stack to the tune of $1.13 million and sent Ni looking for an early rebuy.
Handz picked up 
in the cutoff and opened the pot, making it $10,000 to go. Paul Phua was on the button wit pocket eights and he called, with Ni then seeing 
in the big blind. Ni made it $80,000 to go.
Both his opponents called, which meant they were three way to a flop of 
. Ni bet $80,000 with his top pair, Handz called with his flush draw, and Phua judiciously binned his eights.
The flush came in right away. The turn was the 
and Ni now slowed to a check. Handz opted not to play it cute. He bet $130,000. Ni called.
The river was a total blank and not the fourth heart Ni probably needed to save himself. Ni didn’t hang around to be put in a tough spot by Handz. He simply jammed all in for $260,000. Handz couldn’t be beaten and called immediately. That’s how you make $1.13 million in the blink of an eye.
XUAN BLUFFS INTO JUNGLEMAN’S NUTS
The director of the cash game broadcast gave Tan Xuan the Mystery Hand for the following pot, although that is kind of par for the course for Triton’s most unpredictable player. His opponent, Dan Cates, would have been less concerned than anybody what Xuan was actually sitting with because he turned the nuts and simply need to sit there and let Xuan bluff into him for as much as he could.
Th hand began with Paul Phua making it $10,000 to go UTG+2, with pocket sevens. Xuan called in the hijack and Cates, in the straddle, also called with . The flop brought not much for anybody; it came 
, which was a gutshot straight draw for Cates.
Cates and Phua checked, but Xuan bet $17,000. Only Cates came along, and he hit gin on the turn. It was . Cates checked again, Xuan bet again, this time $35,000, and now Cates decided to raise. He made it $125,000.
Xuan, however, was not afraid. He put in a three-bet to $320,000, which Cates was only too happy to call, leaving himself with far less than the pot in his stack.
The river seemed entirely immaterial. Cates checked it again. Xuan emptied the clip, firing $495,000 at it, which covered Cates’ $389,000 stack. Cates called immediately. He was, at worst, chopping it. But Xuan eventually tabled for a pure bluff.
Cates gratefully took the $1.49 million pot — and soon after dusted down his “Trident: Lord of the Seas” costume he once wore during a tournament series. It got the conversation started, if nothing else.
HOW XUAN DOES IT
If you think you might fancy playing in one of these Triton cash games, you’d need to be ready to get involved in hands like this one. It wasn’t the biggest pot of the night, far from it, but it just shows the kinds of cards these guys play.
Andy Ni opened the pot pre-flop with a raise to $11,000 in the hijack, holding 
. Tan Xuan called on the button and Wang called in the big blind. They had 
and , respectively.
The flop came 
, which means both Xuan and Wang had a pair. A tiny pair, but it was a pair. Ni and Wang checked. Xuan bet $20,000. Wang raised to $65,000, which persuaded Ni that he was done with the hand. However, Xuan responded to the check-raise with a three-bet, making it $180,000 to play.
Even Wang decided to give this one up. That’s what you have to face if you’re playing Tan Xuan.
TWO-OUTER BUILDS IVEY’S STACK
Phil Ivey doesn’t tend to need much help from the dealer to profit in any environment, but he got a huge slice of good fortune in a hand against ST Wang that gave the American great a $1m+ pot.
Ivey was in the hijack and picked up 
. He raised to $10,000. Wang was one seat over but his hand was even better. Wang had the aces. He three-bet to $35,000. With everyone else getting out of the way, there was no reason for Ivey to slow down. He four-bet to $105,000 and Wang decided to lay the trap with a call.
Wang’s tactics seemed to have worked beautifully because the 
flop left Ivey thinking he still had the best of it. Ivey bet $100,000. Wang raised enough to cover and Ivey called all-in, for $406,000.
The attention of most people in the room suddenly turned away from this $1,034,000 pot because Jungleman arrived, dressed in the costume of his sea god alter-ego Trident (or something like that). Jungleman pranced around the table waving his three-pronged weapon and talking about the fishes.
Meanwhile, Ivey and Wang agreed to run the turn and river only once. Wang was looking just fine after the 
turn, perhaps hoping to avoid a five that would have chopped it. Instead, the landed on the river, the two-outer that Ivey needed.
It was all Wang could do to stop himself grabbing Jungleman’s trident and stabbing himself through the heart. It was a gross way to lose more than half a million bucks. Ivey silently took the gift and carried on.
WANG WRIGGLES FREE
Here’s another pot that wasn’t the biggest, but goes to show that there’s more discipline in these players’ games than many give them credit for. ST Wang had been on a bit of a losing streak, but he managed not to tilt off even more.
Andy Ni found pocket sevens in the hijack and raised to $11,000. Wang found in the big blind and bumped it up to $45,000. Ni called, with everyone else leaving them to it.
The flop hit Ni hard, and Wang got a piece of it too. It was 
. Wang led out for $35,000 with his pair of aces, and Ni opted just to call.
The turn was the and Wang slowed to a check. Ni took over and bet $70,000, which Wang called. It bought them the 
river. Wang checked again and Ni now fired $160,000, believing his set still to be good.
Wang figured out that he was behind and let it go. It was a shrewd and disciplined laydown.
That brought an end to the second frame, and meant the end of both Jungleman and Phil Ivey. Although Jungleman had been the more active for his $646,000 profit, Ivey also left the stage with $522,000 more than he arrived thanks to that sick hand against Wang.
Patrik Antonius and Adrian Mateos filled their seats.
ANTONIUS FINDS QUICK DOUBLE
Even the best players get big hands sometimes, and Patrik Antonius hadn’t been seated all that long before he looked down at black pocket kings. Lucky for him, Andy Ni had , a big enough hand to warrant him going to pre-flop war as well.
Ni got the first raise in, making it $11K from the button. Antonius was in the small blind and made it $40,000. Then Ni bumped it to $170,000. Antonius had $453K total in his stack and jammed it in. Ni made the call.
The pot hit $997,000 and they opted to run it twice. But there was no sign of an ace on either run-out and the kings held to give Antonius a significant early boost.
BOSS TAMES TAN
Paul Phua sure knows how to lay on a cash game invitational, even if his guests don’t always allow him to win. It’s been a rough few nights for the man they call Boss, with Phua unable to take down many big pots, even though he has been at the table for almost as long as anybody. That all changed in this one, however.
Phua had the Mystery Hand when he limped UTG+1. Adrian Mateos and Handz paid the extra from small and big blinds, respectively, but it was Tan Xuan who got the inflation going, raising to $24,000 from the straddle with . Only Phua called.
The flop was 
meaning Xuan now had top pair. He bet $35,000, which Phua called. The 
came on the turn. Xuan now bet again, this time for $50,000, but Phua clicked it back. He min-raised to $100,000.
If that set alarm bells ringing, Xuan allowed his top pair to muffle them. He called and the fell on the river. Xuan slowed to a check, but Phua put $225,000 over the line.
Xuan went into the tank. Could he fold top pair? Not this time he couldn’t. He paid the extra and Phua showed him his pocket fives, for a flopped set. Phua took this pot of $781,000 down to put himself in healthy profit for the night.
TWO HUGE FOLDS AFTER MASSIVE SET-UP
How much money do you think goes in the pot in a Triton cash game when Elton Tsang gets pocket kings, Paul Phua gets queens and Tan Xuan gets ace-king? You’d be forgiven for thinking it would be somewhere in the region of a few million bucks. But you’d be wrong. Instead, you’d learn only that these players have very good spidy-senses.
Here’s how this one went down: Tsang raised to $12,000 from UTG+1 with those kings. Xuan found 
in the big blind and made it $31,000 and then Phua, in the straddle, put in a cold four-bet to $105,000 with queens.
Everything reeked of strength, which is why Tsang’s five bet to $250,000 was mighty indeed.
Xuan realised he could be in a world of pain with his specific hand and let it go. And then Phua went deep into the tank. It clearly hurt him to his core to be forced to fold those queens, but he did indeed give them back to the dealer, not before asking for a rabbit hunt.
Phua should know that his fold was excellent. However, he was furious when he saw a queen on the dummy flop. He slammed the table in disgust, losing the minimum, but angry he could have won so much more.
MORE FOR PHUA AS FLUSH DRAW MISSES
Ferdinand replaced ST Wang and played a small part in the following pot, which profited Paul Phua once again. It was Handz, however, who took the biggest hit, and his session was unravelling at a fair old pace.
Handz found UTG+1 and raised to $10,000. Phua had spades too with his 
and he put in the call. Action then moved to Ferdinand on the button, who looked down at . If he’d been contemplating a squeeze anyway, he certainly now had enough ammunition. He made it $40,000 to go.
Both opponents decided to come along and the three saw the 
flop. All three players checked. The turn improved nobody, but after Handz checked, Phua decided to bet his top pair. He made it $55,000 to play. Ferdinand had seen enough and folded, but Handz saw a good spot for a check raise. He made it $260,000 to play. Phua paid.
The river gave Phua top two and, most importantly for him, it did not fill the flush. HAndz checked and Phua pushed his whole stack in, around $430K. Handz had nothing but ace high and quickly folded. Phua added another $652,000 to his stack.
HANDZ GETS CREATIVE
The fourth and final frame of every session so far has been the one where play gets a little crazy, and also where Handz really starts to play. Here’s a great example, with Handz getting creative and getting Elton Tsang to fold the best hand — even if Tsang had got involved with junk and put himself in a tough spot.
Handz opened to $10,000 from the cutoff with . Tsang was on the button, and felt like 
was a good three-betting hand. He made it $35,000 to play.
Handz called, which meant they went to a flop of . Both players checked. The turn was the 
and Handz checked his open-ended straight draw once again. Tsang, with second pair, bet $35,000. That’s when Handz jumped into action with a check-raise to $140,000. Tsang called.
The 
river changed nothing, but Handz had to go for it if he wanted any chance of winning. He bet big. His $250,000 stab brought the pot total to $612,000, and it gave Tsang a lot of thinking to do.
Credit Tsang with giving it plenty of thought. He had only second pair but was clearly very tempted to pay to see. However, after spending at least four time-bank chips, he let his hand go. Handz’ bluff with ace high took this one down.
FERDINAND MAKES BRAVE AND CORRECT RIVER CALL
Ferdinand walked away from today’s table as the biggest winner, and most of his profit came from this one hand against Elton Tsang. Ferdinand had only but it turned into a flush and he was brave enough to back his judgment to make a big, winning call on the river.
Action folded around to Ferdinand on the button and he made a raise to $11,000. Handz called in the big blind with , with Tsang also calling in the straddle.
The flop came and after two checks, Ferdinand bet $15,000 with a straight flush draw. Handz called, but Tsang now raised to $50,000. Ferdinand called, Handz folded, and the turn was the .
Ferdinand now hit his flush, but this was still a scary board. Tsang checked, Ferdinand bet $75,000 and Tsang again found the raise button. He bumped it up to $150,000. Ferdinand called.
The river was the . Tsang now fired again, shoving $400,000 over the line. Ferdinand’s $373K was the effective stack. His flush wasn’t exactly enormous. And there was definite possible full houses out there. But Ferdinand likely reasoned that the bare eight was also a possibility and he stuck in the call.
It was the right decision. Tsang showed 
and this $1.2 million pot went the way of Ferdinand. Tsang was in the red for the night.
ANTONIUS SHOWS ALL THE TRICKS
Patrik Antonius left it until very late in the day to pull off one of the best bluffs of this entire cash game invitational, leaving Andy Ni licking his wounds after folding pocket kings. And being wrong to do so. This was amazing.
The hand started when Handz limped from the cutoff with 
. Action folded around to Ni in the big blind, who peeked down and saw 
. He raised to $20,000. Antonius was in the straddle and he called this raise, with the broadcast director concealing his holding as a Mystery Hand.
Handz called too and the three of them saw the flop. Ni bet $27,000 and only Antonius called. That took them to the 
turn. Ni bet again, this time $77,000. Antonius called again, bringing the on the river.
Ni still had that big over pair and he bet big. He put $265,000 into the middle. But Antonius moved all in for $730,000, which covered Ni’s bet plus the $430K he had behind.
Ni had amassed around eight time-bank chips through the session to this point and he burned through all of them pondering what to do. With only two seconds left on his clock he tossed away his hand. Then and only then did we learn that Antonius had for absolute air.
Antonius had picked up a flush draw on the turn, but had potentially been planning this move all along. Ni was a believer, although he’s not going to be very happy when he finds out the truth.
DAY 6 PROFIT/LOSS
UP
Ferdinand: +$796,000
Dan “Jungleman” Cates: +$646,000
Phil Ivey: +$522,000
Patrick Antonius: +$497,000
Paul Phua: +$258,000
Adrian Mateos: +$7,000
DOWN
Elton Tsang: -$173,000
ST Wang: -$237,000
Handz: -$440,000
Tan Xuan: -$784,000
Andy Ni: -$1,096,000
Photography by Drew Amato