The second Triton Series Cash Game Invitational got started with a characteristic bang in Jeju today, with poker’s superstars doing battle with some of the most fearless high-rolling recreational players and creating a typical flurry of high-stakes action.
Million-dollar pots? Yep. Crazy holdings making unbeatable hands? Yep! Elite pros wondering why they ever decided to play this game? But of course.
At the outset, seven players sat down with $500K apiece, playing blinds of $1K/$2K with a $5K big blind ante. That’s 250 big blinds each, but if we know anything from Triton cash games, that was unlikely to be the only money to make it to the table.
There were seats for three pros at the beginning: Wiktor Malinowski, Danny Tang and Rui Cao. But with “businessmen” players as skilled as Elton Tsang, Andy Ni, Tan Xuan and ST Wang also around the table, this was always going to be tough.
Henrik Hecklen also joined the action at about the half-way point of an eight-hour session, but did they go easy on the Danish tournament crusher? Well, of course not. However, it was far from easy for any of these established greats — as Wiktor “Iimitless” Malinowski will be first to testify.
Here are some of the highlights of a scintillating first day.
CAO’S QUADS DOWN COWBOYS
Wiktor Malinowski found black pocket kings and raised to $10,000 from the hijack. Rui Cao, in the small blind, found something he liked too and tossed in the call. The TV director smelled something brewing and kept Cao’s cards hidden. He was on the Mystery Hand.
Andy Ni came along as well from the straddle, holding 
, which meant three players saw a flop of 
. All three checked.
The 
turn didn’t look like it could possibly change much, but Cao put out a $25,000 bet. Ni immediately let his straight draw and second pair go, but Malinowski called with his over-pair.
The river was the 
and a focused Cao seemed to sense that this was his time. He bet $125,000. Malinowski’s hand hadn’t improved, but his pocket kings still seemed appealing. He made the call.
Cao delightedly slapped down red pocket eights. He flopped top set and rivered quads, enough for a $337,000 pot to be slid his way.
MALINOWSKI PUNISHED BY WANG’S SPECULATION
Elton Tsang picked up 
in the cutoff and raised to $12,000. Wiktor Malinowski had another premium pocket pair — this time 
— and he was done with playing it slow. He raised to $44,000 from the big blind.
ST Wang was in the UTG straddle and he decided to increase his $4,000 pre-flop investment to a mighty $150,000, a four-bet that put even Malinowski’s queens under pressure. At this stage, stream viewers didn’t know the contents of Wang’s Mystery Hand.
Malinowski had a decision. In the commentary booth, Brian Rast thought the queens were far “too much hand” to fold, but admitted that they didn’t play especially well post flop with the effective stack size. Rast thought Malinowski’s call was totally reasonable, and the 
flop did not seem likely to have changed much.
Malinowski checked. Wang checked back. The 
turn paired the board. Malinowski now decided to take the betting lead back. He put $80,000 over the line. Wang called.
The river was the 
and Malinowski pushed out $115,000, a quarter-pot bet. He succeeded in forcing Wang to double check his hand. Silently, as always, Wang took his time but then found a call.
Malinowski tabled his over-pair, but once again it was no good. This time, he had been beaten by Wang’s 
— his out-of-line four bet turned trips for a pot of more than $700K.
TSANG TURNS LIMP/THREE-BET INTO MILLION DOLLAR SHOVE
Things were getting very spicy very quickly in Jeju and Elton Tsang needed to get involved. When viewers on the stream saw him given the Mystery Hand, they no doubt began rubbing their own hands in anticipation. What could this one mean?
Tsang enhanced the mystery with a flat call from UTG+1. Yet again, Wiktor Malinowski had a premium, however, and he raised to $20,000 with his 
on the button.
Everyone else got out the way, but Tsang now made it very interesting. He three-bet to $80,000 — the old limp/three-bet combo beloved of low-stakes amateurs sitting with aces. But in a game of high-level competitors playing for eye-watering stakes, what could this one really mean?
Malinowski called, taking them to a flop of 
. Tsang took his time before putting $65,000 in the middle. Malinowski was going nowhere. He called, leaving himself with $242,000 behind. The turn seemed to change nothing.
Tsang burned another timebank chip, before moving all in with a covering stack of more than $1 million. It was the first (of what will surely be many) million-dollar pots of this cash-game invitational, even though technically Malinowski could only potentially lose what he had left: $242K. He nonetheless had a decision for all of it.
Even though he had “only” ace high, Brian Rast in the commentary box explained how Malinowski could easily feel he had a chance here. He was beating plenty of ace-highs with which Tsang could be playing the exact same way.
Although Rast concluded that he might actually call this shove if he’d have been in Malinowski’s shoes, the Polish cash-game crusher thought better of it. He let his hand go. Only now did the TV director show us the pocket kings in Tsang’s hand. He had been playing it like the old school after all.
It put another $302K into Tsang’s stack as Malinowski’s slide continued.
MORE QUADS, THIS TIME FOR TAN
ST Wang got things started in this one with a raise to $11,000 in the hijack. He had 
, so why not. Andy Ni called in the cutoff with and Elton Tsang also joined the party from the big blind with 
.
Tan Xuan didn’t want to miss out. He made the call too from the straddle, with 
.
The 
flop checked around to Wang, who bet $18,000 with his up-and-down straight draw. Ni, with a flush draw, valued it as a call. and while Tsang folded, Xuan liked his bottom pair enough to call as well.
This turned out to be a great decision. The turn was the 
, giving Xuan trips, but Wang now blasted out $60,000. Ni let it go, but Xuan was going nowhere. He called. And the river was the 
, making Xuan quads!
Xuan laid the trap with a check. Wang had nothing and knew only a bluff could possibly win it for him. However, he is a wily competitor. Maybe he sensed something, but he opted to wave the white flag and check it back, allowing Xuan to table his quads.
Xuan won the $224,000 pot, but Wang will likely celebrate not losing much, much more.
NI DRILLS RIVER TO DOUBLE THROUGH WANG
Wiktor Malinowski had surely had enough of playing with premium cards and, after looking down at , raised to $10,000 from the cutoff. One seat along, ST Wang found 
and called. Andy Ni, with the Mystery Hand, called in the small blind too.
The dealer put the 
on the table and, after two checks, Wang bet $12,000 with top pair. Malinowski was done with this one, but Ni made the call.
The came on the turn and Ni checked it again. Wang now had the nut flush draw to go with his top pair and he bet $30,000. Ni still liked it, though, and called.
The river improved Wang’s hand again. He now had two pair. However, it was Ni who now suggested he liked things very much, moving all in for $283,000.
Wang was now really up against it, even though his hand had technically got better through every street. Wang eventually put forward the call, but he quickly learned that Ni had rivered the nuts with 
having flopped a flush draw, turned a straight draw and nailed it on the river.
This $693,000 pot went to Ni (and a huge amount of cred to Brian Rast on comms, who picked his hand precisely).
WANG GETS MAXIMUM FROM NI
ST Wang was once again holding the Mystery Hand, and he liked it enough to raise it to $18,000 in the big blind, after pre-flop action folded all the way round to him. Only Andy Ni, in the UTG straddle still had cards, and he was prepared to call with his 
.
The flop came 
, which both players checked (Ni checking top pair), and the turn was the . Wang checked again, but after Ni now bet $15,000, Wang found a check-raise. He bumped it up to $75,000. Ni stuck around to see the 
river.
Wang had seized the betting lead after his check-raise on the turn, and quickly bet $200K, approximately the size of the pot. Ni still had his top pair, but likely realised it was basically a bluff-catcher, with a blocker.
Ni thought about it a while, but eventually put out calling chips. Wang was able to show his pocket sevens, which had turned a set. This near $600K pot headed over to ST Wang.
MASSIVE HANDS = MASSIVE POT
While most of the most spectacular Triton cash game hands tend to come about when players have unpredictable holdings, some of the biggest pots just mean massive hands. When Rui Cao and ST Wang got involved in a huge pre-flop raising war, it was because both of them had aces. Could either earn a gross outdraw from this cooler situation to land a pot worth $1.7 million?
Cao had red aces in the cutoff and raised to $10,000. Wang had black aces on the button and he three-bet to $35,000. Cao quickly four-bet to $110,000 but now Wang responded with a five-bet to $240,000.
Cao has a reputation for playing aggressively with any two cards, so figured here that he could get away with a six-bet and still sow a seed of doubt into an opponent’s mind. He made it $400,000 to go. Wang wasn’t interested in anything flashier. He seven-bet jammed for his stack of more than $1 million, and Cao obviously made the call to set up this ridiculous monster.
Over to the dealer to determine their fate. They ran it just once and only Cao had an outside chance of taking all of it after the 
flop. But the turn confirmed the split, with each player successfully both dodging bullets and profiting from them.
XUAN AT HIS BEST TO DESTROY MALINOWSKI
This is the kind of hand the Triton Cash Game Invitationals are all about, with Tan Xuan’s audacious play leaving Wiktor Malinowski wishing he’d stayed at home.
Xuan had the Mystery Hand and opened to $12,000 from UTG+1. Malinowski’s latest premium holding was and he raised to $36,000 on the button. Elton Tsang let his 
go from the straddle, but Xuan called.
The dealer put the 
on the table, and Xuan checked. Malinowski bet $32,000, but Xuan came along once more.
The turn was the , pairing the board again, and Xuan decided to take control of the hand. He bet $46,000. Malinowski called. The river was the 
. Xuan amassed a bet — an overbet — of $280,000 and put it over the line. Malinowski now had an incredibly tough decision. He only had ace high, with the two pair on the board, but knew this was an opponent capable of anything.
After a good while in the tank, Malinowski decided to make the call. Xuan rolled over 
for the turned boat, and an $800,000 pot headed in Xuan’s direction.
To recap this one: Xuan called a three-bet with small suited one-gappers, flopped a pair, turned a boat. By the end of the hand, he had middled boat, blocked a smaller boat with his otherwise irrelevant kicker, but was still vulnerable to a bigger boat. He still found an overbet, however, and got a call from worse.
We love it.
*****
After all the incredible fireworks of this brilliant opening session, there was just time too for Henrik Hecklen to lose his entire $500K stack in a pot against Malinowski. He had a little less than $300K of that starting stack left when he found 
and got it all in as a four-bet after Malinowski had three bet with pocket queens.
The two pros ran in twice, but the pocket pair held up to give a $620K pot to Malinowski and end Hecklen’s session prematurely. It was a welcome boost for Malinowski, who still ended the day furthest in the red.
Elton Tsang was once again the day’s biggest winner, with the unstoppable Tan Xuan not far behind. That’s a wrap for Day 1. Four more to go!
DAY 1 PROFIT/LOSS
Elton Tsang: +$1,140,000
Tan Xuan: +$866,000
Danny Tang: +$94,000
Rui Cao: +$13,000
Andy Ni: -$281,000
Henrik Hecklen: -$500,000
Esti Wang: -$596,000
Wiktor Malinowski: -$736,000