Author: Howard Swains

Mikita Badziakouski is now a five time champion on the Triton Super High Roller Series — and it’s a measure of this man’s talent that everyone was asking, “What took you so long?”

Badziakouski, 32, has played every single stop on the Triton Series and already had three titles by 2019, and added a fourth in 2022. But it’s been nearly two years since he was last standing beneath a Triton trophy, during which time Jason Koon has raced to 10 titles and both Phil Ivey and Danny Tang collected their fifth.

However, Badziakouski is back, and today beat crowd favourite and Triton co-founder Paul Phua heads-up to land the $1,153,000 first prize in the $100K Short Deck event in Jeju.

“Back in Cyprus (in 2022), I got second twice and I wasn’t really caring about winning another one,” Badziakouski said. “But then I went to London and Monte Carlo and didn’t get close. And by that time I’ve really been wanting to win one. I’m really happy.”

Each of Badziakouski’s five titles have landed him more than $1 million in prize money — an average haul that outstrips the other three players with as many wins as him. He is up to $19.8 million in Triton earnings now, and this is his second in Short Deck.

“I personally enjoy it very much,” Badziakouski said of this variant, adding that he still feels very much at home on the Triton Series. “There are not many players who have played all the stops since 2017…Triton is just doing everything the best.”

The same could really be said of Badziakouski. As fellow five-timer Danny Tang said when he came on stage to congratulate Badziakouski, “Welcome to the club.”

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The comparatively small field meant that this was one of those tournaments where not only making a final day didn’t mean making the money, making the final table didn’t either. There were 10 players at the start of Day 2, seven seats at the final, but only six players would be paid.

After Isaac Haxton, Kiat Lee and Dan Dvoress were knocked out, the last seven sat down to the final with the following stacks:

Mikita Badziakouski – 2,834,000 (236 antes)
Sun Ya Qi – 1,952,000 (163 antes)
Sam Greenwood – 1,372,000 (114 antes)
Jason Koon – 1,264,000 (105 antes)
Winfred Yu – 1,134,000 (95 antes)
Wu Xiao – 1,092,000 (91 antes)
Paul Phua – 553,000 (48 antes)

Wu Xiao seemed likely to be the player out when he got it in with against Jason Koon’s . Koon had a bigger stack too. However, an ace came on the river and Xiao survived, putting Koon in real danger.

By their usual standards, this trip to Jeju had offered slim pickings for North American players, with only Mike Watson and Dan Smith claiming titles, with European and Asian players at the fore.

Koon aside, this turned into another miserable event for poker’s typically dominant region, especially when Sam Greenwood picked up a second bubble finish in consecutive days. Greenwood, of course, is a total pro and understands everything about variance. But with four players sitting with shorter stacks, he must have been cursing the face that it was him picking up when Mikita Badziakouski had .

Greenwood open shoved 50 antes. Badziakouski gleefully picked him off, and that took the last six into the money.

Badziakouski was top of the pack still, and was the only player with more than 100 antes. Sun Ya Qi was close behind, but everyone else had less than the average of 57. They were, however, now guaranteed at least $240,000.

Paul Phua’s survival instincts earned him a double up to put him relatively safe. But Koon and Wu Xiao sank to the bottom of the counts, with only a handful of antes between them.

In this particular sub-plot, Koon came out on top. But only just. Xiao bust when his last chips went in with and Qi’s became a full house. That meant $260K for Xiao.

One hand later, Koon joined him on the rail. Koon’s lost to Phua’s pocket aces. The additional hand was worth $56K as Koon earned $306,000.

Two-time Triton champion Winfred Yu assumed the short stack now, and he too fell victim to Phua armed with pocket aces. Phua laid the trap with an open limp; Qi limped behind and then Yu saw and moved all in.

Phua called with his rockets, Qi folded and the dealer didn’t give quite enough to Yu. There was a queen on the flop but the aces stayed good. Yu was out in fourth for $391,000.

Badziakouski therefore now sat opposite Phua and Qi with 95 antes to his name and around 50 each to both opponents. If it looked like a lock for the four-time champion, it was far from certain who would finish runner-up. And maybe, just maybe, there would be a shock.

The trio played long enough for the blinds to raise once or twice and for the tournament to take a break. And then Badziakouski found aces when Qi found pocket tens. The money went in, the chips went to Badziakouski.

Qi won $510,000 for third and picked up his first Triton cash since a charity event in 2016, when the Triton Series was a mere infant.

So here they were, Triton’s co-founder against one of Triton’s brightest shining stars. The pair are friends who have shared many tables together across the world, both in tournaments and cash games. Badziakouski had a three-to-one chip lead, 128 antes to 42. But only one double up and they’d be even…

Phua managed it. His pocket queens stayed best against Badziakouski’s . That put him close. And then five hands later he was ahead after betting out through all streets and getting a Badziakouski fold.

But Badziakouski wasn’t dead. He then found pocket kings and beat Phua’s . Badziakouski was back in the box seat. And then at the third time of asking, this one was over: Badziakouski’s faded all kinds of outs to beat Phua’s .

The flop — — brought murmurs from Phua’s rail. But after the turn and a wish for “Picture!” from Badziakouski, the landed on the river.

The room was stunned to silence. Everyone had gathered to witness Phua’s second victory. But after a few seconds the applause started for another terrific performance from the new five-time champion, Mikita Badziakouski.

“GG,” Mr Paul said. It was, again, GG from this exceptional talent.

Event #18 – $100K – Short Deck
Dates: March 20-21, 2024
Entries: 34 (inc. 16 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,400,000

1 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $1,153,000
2 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $800,000
3 – Sun Ya Qi, China – $510,000
4 – Winfred Yu, Hong Kong – $391,000
5 – Jason Koon, USA – $306,000
6 – Wu Xiao, China – $240,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

One of Triton Poker’s most captivating favourites tonight secured a second Triton title, nearly five years since he first held aloft the famous trophy.

China’s Tan Xuan has been a stalwart of both tournaments and cash games on this tour since its earliest years, and Triton co-founder Paul Phua was the first player on stage to congratulate him after Xuan won the $50K Short Deck Main Event in Jeju, South Korea.

Phua has crossed swords with Xuan many times during that period, with the enthusiastic crowds who watch the Triton live streams always thrilled to see the 37-year-old at the table. It always means action, aggression and a devil-may-care attitude.

“I’m a loose player, I love the fear of the bluff!” Xuan explained in his winner’s interview.

But just how much Xuan cares was clearly evident tonight in Jeju, where Xuan roared his delight as he hit a winning flush and defeated Martin Nielsen heads-up to book a $922,000 triumph.

He also wins an exclusive Jacob & Co timepiece, only available to winners of Main Events on the Triton Series.

Xuan played a slightly lighter tournament schedule than normal this time around, possibly because of some lively cash game action. But he was focused and committed today, first overhauling a runaway chip leader in the form of Rene Van Krevelen, then beating a short deck specialist, Nielsen, in the final duel.

“Luck is very important, but my experience was bigger than his,” Xuan said, explaining how he navigated through a characteristically tough tournament field. Nielsen landed his first Triton cash, picking up $655,000 for second.

Xuan and Nielsen just about got the tournament wrapped up before the midnight deadline to play the $100K short deck, also starting today in Jeju. But perhaps it’ll be straight back to the cash tables for Xuan, with viewers to expect thrills and spills when the episodes air later this year.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With 12 players left, it was bubble time and in short order three players were all-in and called. Lun Loon survived with against Phil Ivey’s . That was a double up. Then Michael Zhang chopped to survive against Tan Xuan when they both had king-jack.

Sam Greenwood was the third player to be put at risk on the bubble, but was in good shape with against Ivey’s . Good shape, that was, until the river. It was and spelled the end for Greenwood.

Ivey’s delight turned to rubble immediately after, when he became the next out, clashing with Van Krevelen. That was one hand in an incredible run for the Dutchman: he subsequently knocked out all of Loon, P Aorigele and Stephen Chidwick to set a final table of seven.

Van Krevelen was a mile ahead and, having seen what Mike Watson did to the other short deck final yesterday, took his seat and hoped to repeat the speedy resolution. (It’s just that some others thought differently.)

FINAL TABLE STACKS

Rene Van Krevelen – 13,505,000 (270 antes)
Tan Xuan – 6,875,000 (138 antes)
Martin Nielsen – 2,920,000 (58 antes)
Michael Zhang – 2,040,000 (41 antes)
Jason Koon – 1,680,000 (34 antes)
Zhou Quan – 1,605,000 (32 antes)
Seth Davies – 1,530,000 (31 antes)

It certainly started well for the chip leader. Van Krevelen was on hand to send Seth Davies out in seventh. This one started with a raise from Davies, with , continued with a three-bet from Van Krevelen, and then it went shove/call.

Van Krevelen had , which was technically behind at this point, but quickly caught up through a board of .

Davies made back-to-back short deck final tables, taking $161,000 from this one.

Michael Zhang, who had survived with a short stack through the bubble, became Van Krevelen’s next victim. Zhang had managed to double up through Tan Xuan not long ago, which in itself was good news for Van Krevelen as it dented his closest challenger.

And it got even better when Van Krevelen was able to pull off a come-from-behind victory with to beat Zhang’s . A fair chunk went in pre-flop. Then the rest went in with on the table.

The in the turn was what really hurt Zhang, and the river proved immaterial. Zhang cashed for $205,000.

And then, suddenly, the power dynamic started to shift.

While Van Krevelen sat back for a while, the noose gradually began to tighten around Zhou Quan. Another player with a title this week, Quan lost a massive flip against Martin Nielsen, with queens losing to , before losing another big one to Tan Xuan.

This one was terminal for Quan: his lost to Xuan’s , which made a straight. Quan talked about how his PLO victory took some of the self-imposed pressure off himself, and this second deep run of the week will have helped some more.

He earned $261,000 for fifth.

Xuan now had the bit between his teeth and took over from Van Krevelen had left off. Shortly after knocking out Quan, Jason Koon landed in the crosshairs. Koon has not (yet) won a title here in Jeju this trip, which in itself seems something of a shock for a 10-time champion. But here he was again at a final, and clearly the man everyone feared the most.

But Koon couldn’t quite get this one done, losing after three-bet shipping and running into Xuan’s . This big pot put Xuan into the tournament chip lead, and left Koon looking for $330,000.

Nielsen was now the short stack, but he remedied that pretty quickly with a double through Van Krevelen. Nielsen rivered an ace to help beat Van Krevelen’s pocket kings, and to reveal a chink in Van Krevelen’s armour.

Nielsen then pierced that chink again to open a mortal wound: finding pocket queens and flopping a set to beat Van Krevelen’s . Just like that, there were two players left and Van Krevelen was not among them. The Dutchman picked up $428,000 for third, his second career cash on the Triton Series.

The two remaining players couldn’t have been more distinct. Nielsen, the short deck specialist from the Faroe Islands, had yet to record a single cash on the Triton Series, having first shown up to play in Madrid in 2022.

By contrast, Xuan has been a stalwart since the earliest days and had one title and 14 cashes to his name already. Stacks were fairly close, promising more play to come:

Nielsen 16,400,000 (164 antes)
Xuan 13,750,000 (138 antes)

Although, as usual, waves pushed chips in both directions, the prevailing tide was in favour of Xuan. He moved into a significant lead when his made a straight and then the inevitable big skirmish finally arrived.

Xuan was behind with to Nielsen’s when they got it all-in pre-flop, but celebrated when he saw the flop. The turn was even better and rendered the river irrelevant.

By that point, Xuan was already shaking hands with Nielsen and admitting, “I got lucky.” But he later told interviewers, “I feel great, awesome,” and there’s no doubt he deserved that.

Event #17 – $50K – Short Deck Main Event
Dates: March 19-20, 2024
Entries: 67 (inc. 33 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,350,000

1 – Tan Xuan, China – $922,000
2 – Martin Nielsen, Faroe Islands – $655,000
3 – Rene Van Krevelen, Netherlands – $428,000
4 – Jason Koon, USA – $330,000
5 – Zhou Quan, China – $261,000
6 – Michael Zhang, UK – $205,000
7 – Seth Davies, USA – $161,000
8 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $125,000
9 – P Aorigele, Portugal – $95,000
10 – Lun Loon, Malaysia – $84,000
11 – Phil Ivey, USA – $84,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Nothing comes easy on the Triton Super High Roller Poker Series, but Canadian pro Mike Watson today secured a third Triton victory and barely raised a sweat.

Watson amassed an enormous chip lead in the late stages of Day 1 in the $25K Short Deck event, bursting the bubble and putting him top of the pile in one fell swoop. And from thereon, Watson was never out of the lead as he coasted through the final table to secure a $380,000 payday.

“Obviously a run like I’ve been on the last couple of weeks takes a bit of luck, but I do feel that I’ve been getting better, playing a lot of my best poker lately,” Watson said, posing beside his new trophy and winner’s baseball cap. He’s won three of those in the past 12 months. “Hopefully I’m just starting to get some rewards for that.”

He adds this success to victories in a $50K short deck tournament in Vietnam and a $30K PLO event in Cyprus, and confirmed that the more uncommon variants help keep him engaged in the game he’s been playing since his teens.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing different variants of poker,” Watson said. “The short deck and the PLO are games that I really enjoy. Lot of fun. Keeps you motivated. Keeps you interested as well. You’re always learning new things. It’s not so formulaic, not the same thing every day.”

He has made a real home on the Triton Series, and offered fulsome praise for the tour. “What’s not to love?” the 39-year-old Watson said. “It’s growing, the prize pools are getting huge. It just keeps getting better and better for sure. It’s a great atmosphere as well, really friendly, great group of people. Playing poker against them is a lot of fun.”

Watson’s win elevates him alongside Matthias Eibinger, Bryn Kenney and Webster Lim in the ranks of three-time champions. He is the only one of those yet to hit the top spot in a no limit hold’em event, however. But Watson is a master of all disciplines, and breaks through the $25 million mark in lifetime tournament earnings with this success.

Nearly $10 million of that has come on the Triton Series alone.

Watson’s final opponent today was China’s Ren Lin, but he could only offer token resistance as Watson marched to the title. Watson barely put a foot wrong for two days, and has the silverware again to show for it.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

After completing hugely successful hold’em and Omaha phases, the short deck crowd arrived belatedly to Jeju. There is some overlap between player pools, but also a handful of specialists in the 36-card game, visiting the tour on which it was most successfully popularised.

In all, there were 52 entries, including 19 re-entries, which put $1.3 million in the prize pool. And while some of those newcomers — the likes of Martin Nielsen and Michael Zhang — Thai Ha and Tan Xuan progressed into the money.

They did that by surviving the bubble, something that Triton co-founder Richard Yong could not quite manage. With 10 players left, Yong was one of the big stacks and was attempting to pick up cheap antes when he shoved with .

Unfortunately for him, Watson, the only player at the table with a bigger stack, had .

Watson called, held, and sent Yong out. The rest were in the money. Watson assumed the stranglehold on the tournament that he would never give up.

Ha and Xuan were knocked out in ninth and eighth, respectively, which took us into the final day. Watson still had a dominant chip lead thanks to the massive pot against Yong. All the others were hoping they could chip away at it on the last day.

FINAL TABLE STACKS

Mike Watson – 5,465,000 (137 antes)
Mikita Badziakouski – 2,520,000 (63 antes)
Wai Kin Yong – 2,320,000 (58 antes)
Dong Chen – 1,720,000 (43 antes)
Ren Lin – 1,675,000 (42 antes)
Seth Davies – 945,000 (24 antes)
Lun Loon – 860,000 (22 antes)

For Lun Loon, that proved impossible. He had the smallest stack returning to day two, and although he doubled it up through Wai Kin Yong, he was unable to win another pot. When Loon had only 12 antes left, he got them in with but couldn’t beat Seth Davies’ .

Loon now has 12 cashes on the Triton Series, five from this trip to Jeju, and continues to hit final tables. His time will surely come. For the time being, he had to make do with $64,000 for seventh place.

Having seen his father depart on the bubble, Wai Kin Yong was nonetheless ensuring family interests at this final. And with four Triton titles to his name, the younger Yong has proved repeatedly that he has what it takes to go all the way in this environment.

Yong played a lighter schedule than normal here in Jeju, but locked up his 18th career cash in this event. But he could progress no further than sixth.

After starting well, winning a sizeable pot from Dong Chen, Yong lost a bigger one in doubling up Ren Lin. Lin’s powerful made two pair against Yong’s after they got it in pre-flop. It left Yong down to only a tiny handful of antes, which he eventually yielded to Watson.

Yong’s tournament ended with an $80,500 payday.

On the subject of four-time champions, it’s been a while since Mikita Badziakouski last gathered up a trophy to add to his haul. But Badziakouski remains a force to be reckoned with and was back at the final here.

But he too became a Watson victim, losing with to Watson’s pocket sevens. Watson turned a full house and faded a flush draw. It send Badziakouski looking for $104,000.

By this point, Watson had a simply crushing chip lead and the remaining players could do nothing more than just get their chips in, get called, and hope for the best. Alternatively, they could sit back and hope to ladder.

For Dong Chen, he could manage neither. His chips went in with and Watson had . Watson won this flip, leaving Chen on the rail in fourth.

He made his Triton debut here in Jeju, and cashed four times already. This one was the biggest and earned him $133,000.

Even after Lin doubled shortly after three-handed play began, Watson was still cruising. He had 116 antes, with Lin sitting with 24 and Davies 16. It seemed like just a matter of time.

Davies busted next. He found and opened. Watson folded, but Lin decided to take him on, moving all in with the marginally bigger stack. Lin had pocket tens and ended with a full house. Davies had nothing close and was forced to take $177,500 and another near miss.

Watson took a near three-to-one chip lead into heads up and quickly extended it through the first handful of pots.

This was only heading in one direction, and it wasn’t even 4pm local time when it all came to its inevitable conclusion. Lin picked up pocket sevens and pushed all-in. Watson had and made the call.

The flop was scary for Lin. It came . Then the turn suggested Lin might wriggled his way to a double up. However, the landed on the river, counterfeiting Lin’s pair and sending the title Watson’s direction.

Lin banked $273,000 and deserves acclaim for running Watson even that close. But the man known as Sir Watts was riding high all day, and completed his consummate performance in double-quick time.

Event #16 – $25k – SHORT DECK (ANTE ONLY)
Dates: March 18-19, 2024
Entries: 52 (inc. 19 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,300,000

1 – Mike Watson, Canada – $380,000
2 – Ren Lin, China – $273,000
3 – Seth Davies, USA – $177,500
4 – Dong Chen, China – $133,000
5 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $104,000
6 – Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – $80,500
7 – Lun Loon, Malaysia – $64,000
8 – Tan Xuan, China – $50,000
9 – Thai Ha, China – $38,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

We can’t say we hadn’t been warned.

Ding Biao’s performances at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju over the past two weeks have been nothing short of exceptional. He had cashed six times, made two final tables, and was only narrowly beaten into second place in the biggest buy-in event on the no limit hold’em schedule.

But Biao was not done, and today became the latest Triton two-time champion, outlasting a final table in the $50K PLO event that was filled with the global stars of poker.

Biao, 32, downed Phil Ivey heads-up, denying the American Hall of Famer a sixth Triton title, and earning $1,107,000 in the process. And that was after players such as Patrik Antonius, Stephen Chidwick, Paul Phua and Ole Schemion had also proved no match for Ding.

“The more I play, I am getting better and better,” Biao said through an interpreter, after clinching the title.

Biao was in the middle of the pack overnight, staring up with all others at the seemingly unbeatable PLO beast Nacho Barbero. But Biao continued his own exceptional form to weave through this hugely decorated field, eventually grinding down Ivey in an exceptionally one-sided heads-up battle.

That’s really not something that happens very often, but Ivey was forced to settle for $755,000 and a runner up finish.

“Phil Ivey is a very good player,” Biao said, acknowledging that beating many commentators’ picks as the greatest of all time felt special. “There’s always a lot of luck. I got the cards this time.”

This was a consummate display by Biao, who sat unruffled beneath a trademark Triton bucket hat and simply set about his game. He allowed himself a clench of the fist and a broad smile at the conclusion. Biao himself proved again that he is at home in such esteemed company.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Nacho Barbero was once again at the top of the chip counts coming into the second and final day, but his attempt to dominate right from the start–as he had in his incredible victory yesterday–was not immediately successful. On the stone bubble, Barbero doubled up Kilian Loeffler, with the German’s staying better than Barbero’s after they got it in pre-flop.

Loeffler doubled from about eight big blinds to 16, enough to permit him to wait it out as other short stacks faced danger.

Jason Koon also managed a double up through Stephen Chidwick, and was left waiting until the river for his to beat Chidwick’s .

“Pocket fives are going to hold,” Koon said after four blanks on flop and turn. The river gave him the win.

It turned out to be a $76,000 river card for Koon because at the same time on a neighbouring table, Tomas Ribeiro was all in for his last eight bigs. Ribeiro was in real trouble. The money went in on a flop of and although he had top two pair with his , Ole Schemion had top set with his .

There was nothing for Ribeiro to celebrate on blank turn and river, sending him to the rail in 15th. The last 14 were in the money.

Koon (14th) and Loeffler (12th) didn’t last much longer. They joined Dylan Linde (13th) at the payouts desk as the field contracted further.

Paul Phua, Triton co-founder, found a timely double up to continue his challenge for a second title. And it kept him battling all the way until they were one off the final table, after Sam Greenwood (11th), Danny Tang (10th) and Kosei Ichinose (9th) also hit the skids.

These pre-final stages pushed Phil Ivey into a narrow chip lead, but it was bunched at the top, with Schemion, Barbero and Chidwick within 10 big blinds. At the other end, Phua was shortest again and was in double-up-or-die mode. He doubled, and when Biao did so too, Biao rose to the top.

It was, in a word, unpredictable — a state of affairs usually relished by Nacho Barbero. But a day after he scattered everyone else, he found himself on sidelines one short of the final. The hand that did the damage was a set-up against Schemion, where Barbero’s lost to Schemion’s .

Schemion made a straight using his two lower cards, and that gave the Germany a huge double. Soon after, Barbero lost his last two blinds to Ding and was out in eighth for $152,500.

This final table bubble period lasted almost as long as the entire day of play yesterday, when Barbero won his title. It meant they prepared for a pretty shallow final, with that seven-figure prize up top.

FINAL TABLE LINE-UP

Ding Biao – 5,050,000 (51 BBs)
Ole Schemion – 3,475,000 (35 BBs)
Phil Ivey – 3,225,000 (32 BBs)
Jared Bleznick – 1,900,000 (19 BBs)
Paul Phua – 1,350,000 (14 BBs)
Stephen Chidwick – 1,125,000 (11 BBs)
Patrik Antonius – 700,000 (7 BBs)

Phua, cheered onto the stage during the introductions, was the first player to make a move. And he was the first player to double, through Ivey. But Ivey then doubled up himself, through Schemion, and the tone was set.

Antonius was the next to double. However, he only had a tiny stack, and even though his opponent in that hand, Chidwick, was short as well, Antonius still perished next. Antonius lost with to Ivey’s , leaving Antonius looking for $200,000 for seventh.

There have been some very memorable Antonius vs. Ivey PLO hands over the years. This one was modest by comparison, but was effective in trimming our field to six.

Chidwick doubled, but then chipped back down to two big blinds. That was enough for him to outlast Schemion, who found aces when he needed it most (i.e., when he also had two big blinds). However, Biao’s double-suited pocket kings not only gave him an easy call, it gave him a flush as well.

Schemion’s run ended in sixth and $247,500.

At this point, Biao had 44 blinds and Ivey had 47. The other three had only 21 between them: Phua had 11, Bleznick six and Chidwick four.

Despite demonstrating exceptional survival skills, Chidwick could not complete manage to progress any further. When Biao raised Chidwick’s big blind, the latter was already all-in. Biao’s was plenty good enough to overcome Chidwick’s , and suddenly there were only four left.

Chidwick visited the payouts desk, where he not only picked up $317,500, but also registered for the $25K short deck event at the same time.

One the subject of survival, Phua had navigated his way to the last four in this one, demonstrating all the abilities that have led him to 36 Triton in-the-money finishes. The second title remains elusive, however, and Ivey knocked Phua out of this event.

Phua’s last chips went in with a flop of already showing, by which point Ivey’s was two pair and Phua was drawing with .

The turn and river didn’t help Phua, and he picked up $401,000 for fourth.

Jared Bleznick had been lured to the Triton Poker Series for the first time by the generous PLO offerings here. It’s his favourite game. And after a cash in the $25K PLO event, he was back in the deep stages here and gunning for a first win.

He had found himself one of the lucky orange hats, which celebrate the famous Jeju hallabong oranges, as sported by Roman Hrabec when he took down the Main Event. And although he was the shortest of the last three, he doubled up and hoped to be the second orange-headed champion of the week.

But it was not to be. Bleznick’s roller coaster ride was ended by Ivey when the pair played a rare hand that went through all the streets. Ivey opened his button with and both Biao and Bleznick, in small and big blinds, respectively, called.

They saw a flop of . Ding checked, Bleznick bet and Ivey called. Ding folded and the turn was .

Bleznick now moved in and Ivey called. Ivey revealed that he too had a queen, for trips, but his was better than Bleznick’s.

That took the tournament to heads-up, with Bleznick banking $490,000.

Ivey had 10.575 million to Biao’s 6.25 million as the last duel began. Both players also had one eye on the clock in the $25K Short Deck, in which registration was closing in less than half an hour. Would the near $400K difference between first and second be enough incentive to keep these players focused at the final? Or would they be wanting to hotfoot it across the room, come what may?

Biao certainly seemed ready to grind it out. He very quickly evened up the stacks, and then edged into a chip lead.

Biao then landed the knockout blow, hitting a sweet river card to deny Ivey any chance of a comeback.

Ivey had fewer than 10 big blinds and the pair went to a flop of . The remaining chips went in the middle. Ivey’s soon vaulted into a clear lead over Ding’s thanks to the on the turn.

However, this was Biao’s day and the river made sure of that.

Event #15 – 50k – PLO
Dates: March 17-18, 2024
Entries: 84 (inc. 41 re-entries)
Prize pool: $4,200,000

1 – Ding Biao, China – $1,107,000
2 – Phil Ivey, USA – $755,000
3 – Jared Bleznick, USA – $490,000
4 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $401,000
5 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $317,500
6 – Ole Schemion, Germany – $247,500
7 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $200,000
8 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $152,500
9 – Kosei Ichinose, Japan – $101,250
10 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $101,250
11 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $92,500
12 – Killian Loeffler, Germany – $82,500
13 – Dylan Linde, USA – $76,000
14 – Jason Koon, USA – $76,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

This week at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju had already been hugely profitable for the young Czech player Roman Hrabec. He had played seven tournaments, cashed in five of them, and had been playing the series of his life.

But today, Hrabec took the next huge step towards Triton greatness, riding the momentum to snag the $100K Main Event title against the biggest field ever assembled for a tournament of this buy-in. It came with a first prize of $4.33 million, plus an exclusive Jacob & Co timepiece that finds only a select few wrists.

Hrabec had clearly been playing superbly this trip, and today he was perfectly placed to make the absolute most from a great run of cards as well. Hrabec was relentless, and managed to consistently show up with the goods when his opponents played back.

He needed it. His final opponent, from a record-breaking field of 216 entries, was the incorrigible Jean Noel Thorel, a player who knows a thing or two about relentless aggression. But for the second time, Thorel had to make do with second place in a Triton Main Event, with a $2.875 million consolation prize this time.

Hrabec claimed in his winner’s interview that he hadn’t paid any attention to the money. “I just play my game,” he said. But he added, “I will say, it feels quite amazing,” before checking, “Is that real money? Yeah, that feels pretty good.”

Hrabec, who is 28 and now lives in Vienna, Austria, picked up poker in the dressing room of the professional ice hockey stadiums as he pursued life as an athlete. His hockey career stalled because of injury, but his poker took off.

He made his name as an online MTT beast, known as “gogac_sniper”. And the assassin duly blasted through this tournament to really help him emerge into the big leagues. Hrabec said he visited the temples of South Korea with his friends and girlfriend, fellow pro Monica Zukowicz, and prayed for some run good in the main event.

He also sported a bright orange hat and brought a local Jeju hallabong orange with him to the table, hoping his respect for the local culture brought him luck.

“I guess it worked out,” Hrabec said.

Make no mistake, this is a statement win in an enormous tournament. Hrabec, who will rise to second on the Czech money list with this victory, is clearly here to stay on the Triton Series.

RECORD BREAKING

For some very obvious reasons, all the talk in the room at the beginning of this three-day tournament was about just how big it could possibly get. With records being broken left and right here in Jeju, a new mark for the biggest $100K buy-in event was a genuine possibility — not just for the Triton Series, but for world poker as a whole.

With players continuing to sit down, and registration open throughout the whole of the first day, the field soon eclipsed Triton’s own record, set in London last summer. And by the time tournament organisers finally drew the shutters down on the reg desk, they had printed 216 tournament tickets — officially the biggest ever.

Yep, it’s worth underlining this: this week Triton set a new best for Super High Roller poker tournaments with 216 entries at the $100K price point. Who on earth would have thought that possible just a few years ago?

TOURNAMENT ACTION

As soon as registration had closed, the focus of course shifted to the money places. Thirty nine spots were due to be paid, with a min-cash worth $151,000. As the field contracted, it grew tense.

There were close battles right across the field as the player numbers ticked down. With only a couple of eliminations to go until the money, David Coleman tried to push out Webster Lim with a shove from the small blind. Lim, however, found and although it was a decision worth burning through a few time banks, he made the call.

Lim’s hand stayed good against Coleman’s and it left the American in peril.

Over on another table, Stephen Chidwick and Chris Brewer got their middling stacks in the middle pre-flop, but chopped it up after both showing ace-king. Santhosh Suvarna was not fortunate enough to even secure a chop. He had a decent stack until back-to-back losses against Andrew Pantling and then Elton Tsang.

Suvarna’s nosedive was completed by Pantling, who took the last blind with to Suvarna’s . Paulius Plausinaitis was now the micro-stack on that table, with only two big blinds, but he would have known that Coleman was also in for his final blind elsewhere in the room.

Coleman, similarly, couldn’t find something miraculous when he was forced all-in. He had only against Alex Theologis’ and an ace on the flop made it very hard for Coleman.

He picked up a straight draw but missed it, and instead hit the rail in an agonising 40th spot. Everyone else was now the right side of the cruel line.

HEADING TO THE FINAL

As ever, the tournament was weighted heavily to the top spots and the target now was the final table. Actually, the first aim was to get through to the end of Day 2, which was scheduled to finish when 16 players were left.

This was a task beyond such Triton luminaries as Henrik Hecklen, Tim Adams, Mike Watson, and Webster Lim. Jean Noel Thorel was thrilling viewers on the TV stage, playing his customary all-action game. Seth Davies and Andrew Pantling were among those who simply couldn’t cope with JNT, as the Frenchman opened a near two-to-one lead over his nearest competition.

When Theologis and Shyngis Satubayev went out in quick succession, the bags came out for the night.

Fifteen players returned for Day 3, all looking up to Thorel, but quickly Mario Mosboeck, Ramin Hajiyev and Wiktor Malinowski hit the rail. It then took a big pot, and a big outdraw, to bust Chidwick in 10th and bring the rest of the players round a final table of nine.

Chidwick had never had a huge stack, but had been holding firm with the final in sight. And just when he thought he might finally get the chips to do some damage, with against Hrabec’s , he had to watch the dealer put three hearts out there to sent Hrabec to the top and Chidwick out.

Hrabec’s tear had edged him over Thorel, but there was still a lot of play to go. The final nine lined up as follows:

Roman Hrabec – 14,325,000 (72 BBs)
Jean Noel Thorel – 13,375,000 (67 BBs)
Alex Kulev – 5,825,000 (29 BBs)
Fahredin Mustafov – 4,600,000 (23 BBs)
Chris Brewer – 4,200,000 (21 BBs)
Elton Tsang – 4,150,000 (21 BBs)
Matthias Eibinger – 3,800,000 (19 BBs)
Igor Yaroshevskiy – 2,125,000 (11 BBs)
Patrik Antonius – 1,600,000 (8 BBs)

FINAL TABLE ACTION

There was something very familiar about the line-up, not least the presence of two Bulgarians there. This has been another fine showing during a brilliant couple of weeks for players from the eastern European country, and their flag again found itself draped over the bleechers.

However, Alex Kulev — who had been leading this tournament in its early stages — was the first man out of the final. He lost a classic race. He found pocket queens and got involved in a pre-flop raising battle with Hrabec, sitting with .

All the chips eventually went in, and Hrabec found an ace on the flop. Kulev was at his third final of the trip, which included a sixth-place finish in the $150K buy-in event. And he added $451,000 to his ledger for ninth.

Hrabec was on fire and he then found pocket queens to account for Chris Brewer. After Hrabeck opened his button, Brewer ripped in his 10 big blinds from the big blind seat and Hrabec made the call.

Brewer had one over-card with his , but it was not enough. Although he hit a king on the turn, Hrabec flopped a set and stayed best. Brewer, a two time Triton champion, was out in eighth this time for $543,000.

Ukraine’s Igor Yaroshevskiy has a strong reputation at the tournament tables of Europe, but his best results on the Triton Series have previously come in $25K and $50K turbo events, i.e., at the lower end of the Triton buy-in scale.

But this event, with its $100K buy-in, also seemed to feel comfortable for Yaroshevskiy and he sailed into the deep stages. But he couldn’t seem to get anything going at this final, steadily slipping down the counts. He then doubled up Elton Tsang when both players had short stacks — > — and Fahredin Mustafov was there to snatch the last crumbs.

Yaroshevskiy’s $739,000 is a new best for him.

Although Mustafov officially eliminated Yaroshevskiy, it wasn’t a huge pot and Mustafov himself was on the short side. He had previously lost a big flip to Patrik Antonius and was scrapping to keep himself afloat.

Mustafov’s position was such that he needed to raise/call all-in for big blinds with and hope to get it to beat Matthias Eibinger’s . That, however, was not to be.

A king rivered, but Eibinger’s hand was still bigger. Mustafov landed his first seven-figure payday — $1,008,000 to be precise — but his Main Event was over in sixth.

Hrabec’s non-stop aggression had the desired result of getting his opponents to pay him off when he managed to find a hand. The next time it happened, it accounted for Eibinger.

Eibinger was proudly wearing his Main Event winner’s timepiece, given to him by tournament sponsors Jacob & Co after his win in the equivalent tournament in Monte Carlo last year. But Eibinger’s timing was off when he three-bet shoved pocket threes and ran them into Hrabec’s pocket tens.

Hrabec flopped another ten and rivered a fourth. Quads. That was the end of Eibinger, who took $1,330,000 for fifth.

Hrabec’s sun run continued, and this time it made toast of Antonius. Hrabec picked up pocket jacks and went to battle pre-flop with Antonius. But while the Finnish great had a shorter stack, he had a bigger pocket pair, queens, and was only too happy to get it all in.

Even that didn’t stop Hrabec, however. A jack appeared on the flop, sending Hrabec into the lead in this pot, and even further ahead in the overall standings. Antonius, meanwhile, landed $1,697,000 for his fourth place.

By his tempestuous standards, Thorel had been comparatively quiet at this final, allowing Hrabec to do all the damage. But with the equally thrilling Elton Tsang at in the final three as well, we had all the ingredients for more fireworks.

So it proved fairly quickly. Thorel picked up to Tsang’s and the two smaller stacks got them in pre-flop. There was nothing for Tsang to celebrate through a dry board, and he headed over to his rail.

Tsang won his first title just a couple of days ago and said he had his eyes now fixed on a second. It was a pretty solid effort, running all the way to third and a $2.105 payday.

Hrabec had a big chip lead heads up, and there was certainly no certainty that this one would end quickly. With an average of more than 60 big blinds, most Triton Series heads-up battles could play long, long into the night.

However, that’s not accounting for Thorel, who has never seen a flop he didn’t like. Hrabec likely figured that if he could find a big hand and lay a trap, Thorel could be coaxed into it. And so it proved.

Hrabec picked up pocket kings and saw Thorel open pre-flop. Hrabec three-bet, Thorel called and they saw the flop. Hrabec bet, Thorel called.

The on the turn was obviously a huge card for Hrabec and he checked it over. Thorel took the bait and, with only needed to bluff to win.

He shoved, Hrabec called, and when no 10 appeared, that was the end of that.

“I just play a little bit different style,” Hrabec said. “Some people say I’m a punter…Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Paying tribute again to the local culture, his orange hat and the girlfriend who bought it for him, Hrabec said, “It has turned out to be a very lucky experience.”

Event #11 – $100K – NLH Main Event
Dates: March 14-16, 2024
Entries: 216 (inc. 77 re-entries)
Prize pool: $21,600,000

1 – Roman Hrabec, Czech Republic – $4,330,000
2 – Jean Noel Thorel, France – $2,875,000
3 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – $2,105,000
4 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $1,697,000
5 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $1,330,000
6 – Fahredin Mustafov, Bulgaria – $1,008,000
7 – Igor Yaroshevskiy, Ukraine – $739,000
8 – Chris Brewer, USA – $543,000
9 – Alex Kulev, Bulgaria – $451,000

10 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $378,000
11 – Kevin Rabichow, USA – $378,000
12 – Justin Saliba, USA – $330,000
13 – Wiktor Malinowski, Poland – $330,000
14 – Ramin Hajiyev, Azerbaijan – $298,000
15 – Mario Mosboeck, Austria – $298,000
16 – Shyngis Satubayev, Kazakhstan – $266,000
17 – Alex Theologis, Greece – $266,000
18 – Mauricio Salazar, Colombia – $234,000
19 – Seth Davies, USA – $234,000
20 – Andrew Pantling, Canada – $234,000
21 – Sean Winter, USA – $212,000
22 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – $212,000
23 – Luc Greenwood, Canada – $212,000
24 – Joey Weissman, USA – $190,000
25 – Esti Wang, China – $190,000
26 – Leon Sturm, Germany – $190,000
27 – Paulius Vaitiekunas, Lithuania – $190,000
28 – Ken Tong, Hong Kong – $168,000
29 – Wai Leong Chan, Malaysia – $168,000
30 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $168,000
31 – Wang Yang, China – $168,000
32 – Konstantin Maslak, Russia – $151,000
33 – Mike Watson, Canada – $151,000
34 – Ren Lin, China – $151,000
35 – Tim Adams, Canada – $151,000
36 – Biao Ding, China – $151,000
37 – Oleg Ustinovich, Russia – $151,000
38 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $151,000
39 – Paulius Plausinaitis, Lithuania – $151,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The final Saturday of the Triton Super High Roller Series festival in Jeju, South Korea, started with the search for Quan Zhou. It ended with the Chinese player in the most prominent place of all: holding aloft his first Triton winner’s trophy.

Zhou was the overnight chip leader of the $25K Pot Limit Omaha event here at the Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort, but was late to arrive to the tournament room for the 1pm restart of the event. It meant Zhou was missing from the customary pre-final table line-up photo.

But no matter. Zhou set about his task today with customary focus and ensured that he was present for the most important photos of the day. Those were the ones featuring Zhou alone, alongside his winner’s cap, winning hand, winning chips and that trophy. The $530,000 first prize is also now into his Triton account.

This 39-year-old has come close to a Triton victory before, most notably when he was beaten heads-up in a PLO event in Monte Carlo last year. But this time he was not to be denied and blazed through the final day in a little more than four hours.

He despatched his final challenger, Canada’s Matthew Wood, on the first hand of head-up play. It ensured his first cash in Jeju came with a “1st place” notice beside it. He has staked a real claim as the man to beat in these PLO events, and confirmed that he’s here to stay.

“I’m very happy with the win,” Zhou said, through an interpreter, as he began his celebrations. “I have been looking forward to this title because there are a lot of strong competitors on the Triton Series.”

He added: “I played a lot of the no limit events and didn’t cash, so there was a bit of pressure on me. But fortunately I have a lot of support from friends that keeps me going. Some of my friends came here to support me. Winning this title has helped me to relieve the pressure. It’s a confidence boost.”

TOURNAMENT ACTION

When this tournament returned for its second day, the bubble was burst and only seven players remained. From 80 entries, the top 13 earned a payday, but Kosei Ichinose’s elimination in 15th came one spot too soon for him.

It was a steady decline for the Japanese pro, dwindling gradually to the bubble rather than collapsing dramatically in a heap. Ichinose had only about four big blinds at the end and got his chips in with . It was not good enough to beat Matthew Wood’s , which made a straight.

The tournament played on long enough for six more players to bust, including Fedor Holz, who was knocked out in eighth. It left us with a final table of seven on the last day, which lined up as follows:

Quan Zhou – 2,995,000 (60 BBs)
Joao Vieira – 2,855,000 (57 BBs)
Matthew Wood – 2,805,000 (56 BBs)
Laszlo Bujtas – 2,780,000 (56 BBs)
Nacho Barbero – 2,580,000 (52 BBs)
Klemens Roiter – 1,220,000 (24 BBs)
Ole Schemion – 770,000 (15 BBs)

Resplendent in the chip lead, Zhou was late to the start and resultantly missed the group shot. But he quickly settled down to his game as the action kicked off.

As can often be the case with PLO, there were no immediate, life-changing skirmishes. Chips shifted positions for a couple of hours before any player was forced out the door. When the time did eventually come for the cashier’s desk to snap into action, they were looking for $95,000 to hand to Ole Schemion.

The German star — as accomplished in mixed games as he is in hold’em — couldn’t spin up his short stack on the last day. His war of attrition ended essentially in two hands: one in which he defended his big blind to Zhou’s open, before having to fold after the flop. And then Matthew Wood managed to make a straight with to beat Schemion’s .

At that point, Wood had also been a short stack but he essentially doubled up in eliminating Schemion and he doubled again soon after through Joao Vieira. That left Nacho Barbero and Laszlo Bujtas in most danger, and it was Bujtas who next took the walk.

Although his lone Triton title came in hold’em, Bujtas forged his reputation as the online beast “omaha4rollz”, and the four-card game is his true speciality. This tournament, however, ended in sixth.

In a pot against Zhou, Bujtas shoved the flop of , after Zhou’s bet. Bujtas had , but Zhou’s ended with a flush after the turn and river.

Bujtas won $120,000.

Zhou was back in the ascendancy and Barbero was next in his sights. By the Argentinian’s previous standards at the Triton Poker Series, this trip to Jeju has been fallow. But here he was again at another final table, the eighth of his career–even if the run would come to a halt in fifth place.

Barbero three-bet jammed for about five big blinds with . Zhou called with and once again made a flush when the board ran .

Barbero’s first cash in Jeju earned him $154,000.

With only four players left, the average stack was 20 big blinds and the chip leader had only 28. That was Zhou, but nobody was more than a single double up away from being in the top two.

It was in the search of one of those double ups that Klemens Roiter ended on the rail. The Austrian was very well equipped to vault into the lead when he put in a pre-flop three-bet holding . Zhou called.

Zhou called. The flop came and Roiter shoved it in. However, Zhou had and filled up by the time the turn and river was on the table.

Roiter has cashed the last two events he has played on his first trip to the Triton Series. This fourth place came with a $191,000 prize.

Zhou now had a comfortable lead over his remaining two opponents, and it was simply a case of which of Vieira or Wood who could peg him back. Wood was the shorter stack but ended up doubling it through Vieira, which left Portugal’s finest on the ropes.

Zhou was of course waiting in the wings to apply the finishing touch. Vieira opened, Zhou three-bet, Vieira four-bet jammed and Zhou called, with Vieira tabling . Zhou had and it ended up being his raggy low cards that most connected with the board.

That was a boat for Zhou and Vieira was eliminated, taking $244,000 for third.

Wood now faced an extraordinary uphill task. Zhou had a seven-to-one chip lead, with 35 big blinds playing 5. The tournament officials went through the motions of resetting the table in preparation for the duel, even though the chances of a one-hand wonder were high.

And that’s what we got. Wood got his chips in with and Zhou called with . As usual, Zhou flopped very well — — and the left Wood drawing dead.

Wood has only played three events on the Triton Series and has cashed all of them. This was his best yet, worth $370,000. But even he could do nothing to halt this typhoon. It was Zhou’s day.

Event #12 – $25K POT LIMIT OMAHA
Dates: March 15-16, 2024
Entries: 89 (inc. 34 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,000,000

1 – Quan Zhou, China – $530,000
2 – Matthew Wood, Canada – $370,000
3 – Joao Vieira, Portugal – $244,000
4 – Klemens Roiter, Austria – $191,000
5 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $154,000
6 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – $120,000
7 – Ole Schemion, Germany – $95,000
8 – Fedor Holz, Germany – $74,000
9 – Sergio Martinez, Spain – $56,000
10 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $43,000
11 – Jared Bleznick, USA – $43,000
12 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $40,000
13 – Joao Estanislau, Portugal – $40,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

One of Triton Poker Series most exhilarating talents tonight earned the first tournament title of his career — grabbing the winner’s trophy in the $150K NLH 8-Handed event and leaping around the stage in unbridled joy.

This was Elton Tsang, a player whose fearless brilliance has illuminated the cash game tables for many years, playing some of the most spectacular pots in televised poker history. But here he was dominating the highest buy-in tournament of this Triton Series visit to Jeju, South Korea, and his joyous explosion at the conclusion demonstrated just what this meant.

For Tsang, even the $4.21 million first prize probably isn’t the most important part. It’s the thrill of grabbing a trophy after accumulating every chip in the room. Tsang was truly ecstatic, finishing the job against Biao Ding heads up after the rest of this 117-entry field had been vanquished.

There won’t be a more popular winner. Tsang travels to the Triton Series with a huge entourage of poker fans, who make the most of the luxury afforded them on this most prestigious series. And now their man has a title — one of a significance appropriate to Tsang’s influence on the game.

“It’s very sweet,” Tsang told Marianela Pereyra in his post-game interview, thanking first his daughter, with whom he immediately shared the wonderful news, and then his loyal rail. “Thank you, I love you…Thank you everybody. Thank you. Thank you.”

This victory came in Tsang’s 71st tournament and from his 11th final table — a record that had him describing himself as a “tournament fish” and prompting him to hire a coach to help him get over the line.

But Tsang loves the Triton Series. “Triton…it’s the best poker brand right now. I’m very happy to be involved.”

Triton is lucky to have him.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The $150K buy-in was the highest of this tour’s stop in Jeju, and the tournament played out over three days. The first was all about watching how many players would get involved; the second and third would determine where all the money went.

The 117 entries included 44 re-entries and built a prize pool of $17.55 million. It was comfortably the biggest of the trip so far, and promised those lavish riches to its winner.

The start of Day 2 focused on the bubble. With 21 players left and only 20 due to be paid, there was a bubble of $228,000 to be navigated. The list of short-stacked players included some absolute world beaters, with Stephen Chidwick, Biao Ding, Patrik Antonius, Sean Winter and Danny Tang hovering around 10 big blinds.

The finger of fate pointed to Chidwick as the man who was going to burst this one. He found and got his chips in, but the subsequent three-bet Mario Mosboeck backed up his bet with pocket jacks.

Chidwick couldn’t find an ace and was out in 21st, hot-footing it across the tournament room to join the $50K turbo, which had about 1 minute of registration left. Everyone else settled in for a battle to the final.

Remarkably, two of those aforementioned short-stacks made it: Ding and Winter navigated the post-bubble stages to take their seats at the final. It wasn’t the case for several well-decorated Triton players: all of Fedor Holz, Mikita Badziakouski, Mario Mosboeck, Matthias Eibinger, Danny Tang and Michael Addamo perished short of the final.

That left us with an uncharacteristic dynamic at the final, at least as far as this stop in Jeju is concerned. Europeans and North Americans were firmly in the minority. The top five spots were all occupied by Asian players.

They lined up like this:

FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS

Wang Ye – 69 BBs
Liang Xu – 43 BBs
James Chen – 32 BBs
Elton Tsang – 24 BBs
Biao Ding – 17 BBs
Sam Grafton – 16 BBs
Alex Kulev – 16 BBs
Mike Watson – 13 BBs
Sean Winter – 4 BBs

The stated intention was for Day 2 to play until 1am or six players, whichever came soonest. But action was strangely muted and they pushed on past the curfew to make sure only six remained.

This was a passage of play that accounted for Sam Grafton, Sean Winter and Wang Ye — the former two unable to spin their short stacks into contention; the latter seeing a chip lead evaporate and landing him on the rail in seventh.

Grafton was first out. He three-bet shoved over an open from Elton Tsang. But Tsang, although known as one of the most unpredictable players on the tour, can sometimes have it too. On this occasion, he certainly did: Tsang’s pocket aces stayed good to down Grafton.

It’s been a relatively lean period for Grafton, especially since that startling victory in Cyprus a couple of years ago. But $422,000 for ninth is a decent return.

Winter’s final table was the story of two hands. He first doubled up his short stack through Alex Kulev, with beating . But on the very next deal, Kulev took revenge — and the rest of Winter’s chips.

Kulev open-shoved from the small blind with and Winter found in the big blind to make the call. They both flopped a five, but the on the turn and river was another sickener for Winter.

These two have tangled frequently during this trip to Jeju, including in a massive aces vs. kings cooler in which Kulev’s kings made a flush during the Mystery Bounty event. Winter landed on the wrong side of another sickener here, but added another $544,000 to his ledger for eighth.

Wang Ye had been an unknown quantity before arriving on the Triton Poker Series here in Jeju, but he cashed in four of his first six tournaments, and then blazed to the final in his seventh. He held the chip lead for almost all of Day 2 as well, perhaps set to cap this spectacular debut with a win. Until, that is, it all started going awry.

Liang Xu doubled up through Ye with against . That lost him the chip lead, and then Tsang forced him out the door. Ye got his last chips in with and Tsang called with .

A jack on the flop gave Tsang the come-from-behind victory and sent Ye packing in seventh. He collected $737,000, and the day came to its close.

Tsang led the field as they paused for the night. Ding and Xu were closest behind, with Kulev, Mike Watson and James Chen comparatively short. But tomorrow was another day…

For Kulev, it was another short day. This Triton stop in Jeju has been the one on which Bulgarian players really came to the fore, with numerous final table appearances and a victory for Dimitar Danchev. Kulev himself blazed the trail for Bulgarians on the Triton Series, and here he was again in the deep stages.

Having laid down a couple of bad beats himself, Kulev didn’t complain when he suffered one of his own to bust this tournament in sixth. He raise/called all-in with but lost to Watson’s when the latter rivered a straight.

Kulev’s third cash of the trip was his biggest yet. He took $983,000 for sixth.

James Chen made his Triton debut all the way back at its first event in 2017, and he has been an off-and-on visitor ever since. Here in Jeju this $150K tournament was only his second of the trip, and he had now recorded his second cash too. This was a order of magnitude bigger than his 43rd place in the GGMillion$, however, and even though he became Watson’s next victim, his $1.254 million score was also his largest.

Chen lost a flip. He moved in with and Watson called from the big blind with . For the second time, that ace-ten was good for Watson. He flopped an ace to end Chen’s participation. They were down to four.

It had been a while since Biao Ding had been involved in one of these big pots, but when he picked up the biggest hand in the game, he extracted the maximum from it. He also managed to eliminate his countryman Xu in the process.

Ding looked down at black pocket aces and made an opening raise. Xu called from the big blind with . The flop came king high, which Xu may have thought was perfect, but actually only played into Ding’s hands.

Xu checked. Ding bet and Xu check-raised all-in. Ding made the call and the aces held, leaving Xu heading to the payouts desk. His $1,563,000 prize was the first seven-figure score of his career, but the way he’s playing, it won’t be the last.

After plotting a steady course for the early stages of this tournament, Watson’s Day 3 had been turbulent. He was back to a short stack when three-handed play began, but managed a double up with against Tsang’s when he flopped a full house.

However, his final lasted only a few hands more until he picked up and three-bet shoved the small blind after Tsang opened the button. But Tsang had the goods — — made the call and knocked Watson out.

A two-time champion already, Watson has come mighty close to adding a third twice on this trip to Jeju. But this tournament ended in a third place and another $1,895,000 in the bankroll.

Two formidable Asian talents therefore now squared off for the title. Tsang had 34 big blinds. Ding had 25. They were guaranteed a minimum $2,870,000, but first place was $1.4 million more. But did that prompt talk of a deal? Of course not. These poker purists were going to play it out.

Ding drew level with a couple of small pots. Then Tsang powered ahead again. Then, on the first hand that might have ended it, Ding doubled with against Tsang’s .

Tsang was not to be denied, however. He won a massive pot with , rivering an ace. But Ding made a hero call with king high, quickly learning he was wrong. Soon after, Ding was forced all in from the big blind with , with Tsang forced to call with .

There was the on the flop, and it held. Cue: jubilation.

Ding took $2.87 million for his second place, which will no doubt keep him returning to the Triton Series as he goes hunting for another title. Tsang himself said he may have to forgo celebrating his big win as he jumps in the $100K Main Event.

“Might as well try to get two,” Tsang said.

Event #9 – $150K NLH 8-Handed
Dates: March 12-14, 2024
Entries: 117 (inc. 44 re-entries)
Prize pool: $17,550,000

1 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – $4,210,000
2 – Biao Ding, China – $2,870,000
3 – Mike Watson, Canada – $1,895,000
4 – Liang Xu, China – $1,563,000
5 – James Chen, Taiwan – $1,254,000
6 – Alex Kulev, Bulgaria – $983,000
7 – Wang Ye, China – $737,000
8 – Sean Winter, USA – $544,000
9 – Sam Grafton, UK – $422,000

10 – Michael Addamo, Australia – $351,000
11 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $351,000
12 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $307,500
13 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany – $307,500
14 – Mario Mosboeck, Austria – $281,000
15 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $281,000
16 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $254,500
17 – Fedor Holz, Germany – $254,500
18 – Richard Yong, Malaysia – $228,000
19 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $228,000
20 – David Peters, USA – $228,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Dan Smith is the latest two-time champion on the Triton Poker Series, destined to see his face on one of the grand electronic banners that circle the most prestigious tournament arenas in the game.

Smith bested a field of 108 entries in the first single-day turbo event of the trip to Jeju, picking up four scalps along the way that earned him $60,000 apiece (and also keeping his own). That $300,000 adds to his $951,000 first place prize for another seven-figure score for this American great.

He became the first American to win a title on this trip to Jeju, from a tournament in which the stars and stripes flew over the last four remaining players. It takes Triton earnings close to $20 million and was his 20th Triton cash.

Smith was the epitome of calm in a tournament of enormous volatility, picking spots beautifully to progress to the title. he eventually picked off his countrymen Seth Davies in third and then David Coleman heads-up to finish top of the pile.

“Pretty great!” Smith said, when asked how he felt. He acknowledged the nature of the game and a huge four-handed set-up against Tom Dwan that catapulted him to the title.

“It was a turbo, so it wasn’t like the spots were super intricate,” Smith said. “Me and Tom were one and two in chips, in small and big blind and we both had flushes. And unless you’re super deep, there’s no getting away from it.”

Smith won the huge invitational tournament at Triton’s trip to Monte Carlo last year, and said he’d played some tournaments in Las Vegas but had mainly been travelling and relaxing in the mountains since then.

“This one was in my calendar,” he added. “I was always excited to play Tritons.”

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The new Bounty Quattro format debuted here in Jeju put $15,000 of each $50K buy-in in the bounty pool, but only started paying out bounties when 25 percent of the field remained. (Quattro meaning “quarter” in Italian, the native language of the format pioneer Luca Vivaldi.)

That meant that there was two kind of bubbles: the first, when the 27th-placed finisher departed, meant all remaining knockouts now earned a $60,000 bounty. The second was the more conventional bubble, when 18 were left and the next man out left the remaining 17 in the money.

Both the landmarks passed quickly, in keeping with the turbo format.

Ognyan Dimov hit the rail in 27th, losing with to Shyngis Satubayev’s when the latter flopped an eight. Dimov’s departure meant the rest of the players were given a bounty token to be handed over when they were knocked out.

Not long later, the stone bubble burst with Dominykas Mikolaitis perishing at the hands of a familiar bubble burster: Punnat Punsri. Punsri, who knocked out Henrik Hecklen in a sickener yesterday in the $50K, before going on to win the title, found to Mikolaitis’ when they got it all in pre-flop.

Punsri flopped a king to eliminate Mikolaitis, but was also mock-aggrieved that Ken Tong folded ace-queen face up, losing him the chance of a double elimination.

With the bounty chips in play, there was a greater incentive to go for the knockouts and, as expected, the momentum ticked along nicely until we reached a final table. Punsri was there again, but he was marginally behind Dan Smith who had profited most during the pre-final table passage of play.

Tom Dwan was also a major draw for poker fans, even if his 15 big blind stack would need some spinning up if he was to earn a third Triton title.

The final nine looked like this:

Dan Smith – 45 BBs
Punnat Punsri – 41 BBs
David Coleman – 28 BBs
Tom Heung – 28 BBs
Sirzat Hissou – 21 BBs
Tom Dwan – 15 BBs
Damir Zhugralin – 14 BBs
Seth Davies – 13 BBs
Webster Lim – 13 BBs

All of those players at the bottom of the counts knew they would need something special to survive. The blinds race up in these turbos and there’s no place to hide.

Damir Zhugralin became the first to perish. he got his chips in with against Webster Lim’s pocket sevens. Lim hit a third seven on the river, but was ahead already. Zhugralin picked up $94,500 for ninth.

Next up for the chop: Tom Heung. He too got all his chips in pre-flop and entered a race. But his couldn’t catch up with David Coleman’s , especially when a third ten flopped.

Heung won $126,000 for eighth.

As if to underline the unforgiving nature of this game, Lim ended up next out. It was only a few orbits before that he was consigning Zhugralin to the scrapheap, and Lim looked down at pocket aces and had reason to believe it might be his day.

That was especially so when Coleman three-bet shoved over Lim’s opening raise. Lim called and saw that his opponent had pocket twos. But deuces never loses, etc., and a third two landed on the flop.

It was a massive pot to double Coleman and leave Lim on fumes. Sirzat Hissou took the final crumbs soon after. Lim, a three-time Triton champipon, was out in seventh from this one, for $168,000 (plus bounties).

Punsri, of course, was looking for a spectacular back-to-back success, something that hasn’t yet been pulled off on the Triton Series. That achievement is still waiting out there too as even Punsri’s run-good had to end somewhere. Punsri perished in sixth from this one, three-bet jamming but losing to Coleman’s .

Punsri added $220,000 (and bounties) to his monster win from yesterday and headed back to his room to prepare for tomorrow’s Main Event.

Dwan doubled. And then he shoved repeatedly to rise up the counts. Sirzat Hissou became the shortest stack, and he was unable to replicate Dwan’s trick. Hissou’s elimination came at the hands of Smith, when Smith’s made a flush to beat Hissou’s .

Hissou has been on good form this week in Jeju, with three cashes and two final tables. This time he won $279,000 for fifth.

The last four players left were all Americans. It presented, finally, the certainty that someone from North America would be landing a title from Triton Jeju having seen Europe and Asia dominate to date. But which would it be?

Dwan’s resurgence lasted a good long while, but just at the point he was looking to take a stranglehold, he hit the skids. He played a massive pot against Dan Smith where the pair were in the blinds with suited cards.

It just so happened that they were in the same suit, diamonds, and that three diamonds appeared on the board. Smith’s was one pip higher than Dwan’s and that sent a massive double up Smith’s way.

Dwan was pegged back to two big blinds, and even he couldn’t do much with that. His bounty ended up in the possession of Coleman, whose flopped better than Dwan’s pocket threes.

Dwan’s run this time earned him $346,000 and a fourth-place finish.

Smith was now way ahead, but the format meant that no one was safe. Seth Davies had done very well to dodge most of the big confrontations and keep himself alive until only three were left.

But with only five big blinds and two opponents in the groove, he was forced all in with and couldn’t outdraw Smith’s . Smith collected another bounty as Davies banked $418,000 for third.

Smith and Coleman now squared off for an all-American battle. Smith had 37 big blinds to Coleman’s 17. But this battle didn’t last long.

On the first significant pot, they got their stacks in with Smith holding to Coleman’s . There was nothing to excite Coleman on the board and that was that for Smith. Coleman took $642,900 for second, plus bounties.

Henrik Hecklen and Luc Greenwood celebrated with Smith, shoving a whisky in his hand and offering as much mockery as cheer from the sidelines. Smith retorted: “Henrik, any time you can win $1 million in a day, that’s a reasonable thing to do.”

And that’s a fairly reasonable assessment.

Event #10 – $50K NLH TURBO $15K BOUNTY QUATTRO
Dates: March 13, 2024
Entries: 108 (inc. 26 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,780,000

1 – Dan Smith, USA – $951,000 (+$300,000 in bounties)
2 – David Coleman, USA – $642,900 (+$300,000 in bounties)
3 – Seth Davies, USA – $418,000
4 – Tom Dwan, USA – $346,000 (+$60,000 in bounties)
5 – Sirzat Hissou, Germany – $279,000 (+$120,000 in bounties)
6 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $220,000 (+$240,000 in bounties)
7 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – $168,000 (+$120,000 in bounties)
8 – Tom Heung, China – $126,000 (+$60,000 in bounties)
9 – Damir Zhugralin, Kazakhstan – $94,500 (+$120,000 in bounties)
10 – Konstantin Maslak, Russia – $77,500
11 – Alex Wice, Thailand – $77,500
12 – Luc Greenwood, Canada – $68,000
13 – Mauricio Salazar, Colombia – $68,000
14 – Klemens Roiter, Austria – $62,300 (+$60,000 in bounties)
15 – Shyngis Satubayev, Kazakhstan – $62,300 (+$180,000 in bounties)
16 – Ramin Hajiyev, Azerbaijan – $59,500
17 – Ken Tong, Hong Kong – $59,500

Orpen Kisacikoglu won $60,000 in bounties.

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive