2022 Archives - Page 6 of 7

DOUBLE UPS, SHORT-STACK COMEBACKS AND PEE BREAKS — TRITON SERIES BUBBLE TIME

Final seven in short-deck (l-r): Elton Tsang, Phil Ivey, Richard Yong, Jason Koon, Mike Watson, Ivan Leow, Kiat Lee. Read on to find how they got there.

The bubble period in any poker tournament is always the most tense, but it rarely has as much unpredictability and humour as we had during this one at the Triton Series $75,000 short deck event #3.

There were short stacks rising to the summit, multiple shoves, calls and doubles, plus one player darting to the bathroom rather than watch his fate dealt out.

That’s how it happens on the Triton Series.

We returned today with 11 players and knew that only seven would make the money, so the whole early levels of today were essentially an extended bubble.

The first three eliminations all came on the feature table. It means viewers of the live stream will have got a close view of the car crashes approaching and then happening, plus a view of the aftermath.

The players we lost were Mikita Badziakouski, Dan Cates, and Chris Brewer with Mike Watson the biggest beneficiary. He went from short stack to near chip leader in the space of a level and a bit. (Only Elton Tsang, who took a big pot from Badziakouski, was above him.)

Dan Cates: One of three early eliminations from feature table

There was a good deal of chip movement on the outer table during this period too, with another overnight short stack, Kiat Lee, rising through the ranks. This adds context to how the bubble eventually burst.

Lee doubled up early when he shoved from his button, after four limps, and Jason Koon was the sole caller.

Lee had 815,000 in his stack and versus Koon’s . The flop had all kinds of colour on it and gave both players two pair, but Lee’s was bigger.

Koon lost another pot, this time to Phil Ivey, in a super interesting situation. After three players saw the flop for the minimum — Koon, Ivey and Wai Kin Yong — the dealer put the on the table. Koon bet 60,000 and Yong folded. Ivey called.

The turn was the and Koon bet 80,000. Ivey then announced that he was all-in for more than 1.5 million, only a little less than Koon had.

“That’s the perfect bet for my exact hand!” Koon said. “Holy shit.” Ivey had sniffed out this opportunity and seized it.

“King high diamonds,” Koon said, as he folded. Ivey chuckled. Those two had been yukking it up out there, taking about every thing from nights out in Melbourne to the mineral content of sparkling water. It was a fun table, with Ivan Leow also joining in plenty of chit-chat.

Lee was relatively quiet, but he soon found another chance to let his chips do the talking. After Koon opened to 125,000, Yong, one seat to his left, moved all in for about 1.7 million. Ivey quickly folded, but Lee looked at his stack of 1.23 million and pondered risking all of it.

After a little while — we were still two off the money at the time — he decided he had to, and under-called all-in. Koon folded, but Lee was still at risk from Yong.

Yong tabled his and Lee showed . It was a good set-up for Lee, but percentages are never so extreme in short deck as they are in regular hold’em.

The flop was safe for Lee, but the turn gave outs to Yong. The river was a blank, however, which meant Lee doubled again. Yong assumed the short stack as the bubble now moved into view.

He managed to secure one double up through Koon, when Yong’s beat Koon’s . At that point, he had a stack of 535,000 so doubled back to more than 1 million.

By this point, all of Badziakouski, Cates and Brewer were gone, so we were on the stone bubble. Yong’s father Richard had doubled his short stack once on the feature table, and Wai Kin had actually moved off the foot of the leader board.

Incredibly, it was now Koon, the overnight chip leader, who was most under threat — and he was staring at elimination when he pushed all-in and Yong called him.

Yong had and Koon had . He also had a bursting bladder and wasn’t keen to wait until all the TV crew moved in, and the hand finished on a feature table, before he could use the bathroom.

“I’m just going to go pee and look at the app to see if I doubled or busted,” Koon announced. “Can I do that?”

No one said he couldn’t, so Koon was off, sprinting to the toilet while his fate was delivered in his absence. The rest of the tournament players, staff and spectators saw the dealer put the on the board, to which she added the turn. That gave Koon a couple more outs.

The hit the river, and that was a great card for Koon — even though he wasn’t there to see it.

Moments later, as the chip stacks were being tidied in front of Koon’s chair, we heard a distant whoop as Koon came galloping back to his seat. “It was brutal, man,” Yong said, and Koon apologised for his exuberance, but added, “I’m so glad I didn’t have to sweat that run-out.”

A jubilant Jason Koon returns to his new chips

That skirmish left Yong very short, and he got his last chips in the middle very soon after. Phil Ivey reshoved after Yong pushed and cards were on their back:

Yong:
Ivey:

“OK, Phil, thanks for doubling me up,” Yong said.

But it wasn’t to be. The board of sent Yong out the door on the bubble.

The remaining seven are now sitting down to see who wins the $1.17 million top prize. And if we’ve learned one thing from all this, it’s that it’s still anyone’s game.

A reminder of the payouts:

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION

EVENT 3: $75K SHORT DECK

Dates: April 5-6, 2022
Entries: 51 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,706,500

1 – $1,170,000
2 – $840,000
3 – $538,000
4 – $408,000
5 – $315,000
6 – $241,000
7 – $194,500

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

FUN DAY FOR KOON AND TSANG, CHIP-LEADERS IN $75K SHORT DECK IN CYPRUS

“This is so much more exciting than cash games.”

That was Elton Tsang, midway through the penultimate level of Day 1 in the Triton Series $75K short-deck event at Merit Casino & Resort, Cyprus. Tsang, who has made a great deal of money playing mostly cash games, had just knocked out the tournament specialist Daniel Dvoress, and was loving life.

“Tournaments are fun,” agreed Jason Koon, sitting next to him.

You wouldn’t find anyone in Cyprus today who would disagree, nor among the thousands watching the Triton Series live stream across the world. Even those players for whom today wasn’t quite as successful as it was for Tsang and Koon are merely waiting in the wings to play short deck tournament poker again tomorrow.

Because, yes, it was a successful day for Tsang and Koon. Those two finished Day 1 of Event #3 with the two biggest stacks in the room — Koon’s 2.66 million just an ante or two bigger than Tsang’s 2.615 million. From a starting field of 51 entries (including 23 re-entries), only 11 players remained at bagging time. Tomorrow they will return to decide how they’ll carve up a $3.7 million prize pool, with the bubble bursting when seven players remain.

The winner is due for a $1.17 million payday.

We know all about Koon, of course, the Triton Ambassador with three titles, 14 in-the-money finishes, and more than $12 million in earnings on the Triton Series alone. He’s in pole position to add even more tomorrow.

Tsang is in a rich run of form this week and made the final table of the first two no limit hold’em events they played out. And it’s fair to say we know a fair bit about the man sitting in third. That’s Phil Ivey, who is also in awesome form this week, and has demonstrated he knows about short deck too.

Also worth a word about Richard and Wai Kin Yong. The father-and-son team — the masterminds behind the Triton Series — are both still involved too. They sat next to each other for a portion of the day too. Must have been just like back at home.

Wai Kin and Richard Yong: Father and son

The final 11 stack up like this tonight. Payout schedule is below.

Jason Koon, USA – 2,600,000
Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – 2,615,000
Phil Ivey, USA – 1,910,000
Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – 1,380,000
Ivan Leow, Malaysia – 1,285,000
Dan Cates, USA – 1,170,000
Richard Yong, Malaysia – 980,000
Mikita Badziakouski – 875,000
Chris Brewer – 875,000
Kiat Lee – 835,000
Mike Watson – 775,000

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION

EVENT 3: $75K SHORT DECK

Dates: April 5-6, 2022
Entries: 51 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,706,500

1 – $1,170,000
2 – $840,000
3 – $538,000
4 – $408,000
5 – $315,000
6 – $241,000
7 – $194,500

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

FIRST SHORT DECK EVENT AT TRITON CYPRUS BUILDS $3.7M PRIZE POOL

Short deck is back on the Triton Series menu today and when registration closed on the $75,000 buy-in Event #3, we had seen 51 transactions at the cage. The breakdown was 28 unique players and 23 re-entries.

All of that means a prize pool of $3,706,500 and seven places paid. The winner will get $1.17 million and the min-cash is $194,500. The full details are below.

There’s also been a last-minute change to the schedule. Responding to player requests, Event #5, which starts tomorrow, now has a buy-in of $75,000. (It had previously been $125,000.)

The tournament will start at 4pm local time, have 40 minute levels, and a buy-in gets you 300,000 chips — in three 100,000 bullets.

Day 1 will play eight levels and there will be a 45-minute dinner break after Level 4.

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION

EVENT 3: $75K SHORT DECK

Dates: April 5-6, 2022
Entries: 51 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,706,500

1 – $1,170,000
2 – $840,000
3 – $538,000
4 – $408,000
5 – $315,000
6 – $241,000
7 – $194,500

A SHORT-DECK ORBIT FEATURING IVEY, KOON AND BREWER

Our feature table: (clockwise, from bottom left): Richard Yong, Jason Koon, Wei Hsiang Yeu, Kanstantsin Osipau, Phil Ivey, Chris Brewer

You don’t need to know much about short deck poker to know that there’s a lot of gamble in it. Not every hand will be a thrill ride, but there’s a good chance one will be around the corner if it’s been quiet for a while.

Here’s a look at a full orbit on one of the outer tables here at this $75,000 buy-in short deck event at Triton Series Cyprus. We committed to following all the details for six hands in the hope (and expectation) that there would be some fireworks, even this early in the tournament.

This was the final orbit of Level 3, where the ante was 1,500 and the button paid 3,000. It was a good-looking table, featuring the following line-up:

Seat 1 — Richard Yong (Malaysia)
The Triton co-founder had a stack of about 105,000.

Seat 2 — Jason Koon (USA)
The Triton Ambassador and early short-deck aficionado was sitting with about 160,000.

Seat 3 — Wei Hsiang Yeu (Malaysia)
Malaysian Yeu has played frequently on the Triton Series since 2018 and has one notable cash: second place in a HK$250K short deck event, for HK$3.3 million. Chip-leading this table with 235,000.

Seat 5 — Kanstantsin Osipau (Belarus)
A total newcomer to the Triton Series and, it seems, to the world of organised tournament poker. The man from Belarus has no recorded cashes. Stack of about 190,000.

Seat 6 — Phil Ivey (USA)
Never heard of him. A solid start, sitting with 220,000.

Seat 7 — Chris Brewer (USA)
Making his debut on the Triton Series here in Cyprus, and picked up a first cash in the $50K Turbo yesterday. Stack a little more than 100,000.

Hand 1: Button with Jason Koon

All players in a Triton Series short deck tournament post a single ante, with the player on the button posting the “button ante”, which is double. At this stage, it was 1,500 and 3,000, respectively.

Action starts to the left of the button, in this instance with Wei Hsiang Yeu (maybe WHY for short). He called the additional 1,500. Kanstantsin Osipau was the only other called, and Jason Koon checked.

The flop came and Yeu checked. Osipau bet 9,000 and both Koon and Yeu called.

The turn was the and, after two checks, Koon bet 22,500 and both his opponents folded.

Hand 2: Button with Wei Hsiang Yeu

Three players — Phil Ivey, Chris Brewer and Jason Koon — all called, and Wei Hsiang Yeu checked his option. The flop of brought four checks.

The came on the turn and, after three checks, Yeu bet 8,000. Both Ivey and Koon called, but Brewer let his hand go.

The river was the . After two checks, Yeu bet 35,000 and picked up two calls. They then all showed their cards.

Wei:
Ivey:
Koon:

If you don’t follow short deck, you’ll need to double check what’s going on here. But they all had a straight, A-6-7-8-9. They chopped it three ways.

Hand 3: Button with Kanstantsin Osipau

This one got started with another flurry of calls, from Chris Brewer and Jason Koon, then a check from Kanstantsin Osipau. The three saw a flop of .

Brewer checked, Koon bet 5,000 and only Osipau called.

The two remaining players then checked through the turn and river, with Koon’s taking it down. Osipau mucked.

Hand 4: Button with Phil Ivey

This time the pre-flop callers were Chris Brewer, Jason Koon, Wei Hsiang Yeu and Kanstantsin Osipau, which preceded Phil Ivey tapping his fist on the rail to indicate a check. Those four looked at a flop of .

After a couple of checks, Yeu bet 6,000 and only Brewer called.

Both players checked the turn, which took them to the river. Brewer checked, Yeu bet 10,000, and Brewer folded.

Hand 5: Button with Chris Brewer

Richard Yong hadn’t played a hand until this point. He sat there silently, with a decongestant inhaler up one nostril. But he got this hand under way with a limp from under the gun. Wei Hsiang Yeu called, Kanstantsin Osipau called and Phil Ivey called, and the Chris Brewer moved all-in. He had 111,000 more.

Yong took a small amount of time but then he moved all-in too, with slightly less in his stack than Brewer. (Technically, this was an undercall, but you wouldn’t know if from Yong’s gleeful thump of the chips into the pot.) All the others got out of the way.

Brewer:
Yong:

You know earlier we stated that fireworks are almost always just arounf the corner in short deck, well here’s the proof.

The dealer put the flop of on the table, giving Yong top set. But then the turn gave Brewer all kinds of flush outs, plus an inside straight draw. And he drilled it with the river.

“My goodness, short deck,” said Koon, exasperated. “That is a straight.”

The dealer took a short while to confirm that Koon was, in fact, right, and Brewer had earned his double up. Yong tossed in another bullet chip, meaning a new 100,000 stack was coming.

Hand 6: Button with Richard Yong

Blinds went up after the conclusion of the hand above, meaning it was now 2,000 per ante, and double that for the button. Jason Koon limped fromu under the gun, and Kanstantsin Osipau and Chris Brewer joined him. Richard Yong checked his button.

The flop came . Koon and Osipau checked and, after Brewer bet 6,000, that was good enough for the win.

And with that, a good round for Chris Brewer came to its conclusion. He doubled into the chip lead, with Jason Koon also profiting. Shortly after, Koon celebrated with a standing back-flop — really — pointing to Richard Yong and saying, “I’m 37, Richard.”

Yong managed to resist what was probably a clear urge to respond with: “And I’m over 60” before doing a double back-flip. He can probably do it.

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

A SHORT-DECK REFRESHER AS TRITON CYPRUS BIDS HOLD’EM FAREWELL

After three full days of high stakes no limit hold’em, the Triton Series Special Edition in Cyprus now shifts its focus to Short Deck Hold’em.

We’re preparing now for Events #3 and #5, beginning today and tomorrow, where buy-ins are $75,000 and $125,000 respectively.

You’ll notice that that’s bigger than the hold’em events, and there’s a reason for that. The players who like short deck the best are the players who like to play highest. This is a game that originated among the high-stakes cash game players in Asia, where the more eye-watering the stakes, the better.

The game is gradually catching on among western players too, particularly those who can sense a money-making opportunity. In this very exclusive world, where pros will want to find the most profitable spots, it pays to do some study and learn a new game, if that’s the game that most people want to play.

If you’re on the fence about short-deck, here’s a quick reminder of the principal differences. (Read the full article here.)

A SHORTER DECK

The most significant difference between short deck and regular hold’em is there in its name. It’s played with a pack of cards from which all of the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s are removed.

In this game, an ace can be both high and low, as usual, but the next lowest card is the 6. (It’s sometimes called 6+ hold’em, which also makes sense.)

The wheel in short deck is A-6-7-8-9. And a Broadway straight is still 10-J-Q-K-A.

Instead of 52 cards, there are 36 in short deck.

HAND RANKING DIFFERENCES

While there are only a few differences in the value of a hand between the two formats of hold’em, these are very significant. It could prove expensive if forgotten.

In short deck hold’em:

• A flush beats a full house – This is because mathematically it is harder to make a flush than a full house from the reduced deck.

Think about it. In regular hold’em, players with suited hole cards and two community cards of the same suit have nine cards in the deck from which to make a flush. Playing the short deck game reduces this to five cards. This means a flush is far harder to hit thank usual.

EASIER TO HIT A SET

Playing short deck hold’em makes it easier to hit a set than when playing the regular game. Short deck players holding a pocket pair have two cards remaining from the 34 unknown to give them a set as opposed to two cards out of 50 in the regular game.

SHORT DECK HOLD’EM STRATEGY

Players who are used to the regular version of hold’em should be aware of strategy considerations during a traditional game. You need to slightly adjust your expectations of what kinds of hands will win pots.

In general, players will see many more strong hands, so stronger hands are typically needed to win pots.

• The chance of being dealt pocket aces is twice as high
• Hands such as top pair and top kicker have a much lower value
• Single pair hands rarely win a pot

However, this allows greater bluffing opportunities too, where it’s feasible for players often to represent very strong holdings.

FAST & FURIOUS

Action in short deck can be very fast, with pots escalating quickly and bust outs and buy-ins commonplace. That’s how the players on this series like it.

Players always need to remember that while you are sure to hit far more big hands, so will your opponents.

HAND RANKINGS CHART

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

DOUBLE DUTCH DELIGHT AS MULDER TOPS VOGELSANG, BUT BOTH MAKE MILLIONS IN CYPRUS

As you have probably already seen, the most unlikely story played out on the Triton Series yesterday when two Hungarian players, who are also good friends, finished first and second in the opening event of this high stakes festival at the Merit Casino & Resort in Cyprus.

But poker is a simply extraordinary game sometimes, and that most unlikely story happened again tonight, almost to the letter.

This time, the two good friends were Dutchmen — Teun Mulder and Tom Vogelsang — who travelled to Cyprus together and then finished heads-up in the $100,000 buy-in no limit hold’em event, both banking more than $1 million.

“We talked about it,” Mulder, the winner, said after the event. “We said to each other ‘Today it’s going to be the Dutch guys first and second.'” The prophesy came true.

Mulder has played once before on the Triton Series. Vogelsang is at his first event. The fact that they were the last men standing is a truly staggering coincidence, as well as testament to their exceptional skills.

Mulder did require at least one incredible outdraw to get into position to win. With three players left, he hit a miracle two-outer on the river to survive in an enormous pot, denting the party-pooper aspirations of Jake Schindler, of the USA. Vogelsang then ended Schindler’s event entirely, leaving the double Dutch delight.

“I’m pretty tired but good,” Mulder said at the end of a marathon day. “I got pretty lucky with the pocket fours, but to play against my best friend, as well.”

Mulder’s win earned him $1,940,000, the biggest live score of his career. Vogelsang banked $1,390,000, also a new mark for him. What a astounding conclusion.

With nine players due to be paid in this one, and a maximum of eight per table, the bubble played out in part on the TV stage and in part in the outer field beside it, with two tables of five players apiece.

It was interrupted by a brief power cut, then a discussion about a dinner break, and then a dinner break itself, all alongside the usual bubble shenanigans. That includes hand-for-hand play, big stacks being ruthless, small stacks clinging on and sometimes doubling up.

Of course, that all inevitably ends, and the eliminated player this time was someone who left without too much complaint. It was Andras Nemeth, the man who won the opening event in this festival.

Andras Nemeth: Winner one day, bubble the next

With the clear potential to make his Triton hit-rate two from two, Nemeth got his stack of about 12 big blinds in the middle as an under-call, following Tom Vogelsang’s open-push from the small blind. (Vogelsang had heaps.)

Nemeth agonised and made the call, learning he was ahead with his to Vogelsang’s , but the board of was a slow torture, eventually filling Vogelsang’s straight.

Vogelsang offered his fist to bump, Nemeth bumped it, and then wandered away as the others headed up to the TV stage. That last nine, all now guaranteed a payday of at least $192,000, settled down for a final table photo and then to play towards a first prize 10 times that amount.

Back row (l-r): Jake Schindler, Teun Mulder, Tom Vogelsang, Ali Imsirovic. Front row (l-r): Paul Phua, Elton Tsang, Daniel Dvoress, Mike Watson, Michael Soyza.

There are always some delightful sub-plots in these Triton events, over and above the fact that they’re playing for tons of money. This time, it was difficult to look beyond the fact that the final had two best friends and countrymen, in Vogelsang and Teun Mulder, the very day after Nemeth and Laszlo Bujtas, friends and countrymen, went heads up. Yesterday it was Hungary, today it was the Netherlands.

The two biggest stacks also fit this dynamic: Mike Watson and Daniel Dvoress, who have endured some rough times on the Triton Series over the years, are friends and Canadian countrymen.

And that’s before we even talk about Paul Phua, the Triton co-founder and most prominent driving force, who was returning to a final table and picking up the 17th cash of his career in this series. Nobody has more, but Phua remains without a title.

The opening stages of the final table were circumspect, at least by Triton standards. It took a good hour or so before we lost a first player. That man was Elton Tsang, the high rolling Hong Kong-based businessman/poker player, who also made yesterday’s final table.

Tsang got the last of his chips in the pot with — up against Watson’s — and was far from dead and buried after the flop of . The turn opened up more possibilities, but the river snatched them away again.

Tsang won $192,000, nearly double his buy-in, for finishing ninth.

There then followed the start of the Phua show. There are few players in world poker with the survival instincts of the Malaysian, and he was assisted by a nice triple up with queens through Watson and Soyza, with jacks and eights, respectively.

Phua latterly doubled up again, keeping his head above water, and he was still a participant rather than a spectator when Ali Imsirovic’s run ended in seventh.

Ali Imsirovic makes his way from the table

Imsirovic perished in a blind-versus-blind collision with Vogelsang: losing out to . Nevertheless, the flag of Bosnia & Herzegovina now features on the Triton rankings table as Imsirovic picked up $251,700 for his debut cash.

Time then caught up with Phua, who left his own arena trophy-less again. Vogelsang had been on a bit of a tear and had recently doubled up through Jake Schindler, with bettering Schindler’s . Vogelsang made a straight.

He demonstrated again the power of the suited connectors in the hand that bust Phua, but this time did it by spiking a jack when he got it in with against Phua’s black pocket tens.

Phua flopped a flush draw on the all-spade board, but it was the jack lurking there, plus the club and diamond on turn and river, that sealed Phua’s fate. Cash No 17 came with $324,500.

Vogelsang’s fortunes did not change. He still had the golden touch — and he got a bit of help for the next elimination from his countryman Mulder.

Mulder pulled off a big double up, of 890,000, getting his to beat Soyza’s . He flopped a king. That meant that Soyza was damaged and short when he got his chips in with and was picked off by Vogelsang’s .

Vogelsang flopped a queen, Soyza couldn’t improve, and the second and final Malaysian went to the cage for a $410,500 payout.

Michael Soyza: Two tournaments, two cashes so far this week

As they had in the day’s other tournament, stacks had really shallowed in this huge buy-in event. Dvoress and Schindler were in the blinds when the next pivotal hand played out.

Dvoress raised from the small blind with and Schindler defended his big with . The flop was an intriguing .

Dvoress moved all-in, with his stack of 2.5 million covering the 940,000 of Schindler. Schindler had the better hand and found the right call, and then improved to a flush on the turn. Dvoress still had full house outs, but didn’t find one of them, meaning Schindler found an emphatic double.

That became even more relevant on the very next hand, when Dvoress had on the button and ripped in his last 1.6 million. Schindler found , reshoved to remove Mulder, and then knocked out Dvoress when the board was dry.

Dvoress took $529,000 after the one-two sucker punch combo from Schindler.

Very shortly after Dvoress was knocked out, the other Canadian hit the rail. Watson had been the biggest stack of all when they got to the final, but he was powerless in the face of Schindler’s resurgence.

Schindler had and Watson . The problem was the king on board and the better kicker for Schindler, after they played through all five streets. Watson snap-called Schindler’s river shove and learned the bad news.

Watson won $683,300, but was clearly hugely disappointed by the outcome.

Schindler was on a roll, but he quickly hit the skids. There soon came that enormous skirmish with Mulder, when the Dutchman opened pocket fours, Schindler three-bet, Mulder four-bet shoved and Schindler called.

The flop was , only good for the jacks. And the turn didn’t hurt Schindler either. However the river was a real sickener and left the lone American with fumes.

Schindler did manage to double up a couple of times, and might actually have vaulted back into real contention in what proved to be his final hand. Schindler had to Vogelsang’s , and the flop brought something for both of them. It came .

Schindler’s two pair was good still after the turn but once again he was killed by the river. This one was the , completing Vogelsang’s flush. GG Jake.

Jake Schindler couldn’t upset the Dutchmen

That left the two Dutch buddies to do battle, and Mulder had the significant chip lead. Although they did not make any deal official — and we don’t know the details of any arrangement they might have made off the table — the heads up lasted all of three hands.

Both players made a straight with the board showing , but Mulder had the stranglehold with his to Vogelsang’s .

And that closed out another remarkable episode on the Triton Poker Series. Truly extraordinary.

“I love Triton,” Mulder said. “Compared to all the other series, I think this is the best.” Triton loves you back, Teun.

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION
EVENT 2: $100K EIGHT-HANDED NLHE

Dates: April 3-4, 2022
Entries: 69 (inc. 31 re-entries)
Prize pool: $6,624,000

1 – Teun Mulder, Netherlands, $1,940,000
2 – Tom Vogelsang, Netherlands, $1,390,000
3 – Jake Schindler, USA, $903,000
4 – Mike Watson, Canada, $683,300
5 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada, $529,000
6 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia, $410,500
7 – Paul Phua, Malaysia, $324,500
8 – Ali Imsirovic, Bosnia & Herzegovina, $251,700
9 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong, $192,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

CRAZY TURBO ENDS WITH FUN AND FAMOUS VICTORY FOR SHORT-STACK SPECIALIST EIBINGER

One of the most tense, fun and at times bizarre tournaments played out at the Triton Series Special Edition in Cyprus tonight, and ended with a debut win for the young Austrian player Matthias Eibinger.

“It’s mine!” Eibinger said, reaching for the trophy that had found its way to the table between him and Ben Heath, the last two players. Eibinger knew it might easily have gone any one of five or six other places, with Heath himself also very close to winning.

The tournament, a $50K no limit hold’em turbo, was a late addition to the schedule but proved to be supremely popular, with 41 entries generating a prize pool of $1,988,500.

All of the players in Triton events are so skilful that they know precisely how to navigate the most unpredictable tournament conditions, and circumstances dictated this time that it would end in a crazy crapshoot for hundreds of thousands of dollars after stacks got so short that practically every move was an all-in push.

This played into Eibinger’s hands, as he acknowledged at the end.

“For sure you can study these spots,” Eibinger said. “My background was sit and gos, hyper sit and gos, so I’m super confident with short stacks, with 10 big blinds and below. I liked it. I wasn’t used to everybody having three, four, five big blinds, but in the end things went for me. I was comfortable, and I was able to take it down. I’m really happy about that.”

Heads up between Matthias Eibinger, left, and Ben Heath

He added: “I was really missing live poker a lot, so I was super happy when Triton announced this series. I just love it. I think every win is a little bit unique, but I think I’m especially happy about this one because Triton sets new standards for tournament series these days and being able to win one of them is really special to me.”

Eibinger’s victory, his first under the Triton branding, earned him a payday of $676,000. (By his own admission, he fired multiple bullets, so the profit wasn’t as much as it might seem.) Heath took $467,500 for second, with Mikita Badziakouski an unlucky third.

After the happy abandon of the late registration period, the tournament slimmed down to its final table in double-quick time. However, only six players were due to be paid, so making the final table alone was not good enough.

There followed an absolutely tortuous bubble period, where the clock kept relentlessly ticking but nobody was knocked out. That meant the number of big blinds in play lowered and lowered and lowered, until anything more than about seven big blinds was a big stack.

Chin Wei Lim was the shortest of all, and he he only had two big blinds when he was forced to put one in the pot involuntarily. Sam Greenwood opened from early position and Lim had little option to call, even though he had just .

Greenwood’s hand was and it held up. That meant we finally went down to the last six, guaranteed at least $139K each, and only 83 big blinds between them.

In the money in the turbo (l-r): Mikita Badziakouski, Chris Brewer, Ben Heath, Sam Greenwood, Matthias Eibinger, Phil Ivey.

“I’m extremely unwilling to fold,” Chris Brewer said not long after. He had assumed the short stack after a couple of others had doubled. Ben Heath tested that resolve when he raised from the button with Brewer in the big blind.

Brewer instantly tossed in his last three big blinds for the call, but had run into a hand. Brewer’s was no match for Heath’s .

“I quit,” Brewer said sarcastically. “That’s frustrating,” he added with more sincerity. He won $139,000.

If it was any consolation, his compatriot Phil Ivey lasted only one more hand. Ivey shoved his own last three big blinds with king-queen and Badziakouski busted the American great. Ivey took $179,000.

There then followed some even more ridiculous short-stack action. Greenwood doubled through Badziakouski. Eibinger doubled through Greenwood. Eibinger doubled again through Heath. And then again. And then, finally, Greenwood was the next man out — and got a rough beat.

Greenwood’s last 1.6 million went in (eight big blinds) with and Heath called with . There was a two on the flop and Greenwood was gone. He won $228,500.

At this stage, Badziakouski was the big stack, as he had been for much of this final, and he was punishing his opponents with regular shoves. However, he went on a precipitous downswing three-handed as both Heath and Eibinger continued to double up through him.

At one stage, the three of them had almost identical stacks of 2.7 million (10 big blinds) each — “I’m the short stack and also the chip leader,” joked Eibinger — but he then assumed just the latter of those with the latest double through Badziakouski.

This one was versus of Badziakouski and it left the Belorussian with only 200,000, which was less than one big blind. “Just the starting stack,” Badziakouski said, dripping with gallows humour.

Mikita Badziakouski back with his starting stack

He was out next hand when Heath’s pocket threes stayed strong against . Badziakouski, a three-time Triton winner, couldn’t make it four. He took $298,500 for this result.

The pattern established early continued through heads-up play, with Heath getting lucky to double his short stack with against Eibinger’s . The king came on the flop.

But then Eibinger doubled back with against Heath’s .

The final hand came when Eibinger had a slight lead and to Heath’s . This time there was no outdraw, and Eibinger was the champion.

Eibinger has previously sat out the short deck events, so this might be his last appearance in a Triton branded event in Cyprus. But with the collaboration with the Super High Roller Bowl meaning there are plenty more no limit hold’em tournaments to come, back Eibinger to hit the money again.

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION
EVENT 6: $50K EIGHT-HANDED NLHE TURBO

Date: April 4, 2022
Entries: 41 (inc. 9 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,988,500

1 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria, $676,000
2 – Ben Heath, UK, $467,500
3 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus, $298,500
4 – Sam Greenwood, Canada, $228,500
5 – Phil Ivey, USA, $179,000
6 – Chris Brewer, USA, $139,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

BULLETS FLY IN LAST-GASP $50K TURBO RUSH

The Triton Series Special Edition in Cyprus will tomorrow take on a slightly different tone. That’s when we start the short deck hold’em half of the festival, the format favoured by the biggest gamblers from Asia.

The purists who prefer “regular” no limit hold’em had one last chance to play their best game tonight, when organisers were persuaded to add a $50K buy-in turbo to the schedule. It hadn’t originally been planned that way, but player power spoke and the Triton Series staff delivered.

The players duly played their part too, turning up in their droves and buying in in a frenzy — never more so than in the final 10 minutes before registration closed on the tournament, shutting out NLHE experts for the remainder of the week.

This phase of the Triton tournaments is quickly becoming the best bit to watch, when we learn what’s considered a good enough hand to risk it all, based on the “double-up or head to the re-entry desk” philosophy.

In that 10 minute period, there were at least three eliminations, all of whom swiftly re-entered. (Amid it all, both Phil Ivey and Dan Cates also showed up and sat down to play for the first time.)

Let’s look at those eliminations. On Table 3, Chris Brewer pushed from the button with about 20 big blinds. Cary Katz, in the small blind, moved in too, with a stack about half the size of Brewer’s.

“That’s not what I wanted to see,” Brewer said.
“You’re OK,” Katz assured him.

As it turned out, they were racing. Katz had and Brewer had . The flop brought the alongside two jacks and Brewer took the lead. He retained it through the turn and river, and Katz was out.

Straight to the cage, and he was back again.

Only a few hands later, something very similar occurred. This time Johan Guilbert raised from under the gun and Brewer moved all-in, covering Guilbert. The blinds folded and Guilbert flicked in the call.

Brewer:
Guilbert:

The dealer put the board out there, and Brewer won this one too. Guilbert was out.

Johan Guilbert is out. Johan Guilbert is back in.

Straight to the cage, and he was back again.

One table over, Vladi Chaoulov open shoved with and he was picked off by Laszlo Bujtas with .

Although this tournament is taking place entirely away from the television stage, this was a made-for-TV run out. The gave a straight draw for Chaoulov.

He hit it on the turn, but that also brought a flush draw for Bujtas. The river completed that flush. Chaoulov was out.

Vladi Chaoulov is out. Vladi Chaoulov is back in.

Straight to the cage, and he was back again. This time he was put back in the wxact same seat as well.

Registration finally closed with the total number of entries hitting 41. Nine of them were re-entries. It meant that the prize-pool came in at $1.988 million, and the winner set to receive $676,000.

And now if you’re out, you’re out.

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION
EVENT 6: $50K EIGHT-HANDED NLHE TURBO

Date: April 4, 2022
Entries: 41 (inc. 9 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,988,500

1 – $676,000
2 – $467,500
3 – $298,500
4 – $228,500
5 – $179,000
6 – $139,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

‘EVERYONE IS A VIP’: THE PLAYER’S EXPERIENCE ON THE TRITON SERIES

The Triton Series prides itself as being the most player friendly tournament operator in the world. But how come? What does this series offer that others do not?

The short answer is that everyone who plays on the Triton Series is considered a VIP. That means the red carpet treatment for everyone, beginning when a personalised invitation hits the inbox, through assistance with travel arrangements, and a 24-hour dedicated concierge service while at the events.

The result is the smoothing of all of the corners that can sometimes be sharp for a professional gambler. There are enough stresses presented by the game of poker itself without needing to worry about whatever is happening off the tables.

“The players spend so much money, and the deal they get is something they deserve,” says Kate Badurek, Triton’s head of VIP Player Services. “I want to make sure that they’re super happy. They’re here for a long time, and they have a right to be comfortable.”

Badurek formerly worked as a poker tournament director, and has a thorough knowledge of the demands of the game. But she is also sympathetic to the requirements of people whose work means extensive travel, separation from loved ones, and long periods away from home comforts.

Thankfully, everyone at Triton Series is keen to put the players first, and Badurek’s sole focus is their wellbeing. Players can rely on complimentary accommodation, airport transfers, food and drink, for example, plus a clear, “Yes, we can work that out,” to even the most tricky requests.

“Some of the players have PAs, but many of them don’t,” Badurek says. “So that’s what I am. I hope they see me as their PA. They can ask me for anything they need. Everyone is super appreciative of what our VIP services do.”

For this event in Cyprus, any players playing tournaments with a total combined buy-in of $300,000 or more were guaranteed:

15 nights complimentary accommodation at the Merit Royal Hotel

VIP car transfer from Ercan or Larnaca Internation Airports

Complimentary food and beverage

Exclusive gift box, containing latest range in Triton-branded merchandise

Full concierge service

Invitation to exclusive players party at resort bar/restaurant

Andy Wong, Triton Series CEO, welcomes players to Cyprus

The food and beverage offer is especially attractive here in Cyprus, where Paul Phua has arranged a dedicated four-person team of chefs to fly in to provide premium Chinese food, 24 hours a day. All players can order from an exclusive Chinese menu, in addition to the numerous restaurants at the Merit resort.

The Triton team has many years of experience in knowing the kinds of things that poker players want, and Badurek makes sure to travel with bags of phone chargers, adapters, power banks, etc., and anything that gets easily left behind during rapid suitcase packing. “All these things are close by,” she says.

She will also have phone numbers of hotel managers, taxi companies and casino cages to arrange room changes, pick-ups and wire transfers at all hours.

“We have learned. We also always organise extra waiting staff, so there’s never a time when someone is not in the tournament area. There are massage therapists always available. And I can be the ‘trusted person’, the go between, when players are wiring large amounts of money to casinos they have maybe never played in before.”

In Cyprus, the first event since the Covid-19 pandemic, Badurek has also been in charge of arranging lateral flow tests for all players, making the tournament room as safe as possible.

It means that her list of WhatsApp messages now also includes a stream of photos of negative Covid tests, sometimes delivered with a personal message from the high rollers providing them.

Michael Addamo receives his Triton gift box

With invitations recently hitting inboxes for Triton’s next event — the details of which will be made public soon — more messages have been flooding in than ever before. But coping with the torrent is simple when it’s something you enjoy.

One recent message, sent to a Triton regular, read: “I’m here for you guys and I really love my job. So glad we’re finally back. If there’s anything I can assist you with, please let me know at any time!”

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

CRAZINESS AS REGISTRATION CLOSES PUTS $6.6M IN EVENT #2 PRIZE POOL

Organisers made a late change to the structure for Event #2 at the Triton Series Special Edition here in Cyprus. The tournament was supposed to play 10 levels on its opening day, with registration closing before Day 2 began, but it actually concluded after nine levels instead, which meant one level with registration still open today.

That of course meant 40 minutes of re-entry mayhem, with players taking aggressive lines in the attempt to build a stack, knowing they can try again if it doesn’t work out. It also meant a sudden surge in the prize-pool, which is why everyone particularly enjoys these tournaments.

“Welcome back!” Elton Tsang said to Viacheslav Buldygin, as the Russian player sat down at an outer table early in the level.

“I busted the first hand,” Buldygin said. He had been the tournament short stack at the end of Day 1, late last night, returning with 11 big blinds. They went in and he went out.

Viacheslav Buldygin: Two bullets fired on Day 2

Then he bought back in again for another bullet.

This time he fared slightly better, knocking out Johan Guilbert in a blind-versus-blind confrontation. Guilbert had a short stack and shoved over Buldygin’s open. Buldygin’s beat Guilbert’s and the French high roller went looking for another stack.

You might have thought that would be enough to see Buldygin into the freezeout stage, but no. His stack evaporated again soon after, prompting another buy-in.

Buldygin’s empty chair was left swinging in the breeze, alongside that occupied by Phil Ivey. Ivey also joined this $100K buy-in event today, after making the final of the $50K last night. To Ivey’s right is Tsang, with that pair revising their rivalry from yesterday. The two of them sat on the feature table stage as Andras Nemeth charged to the title.

On the subject of Nemeth, he of course is back in action, and the random seating assignment has put him back on the feature table — and back next to Laszlo Bujtas, the countryman who he beat to the crown.

Andras Nemeth & Laszlo Bujtas: Back again on the feature table

In case you missed it, those two Hungarians were heads up at the end of Event 1, meaning the only two Hungarians ever to play on the Triton Series have a win and a runner-up place to their names.

The craziness continued on Ivey’s table, with a three-way all-in sending Lun Loon to the rail. It’s not clear how all the money made it in the middle, but the short-stacked Loon was under the gun with pocket fives, Ivan Leow was in the small blind with pocket nines, and Michael Soyza had aces in the big blind.

The flop brought nothing for anyone, meaning Soyza took the last of Loon’s stack and doubled through Leow for good measure.

Michael Soyza, centre, finds aces at the right time

Eventually, at around 1:50pm local time, registration finally closed. The carnage ended with a total 69 entries, including 31 re-entries, and a prize pool of $6.624 million.

Nine places will be paid, with the winner getting $1.94 million. It’s just another day on this rich and sometimes ridiculous series.

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION
EVENT 2: $100K EIGHT-HANDED NLHE

Dates: April 3-4, 2022
Entries: 69 (inc. 31 re-entries)
Prize pool: $6,624,000

1 – $1,940,000
2 – $1,390,000
3 – $903,000
4 – $683,300
5 – $529,000
6 – $410,500
7 – $324,500
8 – $251,700
9 – $192,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive