Category: 2024

“We got a game!” shouted Elton Tsang, flexing his muscles and pumping his arms as the players assembled for the final day of an extraordinary Triton Series Cash Game Invitational at the Maestral Resort and Casino, Montenegro.

Tsang was jubilant because tournament organisers had just confirmed the stakes for this last day: blinds of $2K/$5K with a $5K big blind ante. We had indeed got a game.

For Tsang, the bigger the better. Despite a hiccup yesterday, he has been by far the biggest winner through the previous six days and now here he was with one last shot to boost that bankroll even more.

Tsang was appropriately seated in Seat 1 for the opening exchanges. He’s been in the top spot throughout. But there was no way he was going to have it all his own way, not with the rest of the table filled by yesterday’s big winner, Ferdinand, then other usual suspects Paul Phua, ST Wang, Andy Ni and Tan Xuan.

The two pros as as things got started were Danny Tang and Patrik Antonius, with Adrian Mateos and Brian Kim preparing to join later in the evening.

Suffice to say that we did, indeed, have a game. Here are some selected highlights.

FIRST HAND FELTING FOR ANDY NI

The history that has developed over the previous six days clearly played into the first hand of the final session. In it, Andy Ni, a player of measured aggression, made a crying call with fourth pair on a paired board, for all his chips, and turned $500K into dust in a single hand. Yep. Ni lost his first bullet on the very first hand of the session.

The man to profit was the ultimate Triton wild-card, Tan Xuan, who had the Mystery Hand on the opening deal. ST Wang opened the pot with a raise to $15,000 in the hijack with and Ni, in the cutoff, had black pocket sevens and called.

Xuan was in the small blind and he put in a three-bet to $62,000. Only Ni called.

The board brought two over-cards to Ni’s sevens. It was . Xuan led out for $75,000 and Ni called it.

The came on the turn and Xuan led again, this time for $140,000. Ni now had three cards out there that were bigger than his pocket pair, but he was still an unbeliever. He called. Then the completed the board.

Xuan had bought in for $1 million at the start of play, double everyone else’s $500,000, so when he jammed it was Ni who had the effective stack. Ni took awhile but then tossed in the call, quickly learning that Xuan had for trips.

Xuan therefore stacked up $1.5 million. Ni had to beckon over the chip runner for $500K more.

PRO VS. PRO FOR $1M

It took only another 10 minutes before we saw our second $1m pot of the night, but this time it was a hand that played out between the two pros at the table, Patrik Anotnius and Danny Tang. It took the commentators by surprise, who weren’t expecting to see such apparent abandon from the players whose play tends to be a little more measured.

Antonius had and opened from UTG to $12,000. Tang, one seat over, had and three-bet to $38,000. Their table position pointed to extreme strength and the other players shied away.

The flop was the all-action and Antonius check-called Tang’s $20,000 bet. That brought the on the turn.

Both players now had a pair. Tang’s was bigger, but Antonius had the flush draw too. Antonius checked, Tang bet $90,000 and to the surprise of all, Antonius ripped it in for $442,000. Tang was confused, but decided to call. He was ahead by a significant margin.

They decided to run the river twice, with a blank giving the first run to Tang, but the river earning Antonius half the pot.

PHUA FLUSHES WANG FOR $1M

The session was not even 45 minutes old and the third million dollar pot appeared. This one wasn’t chopped, even though Tan Xuan bizarrely took delivery of a samurai sword from a friend on the rail just at the hand’s denouement.

Xuan wasn’t actually in this hand. Instead, it was Boss Man Paul Phua, going up against ST Wang. Phua had the Mystery Hand to start things off, and he raised to $13,000 with it from the hijeck. Wang, with , was the lone caller, in the cutoff.

Wang hit top pair after the flop. Phua led for $16,000 and Wang called. The turn brought the . Phua now slowed to a check but Wang took over with a bet of $38,000. Phua wasn’t slowing down at all, actually. He put in the check-raise to $125,000. Wang called.

The river was the and Phua jammed for $360,000. That put Wang into the tank. Through the whole week, Phua has been playing pretty cute. He certainly hasn’t been caught bluffing in huge spots on many, if any, occasions. Nevertheless, Wang thought something was up here. He made the call with his pair of aces.

Phua revealed the Mystery Hand. It was . That flush was good enough for a $1,040,000 pot.

ANTONIUS HAS COME TO PLAY

By the standards set early on this final day, a pick-up of “only” around $170K might seem meagre. But the way Patrik Antonius did this one was delightful. Antonius and ST Wang played all the way with not much in either of their hands. But then push came to shove, it was Antonius who pushed hardest.

Wang opened the pot with , making it $15,000 from the cutoff. Antonius looked down at and three-bet to $45,000 on the button. This hand might easily have ended there, but Wang found a four-bet to $105,000. And then Antonius, with the solver-approved hand, called in position.

Wang flopped top pair on a monotone flop of . He bet $50,000. Antonius called. They then both checked the turn.

The river changed almost nothing, but after Wang checked, Antonius saw his chance. He bet $355,000, leaving only $3,000 behind, which put Wang to the test with his second pair. Ultimately Wang decided to let this one go, none the wiser that Antonius had been at it with his ace high.

It’s the power of position. But it’s also the power of Antonius.

Only an orbit or so later, Antonius was back at the bluffing game, this time forcing Tan Xuan and Andy Ni into folding better hands. Xuan opened to $12,000 with from UTG+1 and Antonius called in the cutoff. Ni found in the small blind and squeezed up to $59,000. Both Xuan and Antonius called.

Antonius, for the record, had the mighty .

Nobody hit anything on the flop and they all checked. That took them to the turn, when none of them had anything still. Antonius tried to buy in here with a bet to $750,000. Ni was the first to back down, but Xuan paid to see the river with his flush draw and over-cards.

The completed the board and Xuan’s ace was now the most powerful card out there. But he checked, which allowed Antonius to blast $125,000 at it. The sizing seemed to suggest it wanted a call, which is perhaps exactly why Xuan didn’t do it. He folded, allowing Antonius to get away with another one.

TSANG BUILDING STEADILY AGAIN

Elton Tsang managed to put together another near million-dollar profit before the mid-session interval today, including taking a pot of $600,000 from Danny Tang. This was actually a case of what might have been, but the two campaigners backed down from a big river duel.

Tang opened from UTG+1 with pocket nines. He made it $13,000 to play. Tsang found in the small blind and three-bet to $55,000. Tang called.

Tsang hit one of his over cards when the dealer put the flop out there. Tsang bet $40,000, but Tang wasn’t going anywhere yet. He called to see the turn. Tsang bet another $200,000, having added a flush draw to his pair. Tang called once more.

The completed the board and Tsang took a long, long time pondering whether to go looking for some thin value. He took a good couple of minutes before thinking better of it and checking it over to Tang.

“He’s not checking to fold,” Randy Lew said, in the commentary booth.

Tang didn’t ponder all that long. His nines had showdown value and he checked it back. Tsang’s pair of kings were good and this brought his stack up to around $1.9 million, $900K of which was profit.

NI AND XUAN: GET A ROOM

Yet more shenanigans featuring Tan Xuan and Andy Ni, who have both been superbly entertaining this entire week at the Triton Cash Game Invitational. They can surely be expecting an invitation for the next one.

In this hand, Elton Tsang opened things with , making it $13,000 from UTG+1. Ni found suited connectors, and put in a three-bet to $36,000 from the hijack. But then Xuan found pocket tens in the small blind and four-bet to $115,000.

For the Cash Game Invitational, this was standard.

What was perhaps unexpected was that Tsang folded. Ni, however, made the call and the pair saw the flop of . Tsang would have flopped two pair, but the active players both missed. No matter. Xuan rifled $75,000 at it and Ni called with absolutely nothing.

The only card that could possibly give Ni encouragement was the , and he found it on the turn. Xuan, however, wasn’t done. He took a $100K stab at it. Now sitting with a big combo draw, Ni clicked the all-in button. He had $221,000 in his stack.

Surely Xuan couldn’t call this, with only third pair, could he? He nearly did. But ultimately he let it go and the chips went Ni’s way.

SURPRISE SURPRISE: XUAN BLUFFS AGAIN

Adrian Mateos and Brian Kim came in to replace Danny Tang and Patrik Antonius. The departing two fared slightly differently than each other, with Antonius recording a health profit and Tang licking his wounds.

But the pros had to wait a little while to get involved because ST Wang, Elton Tsang and Tan Xuan, yet again, got involved in the first significant pot. It was the very first deal after they had sat down after dinner.

Wang, who was nursing a deficit of around $1.7 million at this stage, had UTG and he raised to $13,000. Xuan, comfortably in the black for his night, called on the button, but then Tsang found in the big blind. He three-bet to $88,000. Only Xuan called. His cards were disguised from viewers on the stream.

The flop was and Tsang check-called Xuan’s bet of $38,000. They then both checked the turn. The river still didn’t connect with Tsang’s hand, but he put out a bet of $5,000 — in this game, only one big blind.

If this was meant to be a blocker, it didn’t quite work. Xuan put $160,000 forward. Tsang had the ace-king to go with the sevens on the board, but couldn’t quite find the call. He would have been good if he’d managed it. Xuan had for one more bluff.

MATEOS TAKES HEAPS; WANG WITH BRILLIANT FOLD

ST Wang ended today’s session with a loss of more than $1.1 million. But it might have been even worse for him had he not trusted his instincts in a pot against Adrian Mateos and Paul Phua in which he dumped the second nuts, and was right to.

This was an incredible fold, which came about in a hand that began with a raise to $15,000 from UTG from Mateos and a call from Paul Phua in the cutoff. Mateos’ hand only became known to viewers of the stream at the end, by which point all his chips were in the middle. Phua, however, had and Wang, who also decided to call in the big blind, had .

The flop brought top pair and a straight draw for Phua, with Wang picking up a flush draw. It was . Wang checked. Mateos checked. Phua bet $31,000 and Wang now put in the check-raise to $100,000. Both Mateos and Phua called.

The turn helped nobody and all three players checked. That brought the on the river, which filled everything. Phua now had his straight and Wang now had his flush. But after Wang checked, it was Mateos who took over. He broke cover with a shove for $385,000.

Phua took a moment but he called. And that put the decision back on Wang. He had the king high flush, but reasoned that the action before him suggested he might be beaten. He made a startling fold, especially given how deep in the hole he was.

Phua showed his straight, but Mateos revealed his for the nut flush. He took down the $1.12 million pot, with Wang saving himself an additional $300K.

MATEOS PULLS TRIGGER AGAIN; TSANG PONDERS FIRING BACK

Adrian Mateos won another big pot with the best hand here, but it was a case of what might have been for Elton Tsang. Tan Xuan played a bit-part, with an opening raise to $12,000 from UTG sitting with . Tsang called the cutoff with and Mateos, in the small blind, found . He three-bet to $65,000.

Both opponents called, meaning three players looked at the flop of . Mateos bet $65,000 with his ace high and the betting lead. Only Tsang called with his flush draw.

The turn was the and Mateos bet $200,000 at it. Tsang called again, taking them to the river. Mateos now bet $310,000, essentially bluffing with the best hand. Tsang could not call with his junk, but he pondered a long time whether he could potentially jam and get Mateos to fold.

Mateos had about $266,000 still behind, with Tsang covering that. It seemed that Tsang had smelt a rat and perhaps thought he could push Mateos away, claiming the $1.045 million pot for himself.

In the end, Tsang either reasoned he couldn’t get Mateos to fold, or he just thought better of the plan. He folded, allowing Mateos to take it. But Tsang’s senses are strong. He seemed to know something was up.

NI FELTS G IN OLDEST COOLER

Tony G took Paul Phua’s seat for the last frame of the night, the last frame of the entire festival, but he couldn’t make it until the end. That’s because he got his entire stack in pre-flop with pocket kings but rammed them into Andy Ni’s pocket aces, and the dealer did not deliver any more drama.

Tan Xuan actually started the action in the hand, raising to $13,000 with from the hijack. Tony G, in the cutoff, saw his kings and made it $50,000, but then Ni saw his aces in the big blind and four-bet to $155,000.

Xuan folded quickly, and it didn’t take all that much longer for Tony G to announce that he was all-in, for $636,000. Ni snapped him off, and Tony G quickly sensed the worst. “Aces?” G asked. Ni nodded.

There was a hasty conversation about whether to run it once or twice, but Tony G wanted the pain over quickly. “Once,” he said.

Players and friends and spectators crowded around the table to see the dealer deliver a dry board. Tony G hastily made his exit as the $1.242 pot went to Ni.

****

With that, the inaugural cash game festival drew gradually to its conclusion. It delivered everything that had been expected: enormous hands; enormous swings; massive pots; massive profits. One suspects this will not be the last of these.

DAY 7 PROFIT/LOSS

UP

Ferdinand: +$426,000
Patrik Antonius: +$413,000
Elton Tsang: +$259,000
Adrian Mateos: +$174,000
Andy Ni: +$153,000
Paul Phua: +$118,000
Brian Kim: +$112,000

DOWN

Danny Tang: -$42,000
Tan Xuan: -$179,000
Tony G: -$500,000
ST Wang: -$938,000

Photography by Drew Amato

It was another night and another Elton Tsang clinic at the Triton Series Cash Game Invitational at the Maestral Resort in Montenegro. Not content with two sessions in which he has won round about $1 million apiece, Tsang became the first player to break the $2 million for a night on Thursday, tightening his stranglehold on a festival featuring only the very best.

Remarkably, Tsang found himself on the wrong side of an aces versus queens cooler within the opening exchanges on Thursday, losing all but loose change of his first $500K buy-in. But Tsang ran as pure as the driven snow from that moment on, barely putting a foot wrong as he built the biggest stack of anyone at any time this week.

This was another night of staggeringly deep-stacked poker, from which Andy Ni emerged with a near million-dollar profit as well. Recent WSOP seventh placed finisher Brian Kim made his cash-game invitational debut and padded his bankroll by another $300K, but it wasn’t quite such easy going for Patrik Antonius, who ended in the red.

It was, though, another great night of entertainment for the thousands watching the stream on Triton Series’ online platforms. Tan Xuan, Ferdinand, Handz, Elizabeth Chen, ST Wang and Triton co-founder Paul Phua all played their part in the fireworks. There was even a late glimpse of Phil Ivey, who arrived to give Phua a break after a very difficult evening.

Here are a few of the standout hands from another exceptional night.

A COOLER, AN OUTDRAW AND A REDRAW GETS THINGS GOING

“This deck is choosing violence early,” said Ali Nejad in the Triton commentary booth. The day was only about eight minutes old and Tan Xuan had already taken a few hundred thousand from Andy Ni with kings against ace-jack when the dealer set up an even more chilly cooler.

This time, Ferdinand found a pair of pocket aces at the same time as Elton Tsang found queens. And it wasn’t even either of those who put in the opening raise.

Handz had pocket fours and made it $10,000 from UTG+1, the first to speak in a straddled pot. Ferdinand laid his trap with a call from one seat over, and Tsang was there to topple into it, raising to $40,000 with his .

Handz made a quick call. He was going to set-mine with his low pocket pair. But Ferdinand now decided he would break cover. He raised to $130,000. Lucky for Ferdinand, Tsang had that big pair of his own and he jammed for $509,000. Handz now folded but Ferdinand snap-called and, just like that, there was $1,052,000 in the pot.

They decided to run it only once. And it was a decision that Ferdinand perhaps regretted as the dealer put the on the turn. However, the came on the river for an amazing re-draw, and just like that Ferdinand had the first seven-figure stack, while Tsang readily reloaded.

ANOTHER COLD-DECK; BOSS CHILLED

Any thoughts that the deck might be warming up quickly evaporated as Paul Phua and Ferdinand again both found big pairs in their hands. This time, Phua — aka Mr Paul, or just Boss in the Triton world — picked up pocket kings and raised to $11,000, only for Ferdinand to find pocket queens and three-bet to $35,000.

Phua found the four-bet to $100,000, which Ferdinand called, and he was quickly rewarded by the sight of the flop. For the second time, pocket queens became a set.

Phua bet $75,000 and Ferdinand opted just to call. That brought the on the turn, as blank as a card could possibly be. Phua shoved for $313,000 and Ferdinand snapped him off, setting up another pot of close to $1 million. (It was $988,000 to be precise.)

They arranged some kind of insurance deal before the undramatic river. Phua got a small amount back from the deal, but Ferdinand took the vast majority in another tense early cooler. It had been a fine, fine start for Ferdinand.

ANTONIUS WANTS TO BE A HERO

In most other circumstances, this hand would have gone nowhere. But in the Triton Series streets, there’s no such thing as straightforward.

Action folded all the way around to Patrik Antonius in the big blind, who had only Elton Tsang, in the straddle, still with cards. Antonius looked down on and raised to $16,000.

Tsang’s straddle hand was also the Mystery Hand, hidden from viewers on the stream. Tsang called and it’s safe to say he could have absolutely any two cards. The flop fell and Antonius whiffed. Tsang bet $15,000, but Antonius was not going anywhere just yet. He raised to $45,000, likely to try to extract a bit more information what he was up against.

Tsang called and the pair saw the on the turn. Antonius led out for $125,000, continuing to tell his story. But Tsang wasn’t buying it. He called, with the now completing the board. Antonius checked, but Tsang fired $300,000.

Antonius had nothing but ace high, but he has played with Elton Tsang a lot. He clearly felt as though this was a spot he might possibly be good. He agonised for a good while before letting it go, but maybe should have trusted his instincts. Tsang had only , for a gutshot and overcards that didn’t connect.

Tsang’s bluff earned him this one, with Antonius taking a small hit.

FERDINAND TAKES A HIT

Ferdinand’s excellent start earned him the first seven-figure stack at the table. But Elton Tsang had designs on it, and managed to snaffle a huge chunk.

The hand began with a raise to $11,000 from Andy Ni, sitting with . Ferdinand, whose hand was concealed to viewers of the stream at this point, called from the button, which moved action over to Tsang in the straddle with black pocket nines. Tsang three-bet to $55,000. Ni folded.

Ferdinand, however, called, which took the pair to a flop of . That meant a set for Tsang. He put out a tiny bet of $30,000, which only prompted Ferdinand to bump it up. He raised to $85,000.

Tsang now three-bet to $170,000, but Ferdinand ripped it in. He had the covering stack, meaning Tsang’s $589,000 was effective. Tsang called.

Ferdinand had flopped top pair and a monster combo draw. He had , which meant any diamond or any ten or five would give him better than Tsang’s top set.

In a spot where many players might have run it two, three, four times, these two played it straight. One turn and one river. And the followed by the missed Ferdinand on both occasions.

With that, Tsang won a $1.3 million pot and was back in business.

XUAN TAKES HALF A MILLION WHEN HE HAS IT, FOR ONCE

One of the joys of this festival format for cash games is that players have been able to develop reputations and reads on the same opponents, which is making even the most mundane pot seem so much more complicated. Take this one between Tan Xuan and Andy Ni, two of the players who have put more hours in than most, with it being far from certain what either of them could be playing.

ST Wang got things started, raising to $11,000 from UTG+1 with . Ni, one seat over, called with and everyone else cleared out the way until Xuan peeked at in the big blind and raised it to $57,000.

Was it a squeeze, or did he have it? Wang decided he couldn’t pay to find out, but Ni put the extra in and they went to a flop of .

Xuan flopped top pair but, of course, he could have flopped absolutely anything or nothing. His check gave nothing away, and Ni checked back. The turn was the . Xuan now bet $60,000, which kept Ni interested, and the dealer showed them the river.

Xuan cut out a bet of $150,000 and Ni, still none the wiser as to what Xuan could be playing, stuck in a call with third pair. It earned Xuan $555,000. He actually had the ace this time.

NI’S MYSTERY COSTS HANDZ

Andy Ni has been another absolute revelation this week in Montenegro, repeatedly heading home with a tody profit after playing near flawless cash-game poker. Handz became Ni’s latest victim in a pot that actually might have got even bigger in other circumstances.

Ni had the Mystery Hand when he raised to $11,000 from the cutoff. Handz was in the straddle with and was Ni’s only customer, flopping what looked pretty good. The board came .

Handz checked his top pair, with Ni c-betting $9,000. Handz called, keeping things small. The turn appeared to change nothing, with Handz checking again. Ni bet $38,000 and Handz made another call. The completed the board. Handz checked again. His top pair was completely disguised. But Ni rifled out another $115,000.

Handz continued with the established pattern and made the call, bringing the pot total to $354,000. Ni, however, had him crushed. His hand was revealed to be pocket jacks for a flopped set and this big one went in Ni’s direction.

NI VERSUS HANDZ AGAIN

A little bit more than an hour later, Ni and Handz played another fascinating pot against one another, closing out the second frame of the night with another win for Ni. Paul Phua played a bit part in this one, limping from the hijack with . Ni then raised to $28,000 from the button with and Handz found to call in the straddle. Phua cleared out the way.

The flop hit Handz more than Ni. It landed and Handz check-called Ni’s bet of $24,000. The now brought a flush draw for Ni and a wheel draw for both of them, but left Handz’ second-bottom pair still best. Handz checked and Ni checked too.

The river filled that flush for Ni. It was the . Handz checked again and Ni dipped into his stack for a bet of $140,000.

Handz still only had fourth pair, but he was just too interested to be able to fold it. He paid the extra, learned the bad news, and headed into the break more than $400K down for the session.

That was enough for Handz, who left for the day. Elizabeth Chen took his seat, with Brian Kim taking over from Patrik Antonius in the pro’s hot seat. Antonius’ debut on the Invitational’s streamed table ended with a $550,000 deficit.

CHEN STRAIGHT AT IT; TSANG AGAIN IN HER WAY

Elizabeth Chen wasted no time at all in getting involved in this huge game, as has been her way since day one. She won a small pot from Elton Tsang on the first deal, but didn’t find things quite so easy a few hands later, when she squared off against Tan Xuan.

Chen found and raised to $12,000 from the hijack. Xuan was in the cutoff with a pleasant looking and his three-bet to $35,000 cleared out everyone else. Chen was the only caller.

Chen flopped top two when the dealer showed them the , but Xuan also now had a flush draw. Chen checked, Xuan bet $27,000 and Chen called. The turn gave that flush to Xuan straight away.

Chen checked. Xuan piled in $67,000. The river was inconsequential. Chen checked again and Xuan sized up to $218,000. It was a gross spot for Chen, but she made a crying call with top two pair. Xuan duly bagged the $706,000 pot and Chen’s stack took a big hit.

PHUA TAKES ON TSANG

Sitting with a Mystery Hand, Paul Phua opened to $11,000 from UTG+1, first to act pre-flop because of the mandatory straddle. Brian Kim found pocket sevens and called, which then persuaded Elton Tsang, who was in the straddle , to call too with his .

Tsang flopped well. The dealer showed them the . Tsang checked, Phua bet $14,000, Kim binned his sevens, but Tsang called with his two pair.

His hand became even better after the turn, but Tsang checked again. Phua checked behind. That then brought the on the river.

Tsang now bet $65,000 and surely watched with glee as Phua raised to $225,000. Tsang maybe felt he could be beaten here, though, and just called instead of going for some more value. When Phua showed his pocket fours, for a rivered boat, Tsang perhaps realised he could have made even more than the $517,000 that headed his way.

NI PUTS THE POWER MOVE ON XUAN

Andy Ni and Tan Xuan have been playing their own game for a few days, and here’s another brilliant chapter. Ni was playing the Mystery Hand and it bamboozled Xuan into a fold when a call would have earned him close to $800K.

The pot began with a raise to $11,000 from Paul Phua UTG+2. Boss had the suited one gapper, with . Ni called in the cutoff, but Xuan three-bet to $70,000 also with a suited one-gapper, this time .

Phua thought better of it, but Ni called and the pair saw a flop of . Xuan’s check allowed Ni to take control of the betting lead and slide out $35,000. Xuan called it, and saw the turn. Xuan now had top pair, but checked again, and Ni continued with his line. He bet $145,000. Xuan called to push the pot past $500K and to see the on the river.

Xuan checked again, and Ni emptied the clip. He put $350,000 over the line. The board and the bet was too scary even for Xuan, who let his hand go. Ni quietly gave his back to the dealer, having pulled off one of the bluffs of the night.

MORE FOR NI IN ANOTHER MYSTERY HAND

The Andy Ni show continued, with the TV director giving the stream viewers a bit of a heads up that something was brewing by giving Ni the Mystery Hand again. It started innocuously, with a raise to $10,000 from Paul Phua, sitting on the button with and Ni called in the big blind. ST Wang came along from the straddle.

The flop brought three checks, then the turn from the dealer. Ni now led out for $29,000, only for Wang to raise to $90,000. Wang only had second pair, but Phua had potentially better. He had third pair and the nut flush draw. He called.

Ni, however, was not a fan. He squeezed out a three-bet, putting $250,000 into the middle. Wang had seen enough, but Phua decided to see if he could hit. He called. The river gave no further encouragement to Phua, but Ni now jammed, comfortably covering the $252K Phua had back.

Phua was in agony, but talked himself into a call. Ni thus showed his pocket fours to everyone, a turned set, and with it, the $1.1 million pot was his. It was especially grim for Phua, who was felted with the hand that he had a little while ago, but ran into a bigger boat that time.

XUAN’S FOURTH PAIR IS GOOD

Although the stakes are enormous in these Triton cash games, the table chat is invariably good natured. These guys are friends as well as rivals, and they absolutely love some of the nonsense situations they get themselves into.

In the last pot of the third frame tonight, ST Wang, Elton Tsang and Tan Xuan all went chasing a flush. But they were all after the same one, with Wang’s against Xuan’s and Tsang’s .

Everyone missed everything on the turn. But they all got some hope after the turn. The river still didn’t fill the flush, but it gave Xuan fourth pair — and that turned out to be good, for a pot of $439,000. Cue: much finger-wagging and table chatter.

TSANG TAKES MORE FROM XUAN

As they went into the final frame of the day, Phil Ivey took Paul Phua’s seat, meaning for the first time there were two pros at the table. Even Ivey couldn’t do too much to salvage a difficult session for Phua, but he did get a ringside seat for some more shenanigans from the players with the biggest stacks: Elton Tsang, Andy Ni and Tan Xuan.

In this pot, Xuan found and raised it up to $11,000 from UTG+1. Elton Tsang had a Mystery Hand, but like it too. He made it $38,000 from the hijack. Xuan just called to take the pair of them to a flop of .

Xuan checked, but quickly faced a bet of $40,000. He called, seeing the turn. Xuan still hadn’t connected so checked again, but Tsang fired out $65,000. Xuan still stuck around.

The finally gave him top pair, and it prompted Tsang to have another look at his own holding. Xuan checked, but Tsang tank-bet $250,000. Xuan now had a very tough decision. He had called all the way and finally hit his card, but Tsang showed no sign of slowing down.

Xuan couldn’t resist and made the call, quickly learning some bad news. Tsang had for a turned straight. This near $800K pot headed into Tsang’s already very healthy stack.

EVERY POT IS $500K+

By the time play enters the final frame, even seemingly small pots weigh in at more than $500K. Here’s an example, with Elton Tsang and Andy Ni again exchanging more than half a million.

Ni had black pocket fives and raised to $11,000 from UTG+2. Tsang was in the straddle and paid the extra with . He was glad he did when the flop fell . Tsang checked, Ni bet $13,000 and Tsang raised to $35,000. Ni called.

The turn was the and Tsang bet $75,000. Ni called and the pot hit $250,000. The river gave Tsang a boat, but it also seemed pretty good (i.e., not scary) for Ni. Tsang bet $175,000, which was sized just big enough to earn a call from Ni.

That’s how you build a $600,000 pot and take it down.

MORE NI HEROICS, SHAVES PROFIT FROM FERDINAND

Until tonight, the most impressive part of Andy Ni’s game had seemed to be his solidity. He had repeatedly made the correct plays — including folds — in all the major pots he’d entered, winning the maximum and losing the least. But tonight he showed another dimension to his game: just how good he is at finding a bluff.

In a late pot against Ferdinand, Ni put in a three-bet from the straddle after Ferdinand had opened the button with . Ni made it $48,000 to go.

Ferdinand called and the flop was . Ni c-bet $43,000 and Ferdinand called. The turn was the , which gave Ferdinand a pair. Ni checked and Ferdinand put $85,000 out there.

Ni now check-raised to $250,000. And that was enough to get Ferdinand to lay down his queens. What did Ni have? He had of course.

ONE LAST WIN FOR TSANG

It wasn’t the biggest pot of the night, but it was one that encapsulated a lot of what this cash game invitational had been about. It was a late one, and it ended with players standing up, putting bets in and taking them back, looking at each other’s cards, etc., etc. In general, goofing around despite several million bucks being at the table.

Tan Xuan called the $4,000 straddle amount pre-flop with . Elton Tsang came along with , Elizabeth Chen called with and Phil Ivey checked his option with .

Ivey bet $12,000 after the flop of turn, taking them to the river. Xuan checked and Tsang now threw $100,000 over the line, basically playing the board. Xuan and Tsang exchanged a smile, Xuan chatted through a lot of his options. Tsang joined in the conversation.

Xuan seemed certain to fold, so much so that Tsang pulled his bet back. Xuan then did toss his cards at Tsang, before reaching out to see what the hand was that beat him. He learned he’d been bluffed, but didn’t seem to mind. That’s just how this game has been all week.

DAY 5 PROFIT/LOSS

UP

Elton Tsang: +$2,009,000
Andy Ni: +$925,000
Brian Kim: +$360,000
Tan Xuan: +$182,000
Ferdinand: +$2,000

DOWN

Phil Ivey: -$47,000
Handz: -$445,000
Elizabeth Chen: -$479,000
Patrik Antonius: -$550,000
ST Wang: -$681,000
Paul Phua: -$1,306,000

Photography by Drew Amato

After multiple high six-figure swings during the first two days of the Triton Cash Game Invitational at the Maestral Resort in Montenegro, there was only one thing for it: it was time to raise the stakes.

For Day 3, players on the televised table needed to pull up at least $500,000 to play and they’re going to be posting blinds of $1,000/$2,000 with a $5,000 big blind ante. To the surprise of no one, every seat could have been filled several times over.

As it was, Phil Ivey returned for another few hours in the coveted Hot Seat, reserved for a poker pro, with Danny Tang subbing in halfway through the day. Meanwhile, the conquering hero from Day 1, Elton Tsang, returned to the scene of his enormous early plunder. Could he do it again?

If you scroll to the bottom of this post and look straight at the profit/loss section, you’ll quickly learn the answer to that. But if you can deny yourself that instant gratification, let’s take a look at how some of the major hands played out first.

Alongside Ivey, Tang and Tsang, the following all took a seat: Rob Yong, Tan Xuan, Handz, Paul Phua, ST Wang and Andy Ni. If you’ve been following closely over the past two nights, you’ll know that’s a combustible line-up. And there were indeed plenty of fireworks.

Strap in.

—-

PRE-FLOP AGGRESSION WINS IT FOR XUAN

It didn’t take long for Elton Tsang to get involved in the action, but despite what we saw earlier in the week, it doesn’t always go his way. He played a small part in a hand that showed just how powerful it can be to get your chips in no matter what the action ahead of you.

Handz got things going with a limp from under the gun with . Tsang then raised to $10,000 from the hijack, sitting with . Paul Phua, in the cutoff, looked down at and felt the time was right for a three-bet. He made it $35,000.

Tan Xuan was on the button and the uber-aggressive Chinese player looked at pocket jacks. Even with all the action ahead of him, he put in a four-bet, making it $85,000 to go. Handz, whose limp had made the ensuing action so weird, quickly folded. And Tsang took a while, but also decided to get out of the way. Phua was similarly tempted, but eventually binned his hand as well. Xuan therefore took down about $100,000 without having to see a flop.

IVEY ISN’T AFRAID

Action folded all the way around to Handz in the small blind and he called the $4,000 straddle amount with his . Phil Ivey, in the big blind, had and he decided to raise it up to $16,000.

Tsang, in the straddle with seven-deuce, chucked it away. But Handz stuck around.

The flop was absolutely beautiful for Ivey. It fell , giving him a straight and a straight-flush draw. Handz, meanwhile, had middle pair, top kicker. Handz checked and Ivey checked too. The completed Ivey’s flush, but both players just checked it. That brought them to the on the river.

Handz now thought he might as well take a stab. He bet $10,000. Ivey bumped it up to $40,000, even though he was sitting with only the third nuts. Handz folded.

XUAN AND WANG GO AT IT

Tan Xuan was the real source of most of yesterday’s action, even if things didn’t quite work out for him. But he only knows one way to play, which is why he opened to $7,000 from UTG+1 sitting with . ST Wang has had a great couple of days in Montenegro, and was enough for him to put in a three-bet, making it $25,000 to go.

These two had plenty of skirmishes yesterday, and Xuan wasn’t backing down today. He bumped it up to $100,000. And Wang was convinced. He let it go. Xuan therefore won pre-flop with five high.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Shortly after, Xuan found and raised to $7,000 again from under the gun. Wang this time had and three-bet to $23,000. Everyone else left these two to it again.

Xuan again found the four-bet. Again it was to $100,000. Wang again decided to get out of the way. Was this the long game?

WANG PICKS OFF NI TO LAND BIGGEST POT YET

This time, Tan Xuan was in the straddle, which left Andy Ni, UTG+1, to open things with a raise of $11,000. He was in the Mystery Hand, so we didn’t know initially what he was sitting with. ST Wang, in the hijack, had a real hand. He raised it to $35,000 with and that persuaded everyone else out of the way.

Ni, however, called and saw a flop of . They both checked, but then the turn gave even more potential to Wang’s hand. Both players checked, however.

The river was very interesting. It gave Wang the nut flush. But it was Ni who led out, putting $52,000 into the middle. Wang bumped it up. He wasn’t scared. He made it $135,000 to play. But there might have been an element of regret as Ni now jammed for $447,000. Could Wang really think about folding this top flush?

He certainly thought about it. He took his time to ponder his options. Eventually, however, he found the call and learned at the same time as the rest of us that he had made a very good decision. Ni was at it with and the flush was indeed good.

This $976,000 pot, the biggest of the week so far, headed to ST Wang.

XUAN HAS IT FOR ONCE; IT’S WORTH $1M+

When you play as many hands as Tan Xuan, you have a right to expect action when you find a monster. And it was good news for Xuan when he saw Elton Tsang open to $8,000 from the hijack with and then looked down at pocket aces in the cutoff. Xuan three-bet to $25,000 and Tsang called.

Tsang got a piece on the flop and check-raised against Xuan’s $28,000 c-bet. Tsang made it $75,000. Xuan three-bet to $182,000, putting the pressure back on Tsang. Did he believe the ultimate bluffer this time?

Tsang did not believe Xuan. He called. The pair then saw the turn. Tsang checked and Xuan now barrelled $230,000. Tsang responded with a shove, putting his whole $309,000 in the middle, which Xuan covered. Xuan’s call gave us the first seven-figure pot of the week: $1,040,000 to be precise.

They agreed to run it only once and the river was a blank. The aces held and this huge pot went to Xuan, eroding Tsang’s profit from Day 1 in one fell swoop.

YONG FALLS INTO TSANG’S TRAP

Rob Yong showed up slightly late to Tuesday night’s session, but hands like this one probably left him wishing he’d never shown up at all. Elton Tsang was the beneficiary, giving him a brief upturn in fortune.

Tsang picked up pocket fives and raised to $12,000 from the button. Yong looked down at in the small blind and three-bet to $40,000. Phil Ivey let his straddle go, but Tsang went set-mining.

His mining shoved clanked immediately on the ore he was looking for. The flop was . Yong flopped top pair, but Tsang found his set.

Long checked. Tsang bet $40,000 and Yong called. The turn must have seemed like a blank to Yong. He checked again, Tsang sized up to $135,000, and Yong called again.

The pot was now $441,000 and the dealer put the on the river. Yong maybe thought that was a bad card. But it turned out to be good for him. Yong checked and Tsang bet $320,000. The ace allowed Yong to find the correct fold.

TENSE, SLOW-MOVING FLIP BETWEEN HANDZ AND TSANG

As so often is the case, Tan Xuan got things started with a raise to $12,000 from the hijack. The straddle was on, and an opening raise was usually five figures. Xuan had , but it didn’t really matter. That’s because Handz, on the button, found pocket 10s and three-bet to $35,000. Elton Tsang, in the big blind, found and made it $100,000 to go. We were in six-figures pre-flop once again.

Xuan folded, but Handz counted out his stack and looked at what was potentially at risk. He had $503,000 behind, about half of what Tsang had in his stack. Handz called.

The flop was and Tsang led out. He bet $55,000. Handz called for the turn. Tsang sized up to $125,000, but it still didn’t shift Handz, who called once again.

The river was the , meaning the most obvious flush draw got there. Tsang now slowed down to a check allowing Handz to check behind. A relieved crypto investor took the $587,000 pot as Tsang pondered whether a river shove would have got it done.

TANG GETS TSANG TO FOLD BETTER

Things hadn’t been going well for Elton Tsang, and Danny Tang continued to apply the pressure on his friend. The pair played a pot in which Tsang opened to $12,000 with black pocket nines in the hijack, and Tang picked up one of the favourite hands of the solver generation: . Tang three-bet to $50,000. Tsang called.

The flop brought the and a c-bet of $40,000 from Tang. Tsang called to take them to the turn. Tsang’s hand was now relegated to third pair, while Tang now had a bigger draw. Tang fired out $85,000, which got it done, and added another $200K to Tang’s stack.

PHUA’S DEUCES FIND A WAY TO CRACK ACES

Triton co-founder Paul Phua hasn’t been involved in many of the big pots from the opening few days of this invitational and has resultantly recorded a small loss each night. But he’d have enjoyed this one against Tan Xuan, where the smallest pocket pair prevailed against the biggest.

Tan Xuan picked up pocket aces again. He raised to $12,000 from the cutoff. Phua had the Mystery Hand for viewers on the stream, but we eventually found out it was pocket twos. That meant the flop, which appeared after Phua called, brought something for both of them.

Phua checked, Xuan bet $15,000 and Phua called. The turn was the , i.e., the get-there card for Phua. He checked again and Xuan bet $34,000. Phua found the check-raise to $85,000. Xuan called.

The river made it even more hazardous for Xuan’s set of aces, but it also wasn’t great for Phua’s bottom straight. He checked. Xuan tossed out a tiny bet of $30,000 and Phua made the mandatory call.

A chuckling Phua learned he was good and finally picked up a pot of around $294,000.

YONG’S TURN TO CRACK ACES; GREAT FOLD FROM NI

One of the highlights of Monday night’s play came when Andy Ni had pocket aces, but was persuaded to lay them down on the river by a gutsy bluff from Rob Yong. Tonight they played a near repeat, but with one crucial difference.

Ni had the aces UTG+2 and he opened the pot to $11,000. Yong was in the hijack and he three-bet to $50,000 with what we eventually discovered was pocket kings. This had the potential to get very ugly. Ni four bet to $170,000 and Yong called.

Thus the two biggest pairs went up against one another, with more than $350K in the pot pre-flop. Neither player put any more in the middle after the flop. However, the turn vaulted Yong into the lead and, after Ni checked, Yong bet $175,000. Ni called. The river changed nothing.

Ni checked again and Yong stuck $400,000 over the line. Ni took a long time to think it through, but let this one go. This time he was right.

MORE FOR XUAN AS TSANG’S SLUMP CONTINUES

The night was drawing to its conclusion when Andy Ni put on the mandatory $4,000 straddle. One seat along, Elton Tsang put on the double straddle. And then Tan Xuan, one seat further, put on the triple. That meant there was $1,000 from the small blind, $2,000 from the big blind, plus the $5,000 ante, and then an additional $28,000 in straddles. When Paul Phua wanted to open the pot from the small blind with red pocket 10s, his opening raise was $65,000.

Ni folded his , but Tsang came along with pocket sixes and Xuan called with pocket fours. And there was a four in the window on the flop. After two checks, Xuan bet $88,000 with his bottom set. The jack allowed Phua to fold his tens, but Tsang called. The turn was the . Tsang checked and Xuan bet $200,000 into $382,000. Tsang now got away. At least for a moment.

On the very next hand, Tsang found himself in the $4,000 straddle and encouraged Xuan, to his immediate left, put on the $8,000 double straddle. That meant $20,000 was in the middle on this hand before a card was dealt.

After all players received their hands, Handz picked up pocket threes and opened to $20,000 from the cutoff. Tsang looked down at and called, but then Xuan saw pocket jacks in the bigger straddle and bumped it up even more. It was now $110,000 to play. He must have liked the encouragement from Tsang to put on that straddle.

Handz folded, but Tsang played on. The pair saw the flop. Tsang checked, Xuan bet $65,000, but Tsang now tried some strong-arm tactics. He raised to $175,000. With air.

Xuan did not seem bothered. He made the call as the pot ballooned to $600K. The on the turn was another over-card to Xuan’s jacks. Tsang checked once more, and Xuan checked behind. That took them to the on the river. Tsang checked again. Xuan checked again. The jacks stayed good as Xuan won another, leaving Tsang licking his wounds once more.

*****

Despite winning those last two significant hands, as well as the $1m+ pot earlier in the day, this was still a night that ended in the red for Tan Xuan. The way he plays, everybody knows that it could easily turn around for him very sharply.

Instead, the big winner from this session was ST Wang, who combined quiet accumulation with winning most of the major pots he entered. It gave him the first seven-figure profit of any player in any session so far.

Handz also bounced back from some early setbacks to record a tidy sum, with Danny Tang and Andy Ni (who folded those aces quite excellently) in the black.

At the other end of the spectrum, this was a difficult one for Elton Tsang. He finished more than $1.3 million down for the day. But, knowing Elton, he will be back.

DAY 3 PROFIT/LOSS

UP

ST Wang: +$1,389,000
Handz: +$647,000
Danny Tang: +$346,000
Andy Ni: +$34,000

DOWN

Phil Ivey: -$184,000
Paul Phua: -$227,000
Tan Xuan: -$246,000
Rob Yong: -$436,000
Elton Tsang: -$1,323,000

Photography by Drew Amato

It was Day 2 of the Triton Series Cash Game Invitational, and the hot seat got even hotter. With Linus Loeliger making way, the next pro to step up was a man by the name of Phil Ivey. You might have heard of him.

The table at the Maestral Resort, Montenegro, also found a space for the Lithuanian entrepreneur, politician, poker tyrant Tony G. So while Ivey may do his best work in concentrated silence, the volume around the table was going up.

Four of yesterday’s superstars returned for a second crack too: boss man, Paul Phua, took his customary seat, of course, alongside ST Wang and Andy Ni, both of whom emerged from Sunday’s action comfortably in the black. The same could not be said of Joe Zou, who suffered a barracking from the deck on the first day of the invitational. But Zou came back for more.

Tan Xuan, a Triton Series stalwart, made his first appearance of the week. And Mikhail Petrov, representing Cyprus, also pulled up a chair.

The format was the same as before: $200,000 minimum buy-in, blinds of $1,000/$2,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante. And there were an awful lot of pocket aces making an appearance tonight.

Let the fun commence…

SEVEN FROM HEAVEN PUTS TONY G ON THE UP

It didn’t take long for the first major pot and the first virtual felting.

Tony G found black pocket sevens and put in a raise to $6,000. A few seats around, in the small blind, Tan Xuan looked down at pocket 10s, black as well, and three-bet to $25,000. Everyone else folded, but Tony G called immediately. That took the pot to $54,000 as the dealer put the on the table.

Xuan led out, betting $20,000, and Tony G called in position. He nailed the and the turn and happily saw Xuan bet another $55,000. Tony G called.

The completed the board, making a possible straight for queen-ten. But Tony G didn’t worry too much about that and jammed for his last $95,000, putting Xuan in the blender.

His pocket 10s were a bluff catcher at best, but these two players have history. They have played tons together in Triton cash games. Xuan thought there was still a chance that Tony G was at it in this hand, and he tossed in the call.

“Seven from heaven!” Tony G sang as the $394,000 pot was pushed in his direction. “Good start,” he added.

Xuan reloaded for another $200K.

TONY G CAN’T STOP

The dust had barely settled on the previous hand before Tony G was at it once again. This time, his opponent was Joe Zou, who had but Tony G was playing the Mystery Hand, so we were as clueless as Zou as to what he was making his huge moves with.

Tan Xuan got the action started again, raising to $6,000 from UTG+1 with . Tony G was on the button and called with his Mystery Hand, with Zou then calling too from the big blind.

The flop, followed by two checks, presented an open invitation to Tony G to bet. He tossed out $12,000. Only Zou called, which meant two of them saw the turn. Zou checked again, but called again after Tony G barrelled for $40,000 this time. It took them to the on the river.

Zou checked again, and Tony G snap-jammed for a stack that comfortable covered Zou’s $146,000 chips. Zou thought a while before folding his pair of eights. That allowed Tony G to triumphantly declare “Made it!” as we saw he had for a total airball.

ZOU GETS SOME BACK FROM TONY G

Tony G had been steamrollering the table. Until he wasn’t.

In this pot, Tony G got things started with a raise to $6,000 with . Joe Zou called in the cutoff and Paul Phua also called, with in the big blind. Zou was playing the mystery hand, so only he knew how well he had connected with the flop.

Phua, of course, had flopped the nut straight and he checked it, surely hoping for someone else to bet into him. Tony G had top pair, but he checked too. That just left Zou, who also checked.

The turn meant Phua still had the nuts. He fired out $10,000. Neither of his opponents went anywhere.

The river was the and Phua’s hand was now not certain to be the best. He checked it for pot control. Tony G now had a straight too with his queen and he bet $30,000. It put Zou into the tank. Zou emerged with a hefty raise. He bumped it up to $91,000.

Phua was now in a tough spot. He’d flopped the best, but could hardly be sure he was still good given the action. Phua found an incredibly disciplined fold, but Tony G couldn’t let his straight go. He paid the extra, learning that Zou’s had him beat.

The $233,000 pot went to Zou.

DISCIPLINED IVEY REFUSES TO PAY XUAN

Phil Ivey’s relatively quiet start ended hastily when he managed to felt Tan Xuan for a second time, with queens holding against pocket nines. That one was straightforward, but Ivey faced much more of a test in the following hand, again against Xuan.

Action folded to Xuan on the button, who raised the $12,000. Ivey was in the $4,000 straddle with and he called the single raise. Xuan, by the way, was again on the mystery hand.

The dealer put the flop out there — two pair for Ivey — but both players checked. That brought the on the turn. Ivey checked again, then called Xuan’s $53,000 bet. The river completed all the draws, and Ivey checked again. Xuan sensed an opportunity and bet $200,000 into a $165,000 pot.

Ivey was now put to the stern test for almost all of his chips. He eventually resisted the urge to pay to find out what Xuan had and, true to Ivey’s form, the fold was the right decision. Xuan’s hand was revealed to be the , for a rivered flush. Xuan dug himself out of a bit of a hole, but Ivey got away with losing the minimum.

XUAN HAS THE GOODS AGAIN

There’s pretty much no way to know what Tan Xuan has when he puts in an opening pre-flop raise, but in the following hand it just so happened that he had the best of it: . He made it $6,000 to go from UTG+1. Andy Ni, in the cutoff, decided to play back at Xuan, holding , and made it $18,000. Bad timing alert.

Xuan four-bet to $52,000. He wasn’t playing it cute. But Ni was undeterred and called with arguably the best hand to do some damage to aces.

The flop came and Ni now had middle pair with a gutshot to go with it. Xuan led out for $58,000. Ni called, so they went to the turn with $225,000 in the middle already. Xuan bet again, this time $75,000. Ni wasted very little time before jamming for $206,000.

Xuan snap-called and had a big advantage for a $637,000 pot as they decided to run the river twice. The first was the , which kept Xuan ahead and locked up half the pot. But that was all he was getting. The gave Ni a winning three-of-a-kind. They chopped it up.

WANG PUTS JUNGLEMAN UNDER PRESSURE

The cash game line-ups change as the night of play progresses, and Paul Phua made way for Rob Yong at the first break, while Elizabeth Chen again came in for Joe Zou. Meanwhile Dan “Jungleman” Cates subbed in for Phil Ivey. Fans were no doubt disappointed to see Ivey depart (with a profit of $80K, it should be added), but Jungleman quickly showed that he could bring the fun.

Cates opened to $5,000 from UTG+1 with . ST Wang three-bet to $17,000 from the cutoff. He had the Mystery Hand, which we eventually learned was a handsome pair of red pocket aces. But by that time, there was more than $1.2 million in the middle and Cates in the blender.

Back to the chronological report: Cates got frisky and four-bet his king-high to $51,000. Wang opted just to call, and the flop of was good enough for a $25,000 bet from Cates. Wang called for the turn.

Cates now slowed down to a check, but Wang didn’t want that. He bloated the pot with a bet of $65,000. Cates still found reason, with his top pair, to make the call. The river was the .

Cates seemed to want this to slow down now and checked again. But Wang, who had $937,000 in his stack, pushed the whole lot into the middle. Cates only had $270,000, so he was playing for all of that. But after a long, long thinking time, Cates ditched it. Wang had to make do with only $287,000 for this one.

YONG’S MYSTERY HAND TAKES ON ACES

Andy Ni had black pocket aces. There was no mystery about that, and he raised to $5,000 from UTG+2. Rob Yong and Tan Xuan called in the blinds, but we only knew the in Xuan’s hand.

The dealer put the flop out there, and after a couple of checks, Ni bet $10,000. Only Yong called. The came on the turn.

Yong led out now, putting $26,000 out there, which Ni called in an instant. The river made this a hazardous board for aces.

Yong took his time before betting $85,000. At this stage, we had no greater idea than Ni about what Yong was hiding. Ni didn’t want to pay to find out. After a long time in the tank, he tossed away his cards, surrendering the $174,000 pot to Yong. Was he right to fold? Yong actually had for a flush draw, with a gutshot, that didn’t improve. But Yong’s gutsy bluff took it down.

CATES VERSUS ACES AGAIN

Shortly after the final break of the day, during which Tony G and Mikhail Petrov both left the table, meaning a return for Paul Phua and Handz, those pocket aces came out to play once more. This time they were in ST Wang’s hand, and he saw Dan Cates open to $10,000 in the hijack ahead of him. Cates had the Mystery Hand.

Wang, in the big blind, three-bet to $40,000 and Rob Yong, in the $4,000 straddle, let his go. Cates called, meaning two players saw the flop of . Yong did very well to keep quiet. He would have flopped top two.

Wang bet $32,000 with his aces and Cates called. The turn was another bad card for Wang’s hand, even if he now had a gutshot. But he was undeterred and counted out a small bet of $41,000. Cates called once more.

The was another card to complicate matters for the aces, albeit turning one pair into two. Wang came out firing once again, tossing $155,000 into the middle, and leaving Cates with another decision.

Cates had $280K behind. After spending a time-bank chip, he shipped it all in. Wang found a fold. It was another very shrewd play to ditch the big one. Cates had pocket jacks and had flopped a set.

Cates took the profit that was his, but Wang wriggled away.

CATES LAYS MORE PUNISHMENT ON XUAN

Tan Xuan was playing tons of hands and, even if he wasn’t winning them all, he was always topping up his stack whenever anyone else earned chips. He wanted to have the biggest stack at the table.

If things had gone slightly more favourably, Xuan would have ended the session with an absolute heap. But the deck did not help him out at all. In one such pot, Dan Cates opened his button to $10,000 with and Xuan called from the big blind with . Elizabeth Chen folded her straddle.

Xuan flopped top pair. The first three cards out were . Xuan check-called Cates’ bet of $12,000. The turn helped both of them, making two pair for Xuan and giving Cates both a wheel and a flush draw.

Xuan checked again, and Cates bet $52,000, a full-pot bet. Xuan just called. The was brutal for Xuan, and he checked. Cates then put $107,000 over the line.

Xuan didn’t like it. He knew something was up. However, he couldn’t resist calling and Cates won the $369,000 pot, denting Xuan again.

THREE-WAY SET UP AS DAY DRAWS TO CLOSE

There was just time left in this one for one massive set up between the three players in the three blinds. Andy Ni was in the small blind with and he opened to $15,000.

Dan Cates was in the big blind, with and he three-bet to $51,000. But then Handz, in the straddle, looked down at . He put in the cold four-bet to $135,000.

Ni knew he was up against strength, but his queens were too strong themselves. He jammed for $482,000. Cates now folded, but Handz was priced in for his last $400K.

They decided to run it three times, just to make sure someone actually won the hand. And it turned out to be Ni, who won the first and the third run out, sandwiching Handz claiming a third of the pot in the middle. It capped a very good day for Andy Ni.

DAY 2 PROFIT/LOSS

UP
Andy Ni: +$543,000
Dan “Jungleman” Cates: +$228,000
Tony G: +$130,000
Phil Ivey: +$80,000
Mikhail Petrov: +$51,000

DOWN
Elizabeth Chen/Joe Zou: -$28,000
ST Wang: -$70,000
Paul Phua: -$122,000
Handz: -$124,000
Rob Yong: -$221,000
Tan Xuan: -$467,000

Photography by Drew Amato

The curtain came down on the Triton Series’ third trip to Montenegro with a fast-paced, PLO Bounty Quattro tournament, where each knockout at the tournament’s business end paid an additional $40,000.

As we have come to expect, the man lifting the trophy was born in one of the Nordic countries, but this time it wasn’t Finland.

Denmark’s Martin Dam is another player who has had a quietly sensational trip to Montenegro, cashing in eighth and then 11th of the two tournaments he had played before now. But Dam made the absolute most of his last chance here at the Maestral Resort, winning $250,000 from the regular prize pool and another $280,000 in bounties for a delightful $530,000 total score.

“In bounty tournaments, you have to be quite loose,” Dam said, explaining how he managed to pick up seven of the 11 bounties in play. “It’s in your interests to be so. When there are some six or seven big-blind stacks all-ion, you have to be in it. Luckily I won most of them.”

The 27-year-old, originally from Copenhagen, decided to make his Triton Series debut after completing a move to Vienna, Austria, which has a more favourable tax arrangement for poker players than Denmark. It was a smart move. Dam was only out of the chip lead for the briefest of moments in the tournament’s late stages tonight, and took a big lead into the heads-up phase against Stephen Chidwick.

Then a little after midnight local time, he sent Chidwick packing too, denying the Brit a third title. Chidwick took $179,000, plus $40,000 in bounties, but this was Dam’s tournament all the way.

“Honestly, the experience has been amazing,” Dam said of his first trip to the Triton Series. “You really get a better experience here. Everything is just amazing. I feel great.”

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With levels shortened to 15 minutes, this one was fast and chaotic from the very first deal. Through 10 levels, the cashiers welcomed 41 entries, which meant $1.23 million in the prize pool and a first prize of $250,000. That’s not including the bounties, which weighed in at $40,000 apiece and came into play with 11 players remaining.

The first of those went to Dylan Linde, who cracked Richard Gryko’s kings to take the field down to 10. The next target was to make the money, which would kick in when only seven players were left.

No one had a big stack, but some were less pressured than others. Jason Koon gave himself a bit of breathing room by knocking out Sean Winter in ninth. That left them on the final table bubble, which also happened to be the “other” bubble, so they were split four and four to play hand for hand on two tables.

Although the tournament room was quiet, this was still a dramatic bubble because two players were all in at the same time, one on each table.

Brian Rast was one of them, squaring off against Koon, and in need of some help. The board read and Rast’s needed some kind of miracle against Koon’s .

The came on the turn and Koon said, “You gonna go backdoor fours on me again?” Rast did not reply, but the dealer did. The river was . That runner-runner kept Rast in the tournament.

On the outer table, the short stack was Jonas Kronwitter, but he was looking strong with on a flop of . His opponent Martin Dam had .

The didn’t help Dam. But the river did, and the unlikely turn of events sent Kronwitter to the rail in eighth and the others into the money and to the final. (Koon was 80/20 to win the hand on the first table, by the way, while Kronwitter had 70 percent equity on the other. He was pretty long odds to be walking away with nothing.)

They now lined up as follows:

Martin Dam – 2,530,000 (42 BBs)
Brian Rast – 2,010,000 (34 BBs)
Ding Biao – 1,270,000 (21 BBs)
Dylan Linde – 1,255,000 (21 BBs)
Stephen Chidwick – 480,000 (8 BBs)
Ronald Keijzer – 330,000 (6 BBs)
Jason Koon – 330,000 (6 BBs)

On the very first hand of the final table, there was a massive three-way all-in, which sent Stephen Chidwick climbing up counts, sent Ding Biao tumbling the other way, and left Ronald Keijzer looking for the payouts cage.

Everything went in pre-flop, with Keijzer opening with , Chidwick then jamming with and Biao calling with . Keijzer called too.

The dealer ran through the full board: and Chidwick’s kings and deuces were best. Keijzer’s brief stay at the final earned him $42,000 as Chidwick picked up a bounty.

Koon was stranded at the bottom of the counts, but doubled through the chip-leader Martin Dam to stay alive. But it was only a temporary reprieve as his chips found their way in the middle again soon after, and this time got stuck with Rast. (Koon’s tens couldn’t beat Rast’s kings. They both hit three of a kind.)

“GG Triton,” Koon said, making his way out with $51,000 waiting for him in his account, plus a bounty prize.

Rast now found himself in the chip lead, but an almighty collision with Dam, temporarily relegated to second place, put the Dane back at the top of the pile. Rast raised his button with double-suited jacks and Dam three-bet with kings, an ace and a four, single suited. Rast called.

The last of the money went in on a queen-high flop, and the kings held through turn and river. It was a big, big double for Dam, and when Ding Biao doubled soon after, Rast was the short stack all by himself.

Rast then lost with queens to Dam’s and his tournament was done. It was a nice break for him from commentary duties, and it earned him an extra $67,000.

Biao was now the shortest stack again and he also ran headlong into Dam to finish his tournament. Biao hit his ace after getting to a flop with . Dam’s flopped a straight draw and hit it on the river.

It was Biao’s second final table of the day, and this one earned him $87,000.

After nearly trebling his stack in the early stages, Chidwick had sat out most of the subsequent skirmishes but was now sitting with only about five big blinds. His double up through Dam not long after Biao’s elimination was most significant not for the number of chips he won, but for the fact it gave him survival for another orbit — time for Dylan Linde to bust.

Linde picked up aces single suited — — and when Dam three-bet his open pre-flop, they could get their whole stacks in at that point.

Dam had a lovely hand of his own — — and the hearts proved crucial as three fell on the board. That was Linde’s last involvement. He tossed his bounty chip to Dam and picked up prize money of $114,000.

For the second Triton stop in succession, Chidwick now found himself playing the final heads-up battle of the festival. But this time he really had his work cut out, staring over a six big blind stack at the 49 big blinds with Dam.

The comeback attempt started well. Chidwick cracked aces with his double suited , flopping three spades. But that was about all he could muster. The next time they got it in, Chidwick had to Dam’s .

The flop had an ace on it, but also a ten. Dam faded Chidwick’s full house outs and became our latest champion. Chidwick took $179,000 as runner up.

Dam played three events at his Triton debut and cashed all of them. This turbo win was the icing on the cake. He complemented his $250,000 winner’s prize with seven of 11 bounties available and so disappears back to Austria $530,000 to the good.

RESULTS

Event 16 – $30,000 PLO BOUNTY QUATTRO
Dates: May 26, 2024
Entries: 41 (inc. 14 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,230,000 (inc. $440,000 in bounties)

1 – Martin Dam, Denmark – $250,000 (plus $280,000 in bounties)
2 – Stephen Chidwick – $179,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $114,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
4 – Ding Biao, China – $87,000
5 – Brian Rast, USA – $67,000 (plus $10,000 in bounties)
6 – Jason Koon, USA – $51,000 (plus $10,000 in bounties)
7 – Ronald Keijzer, Netherlands – $42,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

For the second time in three days, a report from the Triton Series in Montenegro begins with the following line: Samuli Sipila is one of the best pot limit Omaha players in the world.

It first appeared after the 31-year-old Finn won the first event he had ever played under the Triton banner, the $25K PLO tournament that finished on Thursday. And now, remarkably, we’re adding Sipila’s name to the list of multiple Triton champions after he completed victory in the $50K buy-in PLO event and upped his all-time best tournament cash to $839,000.

“Wait, he’s going on the board already!?!” Jason Koon observed from across the room, naming a couple of players who hadn’t won a Triton event despite coming to every stop for years. Sipila is visiting for the first time and is leaving with his picture in the Hall of Fame.

Not only that, but for the second time, Sipila also had to overcome a significant chip deficit entering heads up play, and completed this victory by overhauling the formidable Nacho Barbero. The Argentinian, already a two-time Triton champion, had been the dominant force for the longest period of the final day, but ended up second best to this superlative PLO talent.

“I had hopes, obviously,” Sipila dead-panned after Ali Nejad asked him if he could possibly have imagined winning two events here in Montenegro. “Obviously there’s a lot of skill. It’s not just going all-in…But, to be fair, I have run really well.”

Three of the last four players in this event were from Finland (they teach PLO in kindergarten in Helsinki) but even in this kingdom of poker giants, Sipila stands tallest. He was keen to pay tribute to the player they all look up to, the long-time PLO legend Patrik Antonius, but Antonius was one of Sipila’s victims as he sailed to this incredible win.

“It’s easier to get better when you have a great group of people around you,” Sipila said, referencing the tight network of Nordic players who have made Montenegro their playground this week. Registration was still open on the PLO Turbo when the this tournament was finished. What price a hat-trick?

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The opening stages of the tournament played out in the same room as the PLO Main Event was reaching its dramatic conclusion. The player numbers gradually increased as busted players from the other event strolled across the room to reinvest, while others continued to fire bullets to make sure they were still around when all the short-stacked new entries came blasting at them.

Naturally, action slowed up somewhat once registration had closed, sealing the entry numbers at 61, with $3.05 million in the prize pool. But few could have predicted just how tortuous the tournament would then become, with play stretching hour after hour in the hope of bursting the bubble before bagging for the end of the night.

It was around 4.30 a.m. when things eventually finished. Laszlo Bujtas tried to knock out Alex Komaromi, but lost with kings against aces. It doubled up Komaromi and left Bujtas with not even one blind. Nacho Barbero snaffled that on the next hand, ending Bujtas’s incredibly long day with only his payout from the Main Event much earlier to keep him company.

Eleven players reached for bags, with the toll of this extended bubble evident in the size of some of the stacks.

Day two line-up:

Ding Biao – 2,740,000 (69 BBs)
Patrik Antonius – 2,365,000 (59 BBs)
Nacho Barbero – 2,095,000 (52 BBs)
Samuli Sipila – 1,750,000 (44 BBs)
Danny Tang – 1,635,000 (41 BBs)
Alex Komaromi – 490,000 (12 BBs)
Chris Parker – 275,000 (7 BBs)
Eelis Parssinen – 270,000 (7 BBs)
Aku Joentausta – 220,000 (6 BBs)
Lautaro Guerra – 215,000 (5 BBs)
Jason Koon – 145,000 (4 BBs)

The most interesting subplot involved the seven big blinds belonging to Chris Parker. During earlier Day 1 conversation, Parker had told his tablemates that he had a flight booked for early on Sunday that would preclude his involvement in Day 2. The gist of the advice from Nacho Barbero and Jason Koon, among others, was that he should change it, but Parker revealed how difficult that might be. He was jetting in to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix early on Sunday, and landing slots were all booked up. Understanding that this was no ordinary flight for no ordinary purpose, Parker’s table-mates kept quiet and tucked the information away.

On Sunday, Parker’s stack was indeed unattended as play got started. By that point, its owner was probably sipping champagne in a paddock somewhere. The shepherds of three other short stacks wondered if they’d be able to outlast the rudderless ship. And, as it turned out, they couldn’t.

Lautaro Guerra, Koon and Aku Joentausta all lost the last of their chips in early exchanges, which meant Parker laddered up to eighth. The $115K he won will be wired to him, no doubt.

For what it’s worth, none of the three others could really do much about it. Guerra ran tens into queens. Koon came out the wrong side in two unraised pots without any cards of note to give him hope. And then Joentausta had an ace, flopped another one, but lost to Eelis Parssinen’s two pair.

Guerra and Koon min-cashed for $76,300 each. Joentausta took $87,000. Then when the dead stack was exhausted, they settled around a final table of seven. Biao still led, but most of the others at least now had workable stacks.

Ding Biao – 3,300,000 (83 BBs)
Patrik Antonius – 2,965,000 (74 BBs)
Nacho Barbero – 2,235,000 (56 BBs)
Samuli Sipila – 1,340,000 (34 BBs)
Danny Tang – 1,295,000 (32 BBs)
Eelis Parssinen – 855,000 (21 BBs)
Alex Komaromi – 210,000 (5 BBs)

After making the final table of the PLO Main Event to keep his lead in the Player of the Year race, Danny Tang had kept the momentum going and landed back at another FT with another stab at a sixth career win.

But as quickly as he is learning the subtleties of PLO, he is understanding its viciousness too. Tang was the first out from the final, losing with aces. Not just pocket aces, but a turned set in fact. It’s just that Nacho Barbero had already flopped a straight.

Tang picked up another $146,000 for seventh place, and a handful more Player of the Year points. There’s only one event left, it’s getting very close now for Tang.

Alex Komaromi had squeezed through the bubble thanks to the big hand against Bujtas last night/this morning, and had now laddered another spot at the final despite having only five big blinds. He became Barbero’s latest victim when the Argentinian filled a boat with the king of hand you’ll play against a micro-stack, but would probably otherwise toss away.

Komaromi’s maiden Triton cash was worth $186,000.

Three of the last five players were from Finland, but the next elimination came about when the last South American took on the final Asian representative. Barbero was in one of those grooves where he could do no wrong, and was providing an unceasing monologue as he was also hoovering up Biao’s chips.

Biao had held on to the chip lead for a long time, before Barbero’s surge, but his pre-flop three-bet holding secured a call from Barbero’s .

Biao flopped top pair and jammed, but Barbero had flopped two pair. His hand then straightened out through turn and river. “Nice to play with you,” Barbero said and Biao hit the rail. Biao won this event in Jeju earlier this year, but had to settle for fifth in his defence. It came with $238,000.

With four players left, the Finnish wall lost its first brick. Eelis Parssinen has cashed four times on the Triton Series and made three final tables, all of them in PLO tournaments. He had to make do with fourth this time, though, with his countryman Samuli Sipila applying the finishing touches.

Parssinen’s flopped a straight when the dealer put the out there. But Sipila had queen blockers (two of them) and a flush draw and was happy to get chips in to cover Parssinen on the flop.

The on the river gave Sipila the flush to send Parssinen out in fourth. He won $300,100.

Two Finns were left, but Barbero had them covered by an enormous amount. And not even a player of Patrik Antonius’ calibre could mount a comeback. Barbero made a flush in a big pot against Antonius to leave the Antonius very short. And then Sipila took the last three blinds of his countryman, leaving Antonius heading home in third for $390,000.

As they prepared for heads-up play, Barbero talked to a video team and explained, “I am running very hot. I made the nuts many times and eliminated many players.” It really was that easy for him at this stage. Barbero had 9,100,000 (91 BBs) to Sipila’s 3,100,000 (31 BBs). We had seen Sipila overhaul a bigger heads-up deficit in the $25K PLO earlier this week, but could he do it again?

Let’s put it this way. He is a very good pot limit Omaha player. The blinds went up a couple of times and Sipila remained within one double up of levelling the stacks. And then in the first really grim cooler of the heads-up phase of play, he did just that.

Barbero picked up and limped. Sipila looked at and raised. Barbero called.

The flop was destined to see action. It came . Sipila had the jack but Barbero’s pocket fours meant he already had a boat.

It went bet (Sipila), raise (Barbero), call, with the turn now giving Sipila the better hand. Sipila slowed to a check, but Barbero saw no reason to slow down. He bet and Sipila called. The river was inconsequential, but Sipila checked again.

Barbero jammed, Sipila called, and he scored the full double thanks to the bigger boat. They suddenly had 40 blinds apiece.

Barbero is made of stern stuff, and although Sipila nosed ahead, he bounced back to regain a sizeable lead. But then came another major coup that gave Sipila a double: the Finn’s made a flush and earned Sipila the maximum.

They went on a tournament break and returned to stacks of 36 blinds (Sipila) to 13 (Barbero). And it was now Barbero’s turn to hit a river to double. They got to a flop of for one raise, then got everything else in at that point.

Sipila led with but was vulnerable to Barbero’s . The turn was another four, but the river hit Barbero’s flish and doubled him back into the lead.

But not for long. With everything now incredibly tight indeed, they took two premiums to a flop in a three-bet pot. Barbero had and Sipila had .

The rest of the money went in on the flop and Sipila’s flopped set did not come unstuck. That left Barbero with only a handful of blinds and they went in the next hand. Sipila made this one stick.

Sipila’s finished with a straight on the board of , cracking Barbero’s kings.

Sipila had done it once again. He is a very good pot limit Omaha player. You heard it here last.

RESULTS

Event 15 – $50,000 PLO
Dates: May 25-26, 2024
Entries: 61 (inc. 26 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,050,000

1 – Samuli Sipila, Finland – $839,000
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $596,300
3 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $390,000
4 – Eelis Parssinen, Finland – $300,100
5 – Ding Biao, China – $238,000
6 – Alex Komaromi, Uruguay – $186,000
7 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $146,000
8 – Chris Parker, UK – $115,000
9 – Aku Joentausta, Finland – $87,000
10 – Jason Koon, USA – $76,300
11 – Lautaro Guerra, Spain – $76,300

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Full details of everything that happened at the Triton Super High Roller Poker Series at the Maestral Resort, Montenegro, which ran from May 12-26, 2024.

EVENT #16 – $30,000 PLO BOUNTY QUATTRO TURBO

DAM BLASTS THROUGH BOUNTY TO GO THREE-FROM-THREE ON DEBUT
The Vienna-based Dane Martin Dam cashed all three PLO events he played in Montenegro and brought the curtain down on the festival with a dominant win in the Bounty Quattro turbo, for a total $530K score.

Top five finishers:
1 – Martin Dam, Denmark – $250,000 (plus $280,000 in bounties)
2 – Stephen Chidwick – $179,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $114,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
4 – Ding Biao, China – $87,000
5 – Brian Rast, USA – $67,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)

41 entries | Prize pool: $1,230,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #15 – $50,000 PLO

SIPILA COMPLETES SENSATIONAL PLO DOUBLE
Samuli Sipila has only ever played three Triton tournaments, all in Montenegro. He has now won two of them. The 31-year-old survived a final table featuring four players from Finland, and downed Nacho Barbero heads up.

Top five finishers:
1 – Samuli Sipila, Finland – $839,000
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $596,300
3 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $390,000
4 – Eelis Parssinen, Finland – $300,100
5 – Ding Biao, China – $238,000

61 entries | Prize pool: $3,050,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #13 – $100,000 PLO MAIN EVENT

FRANK HITS OMAHA JACKPOT TO LAND PLO MAIN EVENT
Vienna-based German Chris Frank said he began focusing on PLO because he figured it gave him his best chance of success. With a barnstorming victory in the biggest PLO event ever held at the Triton Series, he made good on the claim.

Top five finishers:
1 – Chris Frank, Germany – $2,008,910*
2 – Dylan Weisman, USA – $1,666,090*
3 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – $982,000
4 – Eelis Parssinen, Finland – $795,000
5 – Tomas Ribeiro, Portugal – $635,000

*denotes heads-up deal

83 entries | Prize pool: $8,300,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #12 – $25,000 PLO 6-HANDED

SIPILA GETS NORDIC PLO CHARGE OFF TO WINNING START
A whole new cohort of players arrived to Montenegro for the PLO portion of the schedule, and one of their leading lights, Finland’s Samuli Sipila, led the way with a heads-up clinic to deny Mikalai Vaskaboinikau a back-to-back triumph.

Top five finishers:
1 – Samuli Sipila, Finland – $535,000
2 – Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus – $371,000
3 – Anson Ewe, Malaysia – $242,000
4 – Klemens Roiter, Austria – $195,000
5 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $156,000

82 entries | Prize pool: $2,050,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #11 – $200,000 NLHE 8-HANDED

MALINOWSKI FULFILS ‘IMITLESS’ POTENTIAL WITH $200K WIN
It was the biggest buy-in event on the Triton schedule in Montenegro, and one of the online game’s most fearless stars, Wiktor Malinowski, landed his biggest ever tournament score, denying Adrian Mateos a second of the trip.

Top five finishers:
1 – Wiktor Malinowski, Poland – $4,789,000
2 – Adrian Mateos, Spain – $3,292,000
3 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $2,157,000
4 – Mike Watson, Canada – $1,748,000
5 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $1,405,000

93 entries | Prize pool: $18,600,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #10 – $50,000 NLH TURBO

PETRANGELO’S TRITON TROPHY HUNT GETS STARTED IN TURBO
American pro Nick Petrangelo finally managed to get over the line in the first single-day turbo event of the trip to Montenegro. Petrangelo beat Lewis Spencer heads up but immediately targeted even bigger wins on the tour.

Top five finishers:
1 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $775,000
2 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $556,000
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $362,000
4 – David Yan, New Zealand – $273,000
5 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $212,000

53 entries | Prize pool: $2,650,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #9 – $125,000 NLH MAIN EVENT

VASKABOINIKAU VANQUISHES ALL EN ROUTE TO MAIN EVENT WIN
The elite of world poker was no match for occasional Triton visitor Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, who dreamt of one day winning the Triton Main Event title, and then turning that dream into reality–and a $4.7 million payday.

Top five finishers:
1 – Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus – $4,737,000
2 – Dejan Kaladjurdjevic, Montenegro – $3,196,000
3 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $2,200,000
4 – Phil Ivey, USA – $1,795,000
5 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $1,430,000

171 entries | Prize pool: $21,375,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #8 – $100,000 NLH 8-HANDED

PARENTS SPUR KULEV TO $100K TRITON TRIUMPH
In a tense heads-up battle with Thomas Santerne, Alex Kulev’s parents completed a long journey to watch their son play poker–and their presence gave the young Bulgarian the impetus to go on to claim the title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Alex Kulev, Bulgaria – $2,566,000
2 – Thomas Santerne, France – $1,735,000
3 – Xu Liang, China – $1,127,000
4 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $933,000
5 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $752,000

102 entries | $10,200,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #7 – $50,000 NLH 8-HANDED

MATEOS WINS MARATHON TO LAND SECOND TITLE
A monster turnout pushed the $50K event into an unscheduled third day, but Spain’s Adrian Mateos had all the skill to last the distance and wrap up a $1.8m payday and another trophy for his parents’ mantle.

Top five finishers:
1 – Adrian Mateos, Spain – $1,761,000
2 – Justin Saliba, USA – $1,188,000
3 – Joe Zou, China – $818,000
4 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $667,000
5 – Ben Tollerene, USA – $532,000

159 entries | $6,040,000 (inc. $7,950,000 in bounties)
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #6 – $50,000 NLH 7-HANDED BOUNTY QUATTRO

YAROSHEVSKYY’S SHORT-STACK COMEBACK EXTENDS HAXTON’S WAIT
Ukraine’s Igor Yaroshevskyy has made at least one final table at each of his previous trips to the Triton Series and emerged from the Montenegro Bounty Quattro with a maiden title, denying Isaac Haxton once again.

Top five finishers:
1 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $1,172,000 (inc. $120K in bounties)
2 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $896,000 (inc. $180K in bounties)
3 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $773,000 (inc. $300K in bounties)
4 – Dimitar Danchev, Bulgaria – $690,000 (inc. $300K in bounties)
5 – Shyngis Satubayev, Kazakhstan – $463,000 (inc. $150K in bounties)

126 entries | $6,300,000 (inc. $1,920,000 in bounties)
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #5 – $40,000 NLH 7-HANDED MYSTERY BOUNTY

FIRST CASH, FIRST TITLE FOR DEBUTANT LASOUSKI
Many Triton regulars have played this tour for many years and are yet to land a title. But Artsiom Lasouski is already a champion, winning only the third tournament he’s ever played and from his first in-the-money finish.

Top five finishers:
1 – Artsiom Lasouski, Belarus – $669,000
2 – Samuel Ju, Germany – $452,000
3 – Chris Moneymaker, USA – $311,000
4 – Nikita Kuznetsov, Russia – $253,000
5 – Samuel Ju, Germany – $202,000

151 entries | $6,040,000 (inc. $3,020,000 in bounties)
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #3 – $30,000 NLH 8-HANDED

WATSON LANDS HOLD’EM WIN TO COMPLETE TRITON SET
With titles already in short deck (two) and PLO, Canada’s Mike Watson only needed a hold’em title to complete his Triton set. And he managed it in the third Montenegro tournament, earning the first seven-figure payday of the trip.

Top five finishers:
1 – Mike Watson, Canada – $1,023,000
2 – Kiat Lee, Malaysia – $691,000
3 – Ding Biao, China – $475,000
4 – David Yan, New Zealand – $387,400
5 – Morten Klein, Norway – $309,000

154 entries | $4,620,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #2 – $25,000 NLH 8-HANDED

DOUBLE KNOCKOUT SECURES WIRE-TO-WIRE TRIUMPH FOR NI
The $25K NLHE event ended in a spectacular collision when Andy Ni knocked out both of his last two opponents on the same hand and earned his first ever victory on the Triton Series.

Top five finishers:
1 – Andy Ni, China – $785,000
2 – Nicolas Chouity, Lebanon – $531,000
3 – Chris Brewer, USA – $354,000
4 – Aram Sargsyan, Armenia – $290,000
5 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $233,000

135 entries | $3,375,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #1 – $25,000 GG MILLION$ LIVE – NLH 8-HANDED

BOOM TIME AGAIN AS MONEYMAKER SECURES TRITON TRIUMPH
One of modern poker’s most recognisable figures came of age as a high roller when Chris Moneymaker, the man responsible for the poker boom of the early 2000s, scored a maiden Triton Series title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Chris Moneymaker, USA – $903,000
2 – Brian Kim, USA – $609,000
3 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $419,000
4 – Ding Biao, China – $341,000
5 – Danilo Velasevic, Serbia – $272,000

163 entries | $4,075,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive