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By the incredibly high standards they set for themselves, this had been a disappointing trip to Triton Madrid for Jason Koon and Daniel Dvoress. Both men had played everything and cashed twice each — a fourth and a sixth for Dvoress, and two sixth places for Koon. For two of the game’s most decorated elite, it was a relatively poor return.

But you’re never out of it on the Triton Series until the very last card is dealt, and Koon and Dvoress managed to navigate their way to the last two places in the €150K One Bullet Short Deck event on the festival’s closing day, where they were each guaranteed a payday of more than €1.1 million.

They squared off — friend vs. friend; exceptional talent vs. exceptional talent — and played to decide who would be the champion. A first for Dvoress or a fourth for Koon? A pair of black aces in Koon’s hand decided that.

“I get my four-time badge!” Koon said after the dealer had secured it in his favour. “I was denied that twice and I was upset that Mikita [Badziakouski] had it. But I got that now.” He’s right. Koon has 19 Triton cashes and now a fourth win, and this one came with a prize of €1,750,000.

It was the biggest buy-in of all events on this long and draining festival, and landed the Triton Ambassador another massive prize to take back to his wife and young son, Calum.

“Maybe it’s real,” Koon said when asked whether “baby run-good” was responsible for this result. “He’s been here eight months and we’ve won a bracelet and a Triton title. Maybe there’s something to it.”

He added that he was looking forward to getting home with the family, describing himself as “deliriously tired, exhausted.” He added: “But this is what we’re here for.” He paid tribute too to his final table opponents, all of whom are Koon’s buddies and “great competitors”.

He said it presented some demanding positions, and described how he had been both on easy street and against the wall, and how happy he was to have navigated past the sharks.

“It was a really grindy final table,” Koon told Ali Nejad. “Everything was smooth sailing, and I was in a really good situation where I got to put tons of pressure on the short stacks. I was up against three guys who understand ICM really, really well, so it wasn’t one of these lotteries where you’re guessing what you think your opponent is going to do.

“I was feeling really good about the situation that was presented, but then I happened to lose a couple of unfortunate all-ins. But then I got lucky with the queen-jack suited against the kings and made a bunch of big hands to close the thing out.”

He could not contain both relief and delight.

As for Dvoress, he took €1.19 million, after another stellar performance.

FINAL DAY ACTION

Day 2 began with the closing of the registration desk, but there was still time for last night’s newly-crowned Main Event champion Stephen Chidwick to sneak in, among others, and bring the number of entries up to 34 (including 10 re-entries). That put €5.1 million in the prize pool and offered those two seven-figure prizes at the top.

It quickly became apparent that Chidwick wouldn’t be winning one of them. He lost his stack quickly. And more gradually, dreams also died for Phil Ivey, Paul Phua, Michael Soyza, Tom Dwan and Mikita Badziakouski, among others.

When seven were left, they gathered around a final table, and took a photo, but only six were due to be paid. It meant that one of the following would be leaving with nothing, despite smiles around the table.

It’s been a wretched trip to Madrid for Malaysia’s Lun Loon too, and proceedings in Casino Gran Via today won’t have made him feel much better. Loon had one of the biggest stacks in the early stages of the day, but went on a steady decline as the bubble drew closer.

His tournament ended in the very worst spot: seventh, with six to be paid. His lost to Daniel Dvoress’ aces and Loon left with nothing.

Poker fans have not seen very much of Dan Cates this week, even though he has been in Madrid from the start of the event. Cates has been rumoured to have been in the cash game room for most of the time, only making the briefest of appearances at the tournament tables.

But this big buy-in short deck event ushered him out of exile last night, and he was still playing through the bubble. “Still playing” meant still also chattering away incessantly, sometimes to his opponents, sometimes to people watching the live stream and sometimes to himself. He was also, of course, playing his usual flawless game.

However, with only a handful of antes just after the bubble burst, Ike Haxton was able to trap him. Haxton limped with aces and Cates moved in with . The aces held and Cates was out in sixth, earning €360,000.

Prior to arriving in Madrid, Seth Davies was one of those unfortunate players on the elite circuit who had never cashed on the Triton Series. It was mysterious how this was so, and Davies was able to remedy it quickly this week, cashing in both the €75K NLHE and the €100K Short Deck Main Event.

He made it three in this €150K tournament, but was not able to progress past fifth this time. His day had hit its high point early on, when he managed to double through Elton Tsang with pocket sixes, and his stack barely fluctuated for a long period after that. But 2.1 million went in the middle, calling Jason Koon’s shove, when Davies had . Koon’s had Davies strangled and the board offered no help.

Davies’ run this time earned him another €460,000.

The final six players had represented some of North America’s finest poker talents, and that was still true, of course, even after Cates and Davies’ eliminations. Now it was more balanced, though, with two Canadians — Daniel Dvoress and Sam Greenwood — facing off against two Americans — Ike Haxton and Jason Koon.

Dvoress suddenly found himself in an incredible spot three-handed, where he had the covering stack and the chance to knock out both Haxton and Greenwood when all three were all-in. As it turned out, Haxton managed to survive and find a triple up, while Dvoress eliminated his countryman Greenwood.

They got all their chips in with for Haxton, for Dvoress and for Greenwood. But the best pre-flop hand ended up third after a run-out of .

Greenwood has been so near but yet so far a lot this week in Madrid, and the €580,000 he took for fourth here is another example.

Haxton was now in a much better position than he had been previously, and it got even better for him when he doubled through Koon shortly after. Haxton’s ran down Koon’s pocket queens when an ace came on the river.

Koon’s frustration only grew when Dvoress managed the same doubling trick through the chip leader soon after, Dvoress’s beating Koon’s . That put Dvoress into the lead and left Koon the short stack and needing a double. He got it very quickly, through Haxton, with cracking Haxton’s kings.

Haxton sat on that short stack for a while, getting his chips in every now and again, but either getting no customers or chopping pots. It couldn’t last forever, however, and Haxton did indeed become the next out, losing with to Dvoress’ . The gods of short deck, more cruel even than the regular poker gods, gave Haxton an eight on the flop, but Dvoress a queen on the river.

Haxton won €760,000 for this one, but there was a €400K jump now for the heads-up players.

They took a quick break before reconvening for the heads-up, with Dvoress’s 8.8 million ahead of Koon’s 4.8 million. There were still 140 antes between them, but that’s not a massive amount in short deck.

Even so, they did not look at any numbers. They both seemed content to play it out, and so knuckled down to do just that.

The early exchanges were fairly benign, but then there was a sudden explosion and a huge double for Koon. He had against Dvoress’ and it stayed good. That put Koon up to the dizzy heights of 11 million, and in sight again of the title.

Not long later, he found those and Dvoress had . The aces held and the two went to look for their million-plus cheques.

That brought the curtain down on Triton Madrid. What a ride…

Triton Madrid – Event 13
€150,000 Short Deck One Bullet

1 – Jason Koon, USA – €1,750,000
2 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – €1,190,000
3 – Isaac Haxton, USA – €760,000
4 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – €580,000
5 – Seth Davies, USA – €460,000
6 – Dan Cates, USA – €360,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

When Stephen Chidwick arrived to play the €150K Short Deck event at Triton Madrid today, there was something different about him. There was something spectacular glinting on his left wrist.

Last night, Chidwick won the Short Deck Main Event here at the Casino Gran Via, and banked €1.8 million. But he also won something that money can’t buy: the exclusive Triton Epic X Skeleton timepiece, created by the luxury jewellers Jacob & Co, which only Main Event victors on the Triton Series can boast.

“Beautiful,” Chidwick said, when asked about the watch immediately after strapping it to his wrist last night. And he now wears it proudly as he returns to action. The only other person with a similar item is Henrik Hecklen, who won his in the No Limit Hold’em Main Event. Hecklen spent the hours after his victory showing off his new accessory around the exclusive players party as his celebrations kicked off.

This brings great pride to both the staff of the Triton Series and Jacob & Co — the result of an exclusive collaboration that underlines the Triton Series’ commitment to offering a complete luxury experience for its players. The timepiece is designed to be both stunning but functional; something that Triton Series players will do everything they can to acquire.

The initial response to it has been universally positive, yet one more detail to match Triton’s most lofty ambitions.

Triton Poker has a very simple aim: to be the very best at everything it does. Its staff talk about creating the Champions League of Poker, or liken its four-stop season to the Grand Slams in tennis and golf.

Triton already hosts the most prestigious poker tournaments, with the very best player experience. It visits the most dynamic cities and the most exclusive properties. It hosts the highest class live streams and recorded broadcast content. And it has an industry-leading app for players and fans to follow all the action.

Its new partnerships are with similarly market-leading brands that cater for the most demanding and most exclusive consumers — adding even more prestige to Triton’s exceptional all-round offerings.

“The Triton philosophy is to inspire and give back to the poker community by creating the elite stage for the world best players to compete,” says Chng Zhen Wei, Triton’s head of business development. “Triton also seeks deliver exceptional service to all stakeholders with the highest level of integrity and professionalism, culminating in the full Triton experience.”

He adds that Jacob & Co share this core philosophy. “Jacob & Co also puts its customer in the forefront, which is in tandem with Triton’s mantra as such having two companies that goes all out to give nothing but the best to the customers. This partnership would ideally create an exclusive brand alignment for both companies, allowing customers to express their individuality at the highest level.

“We look for partners that are exclusive, be bold to express themselves, to be a part of the world-class Triton experience and the poker community.”

Ruyi Xu, Regional Brand Director of Jacob & Co, visited Madrid for this first Triton Series stop since the partnership was signed. Some of Jacob & Co’s other exquisite timepieces were on display outside the tournament room, and Xu was keen both to showcase Jacob & Co’s products, and to meet Triton’s players to learn more about their lifestyle and demands.

“Triton is the perfect stage for the most elite poker players and businesspeople — and these are also our potential clients,” Xu explains. “Being here with the players and with Triton allows us to get to know the players. We can come to events and meet these people face to face, and understand their requirements and desires. We share their experiences. We can produce timepieces to reflect the life of an elite poker player. We can forge an emotional link with players.”

She adds: “Triton is also keen to produce a complete experience for its players, even outside of the poker, and as a luxury brand, we can be a part of that.”

All good partnerships offer benefits to both parties, and Xu laid out what Triton can bring to the esteemed jewellers — already one of the world’s leading jewellers.

“Triton has a very high standing in the poker community, and can offer Jacob & Co a lot of exposure,” Xu says. “It has its very popular live streams and social media channels, and its games are broadcast on TV in Asia, North America and Europe. We can appear in those broadcasts too.

“Triton gives us an audience of the kind of people for whom Jacob & Co can offer a lot. No other luxury brand has entered this world. It’s a new universe for us, but it’s been a great start.”

Xu says she hopes the partnership can extend to several years, in keeping with the manner of luxury timepiece production, where quality is prized much more highly than haste.

“Producing timepieces of this quality doesn’t happen overnight,” Xu says. “It takes sometimes up to 10 months. So I would imagine a collaboration to last two or three years. Jacob & Co produces very high end timepieces. We are an American company, but we produce timepieces in the Swiss watchmaking tradition, which takes a long time. So we hope for this to be a long partnership.”

As for the Triton Series watch itself, it’s an incredible piece of work.

It’s a 44mm skeleton timepiece designed with the personalised Triton logo integrated beautifully at the 12 o clock position as a part of the skeleton mechanism. It also features a rose gold face and the exclusive CHAMPION mark on the case-back, to celebrate the achievement of the Triton Champion.

Xu says: “The Triton Epic X Skeleton is the result of an exclusive collaboration with Triton. A lot of thought has gone into the design.

“Most importantly, this is a luxury watch but it can be worn every day. It is light and comfortable. It has a light titanium case, and a soft leather strap, which is very comfortable to wear over long periods, like a sport watch.

The skeleton timepiece means you can see all its intricate mechanisms; you can see the manual winding coil. You can see the ruby on the balance spring, which is the heart of the watch. The jewels protect the wheels.

The skeleton designs are very popular, and you can see the integrated Triton logo, in the well-known Triton black and gold colours. The Triton logo is part of the mechanical elements. It’s not just for decoration.”

The Jacob & Co stand in the Triton tournament lobby was highly popular, with many Triton players, and others who find a home at these series stops, visiting to learn more about the exceptional jewellery. “We offer players a boutique experience, without having to go to the boutique itself,” Xu said.

The Triton Epic X Skeleton is already the most sought-after accessory in the poker world. And long may this partnership continue.

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Arguably the best player in modern poker without a Triton Series title remedied the situation in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night as Stephen Chidwick, the online phenom turned high-stakes tournament boss, won the €100K Short Deck Main Event in Madrid. To do so, Chidwick had to battle past Tony Guoga (aka Tony G) heads up to claim a €1.8 million first prize.

“It feels incredible,” Chidwick said. “Such a big event. It feels amazing.”

Chidwick had been heads-up once before this week, taking the largest slice of a two-way chop with Michael Addamo, before being defeated with just the trophy and title on the line. But Chidwick made no mistake at the final table in this huge Main Event, overcoming an early blow that looked like scuppering his chances, to refocus, rebuild and then remain immune to the particular challenges of playing Guoga heads up.

His prize is that enormous pay-check, of course, plus the exclusive Jacob & Co timepiece, offered only to Main Event champions. (“Beautiful,” Chidwick said.) He also picks up a huge number of Player of the Year points, putting him into the overall lead.

These two men had played what had seemed like a tournament-defining pot within the first hour or so of play beginning, back before even the bubble had burst. In that one, Guoga cracked Chidwick’s aces with pocket queens and scored an enormous double up. It allowed Guoga all the privileges of a monster stack for the vast majority of the day, and forced Chidwick back on the ropes.

But when the two became reacquainted after everyone else had departed, Chidwick got the better of the old foe. Guoga, looking for a second career Triton title, banked €1.305 million for second. He had also had to bounce back from a micro-stack at one point to put himself in contention again.

There couldn’t really be a starker contrast between the table demeanour of these last two players. Chidwick is silent, focused and menacing; Guoga is no less of a tyrant, but does everything with more of a flourish, a rub-down and with the volume turned up. Guoga tried all his tricks at the final table, cracking wise, loudly ordering expensive drinks, attempting to get under Chidwick’s skin.

But the British player could not be shifted and would not be beaten. The only amazing thing is that it has taken Chidwick so long to lift a trophy, but he has a third, a second and now a first-place finish from this trip alone. And the floodgates could be about to open.

“It was a super long final table and I was short for a lot of it,” Chidwick said. “I lost count of the all-ins I won.” But he added that he was thrilled to win finally, especially on such a prestigious tour, and vowed only to “keep playing” and expressed a desire “just to get better”.

FINAL STAGES ACTION

The bubble burst when Webster Lim went out in ninth — read the bubble recap here — but the official table only allowed seven players. So the tournament progressed on for a little while on two four-handed tables. That was until Michael Soyza was knocked out in eighth, losing the last of his chips to Stephen Chidwick.

Soyza shipped a few to Danny Tang in a previous hand, and then open-pushed the hijack with , for 665,000 (27 antes). Chidwick was in the hijack with and re-shoved for 1.125 million. That persuaded Richard Yong to fold his .

The board would have smashed Yong. It came . But Yong was irrelevant, and it missed Soyza. “GG boys,” Soyza said as he walked away, looking for €240,000. That’s his third cash of this trip to Madrid.

They finally now consolidated around a final table and Tony G, after his massive pre-bubble hand against Chidwick, still held a sizeable chip lead.

The stacks at the start of the official final were as follows:

Tony G – 5,025,000 (201 antes)
Mikita Badziakouski – 3,205,000 (128 antes)
Richard Yong – 2,880,000 (115 antes)
Danny Tang – 2,770,000 (111 antes)
Stephen Chidwick – 1,865,000 (75 antes)
Isaac Haxton – 1,485,000 (59 antes)
Seth Davies – 770,000 (31 antes)

Antes: 25K/50K

Seth Davies was the shortest stack and was obviously looking to get his chips in. The real problem with short deck, however, that even if you find the perfect spot, you never really have as much equity as you would probably like.

Here’s an example: Davies had and was looking at a flop of in a single raised pot. Mikita Badziakouski made a bet of 175,000 and Davies moved in for his last 555,000.

Badziakouski called with a dominated , but the turn and river were and that was a straight for Badziakouski. Davies was dust, but won €305,000.

Ever since the pre-bubble double up, things had been pretty easy for Tony G. His tracking line was pretty much flat, and any pronounced jerks were in the upward direction. He beat Danny Tang out of a pot with aces over ace-king and crept further upward — until he was forced to pay out Yong in full when the Triton co-founder turned a full house with . This wasn’t a loose call by Guoga, though. He also had a full house with his .

It pegged Guoga back a small amount, keeping him in sight of the chasing pack, now led by Yong.

By contrast to some of the leaders’ tracking graphs, Isaac Haxton’s suggested someone in need of a defibrillator. He was up, down, up and then down again, this final time being permanent. After Haxton opened pre-flop with , from a stack of around 2 million, Yong put it all-in, covering the American’s stack.

Haxton called and saw that Yong had him dominated with . Haxton flopped a gutshot, but missed it, and with that his tournament was done. Haxton’s third cash of the series earned him €380,000.

As players departed, the rich got richer and the smaller stacked — Tang and Chidwick, in particular — had to look for spots to either double or leave. When they clashed against one another, it was always likely to prove terminal for the loser. They did indeed butt heads, with Chidwick’s flopping a straight to beat Tang’s and though Tang had the marginally bigger stack, and doubled it quickly afterwards, Tang was knocked out on the first hand back from the dinner break.

This time his pocket jacks lost to Badziakouski’s and Tang’s tournament ended with a visit to the payout desk looking for €490,000. Tang has cashed four times this trip, and leapt almost immediately into the €150K event, looking for No 5. (He was sat next to Haxton.)

All established patterns continued for the next level or so, where Tony G was able to raise frequently and take pots uncontested, while Chidwick had to navigate a minefield with his tiny stack and somehow find a way to grow it. He did exactly that in two major pots, doubling up first through Yong and then through Guoga, and that gave him 40 antes. That was roughly the same as Yong, so the table now split down the middle: Yong and Chidwick both equally short, and Badziakouski and Guoga equally much bigger.

There’s frankly not much point attempting to explain what happened next. Guoga began a steep downward slide, his magic touch having seemingly deserted him. Having been so dominant, he now spent a small amount of time as the tournament short stack. However, his fortunes turned back just as quickly, and in the space of about 15 minutes he was chip leading again, ruining the prospects of Yong in the process.

Guoga doubled through Chidwick, with beating . And then he doubled through Yong, with beating .

The next time those two got their chips in, Guoga had against Yong’s and Guoga won that too. And that was the end for Yong, who took €640,000 for fourth.

Yong already had one second place finish from his Triton Madrid visit, and now had to make do with fourth as his search for a second title continues.

So what of Badziakouski? The Belarusian master had mostly taken a back seat in this short-handed insanity, but he doubled up Yong shortly before his elimination ( losing to ) and he then lost a big one to Chidwick, shortly after they went three-handed.

Chidwick had to Badziakouski’s . Badziakouski flopped a king, but Chidwick rivered an ace and a flush, to win it two ways. It left Badziakouski very, very short and his chips went in with , which ended up inferior to Guoga’s . Badziakouski, with four titles already to his name, will have to wait for number five. He took €840,000 for third.

And so there they were, heads-up, with Chidwick now in the last two for the second time. He previously banked €1.2 million after chopping Event #7 with Addamo, and he was now guaranteed another €1.3 million, at least. As for Guoga, he was eyeing a second Triton success, having won in Rozvadov in 2019.

Guoga had the chip lead again — 11.15 million (112 antes) to Chidwick’s 6.85 million (69 antes) — and we settled in for the long haul. “Tune in to Triton Poker for the greatest heads-up battle!” Guoga bellowed to the cameras.

The first meaningful pot heads up was a huge double for Chidwick. It went call, shove (from Guoga) and call from Chidwick pre-flop, with Chidwick’s 5.2 million stack effective. Chidwick was in bother with to Guoga’s , but rivered a queen to double.

It was small ball from there, with Guogo nibbling back at Chidwick, and once turning down the oppotunity to gamble for it after Chidwick shoved pre-flop. “You’re too good to go all in,” Guogo jibed, looking for info. “You’re probably a very nice guy inside.”

Chidwick didn’t blink and Guogo folded that one.

Not long later, he did get it all-in, however. Both players had found big aces — for Chidwick and for Guoga. And despite a lot of outdraws in previous pots, this one ran pure.

That was it. Chidwick was the champion.

Triton Madrid – Event 12
€100,000 Short Deck Ante Only

1 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – €1,800,000
2 – Tony Guoga, Lithuania – €1,305,000
3 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – €840,000
4 – Richard Yong, Malaysia – €640,000
5 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – €490,000
6 – Isaac Haxton, USA – €380,000
7 – Seth Davies, USA – €305,000
8 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia – €240,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive