Category: Poker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But then Eibinger doubled back with against Heath’s .

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

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

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

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

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

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Straight to the cage, and he was back again.

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

Brewer:
Guilbert:

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

Straight to the cage, and he was back again.

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

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

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

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

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

And now if you’re out, you’re out.

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

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

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

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 nights complimentary accommodation at the Merit Royal Hotel

VIP car transfer from Ercan or Larnaca Internation Airports

Complimentary food and beverage

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

Full concierge service

Invitation to exclusive players party at resort bar/restaurant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

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

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

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

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

Then he bought back in again for another bullet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

As Event 1 played to its Hungarian-influenced conclusion in Cyprus tonight, the second event on the week’s schedule played through its Day 1.

In that one, there were 51 entries of $100K apiece (with registration still open) and the familiar figure of Michael Addamo atop the overnight counts.

Addamo has been on one of those streaks of late that sometimes occur in the high buy-in events. He even cashed the $50K here, before hopping into the $100K to bag the chip lead.

The Dutch pair of Tom Vogelsang and Teun Mulder are Addamo’s closest challengers at this stage, both of whom arrived slightly late to Cyprus but have hit the ground running.

The full stacks at this stage are as follows. Registration remains open for another hour on Day 2 before they play to a winner. There’s also an additional $50K Turbo event starting tomorrow at 4pm.

Michael Addamo	Australia	1,058,000
Tom Vogelsang	Netherlands	1,019,000
Teun Mulder	Netherlands	826,000
Danny Tang	Hong Kong	569,000
Chris Brewer	USA	567,000
Ali Imsirovic	Bosnia & Herzegovina	562,000
Stephen Chidwick	UK	486,000
Ben Heath	UK	472,000
Jake Schindler	USA	461,000
Michael Watson	Canada	424,000
Christoph Vogelsang	Germany	354,000
Paul Phua	Malaysia	335,000
Cary Katz	USA	331,000
Ivan Leow	Malaysia	310,000
Michael Soyza	Malaysia	273,000
Daniel Dvoress	Canada	253,000
Chin Wei Lim	Malaysia	243,000
Lun Loon	Malaysia	238,000
Artur Martirosyan	Russia	236,000
Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	220,000
Sam Greenwood	Canada	194,000
Vladi Chaoulov	Israel	181,000
Johan Guilbert	France	143,000
Ferdinand Putra	Indonesia	143,000
William Tjokroprawiro	Indonesia	124,000
Viacheslav Buldygin	Russia	89,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

The Triton Poker Series always generates the best stories, and we saw a cracker in Cyprus tonight. The final two players in the first event of this week’s action — a $50K buy-in no limit hold’em event — were two friends, Andras Nemeth and Laszlo Bujtas.

They are both Hungarian. They were both playing their first ever Triton event. And, in fact, they were the first two players from Hungary ever to play on this series. And then they finished heads-up, with Nemeth beating his good friend to a first prize of $1.082 million.

Bujtas, who at 29 is 10 years younger than Nemeth, made do with $770,000. Both have every reason to be delighted with their debut performance on this tour.

“It wasn’t easy,” Nemeth said. “The final table was really tough. I was a little bit nervous at the start and I made a couple of … well, it was close but I made some not good decisions. Then when we got short stacked, it was all about who was going to win the first major all-in.”

He added: “It was surreal to play for the first time and to then get heads-up against one of my best friends in poker. I had to pinch myself.”

There were 36 players seated at the start of play today, including the Dutchman Teun Mulder, who became the final buy-in before registration closed. Organisers soon confirmed the near $4 million prize pool, including more than $1 million for first place.

With only 11 places paying, and some short stacks, the inevitable fast start swept plenty of players away — or, more precisely, to the second event of this week’s series, a $100K no limit hold’em tournament. (That one concludes tomorrow.)

The bubble approached rapidly and burst before the dinner break, with the Belorussian Triton favourite Mikita Badziakouski falling in 12th place. He had only a tiny stack and an ace in the big blind, which made it a mandatory call after Michael Soyza shoved all-in from the small blind.

Unfortunately for Badziakouski, his couldn’t outdraw Soyza’s and Soyza, celebrating his birthday, locked up a cash for himself — as well as the other 10. Badziakouski was bounced short of another $100K payday.

Soyza’s joy was relatively short lived as he slipped away in ninth ($113,000), joining Michael Addamo (11th – $99,000), Eng Siang Ewe (10th – $99,000) and Sam Greenwood (eighth – $147,000) in departing before the final table.

But then the last seven (officially an “unofficial” final table in a six-max event) took some dinner and then their seats again to play to the first champion of the week.

It wasn’t long before the first elimination: Stephen Chidwick perished in seventh after flopping a set of twos on a ten-high board. The only problem for the British player was that Elton Tsang’s turned a flush. Chidwick, already the leader on the UK money list, added a further $188,000.

After Chidwick’s departure, stack sizes were short and there was every chance of a swift conclusion, particularly as the length of the levels was also reduced. However, the tournament then went through one of those periods where every single all-in player doubled up and the chip lead rotated through almost all of the remaining contenders.

“This is a really cool final table,” Jason Koon said after he doubled up Tsang. Tsang, who led overnight, had been left short after doubling up at least three others, including Koon.

As it turned out, those two became the next two eliminations. Tsang had built back to second in chips, but perished at the hands of the leader, Nemeth. Tsang was disappointed, but there was nothing he could have done. It was simply one of those days. He took $240,100 for sixth, after losing with to Nemeth’s .

Koon was similarly helpless with a sub 10-big blind stack. At this point, it was really just about laddering up if possible, and taking it on the chin if not. Koon lost with to Bujtas’ . There was not much he could have done about that either.

If there was ever proof that this had turned into the kind of tournament where there wasn’t a whole lot of player agency, the next person out was Phil Ivey. Plenty of poker observers are convinced that Ivey has the ultimate magic touch, capable of turning any situation to his profit.

But not this one. He had the micro stack four-handed and it was soon in the middle. He was next to the payouts table, collecting $387,100, when his lost to Bujtas’ .

At this point, the only player who could upset the Hungarian party was South Korea’s Tommy Kim, who was also a first-timer on the Triton tour. But the gods seemed to have decreed the European battle and Nemeth knocked out Kim in third when his pocket fours made a straight to beat Kim’s pocket sevens.

That was harsh, but Kim picked up $503,000, which is also a fine payday for a newcomer.

Nemeth referenced all of the major hands — those winners against Tsang and Kim in particular — when he gave a quick post-tournament interview. There was also not much he could do about any of that, but was delighted to end up on the right side of it. It was a pretty swift affair against Bujtas too. Nemeth had and Bujtas had .

Everything went in, and Bujtas finished second. He collected $770,000 and left Nemeth as the millionaire.

It’s Nemeth’s largest ever live cash, but one suspects he’ll improve on it pretty soon, particularly if he continues to play on the Triton Series. There are five more events to come this week alone. Follow all the action in the usual places.

TRITON CYPRUS SPECIAL EDITION
EVENT 1: $50K SIX-HANDED NLHE

Dates: April 2-3, 2022
Entries: 82 (inc. 37 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,936,000

1 – Andras Nemeth, Hungary, $1,082,000
2 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary, $770,000
3 – Tommy Kim, South Korea, $503,800
4 – Phil Ivey, USA, $387,100
5 – Jason Koon, USA, $307,000
6 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong, $240,100
7 – Stephen Chidwick, UK, $188,000
8 – Sam Greenwood, Canada, $147,000
9 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia, $113,000
10 – Eng Siang Ewe, Malaysia, $99,000
11 – Michael Addamo, Australia, $99,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive