The deal with the Triton Poker Series is the first time 12BET has partnered with a poker company, but they have a rich history of successful sponsorship deals including a presence in the fields of snooker, badminton, pool, taekwondo and table tennis, although football has always been their primary focus.
12BET entered the sponsorship market in 2009 after becoming the shirt sponsor of La Liga side Sevilla. 12Bet has also been the Official Betting Partner of English Premier League (EPL) sides Swansea and Leicester City, the latter in the wake of their stunning 2015/16 triumph and currently hold official betting partners title for Arsenal F.C.(2016-19) in Asia.
The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro 2019 will be the most ambitious Triton event to date, with ten events spread between May 5 – 17, including the €110,000 buy-in Triton Poker Series No-Limit, Hold’em Main Event, and the €110,000 buy-in Short-Deck Main Event.
Here is a full schedule of events.
About Triton Poker
Triton Poker was founded in 2015 by the Malaysian businessman, philanthropist and poker lover, Richard Yong, who felt there was a gap in the market for an exclusive tournament series for affluent businesspeople and high-end professional poker players set in some of the most luxurious locations in the world all in the name of charity. Funds from Triton Poker events have helped charitable organisations such as Project Pink and the Red Cross.
Previous winners of Triton Poker events include Fedor Holz, Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Justin Bonomo, Timothy Adams, John Juanda, Dan Colman, Jason Koon, Phil Ivey, and Mikita Badziakouski. For further information on the Triton Poker head to www.triton-series.com or contact info@triton-series.com. If you need any information on tournament info or buy-in details email vip@triton-series.com.
Triton Poker, the home of world-class high stakes poker experiences, is pleased to unveil the groundbreaking new £1m (GBP) buy-in Super Short-Deck event.
Since launching the Short-Deck format to the world in 2018, we have sat back with a sense of pride as it’s found its way around the world in both the live and online realms. Triton Poker is always pushing the boundaries of innovation, and believes by reducing the game to deck of 20-cards, we have added the ‘Super’ into Short-Deck.
The new format comprises of only tens, jacks, queens, kings and aces creating a blitzkrieg of a game that will take the world by storm. In addition, the new £1m (GBP) price point means that in our next event in Montenegro, we will surpass the record of the biggest buy-in event in televised poker history, beating the €1m buy-in at the Big One for One Drop event held in Monaco back in 2016.
Dealers will need to practice shuffling with less than half the deck.
The changes reduces the edge between the pros and the amateurs, but Triton Poker’s brand ambassador, Jason Koon, still believes the best players in the game will find a way to exploit the new game, as they did with the 32-card version.
“I’m incredibly hyped!” Koon said. “Taking out the 2s all the way to the 9s now makes it an incredibly exciting yet balanced game because now we know everyone has amazing cards and shoving will be expected every round.”
The first £1m (GBP) Super Short-Deck event takes place on Saturday 18 May, and concludes on Sunday 19 May, and will become a permanent fixture at all future Triton Poker Series events.
*Footnote – With only 20-cards in play, the dealers will remove the burn cards to ensure the game can continue 7-handed. And this is an April’s Fools joke.
Mar 27 2019 – The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series returns to the Maestral Casino & Resort in Montenegro from May 5 – 17 2019 with a ten-event roster.
‘Bigger’ means ‘More’ with No-Limit Hold’em and Short Deck Turbo, and Pot-Limit Omaha events on the stately high stakes poker schedule for the first time.
Montenegro was Jason Koon’s springboard in becoming a Triton Titan, and the most successful Short Deck live tournament proponent across this strange rock of ours, and he can’t wait to return to the place where it all began.
“I could be biased because I ran really well last time, but Montenegro maybe my favourite poker stop in the world,” said Triton Poker Ambassador, Jason Koon. “I would wake up daily, and the sea was 15-feet from my room, and I could walk down and jump in before I played.
“It was also wonderful having the poker room being so close; everything is so convenient, and on top of that you get the old world beauty that’s hard to find anywhere else. I really look forward to going back there and playing again.”
The schedule has buy-ins ranging from €11,000 to €110,000, with a Main Event for both Short Deck and No-Limit Hold’em.
The €110,000 buy-in Triton Montenegro No-Limit Hold’em Main Event takes place Wednesday, May 8, and ends Friday, May 10, whilst the €110,000 buy-in Triton Montenegro Short Deck Main Event begins Wednesday, May 15, and ends Friday, May 17.
Here is the schedule in full:
In 2017, the Triton Poker Series in Montenegro was an all-German affair with Fedor Holz winning the HKD 250,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max defeating a field of 41-entrants to bank the $444,893 first prize. Manig Loeser conquered a field of 52-entrants to win the HKD 1,000,000 Triton Montenegro Main Event for $2,162,644.
Last year, the series doubled in size, including, for the first time, live Short Deck tournaments.
Phil Ivey defeated 61-entrants to claim the $604,992 first prize in the HKD 250,000 Short Deck, Ante-Only. Triton founder, Richard Yong, quelled a field of 35-entrants to win the HKD 250,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed earning $388,024. Jason Koon surmounted a field of 103-entrants to win the $3,579,836 first prize in the HKD 1m Short-Deck, Ante Only. And Mikita Badziakouski dominated a 63-entrant field to claim the $2,499,184 first prize in the HKD 1m Short-Deck Main Event.
About Triton Poker
Triton Poker was founded in 2015 by the Malaysian businessman, philanthropist and poker lover, Richard Yong, who felt there was a gap in the market for an exclusive tournament series for affluent businesspeople and high-end professional poker players set in some of the most luxurious locations in the world all in the name of charity. Funds from Triton Poker events have helped charitable organisations such as Project Pink and the Red Cross.
Previous winners of Triton Poker events include Fedor Holz, Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Justin Bonomo, Timothy Adams, John Juanda, Dan Colman, Jason Koon, Phil Ivey, and Mikita Badziakouski.
For further information on the Triton Poker head to www.triton-series.com or contact info@triton-series.com. If you need any information on tournament info or buy-in details email vip@triton-series.com.
The Triton Poker Series in Jeju was such an unmitigated success that the players decided to add a last minute event to the schedule. Flights were cancelled. Hotel rooms found. And 23-entrants created a prize pool of HKD 34,780,000 (USD 4,430,604) underlining the undeniable fact that Richard Yong and Paul Phua have put together the most banging high stakes poker series in the world.
The second of day of Event #8: HKD 1m (USD 127,000) No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck began with a final table of seven players, and the first one to lose a seat was one of the most successful players in the tour’s history, Mikita Badziakouski.
The Belarusian came into Jeju after winning back-to-back HKD 2m (USD 250,000) Triton Poker Series Main Events in Montenegro and Jeju, but this was a sour trip for the partypoker ambassador, cashing only once with a seventh-place finish in Event #2: HKD 500,000 (USD 64,000) No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck.
Badziakouski bowed out in seventh place after getting unlucky in a hand against Timofey Kuznetsov. The pair got it in on a flop of Td9h7s with Badziakouski holding Th8s, for top pair and Kuznetsov chasing with KdQc. The dealer burned and turned the Qh and Kc to give Kuznetsov two pairs, and the chip lead. Badziakouski was out.
Jason Koon described Tan Xuan as one of the best Short-Deck players in the business when he beat him, heads-up for the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck title in Montenegro, and the Chinese star made another deep run in this one eventually falling to Wai Kin Yong just shy of the big bucks. The pair got it in pre-flop with Yong’s pocket kings crushing the KhTh of Xuan, and despite turning a gutshot, Xuan hit the rail in sixth.
Paul Phua was enjoying his poker after cashing in three events, banking more than $2.6m in the process, and he took a step closer to a fourth ITM finish when he removed the dangerous Ivan Leow from the equation. It was a case of tough luck for Leow who was a massive favourite to double-up when he got it in with kings versus Phua’s queens, only for the best non-professional in the business to hit his two outer on the turn.
We reached the bubble after the two-time Triton Poker Series event winner, Wai Kin Yong, ran Tc9d into the two black jacks of Robert Flink. Yong flopped an open ender on Kd7s6s and had even more outs when the Th hit the turn, but the Kc wasn’t one of them to send Yong Junior to the rail two places shy of the money.
It was during the bubble that Timofey Kuznetsov took over the contest. Firstly. Trueteller eliminated Paul Phua on the button when kings faced off against queens, all-in, pre-flop, and this time Phua couldn’t find the luck needed to survive.
Then the Russian star eliminated Furkat Rakhimov in fourth place AKcc>KhTs; he took out Choon Tong Siow when pocket queens dodged the world to beat AdTh, and then he overcame the live tournament rookie Flink, heads-up, to take all the beans when JdJc beat AKhh thanks to a lowly looking 8s8c8h7s7d board.
Kuznetsov is a cash game superhero, but this win ranks as only his fourth live tournament ITM finish and just his second win, after taking down a $50,000 event at ARIA back in 2016. His most significant score to date came in 2015 when he finished fourth in the inaugural Super High Roller Bowl for $2,150,000.
Here are the ITM finishes
ITM Finishes
Timofey Kuznetsov – $1,859,940
Robert Flink – $1,240,809
Tong SiowChoon – $797,481
Furkat Rakhimov – $532,503
That’s a wrap for the Triton Poker Series in Jeju. The next time this particular show gets on the road will be May 4 – 16 when the team returns to the Maestral Casino and Resort in Montenegro.
The poker action at the Triton Series, Jeju, this week has been absolutely spectacular as the very best players in the world have crossed swords for tens of millions of dollars. Now you have a chance to win an exclusive souvenir from this event: a Triton series baseball cap signed by 30 of the players.
Triton Ambassador Jason Koon, world No. 1 Justin Bonomo and cash-game sensation Tom Dwan have all signed it, as well as Michael Soyza, Sam and Luc Greenwood, Nick Petrangeleo, Dominik Nitsche, Stephen Chidwick, Isaac Haxton, David bennefield, Daniel Dvoress, Richard Yong, Paul Phua, Ivan Leow, Igor Kurganov, David Peters, Dan Smith, Timothy Adams, Mikita Badziakouski, Matthis ebinger, Peter Jetten, Bryn Kenney, Randy Nanonoko, Lex Veldhuis, Tong Siow Choon, Wai Leong Chan, Andre Robl, and Mike Watson.
Tom Dwan takes a break from the cash game to sign the hat
All you have to do to have a chance of winning this exclusive piece of memorabilia is head to the Triton Poker Facebook page and follow these simple instructions:
1: FOLLOW: the Triton Poker page 2: LIKE and SHARE: this post 3: TAG: 1 poker friend.
It’s that easy.
The competition ends on March 15, 2019. There are two consolation prizes too.
The winners will be announced on March 16, 2019. Good luck to everyone, and remember sharing is caring.
Timothy Adams, from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, is the latest Triton Poker Series Main Event champion after he beat Bryn Kenney heads-up in a thrilling final table at Landing Casino, Shinhwa World Resort, Jeju.
Adams and Kenney negotiated a heads-up deal, securing both the largest single cashes of their careers. Adams’s title was worth HK$27.76 million (US$3.54 million) to Kenney’s HK$24 million (US$3.06 million), with each of the final five earning more than US$1 million.
Adams led at the start of the day, but Kenney was the most active through the opening stages of an explosive final table featuring six of the world’s best players. Two of them were knocked out on the first two hands, and the tournament, which featured 48 entries of HK$2 million each, reached its final two after only around three hours play.
imothy Adams tells Pete Latham: “I’m very happy that it’s me”
From there on, Adams hit a series of big hands at the same time that Kenney had slightly inferior holdings. Kenney was unable to wriggle free and Adams locked it up at around 6pm local time. The record books will show that Kenney made a mis-timed hero call with on a board of to pay off Adams’s queen-high flush, but Adams played the hand perfectly, having also won a series of coolers against his American opponent, to persuade Kenney to risk the last of his chips.
“It’s kind of standard,” Adams said of the final hand, before adding: “I was obviously very thrilled to get called.”
Bryn Kenney was unable to wriggle away from a series of coolers
Of the tournament as a whole, he said: “It feels really good. I’m really tired right now, three really gruelling days of poker…The field was really tough. The best players in the world were in the field.”
Final table players (l-r): Isaac Haxton, David Peters, Peter Jetten, Timothy Adams, Bryn Kenney, Dan Smith.
The day got under way in high spirits, with all six competitors very familiar with one another from high stakes games across the world. Adams’s stack was worth 107 big blinds, and Kenney’s 64, but from there down everyone was short.
David Peters had 12 big blinds, Dan Smith and Peter Jetten had 16 apiece. “Even Isaac Haxton is not safe with 25 big blinds,” said Lex Veldhuis in the commentary booth of the live stream. Those word would prove prophetic.
On the very first hand of play, Kenney looked down at and open-raised. Haxton found in the small blind and went for it. But Kenney, of course, was going nowhere and his kings held. Haxton won HKD$6.3 million (US$803,000) for sixth, but left in clear disappointment.
Peters will have been delighted to see Haxton’s departure, guaranteeing a move up the ladder. But he was soon left chatting with Haxton on the rail after he became the second player eliminated on only the final table’s second hand.
Isaac Haxton and David Peters lasted two hands between them
It was for Peters in the small blind and he moved in for his last 10 big blinds. Jetten called with in the big blind and flopped a king. Peters couldn’t catch up and his dogged display, during which he has been nursing a short stack for pretty much two days, finally ended in fifth, with a HK$8.15 million payday. He was in for four bullets, so the HK$150,000 is pure profit.
“I’d been short for a while, so to squeak into the money and then get one more pay jump at the final table, I can’t be too upset with it,” Peters said.
David Peters said he was happy to squeak into the money
Smith took over short-stack duties following Peters’ bust, but he quickly doubled back to a more playable stack after calling Kenney’s small-blind jam with . Kenney didn’t catch up with his . After Smith won another decent pot from Adams with trip fours, Jetten ended up in trouble.
That trouble became terminal in a gross hand against Kenney, in which Jetten’s flopped top pair on a board. The problem was that Kenney had pocket kings again for top set and Jetten was drawing dead when they got it in on the turn. Jetten won HK$10.39 million (US$1.324 million) for fourth.
Jetten hit the rail in fourth from his fifth final table
“It’s so hard,” Jetten said of the level of competition he faced. “Everyone at this tournament is an amazing player, and I got very lucky to finish as well as I did.”
He added: “I love the Triton stops. I’ve been very fortunate to have some success here too.”
Smith had already pulled off an excellent laddering display in Jeju, as he took a back seat to the early fireworks. He had even managed to pull within touching distance of the two leaders by the time the tournament was three handed, but lost a significant pot with ace-ten to Kenney and never recovered. He eventually departed when he couldn’t hit with his against Kenney’s .
Dan Smith made the most of his detour from Los Angeles
Smith won HK$13,600,000 (US$1.7 million), which will vindicate a last-minute decision to fly to Asia instead of fulfilling previous plans to travel to Los Angeles to play. Smith had recently celebrated his 30th birthday in Japan, but had headed home to the United States and was preparing for the LAPC. But he then found the lure of the Triton Series too strong to resist. “I just decided I wanted to play the big one instead,” he said.
With two left, the chip counts were all but even. Kenney’s 6.31 million was marginally ahead of Adams’s 5.69 million, but no one was surprised to see them begin to negotiate a deal.
Luca Vivaldi helps Bryn Kenney and Timothy Adams negotiate a deal
They quickly decided to leave HK$4 million on the table and lock up the following:
That’s a little over US$3 million each, with the extra “only” another US$500,000.
The two hunkered down to play this one for real, and their stacks were big enough still that it might have gone on late. However, the poker gods decided it was cooler time and thumbed the scale in favour of Adams.
A major pot developed with Adams’s connecting well with the board. He particularly liked that turn and river. Kenney was furious. His was better at the start, better after the flop and turn, but was then unfoldable on the end. It was a 6.2 million swing towards Adams, and Kenney was heard to mutter: “That’s the nastiest run-out I’ve ever seen.”
The trophy remained out of Bryn Kenney’s reach
Adams said: “I’ve been playing against Bryn since I was 19 or something, and now I’m 32. We’ve tons of experience, he’s an amazing player.”
Kenney had already won more than $2 million in tournaments this year, after securing victories in both Australia and Las Vegas in January and February. But he had to settle for second here in Jeju against a player at the very peak of his abilities.
“To win, it feels amazing,” Adams said. “I obviously had to run very, very good, as I think most people have to to win a poker tournament. I’m thrilled that it’s me.”
Adams celebrates with Isaac Haxton, Sam Greenwood and Justin Bonomo
Triton Series Jeju Main Event
Dates: March 7-9, 2019
Buy-in: HK$2 million (US$255,000)
Entries: 48 (inc. 16 re-entries)
Prize pool: HK$90,204,000
1- Timothy Adams, Canada, HK$27,760,500* (US$3.54 million)
2- Bryn Kenney, USA, HK$24,039,500 (US$3.06 million*)
3- Dan Smith, USA, HK$13,600,000 (US$1.7 million)
4- Peter Jetten, Canada, HK$10,390,000 (US$1.3 million)
5- David Peters, USA, HK$8,150,000 (US$1.04 million)
6- Isaac Haxton, USA, HK$6,300,000 (US$803,000)
There is simply no stopping Triton Ambassador Jason Koon.
The short-deck whiz, who won his second major Triton Series title in that new discipline this week, last night won the Triton Refresh tournament here in Jeju for yet another major victory. Though he and heads-up opponent Stephen Chidwick struck a chip-chop deal, and Chidwick took the slightly larger share of the prize-money, Koon won the event at the end of another marathon day.
“It’s ridiculous to sign up for six tournaments and turn up and final table four of them, and win two of them,” Koon said. “It doesn’t happen very often. I’ve run extremely, extremely well, but that’s what has to happen. Some weeks you run good, this week I ran fire hot.”
Jason Koon’s “dream week” continued
The tournament was originally planned to be played over both Friday and Saturday, concluding alongside the main event. But organisers and players opted to play it through — another event has been added to the schedule — meaning Koon’s HK$7.64 million (US$973,000) payday represents a single day’s work, concluding at around 4.30am local time.
The tournament cost HK$1 million (US$127,000) to enter, and by the time only two players were left, Koon looked at Chidwick and Chidwick looked at Koon and each realised that neither man had a significant edge. They arranged the deal, with Chidwick getting HK$8.859 million (US$1.13 million). Still they played on for a couple of hours until they eventually requested that blinds escalated every hand to get it done. Eventually Koon’s pocket fours beat Chidwick’s queen-high to settle the destination of the trophy.
Another million dollar score for Stephen Chidwick
It’s difficult to quantify how exceptional Koon’s run has been on the Triton Series. Detractors might point to small fields and random number distribution; someone has to win it, etc. But these tournaments feature nothing but the best of the best, with most of the world’s top 20 current players making the trip to South Korea and playing for the biggest money in the game. And still it’s always Koon.
From 25 entries in the Refresh, none of Nick Petrangelo, Daniel Dvoress, Matthias Eibinger, Igor Kurganov, Seth Davies, Ivan Leow, Henrik Hecklen, Mikita Badziakouski, Sam Greenwood, Dominik Nitsche or Michael Soyza troubled the cashiers on their departure. Soyza’s elimination in fifth was particularly cruel: not only did it burst the bubble, it was a fairly grim out-draw with Paul Phua‘s ace-jack rivering a straight to beat Soyza’s ace-queen.
Dominik Nitsche came close, but no cigarMichael Soyza was eliminated on the bubble
After Soyza’s elimination, the final four fell into two distinct camps: the crushers of Jeju and the crushed. For both Phua and Koon, this event had been brilliant. They had a number of cashes already, and had squared off for the title in the HK$1 million short deck the night before.
But for Michael Addamo and Chidwick, the opposite was true: they hadn’t recorded a single cash between them despite numerous entries (and re-entries) to events. In other words, this was their potential trip-saver, while they were facing opponents seeking the icing on the cake.
They settled in for a four-handed battle with the stacks as follows:
Phua: 2.14 million Addamo: 2.010 million Chidwick: 1.405 million Koon: 695,000
But when you’re on form, you’re on form — and Phua and Koon could not be stopped. Phua knocked out his closest challenger Addamo when he rivered a flush to beat top two pair, right before Chidwick lost almost all of his stack to Koon. Addamo took HK$2.8 million for fourth, but it’s a measure of Chidwick’s tenacity that did not roll over. He managed to dig in and pick his spots — aces helped at one point — eventually turning the tables on Phua.
Michael Addamo led at one point, but went out in fourth
While everyone on the rail was experiencing deja vu shivers, expecting another Koon/Phua showdown for all the beans, Chidwick won a flip with ace-jack against Phua’s sevens, and the Malaysian businessman was denied his chance at redemption against Koon. Phua had to settle for HK$4.2 million for third.
With a deal then quickly negotiated, and nothing but the trophy left to play for, spectators might have expected a quick resolution. But such is the innate competitive spirit of players at this level, that Koon and Chidwick continued to battle as though millions were on the line. It was only when they got to breaking point that they struck a new deal with tournament organisers to force their hands, and all the chips suddenly went in.
Chidwick’s huge score emphatically hauled him back into the black for this trip to Jeju, and continues his breathtaking recent run. And as for Koon, there’s little more anybody can say, except watch out in the last short-deck event of the week. Koon is settling in to play that today.
“It’s been a dream week,” Koon said. “It was incredible, it was amazing.”
1 – Jason Koon, USA, HK$7,640,160* (US$973,000) 2 – Stephen Chidwick, UK, HK$8,859,840* (US$1.13 million) 3 – Paul Phua, Malaysia, HK$4,200,000 4 – Michael Addamo, Australia, HK$2,800,000
The Triton Poker High Roller Series Main Event has reached its final table, with six of the world’s elite poker players returning tomorrow to crown a champion. One of them will leave the Landing Casino, Shinhwa World Resort, South Korea, with an extra HK$30.6 (US$3.9 million) and the first main event trophy of 2019.
With 48 entries, costing HK$2 million apiece, the prize pool had swelled to HK$90,204,000 (US$11.5 million approx) by the time registration closed at the start of today. By the end of it, we had six North Americans, and nobody else, left.
Play was significantly more cagey through the day’s eight hours than perhaps at any other time at a poker tournament in these parts. With a bubble of HK$6.3 million (US$803,000) looming, it’s not surprising. But it was still fascinating to see the game’s glitterati playing with extreme caution lest they leave with nothing.
Adams in the spotlight in the Triton main event
By the end of it, the Canadian high roller regular Timothy Adams had amassed a considerable chip lead. Adams knocked out the final two players on the second day — one of whom was the seemingly unbeatable Justin Bonomo — to end with a stack of 5.33 million, more than 2 million more than his closest challenger.
The final table stacks up as follows, with scheduled payouts below:
1 – Timothy Adams, Canada, 5.33 million
2 – Bryn Kenney, USA, 3.21 million
3 – Isaac Haxton, USA, 1.235 million
4 – Peter Jetten, Canada, 820,000
5 – Dan Smith, USA, 810,000
6 – David Peters, USA, 595,000
Bagging time for six of the best
Triton Series Jeju Main Event
Dates: March 7-9, 2019
Buy-in: HK$2 million (US$255,000)
Entries: 48 (inc. 16 re-entries)
Prize pool: HK$90,204,000
In the moments before play resumed today, after 10 levels on day one, Ivan Leow and Michael Soyza found time to re-enter, while Wai Leong Chan also sneaked in for the first time. But none of them was able to spin up a 25 big blind stack to take a place in the last nine.
It’s a measure of the volatility here that there was also no room at the final table for Richard Yong, who led overnight. The Triton co-founder died as he lived, with a fearless display of aggression. With the big blind at 25,000 Isaac Haxton opened to 50,000 and Yong made a huge shove, for 889,000, with . Haxton only had himself but made a gutsy call and hit an ace on the flop, knocking Yong out. Soon enough, the field trimmed to nine, and it was a who’s who of the global game.
The last nine (clockwise, from dealer): Isaac Haxton, David Peters, Peter Jetten, Timothy Adams, Justin Bonomo, Dominik Nitsche, Christoph Vogelsang, Bryn Kenney, Dan Smith
Though only one table was now necessary, the bubble was still a way off, and both remaining Germans fell short. Dominik Nitsche, who led at one point today, followed Christoph Vogelsang to the rail, setting up an all North American battle to squeeze past the bubble.
Bryn Kenney assumed the lead, before Adams pegged him back. All the while, David Peters sat with a tiny stack — around six big blinds at one point — but somehow he managed to cling on. He was in for four bullets too, so he needed this.
Amazing survival skills from David Peters
Even putting aside the particular dynamic, you would have got long odds against Bonomo being the man to perish. His tournament game is second to absolutely no one’s, as evidenced by his position at the top of poker’s all-time money list.
But he made what turned out to be a rare mis-step when, holding he three-bet pushed over Adams’ opening raise. Adams might have been bullying with the chip lead, but the he had in his hand suggested otherwise.
After a call and then a blank flop, Bonomo wandered away as the bubble boy.
Justin Bonomo, bubble boy
That set us up for a final day on which you can be pretty much guaranteed a display of flawless poker. Watch it on the Triton live stream tomorrow. You might just learn something.
Organisers of the Triton Poker Series, Jeju, tonight announced an addition to this week’s tournament schedule, inviting players to test their short-deck mettle one more time in a hastily-arranged seventh event.
The new tournament will get under way at 5pm on Saturday and play to a winner on Sunday, extending this festival by a day.
The buy-in for the tournament is HK$1 million, which will earn you three bullets of 100,000 chips each. (Players can convert their bullets to chips at any point while registration is still open.) Levels are 45 minutes long and there’s eight levels of late registration. The word around the poker room is that a handful of VIPs are coming over from the cash games for some short-deck tournament action, so the prize pool will surely scale its customary heights.
Today’s Event #7 — the “Triton Refresh” — had originally been scheduled to be the last. With 30-minute levels and five hours of late registration in that one, it has also swelled to the size we’ve come to know and love. There were 25 entries (including three re-entries), which means a prize-pool of HK$23.5 million and a first prize of HK$9.9 million. Four places will be paid.
Daniel Dvoress eyes redemption in the RefreshTough trip so far for Stephen Chidwick
With a number of the game’s leading lights yet to record a cash here in Jeju, this tournament can be seen as a potential trip-saver. Certainly the vast majority of the full-deck heroes who aren’t still in the main event have anted up. Here’s how the prize pool breaks down:
on a board of 
to pay off Adams’s queen-high flush, but Adams played the hand perfectly, having also won a series of coolers against his American opponent, to persuade Kenney to risk the last of his chips.
and open-raised. Haxton found 
in the small blind and went for it. But Kenney, of course, was going nowhere and his kings held. Haxton won HKD$6.3 million (US$803,000) for sixth, but left in clear disappointment.
for Peters in the small blind and he moved in for his last 10 big blinds. Jetten called with 
in the big blind and flopped a king. Peters couldn’t catch up and his dogged display, during which he has been nursing a short stack for pretty much two days, finally ended in fifth, with a HK$8.15 million payday. He was in for four bullets, so the HK$150,000 is pure profit.
. Kenney didn’t catch up with his 
. After Smith won another decent pot from Adams with trip fours, Jetten ended up in trouble.
against Kenney’s 
.
board. He particularly liked that turn and river. Kenney was furious. His 
was better at the start, better after the flop and turn, but was then unfoldable on the end. It was a 6.2 million swing towards Adams, and Kenney was heard to mutter: “That’s the nastiest run-out I’ve ever seen.”
. Haxton only had 
he three-bet pushed over Adams’ opening raise. Adams might have been bullying with the chip lead, but the 
