There may only be two days remaining of Triton Madrid 2022, but there are still three tournaments to conclude. Based on what we saw today, each of them will be a monster.
After Tom Dwan’s quick-fire win in the PLO earlier, short-deck hold’em took over again at Casino Gran Via, specifically the €100K Short Deck Main Event. They played through 10 levels today and it was frantic stuff, with bullets ricocheting around the place like a Wild West saloon.
There were 60 entries, including 28 re-entries, which means a prize pool of an even €6 million. The winner of this one is due to get €1.8 million, and even the runner-up will become a consolation millionaire. Second place gets €1.305 million.
When the bags came out tonight, there were 13 players remaining, led by Mikita Badziakouski. Again. The Belarusian already has one title from this Triton Madrid stop, his fourth overall, and he is a long way clear at the top of the counts tonight. He has 3.127 million and his closest challenger, Tony G, has 1.737 million.
The trail of the departed is long a glittering: Mike Watson, Sam Greenwood, Elton Tsang, Rui Cao and Tom Dwan were among those who fired and missed. There was also a first tournament appearance in Madrid for Dan Cates, but there was no miracle for him. He’s been hanging out in the cash-game area since he’s been here, and one suspects he headed straight back there after his cameo today.
A short day for Dan Cates
It’s worth also flagging the appearance in another Day 2 of Richard Yong, having another attempt at matching his Triton co-founder Paul Phua’s Madrid victory. The two players who finished heads up in the previous short deck event, Webster Lim and Bjorn Li, are also both still alive in this one.
And also note Stephen Chidwick, Danny Tang, Chris Brewer and Ike Haxton, who are all in the top eight of the Player of the Year race. Michael Addamo, who is top of that leader board, does not play short deck, so his lead is vulnerable.
Richard Yong still in with a shout of short deck triumph
The big points are awarded tomorrow, along with the big money, so keep an eye on the app and the stream as it plays out.
Here are the stacks at this stage:
Mikita Badzkiakouski – 3,127,000
Tony Guoga – 1,703,000
Phil Ivey – 1,669,000
Stephen Chidwick – 1,656,000
Richard Yong – 1,536,000
Isaac Haxton – 1,330,000
Seth Davies – 1,214,000
Bjorn Li – 1,159,000
Danny Tang – 1,148,000
Webster Lim – 1,143,000
Chris Brewer – 1,100,000
Michael Soyza – 803,000
Jason Koon – 373,000
And here’s what they are playing for:
Triton Madrid – Event 12
€100,000 Short Deck Ante Only
Players and staff alike work very hard at all events on the Triton Series. There are poker tournaments going on for about 12 hours of every day, plus cash games in the tournament down-time, as the world’s premiere high-stakes tournament series offers everything these elite players need.
The one exception was last night, where Triton hosted its players party at the conclusion of Day 1 of the PLO — in association with one of Triton’s new partners Iron Balls. There were free-flowing drinks, all the food you could eat, and some taste of the local culture too in the form of a flamenco quartet.
Those Iron Balls drinks incredible popular, of course: there was the “Full House” cocktail (Iron Balls vodka, ginger beer, kaffir, Campari and saline & citric soul) or the “Four of a Kind (Iron Balls Gin, cucumber & basil tonic, marrasquino, and green chartreuse).
There’s not much point in attempting to describe the scenes inside Casino Gran Via, especially when Triton photographer Joe Giron was there too. Here are a few snaps from the evening.
Flamenco performers at the Triton Madrid players party
Flamenco performers at the Triton Madrid players party
Flamenco performers at the Triton Madrid players party
Flamenco performers at the Triton Madrid players party
Crack open the huge champagne
Player Party
Player Party
Triton Madrid has featured a strong Dutch contingent
Brian Rast with Elton Tsand, Jeff Gross and Winfred Yu
Sam Greenwood, Ali Nejad, Elton Tsang
Player Party
Player Party
TD Luca Vivaldi thanked players for their continued support
Four of North America’s finest (l-r): Mike Watson, Seth Davies, Sam Greenwood, Jason Koon
High roller regular Steve O’Dwyer, left
Tony G, right, talks with Denys Homliavyi, left
The flamenco performers at the Triton Madrid players party
The audience for the flamenco performance
A selection of cocktails were available all night
The 1920s theme has been present through the week
Kate Badurek welcomes players to the party
There were a rare few hours for Triton’s hardest working staff to relax
The Iron Balls gin and vodka went down very well at the party
Triton Poker Ambassador Tom Dwan has his first title on the series where he holds legendary status already — bludgeoning through the €25K PLO field in Madrid to win €290,000.
It was a clinical display from Dwan, 35, who led the field from the mid-point of Day 1 and never relinquished it through a quick-fire final table. They went from eight players, through the bubble, and all the way to a champion in two-and-a-half hours.
That was due to Dwan’s formidable talents as a pot limit Omaha player. He never gave any of his opponents any chance to settle, and enjoyed the run of the cards as well. He was able to blast past opponents including his fellow online nosebleed superstar Patrik Antonius, and then ran over Jeremy Ausmus heads-up.
“It was cool,” Dwan said. “Honestly, it was fun to play because I had a big stack, and with this kind of structure you get to get away with a lot…That’s the fun kind of poker, and then every time I got called, I just got there. So that was fun.”
Never has a high-stakes tournament win seemed so easy. Never has a winner seemed so comfortable. After six previous cashes on the Triton Series, Dwan’s picture will now also appear on the board of champions.
Ali Nejad described Dwan’s performance as like a “hot knife through butter” and asked Dwan how he managed it. “Most of it was run-good,” Dwan said, but added that he thought some people were playing too tight from about 12 players onward.
Dwan also said how content he was playing on the Triton Series. “There’s a warm vibe, a warmer atmosphere,” he said. “It’s pretty chill.”
An unflustered Dwan is a joy to watch, and repeats of this final will be worth looking at if you’re looking for an entirely pure run to a major title.
Tom Dwan on cruise control
FINAL DAY ACTION
The day began with eight players, but the doom-filled knowledge that only six would be paid. It was therefore an exercise in attempting to look unflustered by the looming sight of a €60,000 bubble, particularly for Jeff Gross, Paul Phua and Tom-Aksel Bedell, whose smaller stacks put them most under threat.
PLO Final Table (l-r): Tom-Aksel Bedell, Filip Lovric, Jeremy Ausmus, Elton Tsang, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius.
DAY 2 STARTING STACKS
Tom Dwan, USA – 3,240,000
Jeremy Ausmus, USA – 1,980,000
Patrik Antonius, Finland – 1,795,000
Filip Lovric, Sweden – 960,000
Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – 660,000
Tom-Aksel Bedell, Norway – 595,000
Paul Phua, Malaysia – 550,000
Jeff Gross – 390,000
Gross had stepped out of the commentary booth to play this one, and was making his first appearance at the tables on the Triton Series. He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, but he couldn’t cap it with a debut win. He became the first elimination of the day, losing with to Dwan’s , all-in pre-flop.
Jeff Gross narrowly missed out on the money
Dwan ended up pairing his five on a board that didn’t really connect with either of them, and Gross departed.
Nobody on the Triton Series loves poker more than Phua. He set the whole thing up, after all, because of his insatiable appetite for the game. We’ve talked before about his incredible short-stack play, but even he couldn’t navigate his way into the money in this tournament. He had only three big blinds and got them in with . Antonius called with and although those hands looked pretty similar, Antonius flopped a nine to expose their differences.
Paul Phua became the bubble boy
Phua chuckled his way off the tournament stage, and ambled through the tournament room stating, “Bubble boy!” to everybody, whether or not they asked. He’ll be back for the short-deck Main Event. No doubt about that.
Shortly before Phua’s elimination, Bedell had managed a double up through Dwan, which not only helped him through the bubble, it also pushed him at least one more spot up the ladder.
His cause was also helped by Elton Tsang becoming the next man out: Tsang pushed over Dwan’s open with . Dwan called with and the board of gave Dwan a straight.
The end of Elton Tsang
Tsang’s kings were cracked and he picked up €60,000.
That was the first explosion in a rapid-fire period of play, which took us down to five, then four, then three and two players before the day was 90 minutes old.
Next out was Filip Lovric, who had the misfortune to find a big pocket pair in the small blind, when Ausmus had a bigger pair in the big blind. Dwan started this hand, opening to 210,000, and that was enough to prompt Lovric to jam for 465,000 with .
Filip Lovric, right, hits the rail
Ausmus looked down at the very pretty double-suited and also moved all-in, which persuaded Dwan out of it.
Lovric picked up a straight draw on the flop, but whiffed turn and river. His first appearance on the Triton Series earned him €76,500.
Fans of the online nosebleed cash games will have been licking their lips when first seeing this final table line-up as it gave the clear potential of an Antonius v Dwan heads-up duel. Those old adversaries have played thousands of hands against one another through the years, and the prospect of seeing a few more on the Triton live stream was very exciting.
Tom Dwan eyes Patrik Antonius
The problem was, Dwan had hit this particularly purple patch of form in this tournament, and was managing to win pretty much every pot he entered, including a huge showdown with Antonius when there were still four of them at the table.
With Dwan in the big blind, and 770,000 in his stack, Antonius opened to 280,000 under the gun. Dwan called. The flop was and Dwan bet enough to put Antonius all-in. Antonius called.
Antonius had bottom two pair with his , and Dwan had a flush draw with his . The on the turn hit Dwan, and Antonius couldn’t fill up on the river.
Patrik Antonius out in fifth
Antonius was out in fourth for €97,500, missing out on that heads-up duel with Dwan.
With Dwan seemingly unimpeachable, it was now down to Ausmus and Bedell to determine which one would try to take down Dwan in the final confrontation. Bedell had seemed like a huge underdog at the start of the day, but was still sticking around.
However, he ended up becoming the next player crushed by the Dwan juggernaut, in another pot where the inferior pre-flop holding came good. Dwan raised with his and Bedell called with his . That left him only 150K behind, two big blinds, but he didn’t see reason to risk it all yet.
Salute Tom-Aksel Bedell and his third-place finish
After the flop, Dwan bet all the draws and Bedell put the rest of his chips in. Turn and river came and , and Dwan’s straight was one pip bigger than Bedell’s.
Bedell won €127,000 for third, his second cash in only his third Triton event. “Nice playing with you,” Ausmus and Dwan both echoed, as they shook Bedell’s hand.
The heads-up battle was thus decided: two Americans would go at it. Dwan had a more than three-to-one advantage — it was 2.5 million to Ausmus, 7.7 million to Dwan — but there were enough blinds in play to make it interesting. They were still in the 40K/80K level.
Ausmus, making his debut on the Triton Series in Madrid, won a couple of early pots to narrow the gap slightly, but Dwan then won pretty much everything else. His tracking graph, on the Triton Poker Plus app was a near enough straight upward slope.
Ausmus had only about 10 big blinds when they played the final hand. Dwan raised to 300,000 with and Ausmus called with .
After the flop, Ausmus moved in with his bottom pair and diamond draw, but Dwan called with an overpair and a better draw (as well as a three) and the turn followed by the river were blanks.
Jeremy Ausmus couldn’t get anything going against Dwan heads-up
Ausmus won €199,000, which was his second cash of his trip to Madrid, but Dwan was the deserving champ. It was all done and dusted by 2.30pm local time — just in time for the short-deck Main Event, a tournament Dwan also has his eye on.
“I like playing tournaments,” he said. “It’s nice not to be bummed out from not winning. Hopefully I’ll be up here again in a day or two.”
1 – Tom Dwan, USA – €290,000
2 – Jeremy Ausmus, USA – €199,000
3 – Tom-Aksel Bedell, Norway – €127,000
4 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – €97,500
5 – Filip Lovric, Sweden – €76,500
6 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – €60,000
While most of the attention in the Casino Gran Via tournament room was focused on the Main Event this afternoon, there was also the not-insignificant matter of a PLO event getting started.
No one denies that Triton players tend to favour no limit hold’em and short deck, but the four-card game also holds a good degree of fascination for many high stakes players. This tournament, with a €25,000 buy-in, attracted 34 entries, including 10 re-entries, which meant €850,000 in the prize pool.
The schedule was to play to the final table tonight, and that’s exactly what happened — although the eight players remaining are not yet guaranteed to cash. They will return tomorrow knowing that two will depart before the bubble is burst. After that, it’s a €60K payday minimum.
The field was lean but very tough. At one stage, Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey and Paul Phua sat in a line, with Patrik Antonius at the other end of the same table. With Tom Dwan also in the field, there were echoes of those old nosebleed PLO games online, where Dwan and Ivey and Antonius and a few others used to flay each other for regular six-figure pots.
Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey and Paul Phua: Three greats in a row
There was no room on the final day for Ivey. He bust in 10th to Dwan — and that was the pot that put Dwan on top of the counts at the halfway stage. The Triton Poker Ambassador was last seen in the tournament room late last night, playing a Triton staff sit n go. No word on how he made out in that one, but he was back to his best at the “real” tables today, and bagged 3.24 million, more than 1 million more than his closest rival.
Never count out Antonius, of course, nor Jeremy Ausmus, who make up the top four. Jeff Gross, from the live stream commentary team, is also still battling.
Here’s how they line up at the close of play. The payout schedule is below. Join us tomorrow as they play to a winner.
Tom Dwan, USA – 3,240,000
Jeremy Ausmus, USA – 1,980,000
Patrik Antonius, Finland – 1,795,000
Filip Lovric, Sweden – 960,000
Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – 660,000
Tom-Aksel Bedell, Norway – 595,000
Paul Phua, Malaysia – 550,000
Jeff Gross – 390,000
Champion Henrik Hecklen, with timepiece, champagne and extras after becoming Triton Main Event champ
The formidable Danish tournament crusher Henrik Hecklen is the Triton Series Madrid No Limit Hold’em Main Event champion, emerging from a tense and turbulent final table here at Casino Gran Via to win €2,170,509.
It is the biggest win of the 31-year-old’s career, and came after a heads-up deal with Orpen Kisacikoglu, the UK-based Turkish businessman, whose poker game has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years.
Both heads-up players already had one Triton Series title to their names, so this final battle offered the chance to join the small club of players with two. And Hecklen’s victory means he is also the first player to win the exclusive Jacob & Co timepiece, specially produced by the master jeweller in collaboration with Triton Series.
The final table had long periods where it looked like it might be anybody’s game, with nine players returning overnight and all in with a shout. Hecklen, who started in the middle of the pack, managed to avoid most of the early action by being card dead. Then as the blind levels grew, the stack sizes became very short and each pot seemed crucial.
Henrik Hecklen endured some difficult periods at the start of the day
For all that, the heads-up battle might have lasted a long time. There was still enough money on the table to make it worth playing for, even after a deal, and they had a decent number of blinds between them too. However, a pocket pair versus pocket pair situation — kings versus fours — ended it on the very first hand of heads-up play.
“It was a great final table, fun players to play with,” Hecklen said.
He recalled that he had been down to 20 big blinds at one point, but, like everyone at the table, managed a few double ups in crucial spots. He said he’d been lucky, but certainly wasn’t complaining.
“It’s a great event,” Hecklen said. “I’m definitely going to get drunk, I guess.”
FINAL TABLE ACTION
A long Day 2 had left nine players still in the tournament, with bags of experience between them.
Final nine in the Main Event (clockwise from back left): Bruno Volkmann, Henrik Hecklen, Patrik Antonius, Alfred DeCarolis, Sam Greenwood, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Orpen Kisacikoglu, Sam Grafton, Kevin Paque.
START OF DAY COUNTS
Kevin Paqué, Netherlands – 5,125,000
Sam Grafton, UK – 4,225,000
Aleksejs Ponakovs, Latvia – 3,465,000
Henrick Hecklen, Denmark – 2,855,000
Sam Greenwood, Canada – 1,810,000
Patrik Antonius, Finland – 1,720,000
Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – 1,630,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey – 1,505,000
Alfred DeCarolis, USA – 820,000
The first 45 minutes or so of play passed by without significant incident. The short-stacked DeCarolis got his chips in but wasn’t called. And Patrik Antonius also three-bet shoved and received no customers.
Sam Greenwood did the same, three-bet shoving for his last 1.3 million over Paqué’s open, and he definitely would have wanted a customer, sitting with . Paqué thought about it for a while, but then made the call with .
It was a good spot for Greenwood, but it quickly became a disaster. Another eight appeared on the turn, and Greenwood’s disconsolate flicker of the eyelashes, truly the smallest physical motion, revealed a world of hurt.
A pretty grim outdraw accounted for Sam Greenwood
How did it feel to be on the rail in ninth, the TV interviewer asked Greenwood. “Not great,” he said, with admirable restraint. Greenwood won €260,500 but will have hoped to have laddered at least a couple more spots.
The next significant incident resulted in a big upward spike in Patrik Antonius’ tracking graph. He three-bet jammed for his last 1.1 million over Aleksejs Ponakovs’ mid-position open, and Ponakovs called it off when action passed back to him. This ended up being a classic queens-versus-ace-king showdown and Antonius turned a king to keep his tournament alive.
All of a sudden, stacks were evening out and shallowing. The longer they went without an elimination, the more tense and quiet the table became. However, there was little to lose now for the short-stacked Orpen Kisacikoglu, and that allowed him to get his chips in — and go on a bit of a rush.
Kisacikoglu got to a three-way flop with DeCarolis and Ponakovs after a single raise. The board came . Ponakovs bet, DeCarolis folded and Kisacikoglu moved all-in. Ponakovs called, and Kisacikoglu was in bad shape. His pocket nines were now behind Ponakovs’ .
Orpen Kisacikoglu with the double
However the nine on the turn not only gave him a crucial double up, it gave him the chips to fully turn around his fortunes. Kisacikoglu won two further sizeable pots, from Grafton and Antonius, and went to the first break in the day second in chips. Only Ponakovs had more.
Antonius ordered some food during the break and began eating it when play resumed. He had to chow down quickly, though, because he was soon sitting with only five big blinds after being pushed out of a pot by Paqué. Everyone to Ponakovs’ left was short, in fact, which is how come the Latvian player was able to open-shove if action had folded to him, expecting to get a lot of folds.
However, on one such occasion Henrik Hecklen found pocket fives in the big blind and called all-in, for his last 1.4 million. Ponakovs had and was drawing dead after Hecklen turned another five. Hecklen then vaulted to what seemed like the relative safety of 23 big blinds. (The leader had only 35.)
Antonius was the short stack again, but doubled again. This time he managed to turn a straight with against DeCarolis’ , which left DeCarolis back on the ropes.
We were already at the stage of play where almost all pots were either folded pre-flop, or resulted in a change of the chip lead. Nobody could get clear, but nobody was ever truly out of it either.
Something absolutely had to give, and it was DeCarolis who could hold on no longer. The sole non-professional at the table had nonetheless put on the kind of showing that revealed the truth of his skills: he is an experienced cash game player from some of the highest-stakes games in the world. He barely put a foot wrong today, but his last chips were in with and Bruno Volkmann’s held.
Alfred DeCarolis continued his 100% Triton record
DeCarolis, a restaurant chain CEO when he’s not playing poker, won €344,000. But he also kept up an unblemished record in Triton events. He has only played twice and has cashed twice. No one else in the world has that 100 percent rate.
Volkmann’s win in that pot put him second on the overall leader board, but it was all still incredibly tight. And the Brazilian then got involved in a pivotal pot with Grafton, which was pretty much certain to spell curtains for whomever lost it.
Volkmann opened the cutoff with and Hecklen called on the button. Grafton then squeezed all-in for 3.7 million, more than what Hecklen had and almost exactly what Volkmann was sitting with. Grafton had .
Volkmann called and Hecklen folded, leaving the two big stacks at the races. The flop seemed good for the over-cards when it came , but Grafton willed a straight on the turn.
The last of Bruno Volkmann’s chips leave him
Grafton was back in the chip lead, and Volkmann’s one big blind went to Kisacikoglu two hands later. (For the record, it was < ).
Antonius had performed some miracle laddering, but his turn now came in sixth. Action folded to Ponakovs, who shoved from the button with . Antonius looked down at and called off his last 2 million, or 13 big blinds.
A ten on the flop soon added that 2 million to Ponakovs and left Antonius looking for €558,000 for sixth, and a seat in the PLO event that was still registering.
Patrik Antonius bids farewell[/caption]
Just as Ponakovs might have thought he could now start bullying again, he lost a big one to Paqué. It was two big pairs: kings for Paqué and jacks for Ponakovs, and that shipped 3 million in Paqué’s direction. The flurry of eliminations was over; they were back to double ups.
Hecklen was next. He won with pocket kings against Grafton’s pocket threes, and the 3.3 million swing put the Dane in the chip lead for the first time.
It also left Grafton in a spot of bother. Like others, he had been in the lead, particularly after the big pot against Volkmann, but he had also been on the ropes. And the knockout blow came from his good friend Kisacikoglu. Grafton, on the button, looked at and ripped in 4.3 million. That was amazing for Kisacikoglu, who had aces in the small blind.
Sam Grafton learns of his elimination with his good friend Orpen Kisacikoglu
They sweated it together, but there was nothing mad about the runout this time. Grafton’s journey came to an end in fifth for €716,000.
They headed to another tournament break, returning to blinds of 100K/200K and stacks ranging from 30 BBs (Hecklen) to 10 BBs (Kisacikoglu). But the trend of double-ups hadn’t ended yet, and Kisacikoglu found another one, through Ponakovs. Kisacikoglu did it very trickily too, limping from the small blind with .
Ponakovs checked his option and may have been licking his lips with his when the board ran with betting on every street. He turned a flush, but that also gave Kisacikoglu an invisible full house, only revealed after a shove and a call on the end.
To further underline how narrow the margins were at this point, Kisacikoglu doubled into the chip lead while Ponakovs became the short stack. And not long after, he was out.
Aleksandrs Ponakovs sees the bad news
Ponakovs’ final hand was losing to Hecklen’s , but really it was just a last-ditch hail Mary from the Latvian player, hoping to pick up some more blinds. Instead, he took €888,000 for fourth.
Paqué was another player who had endured some real ups and downs during the final day — a distinct contrast to his two previous days at the end of both of which he had held the chip lead. He was the three-handed short stack and couldn’t find the uptick he needed.
Kevin Paqué out in third for a third cash of the week
He perished at Hecklen’s hands, with losing out to . They were all-in pre-flop, of course, and the board blanked.
Paqué’s €1,134,000 payday was the biggest of his career so far, by some measure, and he adds it to the other two cashes he has picked up on his first Triton Poker visit. It looks like he may become a fixture here — an 11th, fifth and third so far suggests a victory cannot be too far away.
That left two: Kisacikoglu and Hecklen, both already guaranteed the biggest score of their tournament careers, but both now looking for a second Triton title. Hecklen had a slight chip lead — it was 12.625 million to 10.625 million — and they decided to look at the numbers. Ben Heath came in to negotiate on Kisacikoglu’s behalf, as Hecklen asked for a little more than his ICM share.
TD Luca Vivaldi looks at the numbers
Triton TD Luca Vivali moderated the friendly chit-chat and they came to an arrangement that gave €2,090,509 to Hecklen and €2,016,491 to Kisacikoglu, with €80,000 to play for. There was also only one wrist that could wear the Jacob & Co watch, however, and open the huge bottle of champagne. (And there was the not insignificant matter of 100 Player of the Year points too.)
All of those bonuses stayed on the table, as they shook on the money.
There was every chance the heads-up battle could have been a marathon. Every poker player these days knows how to keep things small, work the angles, and try to allow their skill to prevail heads up. But when they each looked down at pocket pairs, they went to war: Kisacikoglu limped, Hecklen raised 1.2 million, Kisacikoglu three-bet all-in and Hecklen called.
There was no outdraw this time and Hecklen’s kings were good. And with that, we had our Main Event champion. Cue the ticker tape parade.
Laszlo Bujtas sealed the deal after a titanic head-up duel
Triton Poker’s motto is “Where High Stakes Dreams Are Dealt” and it was never more apparent than at Casino Gran Via, Madrid, tonight, where first-timer Denys Homliavyi, from Ukraine, was inches away from winning his first Triton Poker title.
We’ll pause right here to make it clear that he didn’t. He came second to Laszlo Bujtas, the Hungarian pro. But Bujtas himself will surely be content for us to focus first on the player who came second, because this is a crazy story.
When Homliavyi came to Madrid this week, with a few poker-playing friends, he didn’t even really know the rules of the game. But he sat in the lobby of the tournament area for a couple of days and avidly watched the Triton Poker live stream, learning from scratch. He then thought he’d give it a go, and bought into the €50,000 Turbo, encouraged by his friend Bali Gee. Flash forward a few hours, and both Gee and Homliavyi were in the money, but Homliavyi was sitting with the biggest stack opposite some of the many sharks who swim through the Triton waters.
By the point he went heads up with Bujtas, at around midnight local time, the blinds in the tournament were ridiculously high, meaning stacks were ridiculously short. Both Bujtas and Homliavyi doubled up countless times, sometimes with the best hand, sometimes not. And Bujtas had only one big blind at one point, but played on for another 40 minutes at least.
The brilliant first-timer Denys Homliavyi
Eventually, at past 1am local time, Bujtas finally got it to stick, winning with to Homliavyi’s . There was a two on the turn, which was where the money went in. Bujtas took €630,000 and his first Triton trophy, another notable feather in his cap.
But Homliavyi, a crypto-currency investor, who had turned to poker only at the very last moment, was the story of the day. Do you remember your first poker tournament? Homliavyi will very fondly remember his. He earned €434,000.
“Poker and crypto are similar,” Homliavyi said. “You have risk management in crypto and risk management in poker.” He said he might well be back at the tables for more.
Bujtas agreed that it was nothing like he had ever played before. “I had to make adjustments, for sure,” he said of the long heads-up battle. “I played 100 percent of hands.”
He added that he felt very satisfied to win his first Triton event, acknowledging that he got lucky in the key spots. (He also got unlucky plenty of times, but in the end he got the lot.)
But let’s give it up too for Homliavyi, who was utterly delighted at his success. He literally only learnt poker two days ago, and is now the talk of Madrid.
THE DAY’S ACTION
The turbo events are always played not only at a break-neck speed, but with a real sense of fun. Those two new players — Gee and Homliavyi — were adding a really unusual dynamic to proceedings, and were both clearly having a ball.
It helped that they both made the money, even as the usual glittering array of talent had fallen by the wayside. Jason Koon made the top 10, but it wasn’t good enough. And Ike Haxton was knocked out in eighth, again without troubling the cashiers.
However, the stone bubble burst after Stephen Chidwick and Danny Tang got involved in a blind-versus-blind clash, which ended in tears for Tang.
Chidwick raised to 125,000 from the small blind and Tang called. The flop fell and both players checked. The turn was the and Chidwick bet 130,000. Tang called, which brought the on the river.
Danny Tang departs on the bubble
Chidwick put forward a big stack of chips, covering the 270,000 that Tang had back. Tang pondered for a moment, but then threw the chips in, only to be shown Chidwick’s .
Tang mucked his cards, but made a point too of showing his , the rivered top pair. But Chidwick’s flopped trips were good and the bubble was burst.
The last six in the turbo (l-r): Laszlo Bujtas, Denys Homliavyi, Bali Gee, Wiktor Malinowski, Jeremy Ausmus, Stephen Chidwick
They were all now in the money, with Homliavyi leading, Bujtas and Chidwick similarly stacked in equal second, and Gee, Wiktor Malinowski and Jeremy Ausmus with fewer than 15 big blinds. There was a quick pause for a photograph, and then they pushed on.
Chidwick was making most of the running, but he then had to double up Gee — losing to Gee’s — and Malinowski — losing to Malinowski’s pocket sevens. He had to pull back from table captain duties for a bit.
Malinowski all but doubled immediately after, when his pocket jacks beat Gee’s pocket sevens. They were almost equal stacks, although Gee was left with 25,000. “A chip and a chair,” he joked, but he soon had neither.
His elimination hand was pretty cruel. He had and was up against Malinowski’s . Malinowski flopped top pair, but then Gee gradually made two pair. The only problem was that Malinowski made a straight, and Gee was second best a different way.
“I thought I won that,” Gee said.
“I also thought you won it,” said Jeremy Ausmus.
But even as the reality sank in, it didn’t seem to matter to Gee.
“Thank you guys, this was fun,” he said. “I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.”
Bali Gee: Another brilliant debut
He wrapped his Real Madrid scarf around his neck and headed off beaming. “I won money!” he told everyone in the corridor as he left. It was €130,000.
Everyone was already perilously short-stacked even though there were five players left. Ausmus managed one double up of his three big-blind stack, then chopped another when he was all in again. But he then lost his last chips to Bujtas when ace-queen couldn’t beat pocket jacks. Ausmus took €166,000.
Jeremy Ausmus earned his second cash of the trip
Malinowski had been short. And he’d been in the chip lead. And next he was out. He lost a pot to Chidwick, after the Brit reshoved from the small blind. And then he became Homliavyi’s first victim from the final in another fairly standard spot.
The pair got all the chips in with Malinowski holding to Homliavyi’s . The board was totally dry and Malinowski hit the rail in fourth for €212,500.
Chidwick’s time at the table ended next, the next victim of the smash and grab. Chidwick moved in from the small blind for his last 450,000 and Homliavyi called from the big blind. Chidwick had only and Homliavyi’s was never in jeopardy.
Stephen Chidwick
Fresh from a $1.2m payday in Event 7, Chidwick added €277,500 for this third place.
That then left us with the rookie versus the pro, Bujtas versus Homliavyi, and Bujtas had a near two-to-one chip lead. But poker doesn’t always respect reputations, and there were some thrills and spills heads up.
Two pots were chopped when Homliavyi had an inferior ace. The board double-paired both times. Then he managed a couple of doubles, including one in which a jack popped up on the river for his to beat Bujtas’ .
Heads up featured at least 10 short-stack double ups
Bujtas continued to grind him back down again, but then Homliavyi kept doubling back into it. There was a huge confrontation where Bujtas had pocket eights and Homliavyi had kings, and that might well have been the absolute end. Bujtas only had one big blind.
But there were at least 10 short-stack doubles after that, until there were only 25 big blinds in play. And then, finally, the bigger stack actually won one, and Bujtas was the champion.
Triton Poker’s showpiece hold’em event in Madrid — the €100,000 buy-in Main Event — reached its final table late on Saturday night, finding the last nine players who will do battle for the lion’s share of an incredible €9.3 million prize pool.
The winner, who will be crowned on Sunday, is set to win €2.477 million — as well as an exclusive watch commissioned from Jacob & Co, a unique Main Event trophy, and the sole right to call himself the no limit hold’em Main Event champion from Triton’s first visit to Spain.
The last nine players are led by Kevin Paqué, the same player who bagged the chip lead at the end of a frantic Day 1. It was a fine showing from Paqué, who slipped out of that chip lead early in the day, but who was then able to navigate a path through the bubble, then to the final table.
In fact, he was the man responsible for bursting the bubble, sending Nick Petrangelo out in 14th (see below) and Paqué steadily chipped up from there. He leads Sam Grafton into the final, after the Brit won an enormous pre-bubble pot from Luuk Gieles, which sent the Dutchman home in 16th.
The final table also features the established pros Aleksejs Ponakovs, Henrick Hecklen, Patrik Antonius, Sam Greenwood and Bruno Volkmann, as well as the businessmen-turned-poker players Orpen Kisacikoglu and Alfred DeCarolis.
That is nine players from nine different countries, including Triton first timers and those who have been here many times before. (Only Hecklen has a Triton win before, however.)
There was no room for Sirzat Hissou, Brian Kamphorst, Chris Brewer and Linus Loeliger, who busted in 13th through 10th — in the money but before the final table. Loeliger was the last man out, shoving for 1.3 million with his but running into Ponakovs’ .
Linus Loeliger, out in 10th
Loeliger took €200,000 for 10th, gave Ponakovs a huge boost ahead of the final, and left us with the following:
Kevin Paque, Netherlands – 5,125,000
Sam Grafton, UK – 4,225,000
Aleksejs Ponakovs, Latvia – 3,465,000
Henrick Hecklen, Denmark – 2,855,000
Sam Greenwood, Canada – 1,810,000
Patrik Antonius, Finland – 1,720,000
Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – 1,630,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey – 1,505,000
Alfred DeCarolis, USA – 820,000
A reminder of what they’re playing for, and who has cashed already:
10 – Linus Loeliger, Switzerland – €200,000
11 – Chris Brewer, USA – €200,000
12 – Brian Kamphorst, Netherlands – €186,000
13 – Sirzat Hissou, Germany – €186,000
PETRANGELO BURSTS THE BUBBLE AS MAIN EVENT CLOSES IN ON ITS FINAL
Nick Petrangelo hit the rail in the most unfortunate spot
The skills of an elite poker player are practically limitless, but there’s one in particular that is never taught in the textbooks. It’s the skill of looking nonchalant when you’ve just hit the rail on the bubble in a €100K buy-in tournament, your chances of winning €2.4 million ended in the worst position possible.
Tonight at the Triton Madrid €100K Main Event, the player showing off this particular talent was Nick Petrangelo. Without question, Petrangelo is one of tournament poker’s absolute elite, but he’s had a stinking time of it on the Triton Series. He has $24 million in documented live tournament winnings, but none of it has come under the Triton branding.
Zero. Zilch. Cashless. And that unhappy record continued here in the Main Event where the bubble finish only added insult to injury.
Although there was one man with a shorter stack at the table, the obdurate Sirzat Hissou, Petrangelo found a good spot to get his last 14 big blinds in. He had and three-bet jammed after Kevin Paque opened his button.
Unfortunately for Petrangelo, Paque was near the top of his range with his . And there was no help on the board for Petrangelo.
That was the end of a comparatively short stone bubble period, although the threat of elimination had hovered over the tournament room ever since registration closed after two levels of Day 2.
Immediately following that close, there were a handful of players who had a freshly minted stack. At that stage, 250,000 chips was about 19 big blinds, so there was work to do.
Unfortunately for the likes of Brian Rast, Christoph Vogelsang, Jason Koon and others, they weren’t able to spin it up. They were soon joined on the sidelines by other superstars such as Ike Haxton, Fedor Holz, Phil Ivey and Michael Addamo, the latter unable to mount a serious challenge for his third victory of the week.
A field of 18 went to dinner, one of whom, Paul Phua, had only one big blind in his stack. Phua is an absolute master of short-stack play, but this was too big a mountain even for him. His departure in 18th brought the bubble much closer, with play spread across three short-handed tables.
The next player out had led the field at one point today — a position with which he is well accustomed. But Steve O’Dwyer lost a big pot with against Orpen Kisacikoglu’s pocket kings, and the same player finished off O’Dwyer. On the final hand, O’Dwyer flopped a pair of tens with his , but Kisacikoglu managed to turn trip fives with his . All the money went in and O’Dwyer was done, bringing the field down to two tables.
There was then a slight slowdown in proceedings, before a huge explosion. Although there were 16 players remaining, two hands played out simultaneously on the feature and outer table that had the potential to burst the bubble immediately.
Up on the feature, Sam Grafton won a huge one from Luuk Gieles. Grafton opened to 80,000 from the hijack with and Gieles called with on the button. Patrik Antonius also called in the big blind.
Sam Grafton won a massive pot to eliminate Luuk Gieles
The two saw a dangerous flop of and, after Antonius checked, Grafton checked too. Gieles then bet 55,000, Antonius called, and then Grafton check-raised to 230,000. Gieles three-bet to 430,000 and that was too much for Antonius. But Grafton called.
The came on the turn, giving Grafton two pair. He checked and Gieles moved all in for 585,000. Grafton snapped him off.
The was a blank on the river, and Grafton’s outdraw scooped him a huge pot. “What a punt,” Gieles was heard to mutter as he wandered away from the table.
At that exact time, Henrik Hecklen, Bruno Volkmann and Andras Nemeth were playing a big hand on the outer table. Hecklen raised the hijack, making it 80,000. Volkmann three-bet the cutoff, putting 220,000 in the middle, and then Nemeth shipped for 370,000 from the button.
Hecklen, with the covering stack, called the all-in and that persuaded Volkmann to let it go. His fold meant we couldn’t burst the absolute bubble here, but Nemeth’s departure, if it happened, would leave us with 14.
And Nemeth did depart. He had found pocket jacks at precisely the wrong time. Hecklen had queens and the board ran out dry. Nemeth headed out the door.
We don’t know what Volkmann had in that hand, but his decision to fold kept him alive. And that was a big deal because moments later Petrangelo found himself all-in on the feature table. And we know how that turned out.
Thirteen players therefore remained and the quest now continued for the eight players who will sit at the final table. Here’s a reminder of what’s on offer to all of them.
Luca Vivaldi & Ruyi Xi unveil details of the exclusive Main Event winners’ prize
There was huge excitement in the tournament room of Triton Madrid this afternoon as registration closed on the €100K No Limit Hold’em Main Event, and players learned what they had the chance to win.
By the time the shutters came down on the registration desk, there had been 93 entries to the tournament, including 34 re-entries, which meant €9.3 million in the prize pool.
Thirteen players will be paid, with a min-cash worth €186,000. The winner of this showpiece event will earn €2.477 million. Wow.
Triton Tournament Director Luca Vivaldi also revealed details of an additional prize. In affiliation with Triton’s new partner Jacob & Co, the Main Event winner will also be awarded an exclusive watch.
To call it just a watch seems to understate it, however. This is a truly exceptional piece of kit, the result of an exclusive collaboration.
The exclusive Jacob & Co timepiece
Named the Triton Epic X Skeleton, it is a 44mm skeleton timepiece with the Triton logo integrated at the 12 o’clock position. It has a rose gold face and the word “CHAMPION” engraved on the case back. Look out for more details, and further information about Triton’s partnership with Jacob & Co, later this week.
Winners of both the short deck and long deck Main Events will get the watch — as well as the exclusive Triton trophy, of course.
Ruyi Xi, Regional Brand Director of Jacob & Co, joined Vivaldi on stage to reveal details of the prize. She then instructed dealers to shuffle up and deal as this freezeout part of the tournament began. Anyone out from now can’t come back.
The buy-in hit six figures at Triton Madrid today as the €100,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event kicked off.
Although we are only through one day of three, and registration is not yet closed, it’s already clear that we’re looking at an enormous event. There have been 72 entries, including 18 re-entries, which means €7.2 million in the prize pool already.
The pattern established early in this Triton Series stop has continued: the higher the buy-in, the busier the event. Or maybe it was just the lure of the sirens standing next to the registration desk.
Some additional visitors to the tournament room today
Either way, the world’s elite poker players were all in attendance, as well as many of the familiar figures from the world of business who enjoy mixing it in poker’s top echelons in their spare time.
The opening line-up on Table 6 was a perfect distillation of that: the high stakes superstars Michael Addamo, Michael Soyza, Stephen Chidwick and Steve O’Dwyer were all in a line, but playing into them was Alfred DeCarolis, a man who has played only once on the Triton Series. That just happened to be the €1 million buy-in event in London in 2019, where DeCarolis made the final table and more than $2 million.
Of course, the line-up changed significantly as the day progressed. Players came and went; stacks grew and shrank. When the tournament paused after its first eight 40-minute levels, Kevin Paque was out in front.
The Dutch player secured a big knockout early in the day, dispatching Sirzat Hissou. And after that it was a story of steady accumulation.
There were also fine showings from Mikita Badziakouski, Orpen Kisacikoglu and Aleksejs Ponakovs, with Patrik Antonius rounding out the top five, and they will all come back confident of further progress tomorrow.
Day 2, which resumes at 1pm, will play on until we reach a final table. That will mean a few more entries early on — registration is still open for two 50-minute levels — and then a rush to the bubble, which will likely be around 15 players. Then they will need to cram onto the final table, ahead of a big finale on Sunday.
Here are the full chip stacks at this stage:
Kevin Paque – 1,460,000
Mikita Badziakouski – 880,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu – 833,000
Aleksejs Ponakovs – 816,000
Patrik Antonius – 769,000
Michael Addamo – 696,000
Elton Tsang – 684,000
Ferdinand Putra – 639,000
Phil Ivey – 598,000
Phachara Wongwichit – 555,000
Michael Soyza – 544,000
Daniel Dvoress – 532,000
Christoph Vogelsang – 495,000
Tom-Aksel Bedell – 489,000
Chris Brewer – 480,000
Fedor Holz – 402,000
Laszlo Bujtas – 401,000
Nick Petrangelo – 395,000
Kannapong Thanarattrakul – 393,000
Paul Phua – 383,000
Andy Ni – 366,000
Wiktor Malinowski – 359,000
Stephen Chidwick – 356,000
Henrik Hecklen – 348,000
Seth Davies – 339,000
Jeremy Ausmus – 330,000
Andriy Lyubovetskiy – 287,000
Jason Koon – 239,000
Steve O’Dwyer – 218,000
Matthias Eibinger – 213,000
Sam Grafton – 211,000
Alfred DeCarolis – 208,000
Andras Nemeth – 206,000
Luuk Gieles – 202,000
Ivan Leow – 186,000
Sam Greenwood – 175,000
Danny Tang – 163,000
Sergio Aido – 162,000
Linus Loeliger – 155,000
Wai Kin Yong – 142,000
Artur Martirosyan – 132,000
Brian Kamphorst – 131,000
Wayne Heung – 123,000
Yaman Nakdali – 100,000
Triton Poker’s strong Malaysian contingent again found reason to celebrate tonight as one of their most dogged performers, Webster Lim, closed out victory in Event 8 – €50,000 Short Deck at Triton Madrid, banking €855,000.
Lim has been a regular on the series ever since its early days, picking up five previous cashes but never managing to get beyond fourth as luck deserted him when it mattered most.
However, Lim today put on a near-perfect show, rising from the middle of the pack (he was 13th of 21 returning today) to overhaul two previous chip leaders, Wai Kin Yong and Bjorn Li, and take down his first event.
Li, who has considerably more heads-up short deck experience than Lim, led for the longest periods of the day, but was beaten heads up and had to settle for €618,500, also his biggest Triton cash.
Lim was delighted — and immediately acknowledged that he had the run of the cards today. “A lot of bad beats came my way, but in the €20K I didn’t run so good. So things kind of get even here,” he said.
He then added that it was still a strange experience for him, a player who only took up poker in 2013, to be sitting alongside so many of the top stars who inspired him to learn the game. “Every time I sit at the table with them [Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, etc.] it still feels surreal. Back in the day I watched them on YouTube, and now I’m sitting with them. It’s a dream come true, I guess.”
Lim also said that he may have to reassess his previous statement that he preferred the long deck version of the game. “I guess short deck is my favourite now.”
Whatever version he plays, Lim has proved that this fan boy is now a real contender.
Webster Lim looks adoringly at his new trophy
FINAL DAY ACTION
Some of the players who have enjoyed a profitable Triton Madrid stop to date had at one point seemed certain to add to their winnings, but all of Seth Davies, Stephen Chidwick, Chris Brewer, Danny Tang, Mikita Badziakouski and Rui Cao were eliminated before the bubble.
That left nine, but one more needed to depart before the money kicked in. On this occasion the sword fell on Sam Greenwood, though his elimination was formed of two parts. Firstly, he was one of three players involved in a three-way all-in: Elton Tsang had pocket kings, while both Greenwood and Cao had ace-queen. All the money went in pre-flop and Tsang was in great shape, facing opponents who had each other’s outs.
There was a king on the flop and Tsang all but tripled through. Cao, with a shorter stack, busted, and Greenwood was left with just a handful of antes. He tried to cling on to them as long as possible, but another cost him the rest.
Tough luck for bubble boy Sam Greenwood
Lim shoved with and that gave Greenwood one of those super difficult tournament decisions. He was ahead of most chip-leader shoving ranges, but short deck does strange things. Eventually he called, but Lim filled a straight to his ten. Greenwood had to take the walk.
Lim was the dominant force in the tournament, which was still being played over two tables at this point. He only got more powerful after knocking out Rene Van Krevelen in eighth. Lim shoved again, with , on the four-handed table, and Van Krevelen called it off with .
Van Krevelen took €114,000 for eighth, his first Triton cash, as the last seven now consolidated around one table.
Seven left in Event 8 (l-r): Webster Lim, Elton Tsang, Phil Ivey, Bjorn Li, Ryan Yum, Wai Kin Yong, Winfred Yu.
FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS
Webster Lim – 4.525 million (301 antes)
Bjorn Li – 3.887 million (259 antes)
Elton Tsang – 2.305 million (154 antes)
Ryan Yum – 2.025 million (135 antes)
Winfred Yu – 1.783 million (119 antes)
Wai Kin Yong – 1.411 million (94 antes)
Phil Ivey – 1.115 million (77 antes)
Ante: 15K/30K
It’s not often you see Phil Ivey clinging on to a short stack, but Ivey managed to find his spots to get his chips in and chip up a small measure. It was certainly enough to enable him to ladder one spot.
Ryan Yum, who has now run deep in two short deck events this week, became the first to leave the feature table, losing the kind of flip you see most often in the long-deck game. Yum had pocket jacks to Wai Kin Yong’s . The board was unnecessarily emphatic: .
Yum took €145,400.
And after that, it was Ivey. The all-time great showed in flashes exactly why his game is so revered, repeatedly finding very thin opportunities to chip up from that short stack. (He also managed a double up with aces through Bjorn Li’s , but anyone can do that.) But even Ivey couldn’t do very much about Lim outdrawing his with .
It was a pot worth 2.2 million, but it was all Ivey had. He finished sixth for €182,400.
A smirk and then Phil Ivey was gone
This Madrid stop has been a very good one so far for the extended Triton family, with Paul Phua winning his first title, and his co-founder Richard Yong finishing second in another event. Richard’s son Wai Kin has a better record than both the senior parties — he has three titles already — and he was at this final table, looking for his fourth.
However, Yong’s chances took a nosedive in a big pot against Lim — although it at least ended with a chuckle. After an early-position limp from Winfred Yu, Li continued his bullying with a shove from the cutoff. Yong had 1.3 million in his stack on the button and decided was good enough to call.
He was up against Li’s and Yong got very excited when he saw the board of . He thought his two pair was good and began to celebrate.
Wai Kin Yong’s moment of realisation that he was out
But Li had the “hidden” short-deck straight, and Yong suddenly realised with a pang of horror that he was out. He laughed and went looking for €233,700. (If you have his WhatsApp, send him this short-deck explainer.)
The next man out was Elton Tsang — another player who seems perfectly happy with whatever is happening, even when he’s busting. After a blockbuster Cyprus stop, Tsang had had a quiet start to his Madrid festival, but was in his element back at the final table today.
Tsang had never really had what you might call a big stack today, and was sitting with only 1.6 million when he felt that his time had come. He had and was in pretty good shape against Lim’s , especially after he begged for, and then hit, a queen on the flop.
However the full board was and that was another straight for Lim. Tsang was toast in fourth and won €302,000.
Elton Tsang prayed for a queen, but he got more than he wanted
This Triton Madrid stop has been characterised so far by some very long and tricky short-handed battles. Three-handed and heads up play has lasted an eternity. The pattern repeated this evening after Lim, Li and Yu became the final three, with chips moving between them for a good couple of hours.
Yu, who won a short deck event in Cyprus last month, was always the short stack among the three, and eventually the pressure told on him. Yu was down to 1.8 million, 22 antes, when he moved all-in with . Lim had a big stack and his favourite . Once more, he filled a straight.
Winfred Yu hit the rail in third
Yu picked up €399,000 for this one as he day ended in third.
The heads-up chip counts — and recent history — suggested this might go on for a long time yet. The two remaining players, who had been the dominant forces at the final, had around 114 to 100 antes, which gave them plenty to play with.
There wasn’t, however, much meaningful action heads-up until suddenly there was a flurry. Li limped pre-flop and Lim checked, taking them to a flop of . Li checked, Lim bet 300,000 and Li now raised to 1 million. Lim called.
What did they have? Well, at this stage, not all that much. Li had , for two pair (good, but vulnerable). Lim had , which was nothing but a gutshot at this stage. However Lim also had the chip lead so could afford to peel.
Bjorn Li: A valiant second
The turn was great for Lim. But what was even better was the shove, for his last 5.9 million, from Li. Lim called with the straight and managed to fade Li’s redraw outs on the river. It was all over.
Lim has now finished fifth and first during this series (and has been the bubble boy once), so he is truly finding his feet. With five more events still to come, he’s going to be a danger for the rest of this festival.
Triton Madrid – Event 8
€50,000 Short Deck Ante-Only
1 – Webster Lim, Malysia – €855,000
2 – Bjorn Li, Hong Kong – €618,500
3 – Winfred Yu, Hong Kong – €399,000
4 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – €302,000
5 – Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – €233,700
6 – Phil Ivey, USA – €182,400
7 – Ryan Yum, Hong Kong – €145,400
8 – Rene Van Krevelen, Netherlands – €114,000
Australia’s Michael Addamo is in the two-time Triton Series club, securing his second title in less than a week in the Spanish capital Madrid and demonstrating that no end is in sight for his incredible winning streak.
The 27-year-old Australian has been on one of those spectacular high stakes surges we see sometimes, winning in all corners of the globe. He has won six $50+ buy-in tournaments in less than a year, and he took down his first Triton Series title in the very first event held here in Madrid last Friday. Six days later, he made it two.
This one was even more valuable — although it comes with a major asterisk. At the end of this €75K buy-in tournament, Addamo and his heads-up opponent Stephen Chidwick arranged a deal. Addamo may have won the tournament, and took €1,152,086, which he adds to the €478,000 he won in Event #1. But Chidwick had the chip lead when they negotiated, and the Brit took €1,291,414.
Addamo will know that this could easily have gone Chidwick’s way, after the pair were forced into a short-stacked, high variance heads-up duel following another tight and tricksy final table had run long. That’s why they did the sensible thing and chopped it.
But Addamo’s golden touch then became apparent again, and he left Chidwick still searching for his first Triton win — even though he has compensation of a big seven-figure score for “second” place.
“I have to always acknowledge that to win this much you have to get incredibly lucky,” Addamo told Ali Nejad after the tournament’s conclusion. “So I think there’s a lot of luck involved. Obviously some skill as well, but winning the all-ins.”
Stephen Chidwick, left, took the biggest prize
The heads-up duel, between the old adversaries of the UK and Australia, was another topsy-turvy affair, following on from last night’s marathon between Mikita Badziakouski and Danny Tang. Tonight’s show also featured the American Seth Davies, who finished third, but who traded blows with the two others for long periods at a time when other events might have long concluded.
But with the payouts so high, and the poker knowledge so advanced, there are almost never any mistakes at this elite level. It’s how come two of the very best made it all the way once again, and how come they eventually decided to essentially call it a tie.
Chidwick had a small heads-up chip lead when they beckoned over Luca Vivaldi and asked to broker a deal. They agreed on the ICM deal, which gave Chidwick more, but there was the non-insignificant matter of the trophy and the Player of the Series points, and they are going to Addamo.
After the deal, it was all Addamo — and he closed it out with to Chidwick’s . Addamo flopped bottom pair; Chidwick flopped middle pair but there was another club on turn and river to give Addamo the flush. Addamo shoved, Chidwick thought long and hard about it, but fell into the trap with a call. It was over.
Chidwick and TD Luca Vivaldi discuss numbers
“It was a super tough table, a lot of great players,” Addamo added. “Three handed, with a lot of all ins going back and forward, it was hard to know what was going to happen. It’s great to get the win from there.”
FINAL DAY ACTION
There’s no such thing as a soft field on the Triton Series, but this one seemed especially tough. As the 28 players who returned overnight battled towards the money (only eight were paid), the rejects heap came to feature players like Phil Ivey, Steve O’Dwyer, Christoph Vogelsang, Ike Haxton and Elton Tsang.
Down to nine, they assembled around one table and took a picture, but they all knew that one of them wouldn’t be making the money. Laszlo Bujtas had nine big blinds, Tony G had 19. And both of them will have looked on with glee when Fedor Holz became the one to sample the ignominy of the bubble.
Fedor Holz ran into Addamo’s aces to bubble
To be fair to Holz, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it. Addamo, in the hijack and in a dominant chip position, opened to 80,000 (blinds were 20K/40K) and Holz found in the big blind. Holz jammed for a little more than 1 million (26 BBs) but slammed straight into Addamo’s .
Those short stacks were delighted as Holz made his exit, penniless. Addam took yet another huge lead to the official final.
FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS
1 – Michael Addamo, Australia – 3,360,000 (84 BBs)
2 – Seth Davies, USA – 2,080,000 (52 BBs)
3 – Ben Heath, UK – 1,955,000 (49 BBs)
4 – Jason Koon, USA – 1,570,000 (39 BBs)
5 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – 1,335,000 (33 BBs)
6 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – 1,095,000 (27 BBs)
7 – Tong G, Lithuania – 740,000 (19 BBs)
8 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – 440,000 (11 BBs)
Event 7 last nine (clockwise from top left): Ben Heath, Michael Addamo, Daniel Dvoress, Laszlo Bujtas, Tony G, Stephen Chidwick, Seth Davies, Fedor Holz, Jason Koon.
There was nothing at this stage to suggest the next elimination would be anyone but Bujtas, but the gods had other ideas. Poor Ben Heath. Sitting on the button, he looked down at and then watched Seth Davies open shove from under the gun. Heath snap-called, of course, even though he had the marginally smaller stack.
Davies had and it seemed like a pretty good set-up. However, Davies had 30 percent equity and, bink, there it was on the flop when the was in the window. Had Heath’s hand held, he would have been second in chips. As it was, he was sent away in eighth for €189,000.
Tony G hit the rail next. He had been enjoying an epic massage in the late stages of the tournament, with a massage therapist kneading his back for several hours. But just as his deep tissues got a pummelling, so did his stack, and the last went in with after yet another Addamo open. Addamo had and ended up turning a set to end Tony G drawing dead.
A welcome spot at the final for Tony G
Guoga, to give him his full name, picked up €241,000 (and one hopes the massage therapist got a good tip).
The Addamo show wasn’t done yet. A few hands later, Jason Koon found himself flipping against the Australian for his tournament life, and Addamo doesn’t tend to lose in these situations. Koon’s came unstuck against Addamo’s . An ace flopped.
Koon yesterday watched Mikita Badziakouski draw clear of him, winning his fourth Triton title. Koon, who has three, had been in decent shape to match his Belarusian adversary, but Addamo had other ideas. Koon won €302,000.
Bujtas had been the happiest player at the final as he saw all of these opponents vanquished. Although he had pulled off one double up, through Tony G, with beating Guoga’s , he hadn’t actually ever built what you might call a stack.
But he had duly laddered to fifth and got his last seven big blinds in with . Davies called him with and there was no help for the short stack. Bujtas earned €387,500 for his second career Triton cash.
The next player out was another Triton stalwart: Daniel Dvoress, whose decline coincided with Chidwick’s rise. Chidwick managed to double through Dvoress with aces against Dvoress’s . Chidwick opened, Dvoress ripped in 2 million, and Chidwick was obviously happy to call all in with the best hand in hold’em.
Daniel Dvoress hits the rail
It held and left Dvoress with crumbs. He doubled up once, but even then only had 310,000, and was out a couple of hands later, with losing to Addamo’s . Dvoress took €500,500 for his second cash of the week.
Addamo was still in front at this stage, but both Davies and Chidwick had pulled into sight. The three handed counts had Addamo with 67 big blinds, ahead of Chidwick’s 52 and Davies’s 41. As they played into the next level, everything shrank a bit — including the average stack, which was quickly only 34 big blinds.
And then began the merry-go-round that would last another couple of shortening levels. Davies won a big pot from Chidwick with beating . But then Chidwick won a big pot when he outdrew Addamo’s with .
Addamo then doubled back through Davies, with beating and we were basically all square again. Round and round they went.
It was a long three-handed passage of play
Last night, we saw a titanic heads-up battle, where two seasoned campaigners, at the top of their games, refused to bow down for three hours. Tonight, there was a third dimension: all of Chidwick, Davies and Addamo had their small-pot strategies working smoothly and no one was taking unnecessary risks. Chidwick was the one who seemed to be on the ropes most often, dwindling to single-digit blinds. But he found at least two doubles to stay afloat, and his presence meant it would be madness for one of the others to get knocked out now.
Then, with the blinds at 100K/200K and an average stack only 21 big blinds, Chidwick got the wind in his sails. He doubled again, through Addamo, with beating . He then woke up with when Addamo tried to force the issue and shoved from the button with the big stack.
Addamo had only in that spot and Chidwick’s double this time put him into the chip lead.
Stephen Chidwick sizes up Addamo during three-handed play
The level went up again, meaning there was only now 50 big blinds between three players and every pot was crucial. And that’s when the dam finally broke, sweeping away Davies.
He found pocket threes in the small blind and made a raise of all but one 25K chip (not even a small blind). Chidwick called in the big blind, sitting with pocket tens. They ended up checking the flop, turn and river all the way through, and the tens held, meaning Davies went into one more hand.
But that one he lost with to Chidwick’s . Yes, Davies’s six-high was actually ahead pre-flop, but there were two fours on the board and that was it. Davies’ stern resistance earned him €661,500, which was the first Triton cash of his career.
That in itself was a big result for Davies, but he will have regretted missing out on the million.
Seth Davies finished third, his first ITM result
That was what was now guaranteed to each of Chidwick and Addamo, the final two players left. Chidwick had Addamo in a very unfamiliar position: the Brit had a five-to-one lead over the Australian.
The tournament structure meant it was impossible for there to now be a repeat of last night’s really long heads-up duel, but everyone who knows anything about poker also knew that things might not be over just yet. Sure enough, Addamo doubled on the first hand of heads-up play, hitting a queen with his to beat Chidwick’s .
He then won another big pot to bring the stacks level, moving all in on the river with the board showing . Addamo had and Chidwick was forced to fold his .
With the blinds encroaching again, the old rivals knew that it was no longer all about their skills. They looked at the numbers and quickly agreed, allowing Addamo to sweep quickly to the title.
There’s truly no stopping him — and he now takes a big lead in the Player of the Year race.
to Dwan’s 
, all-in pre-flop.
. Antonius called with 
and although those hands looked pretty similar, Antonius flopped a nine to expose their differences.
and the board of 
gave Dwan a straight.
.
and also moved all-in, which persuaded Dwan out of it.
on the turn hit Dwan, and Antonius couldn’t fill up on the river.
and Bedell called with his 
flop, Dwan bet all the draws and Bedell put the rest of his chips in. Turn and river came 
and Ausmus called with 
flop, Ausmus moved in with his bottom pair and diamond draw, but Dwan called with an overpair and a better draw (as well as a three) and the 
.
.
turn.
Patrik Antonius bids farewell[/caption]
losing to Hecklen’s 
. They were all-in pre-flop, of course, and the board blanked.
. There was a two on the turn, which was where the money went in. Bujtas took €630,000 and his first Triton trophy, another notable feather in his cap.
and both players checked. The turn was the 
.
