TRITON PLAYER OF THE YEAR RACE ADDS $200K OF INCENTIVES

Paul Phua is the early POY leader

Regulars on the Triton Super High Roller Series rarely need additional encouragement to play. This is, for many, the leading high stakes tournament series on the planet and wherever Triton goes, the elite crowd follows. It’s simply a case of “Tell me where, tell me when and I’ll be there.”

For all that, tournament organisers do not wish to rest on their laurels, and there are always new initiatives to give Triton’s players the very best value for money. Here in Madrid, for instance, we begin the Player of the Year race — a complete freeroll offering the winner a spectacular $200,000 first prize.

On the face of it, there’s not an enormous amount more to it than that. It is what it is. The best performing player on the Triton Series over the coming year will top the leader board and pick up that extra $200,000. There’s a trophy to go with it too, of course — and the knowledge that you’ve bettered the toughest fields over a variance-defeating period of time.

The POY Trophy is currently being designed, but it’ll be every bit as attractive as the Main Event one, pictured
Dig a little deeper and there’s a further motive, however — one that has already got players energised for the start of every new tournament.

Player of the Year points are awarded based on finishing position in a tournament, with 100 for the winner, all the way down to 1 point for 10th-12th place. But show up to the tournament on time — i.e., register for an event before the scheduled start time and take your seat during the first level — and you’ll earn two additional points, just for your promptness.

Depending on the buy-in and the total number of entries the tournament attracts, all points are then put through a multiplier, all boosting POY chances. It really pays to get there on time — and it’s really working too.

“POY is the new incentive for players to start tournaments on time,” said Kate Badurek, Triton’s VIP Player Services Ambassador & Assistant TD. “Right from the beginning of the race [the first tournament here in Madrid], we started right on time with 23 players sitting down at the tables.”

Badurek continued: “We’ve often been asked by players when is the last moment to jump in, in order for them to get the extra two points for early reg. Everyone’s so hyped!”

There’s more. Every tournament entry and re-entry earns players an additional three points. And these points are also then put through the multipliers.

Other bonus points are available when a player finishes in the money (10 bonus points), while one Player of the Festival, also gets an additional 100 points. (The Player of the Festival is not subjective; it’s the player who earns the most points at that particular Triton stop.)

Full details of the points awards and multipliers are on the Triton Player of the Year page, where an example also clarifies matters further.

It imagines a player, named John Doe, registering on time for a $100K buy-in event, and making one re-entry. The tournament attracts 114 entries and John finishes in fifth place. In this scenario, John gets:

Initial entry: 3 points
On time bonus: 2 points
Second entry: 3 points
ITM finish: 10 points
5th place: 20 points
Multiplier based on buy-in size: x1.6
Multiplier based on entrants: x2.6

In this scenario, John would get 159.6 POY points — (3+2+3+10+20) * (1.6+2.6).

Although no further stops have yet been confirmed after Madrid, the launch of the Player of the Year race is a big further hint that additional festivals will soon be announced. There are scheduled to be four, including this one, over the coming 12 months.

And that means the POY race is going to become very intriguing, very quickly.

Check out the latest standings, and the full multiplier tables either below or on the Player of the Year page.

T&Cs and CHARTS FOR POY

    1. Triton Poker Series Player of the Year (POY) is a program independent from any other related poker rankings.
    2. Triton reserves all the rights to the formula created for the purposes of the POY program.
    3. In order to join the POY competition, you must participate in Triton Poker Super High Roller Series live tournaments.
    4. The length of the season is determined by number of events. In the current season there will be four Triton Series stops. In case of another qualifying event being added to the ongoing POY season – players and public will be informed about it at the earliest possible time, approximately two months in advance.
    5. The first stop introducing Triton POY program is going to take place in Madrid, Spain on the 13th May – 25th May 2022. 
    6. Triton Poker reserves the right to amend the number of stops or extend the length of the season if a cancellation of an event occurs due to force majeure.
    7. Players are not allowed to pass their own POY points to others at any circumstances.
    8. Any Triton tournament deals being made between players will be kept separately from the POY program and will not affect the POY point system presented in the chart below. In case of a deal heads up or any multiple player deal, where the game is discussed to be finished immediately, the remaining players will need to play for the POY points in a fair game agreement approved by the TD. 
    9. Restricted buy-in tournaments will not assign any POY points.
    10. Any tournaments/events added to the schedule and/or any tournaments that will have their structures/buy-in changed may or may not be considered for the POY program. If any of the above occur, Triton reserves the right of the Tournament Director’s discretion. This will be announced on time to all players with the sole criteria of fairness of the POY program towards players.
    11. Triton Poker reserves the right to allocate extra POY points to players who will participate in tournaments with a charity status, that are non-invitational and open to all.
    12. The POY formula has been constructed based on the following criteria:
      • Finishing place (points)
      • Buy-In amount (multiplier)
      • Total number of entries, including re-entries (multiplier)

Additionally:

  • REGISTRATION ON TIME – all players that register to a tournament before the start and join the game within the first level will be rewarded with 2 additional points and will be multiplied based on the below chart.  If a player is unable to join due to concomitant events, they will have to notify Triton of their will to play and will have a level length of time after getting eliminated to take their seat.
  • ENTRIES -Every entry and re-entry will be rewarded with 3 additional points and will be multiplied based on the below chart
  • IN THE MONEY – Every player who makes it ITM (in the money) will be rewarded with an additional 10 points.
  • POF – Every player announced the ‘Player of the Festival’ will receive additional 100 points (the ‘Player of the Festival’ will be the winner of POY points during a stop). A player who receives the most POY points from an individual stop will be declared a POF.

 

PRIZE

The winner will receive USD 200,000, 

The coveted Triton Player Of The Year Trophy

 

Finishing Place

Points

1st 100
2nd 80
3rd 60
4th 40
5th 20
6th 10
7th 6
8th 3
9th 2
10th/12th 1

 

Buy-in

Multiplier

10k to 25k 1
26k to 50k 1.2
51k to 75k 1.4
76k to 100k 1.6
101k to 150k 1.8
150k+ (and MAIN EVENTS) 2

 

Entrants

Multiplier

20 to 30 1
31 to 40 1.1
41 to 50 1.2
51 to 60 1.4
61 to 70 1.6
71 to 80 1.8
81 to 90 2
91 to 100 2.2
101 to 110 2.4
111 to 120 2.6
121 to 130 2.8
131 to 140 3
141 to 150 3.2

ADDITIONAL POINTS

Type

Points

Every Registration On Time 2
Every Entry 3
Every ITM 10
Player of the Festival 100

 

Example:
John Doe registers (3) on time (2) and does one Re-Entry (3) in a 100k Event (x2).The event gathers 114 entries in total (x2.6) and John will finish ITM (10) and in 5th place (20).
Entries 6
On time 2
ITM 10
5th Place 20
Multiplier Buy-in x1.6
Multiplier Entrants x2.6
(6 + 2 + 10 + 20) x (1.6 + 2.6) = 159.6
John will receive 159.6 Points toward Triton POY 2022

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

BREWER MAKES MOST OF LUCKY ESCAPE TO CLAIM MAIDEN TRITON TITLE

Champion Chris Brewer!

A hugely entertaining short deck event here at Triton Madrid ended Monday evening with a first Triton Series title for Chris Brewer. The American, a newcomer to the high stakes circuit this season, took €372,000 after defeating Canada’s Mike Watson heads-up.

The day had just about everything, including a rush to the bubble, some short-stack mastery, big stacks blowing up, a long stay at the feature table for the Triton Ambassador Tom Dwan and one hugely unusual and intriguing tournament situation. It culminated in a memorable success for Brewer.

“It’s really fun to compete with a lot of great players, and to get lucky and win is great,” Brewer told Ali Nejad at the end of play. “It really is a lot of fun to be out here with all these people…I always envisioned I could go and play against people for high stakes and win. But I didn’t know what the high stakes actually were. When I was envisioning that, I was envisioning the $10K WSOP. I didn’t imagine these stakes, but I always thought I could make it to the high stakes.”

Brewer was the beneficiary of that very strange moment, when Rob Yong could easily have knocked him out but made a mistake and let him off the hook. Brewer then rebuilt from a short stack, finding crucial double ups in the short-handed phase of the tournament, and eventually denying Watson what would have also been his first title.

Watson had to make do with €269,100 for second place. Yong was third for €173,600, but will still be cursing what might have been — the full details of which are below.

“It was a super awful situation,” Brewer said of the moment where he knew he could have been on the rail. “I think it was an innocent mistake. I don’t think anyone did anything wrong. But it was very uncomfortable. It worked out in my favour but it’s not something I want to have happen again.”

Watson congratulates the new champion

BLOW-BY-BLOW ACTION

After a quick-fire Day 1 of this event, everyone knew that pretty much anything was possible heading into the pre-bubble period — and we saw a pretty spectacular about turn in a few players’ fortunes. Max Silver, the tiniest of short stacks with seven antes overnight, made the money after a series of double-ups. But Seth Davies, Mikita Badziakouski and Arthur Yap, who might have felt more comfortable, perished ahead of the money.

Choon Tong Siow: Bubble boy

The same fate befell Choon Tong Siow, who was third in chips overnight, but ended up bursting the bubble when he left in ninth. It had all happened rather rapidly and the bubble period took precisely one hand: Tom Dwan limped, Chris Brewer jammed for 1.99 million with JsTd and Siow under-called all-in for his last 745,000 with AdKs.

Dwan stepped aside and then Brewer went on to win this near flip when he turned a queen-high straight. Everyone remaining was now in the money and guaranteed at least €49,600 — the amount that went to Winfred Yu, who perished in eighth, just short of the single-table redraw. Yu also lost to Brewer, with Ac9d to Brewer’s pocket queens, which became a full house.

Last seven in Event #3. Clockwise from back left: Mike Watson, Webster Lim, Chris Brewer, Rob Yong, Devan Tang, Tom Dwan, Max Silver

They paused then to take the final table photos — and for the poker fans of the world to hurry to their screens to catch glimpse of Tom Dwan in the deep stages of a tournament for the first time in ages. Dwan was the short stack, and he was coming off the back of a rumoured 20-hour cash game session, but he had made it to this final and was sticking around.

Dwan was a talkative presence for the 40 minutes or so he lasted, but then hit the rail in seventh. He open-pushed with pocket tens, got looked up first by Rob Yong with pocket jacks, and then was in real trouble when Watson shoved over the top, with pocket aces.

Dwan was running mighty thin after Watson flopped a full house, and was drawing dead by the turn. Dwan won €63,200 — and the cash games beckoned again.

Dwan thrilled viewers of the live stream, finishing seventh

There then followed another long period of play without any eliminations, the most intriguing moment of which came in a crazy confrontation between Rob Yong and Brewer. Brewer, with 3.1 million in his stack and red pocket queens, opened from under the gun to 2 million. It was a big overbet — antes were 50K/100K at the time — but it was not all-in. It was simply enough that the other short stacks would have to have risked everything to call, while the big stacks would be looking at a hefty chunk of their chips if they got involved and lost.

Everyone folded until it got to Yong, who looked down at AsAd. Yong, who is always a very talkative presence at the tables, turned his cards face up and showed them to Brewer. He also then said, “Call.”

Brewer sighed as he thought he was clearly going to lose all his chips to the over-pair, but then realised that Yong had only said “Call”. Brewer now knew what he was up against and was under no obligation to put in his last 1.1 million. Yong hadn’t raised.

“This is a ton of tournament equity behind,” Brewer said.
“I’ve done you a big favour,” Yong said, realising his mistake.

They were going to a flop, with Brewer now only risking 2 million because of Yong’s error. And then the board brought two more aces, giving Yong quads, and allowed Brewer to muck and survive.

“That’s the craziest mistake I ever made,” Yong said.

Yong wasn’t immediately punished for it. In fact, he got aces again soon after and this time called Devan Tang’s all-in push. Tang had JhJd and the aces stayed good, forcing Tang out in sixth, with €79,300. It gave Yong more than half the chips in play five-handed.

The aces came out again soon after, this time in Watson’s hands. It was bad news for Webster Lim, who had pocket kings, and the aces held once more. Lim took €101,700.

Of the four-handed players, both Brewer and Silver knew they might easily have been out. Brewer survived that weird spot against Yong, and Silver had been up against it from the off. It’s how come he didn’t look in any way upset to be knocked out in fourth, losing to Watson.

Silver turned an overnight short stack into fourth place

Silver pushed for 1.48 million with QdJh and Watson called with KdQs. Silver couldn’t wriggle off the hook this time, but earned his first Triton cash: €131,500 for fourth place.

Yong had the three-handed chip lead, but Watson wasn’t far behind. And when Brewer doubled his short stack, through Yong, Watson ended up in the lead. Yong reclaimed it, then lost it again, as the last three went back and forth for another intriguing hour.

Yong still finished third despite an unfortunate error

Brewer managed another double up through Yong, with JhTs against Yong’s AsKc, and it began a steep decline for the lone European remaining. He lost a big pot with AsJs to Watson’s Qd9d when the flop brought two pair for Yong, but turn and river brought Watson a straight. And Watson then drove the final nail in Yong’s coffin, when his AhQc flopped trips to beat Yong’s KcKd.

Yong had been all-in pre-flop for his last 3.9 million, but ended up in third, winning €173,600.

Watson was the big chip leader when the tournament entered heads-up. Perhaps more than any other player, Watson has really had a rough run of cards at previous Triton stops, losing big stacks in grim circumstances on numerous occasions. But in this tournament, he had already had the rub of the green in a crucial pot against Brewer seven-handed, winning with AhTh against Brewer’s JdAd when he turned a straight. That earned him a double-up. From there, he had been effortless cruising to the final stages, especially in comparison with Brewer’s rocky road.

But Brewer soon got started. His first heads-up double up came with TdTs out-flipping Watson’s KcQh. He then won another big pot with Jd6d beating Watson’s aces when two more jacks came on the board.

He also then turned a straight with Qh9s to beat Watson’s QcJh, and although Watson somehow managed to wriggle away from Brewer’s aggression, the steady drip was mostly one direction.

Watson found little help from above during the heads-up phase of play

Watson managed one double up of his own, with Td9s beating Brewer’s QhTh, but soon after chopped one when he was in a dominant position, and it was his last real chance to get back into it.

The final hand came when Watson had Ts7c and Brewer had 9s8h. The flop of 7hTcJc told the story of this heads-up: two pair for Watson, but a straight for Brewer. The money went in and that was that.

Brewer paid tribute to his opponents, and then said how much he was enjoying life on the Triton Series. “It’s the best events in the world,” he said. “Everything. The shot clock is great. The dealers are great. The staff is great. It’s just a really fun experience playing out here.”

Triton Madrid – Event 3
€20,000 Short Deck Ante-Only


Dates: May 15-16, 2022
Entries: 62 (inc. 26 re-entries)
Prize pool: €1,240,000

1 – Chris Brewer, USA – €372,000
2 – Mike Watson, Canada – €269,100
3 – Rob Yong, UK – €173,600
4 – Max Silver, Ireland – €131,500
5 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – €101,700
6 – Devan Tang, Hong Kong – €79,300
7 – Tom Dwan, USA – €63,200
8 – Winfred Yu, Hong Kong – €49,600

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Global Poker Awards: Paul Phua Wins Industry Person of the Year; Triton Million Misses Out

Poker has an image problem.

When money is your primary source of fuel, you’re going to have some unsavoury incidents, and in 2019, we had one, when the Stones Gambling Hall cheating allegations found its way onto the international press reel.

In the past few days, lawyers defending Stones Gambling Hall, its owners Kings Casino LLC, Mike Postle and Justin Kuraitis, filed a motion to dismiss the $30m lawsuit.

The case is the villain of poker’s story.

Yet, every story also needs a hero.

The Stones incident wasn’t the only time that poker became the talking point of plumbers, gas fitters and chefs around the world in 2019. In the summer, Paul Phua turned his dream of hosting a £1m buy-in charity poker tournament into a reality.

Triton Million: A Helping Hand for Charity enthralled the world.

Triton would wear the cape.

Triton would be our hero.

The morality and ethics of poker are often called into question, helped by the cases like the Stones cheating scandal, and that’s why the Global Poker Awards (GPA) is a much-needed tonic for the industry. There are no unwashed bedsheets. No cigarette butts in the ashtray. No thick fog. Instead, we have a red carpet, tuxedo’s leg-splitting dresses, and cat-cream smiles.

It’s a night when poker’s avengers unite.

Triton Poker Lighting The Lantern

The second annual edition of the GPA took place at the PokerGO Studios at Aria, Las Vegas, on Friday night, and the high stakes stratum featured prominently spearheaded by the tribes most prestigious poker tour.

The Triton brand and its associates appeared in numerous shortlists. Triton co-commentator, Lex Veldhuis, won the Streamer of the Year award, and players competing on Triton tables featured, but lost, in shortlists for Final Table Performance of the Year, and Hand of the Year. But it was the categories of Industry Person of the Year, and Event of the Year where Triton shone brightest.

The Triton Million: A Helping Hand for Charity came up against the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championships (PSPC), the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, and the WSOP BIG 50 in the shortlist for Event of the Year.

Fifty-four players paid the £1,050,000 Triton Million buy-in, the highest attended for a seven-figure buy-in event. The £54m prize pool is the highest prizepool outside of the WSOP. The £16,890,509 that Bryn Kenney picked up for finishing second to Aaron Zang remains the most significant single prize ever handed to an individual poker player (Aaron Zang collected £13.7m after a heads-up deal, and went on to win the event).

Outside of those incredible achievements, Triton’s organisers rolled out the innovations including changing shot clock rules, and dividing pros and non-pros for the first six levels, and raised £2.7m for charity.

But it was not enough to win the GPA.

Instead, the honour went to the PSPC, which in itself created history by becoming the largest attended $25,000 buy-in event the world had ever seen, when Ramón Colillas won the $5.1m first prize. Like Triton, PokerStars also pulled out the innovations, giving away 300 free seats, with the largest contingent having never before competed in a $25,000 buy-in event.

Two very different events.

Only one winner.

Close, but no Ghurka cigar.

Paul Phua Wins Industry Person of the Year

PokerStars is a private company.

Triton is the dream of two men, and one of them reached the short-list of the coveted Industry Person of the Year award.

Paul Phua didn’t start playing poker until his 40s, but like everything that Phua does, it didn’t take long for him to want to become the best. Only Phua took extraordinary steps to realise his dream.

Instead of travelling the world competing in other people’s games, Phua created his own. Triton Poker is a reflection of the values and beliefs of Phua, and his partner Richard Yong. A tour that rumbles around the world, stopping at the most salubrious of locations, with world-class service, world-class players and world-class production.

Triton has brought back the old nostalgic air of high stakes magnificence but paraded it around the world like never before, culminating in that magnificent £1m buy-in event.

It’s no coincidence that Phua and Katz were both short-listed. Both have done so much to elevate high stakes poker to a whole new stratosphere, and the poker community needs that exposure, and the influx of money if it is to continue to thrive and thrive it does.

Phua managed to do what Triton Million did not, and took the award, ahead of his esteemed competition. It was a fitting moment for a man who has finished in the money (ITM) in Triton events more than any other, without having anything to put into his trophy cabinet. Even for a man of Phua’s drive and determination, one doubts he thought this would be the first piece of silverware to grace the Phua home.

https://twitter.com/paulphuapoker/status/1236308166473809920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Ironically, on the night that poker celebrated its heroes, its current villain still managed to find its way into headlines, when Joe Ingram collected the award for Best Media Content (Video), for his investigation into the Stones cheating scandal.

But there was no last stand between the heroes and villains.

Merely a celebration of everything that makes this game great.

GPA Awards: The Results in Full

GPI Breakout Player of the Year

Robert Campbell (Winner)
Ramón Collilas
Ben Farrell
George Wolff

Final Table Performance of the Year

Phillip Hui – $50k Poker Player’s Championship (Winner)
Hossein Ensan – WSOP Main Event
Alex Foxen – WPT Five Diamond
Bryn Kenney – Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, Montenegro

Twitter Personality

Jamie Kerstetter (Winner)
Barny Boatman
Kitty Kuo
Kevin Mathers

Toughest Opponent

Stephen Chidwick (Winner)
Michael Addamo
Kahle Burns
Ali Imsirovic

Streamer of the Year

Lex Veldhuis (Winner)
Hristivoje Pavlovic
Ben Spragg
Matt Staples

Vlogger of the Year

Andrew Neeme (Winner)
Jaman Burton
Daniel Negreanu
Brad Owen

Podcast of the Year

The Grid by Jennifer Shahade (Winner)
DAT Poker Podcast
Poker Life Podcast
The Fives

Industry Person of the Year

Paul Phua (Winner)
Phil Galfond
Cary Katz
Matt Savage

Tournament Director of the Year

Matt Savage (Winner)
Jack Effel
Paul Campbell
Tony Burns

Event of the Year

PokerStars Players Championships (Winner)
Triton Million
WSOP Main Event
WSOP BIG 50

Mid-Major Tour/Circuit

RUNGOOD Poker Series (Winner)
WPTDeepStacks
Road to the PSPC
WSOPC

Journalist of the Year

Joey Ingram (Winner)
Lance Bradley
Haley Hintze
Nick Jones

Broadcaster of the Year

Nick Schulman (Winner)
Joe Stapleton
Jeff Platt
Jamie Kerstetter

Media Content (Written)

Poker and Pop Culture by Martin Harris (Winner)
A Fight for Fatherhood by Lance Bradley
Kevin Roster Spread Sarcoma Awareness by Aleeyah Jadavji
The Unabridged Story of the Hendon Mob by Paul Seaton

Media Content (Photo)

Drew Amato (Winner) – Dario Sammartino at the WSOP
Antonio Abrego – Ryan Laplante
Joe Giron – Frank Stepuchin
Hayley Hochstetler – Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion

Media Content (Video)

Investigating Mike Postle – Joe Ingram (Winner)
Legends of the Game Stu Ungar – PokerGO
The Big Blind with Jeff Platt
Who Makes Money From Professional Poker – Sam Rega for CNBC

Poker Personality of the Year

Jonathan Little (Winner)
Joey Ingram
Ryan DePaulo
Lex Veldhuis

Hand of the Year

Ryan Riess Makes 10-High Call at EPT Monte Carlo (Winner)
Bryce Yockey v Josh Arieh
Sam Trickett v Stephen Chidwick
Thi Xoa Nguyen v Athanasios Polychronopoulos

Poker ICON Award

Johnny Chan (winner)

The Hendon Mob Award

John Cernuto