The 2019 season of the Triton Poker High Roller Series is now well under way, with the first day of the first event in the books.
After 11 40-minute levels in Event #1 — the HK$250K buy-in short-deck ante only — at the Landing Casino of the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa Resort, we have 15 players left from a starting field of 65 entries.
They’re all hunting the first title of the week, worth HK$4.6 million (US$586,000 approx).
Malaysia’s Tong Siow Choon, who came to Jeju specifically to play the short-deck events, is leading the field. He lost his first stack early on, but rebuilt after re-entering and won two enormous pots to vault him into contention. In the first, his aces beat pocket kings, and he was then on the right side of a three-way confrontation when his pocket kings held up against two opponents.
“It was a good day, yeah,” Choon said. “I got the cards.”
This is only Choon’s second or third appearance on the Triton Series, but he is already showing his skills against some of the world’s best in what he described as his favourite game. Short-deck is becoming increasingly popular in the global game, and has proved particularly successful on the Triton series.
Today’s field included poker superstars Justin Bonomo, Stephen Chidwick, Bryn Kenney, John Juanda, David Peters, Mikita Badziakouski and Isaac Haxton, among others, as well as Triton co-founder Richard Yong and Triton Ambassador Jason Koon.
Of those, only Badziakouski, Bonomo and Juanda remain, and none is sitting with a top-five stack. Three Malaysians — Choon, as well as Wei Hsiang Yeu and Wai Leong Chan — sandwich two former World Series of Poker final tablists, Ben Lam and David Benefield, at the top of the counts.
The winner, crowned tomorrow, will take HK$4.6 million (approximately US$586,000). The full prize schedule, chip counts and day two seat draw is below. Play resumes at 2pm Sunday.
PAYOUTS
Triton Jeju Event #1: Short-Deck Ante-Only
Buy-in: HK$250,000
Entries: 65 (inc. 28 re-entries)
Prize pool: HK$15.275 million
1 – HK$4,600,000
2 – HK$3,300,000
3 – HK$2,140,000
4 – HK$1,620,000
5 – HK$1,250,000
6 – HK$975,000
7 – HK$780,000
8 – HK$610,000
FULL CHIPS COUNTS
| Pos | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Tong Siow Choon | Malaysia | 2,925,000 |
| 2 | Wei Hsiang Yeu | Malaysia | 2,890,000 |
| 3 | Benjamin Lamb | United States | 2,675,000 |
| 4 | David Benefield | United States | 1,240,000 |
| 5 | Wai Leong Chan | Malaysia | 1,240,000 |
| 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,215,000 |
| 7 | Ying Lin Chua | Malaysia | 1,155,000 |
| 8 | Sergey Lebedev | Russia | 1,055,000 |
| 9 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | 1,015,000 |
| 10 | Robert Flink | Sweden | 920,000 |
| 11 | Johnson Juanda | Indonesia | 895,000 |
| 12 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | 890,000 |
| 13 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 575,000 |
| 14 | Peter Jetten | Canada | 370,000 |
| 15 | Lucas Greenwood | Canada | 345,000 |
DAY 2 SEAT DRAW
| TABLE/SEAT | NAME | COUNTRY | CHIPS |
| 1-2 | Wei Hsiang Yeu | Malaysia | 2,890,000 |
| 1-3 | Sergey Lebedev | Russia | 1,055,000 |
| 1-4 | Wai Leong Chan | Malaysia | 1,240,000 |
| 1-5 | Jochanan Robert Flink | Sweden | 920,000 |
| 1-6 | Peter Jetten | Canada | 370,000 |
| 2-1 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,215,000 |
| 2-3 | Johnson Juanda | Indonesia | 895,000 |
| 2-4 | Benjamin Lamb | United States | 2,675,000 |
| 2-5 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 575,000 |
| 2-6 | Wei Seng Paul Phua | Malaysia | 1,015,000 |
| 3-1 | Ying Lin Chua | Malaysia | 1,155,000 |
| 3-2 | David Benefield | United States | 1,240,000 |
| 3-3 | Tong Siow Choon | Malaysia | 2,925,000 |
| 3-5 | Lucas James Greenwood | Canada | 345,000 |
| 3-6 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | 890,000 |