The Coin Rivet Invitational got started at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Northern Cyprus today, pitting the world’s elite poker pros against high-rolling VIP businesspeople in a unique format poker tournament.
All entrants were required to stump up $200,000 to play, but just having the money wasn’t enough to gain entry. One half of the field comprises those recreational players, all keen poker enthusiasts but people with other, more significant income streams. Each of the VIPs was permitted to invite one poker pro to play the tournament too, with the two halves of the field remaining separate for the first day of play.
That restriction essentially means two separate tournaments running concurrently for the first day, before the fields merge on Day 2. It introduces ICM considerations for the pros from the very outset, with them keen not to bust before getting the chance to play against opposition from outside the game’s elite.
It also meant that the table draw, conducted in a grand ceremony at the Triton player’s party on the eve of the event, was taken very seriously. The partnerships were called onto the stage by MC Andy Rowe and then drew their seat cards from separate pots, determining where they would sit. There wasn’t much value to be had, with pros certain to be matched only with other pros, but it was important still to know the scale of the task, and to then dash away to study the competition. The full table draw for the start of the tournament is below.
The tournament was then due to kick off at 4pm on Saturday, after formal introductions in the main congress centre of the Merit Royal Resort. There was a rare sense of anticipation as the players, their friends and family gathered. Organisers insisted the entire field was seated at the very start of play, to ensure pros didn’t opt instead to merely arrive when the fields were about to combine. The happy knock-on effect was a busy tournament room right from the start, and a crackling atmosphere.
Eventually, Rowe completed the “Shuffle up and deal!” and the tournament began. And as if to mark the grandness of the occasion, the first man out was Phil Ivey. That doesn’t happen to often either.
Here are some photos from the player party and table draw from Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive.
COIN RIVET INVITATIONAL
STARTING SEAT DRAW
BUSINESSPEOPLE
TABLE 1
1 Ivan Leow
2 Elias Talvtie
3 Leon Tsoukernik
5 Theis Hennebjerre
6 James Bord
7 Ali Reza Fatehi
8 Santhosh Suvarna
9 Aleksei Platonov
TABLE 2
1 Elton Tsang
2 Kent Staahle
3 Ewlong Zhou
5 David Einhorn
6 Jean Noel Thorel
7 Richard Yong
8 Kerem Tibuk
9 Kannapong Thanarattrakul
TABLE 3
1 Sosia Jiang
2 Horace Wei
3 Punnat Punsri
6 Phachara Wongwichit
7 Tony Guoga
8 Sam Miller
9 Unlu Sinan
TABLE 5
1 Ramin Hajiyev
2 Ashkan Fattahi
3 Eric Worre
5 Paul Newey
6 Feng Yu
8 Paul Phua
9 Johan Guilbert
TABLE 6
1 Philip Sternheimer
2 Amit Kanodia
3 Talal Shakerchi
5 Scott Ball
6 Morten Klein
8 Andrew Pantling
9 Karl Gatien
TABLE 7
1 Rob Yong
2 Wai Kin Yong
3 David Nicholson
5 Phillip Nagy
6 Sean Perry
7 Melika Razavi
8 Chin Wei Lim
9 Vadim Godzdanker
PROS
TABLE 8
2 Viktor Kudinov
3 Rui Cao
5 Benjamin Tollerene
6 Felipe Ramos
7 Barak Wisbrod
8 Ebony Kenney
9 Christoph Vogelsang
TABLE 9
1 Sam Greenwood
2 Albert Daher
3 Nick Petrangelo
5 Artur Martirosyan
6 Chris Brewer
7 Jason Koon
8 Danny Tang
9 Kahle Burns
TABLE 10
1 Phil Ivey
2 Stephen Chidwick
3 Tom Vogelsang
5 Linus Loeliger
6 Michael Zhang
7 Daniel Cates
8 Benjamin Heath
9 Viacheslav Buldygin
TABLE 11
1 Adrian Mateos
3 Michael Addamo
5 Fedor Holz
6 Luuk Gieles
7 Yuri Dzivelevski
8 Isaac Haxton
9 Mustapha Kanit
TABLE 12
1 Sam Grafton
2 Matthias Eibinger
3 Espen Uhlen Jørstad
5 Wiktor Malinowski
6 Henrik Hecklen
7 Patrik Antonius
8 Erik Seidel
9 Steve O’Dwyer
TABLE 13
1 Laszlo Bujtas
2 Aleksejs Ponakovs
5 Seth Davies
6 Mikita Badziakouski
7 David Peters
8 Michael Soyza
9 ElkY