“We got a game!” shouted Elton Tsang, flexing his muscles and pumping his arms as the players assembled for the final day of an extraordinary Triton Series Cash Game Invitational at the Maestral Resort and Casino, Montenegro.
Tsang was jubilant because tournament organisers had just confirmed the stakes for this last day: blinds of $2K/$5K with a $5K big blind ante. We had indeed got a game.
For Tsang, the bigger the better. Despite a hiccup yesterday, he has been by far the biggest winner through the previous six days and now here he was with one last shot to boost that bankroll even more.
Tsang was appropriately seated in Seat 1 for the opening exchanges. He’s been in the top spot throughout. But there was no way he was going to have it all his own way, not with the rest of the table filled by yesterday’s big winner, Ferdinand, then other usual suspects Paul Phua, ST Wang, Andy Ni and Tan Xuan.
The two pros as as things got started were Danny Tang and Patrik Antonius, with Adrian Mateos and Brian Kim preparing to join later in the evening.
Suffice to say that we did, indeed, have a game. Here are some selected highlights.
FIRST HAND FELTING FOR ANDY NI
The history that has developed over the previous six days clearly played into the first hand of the final session. In it, Andy Ni, a player of measured aggression, made a crying call with fourth pair on a paired board, for all his chips, and turned $500K into dust in a single hand. Yep. Ni lost his first bullet on the very first hand of the session.
The man to profit was the ultimate Triton wild-card, Tan Xuan, who had the Mystery Hand on the opening deal. ST Wang opened the pot with a raise to $15,000 in the hijack with 
and Ni, in the cutoff, had black pocket sevens and called.
Xuan was in the small blind and he put in a three-bet to $62,000. Only Ni called.
The board brought two over-cards to Ni’s sevens. It was 
. Xuan led out for $75,000 and Ni called it.
The 
came on the turn and Xuan led again, this time for $140,000. Ni now had three cards out there that were bigger than his pocket pair, but he was still an unbeliever. He called. Then the 
completed the board.
Xuan had bought in for $1 million at the start of play, double everyone else’s $500,000, so when he jammed it was Ni who had the effective stack. Ni took awhile but then tossed in the call, quickly learning that Xuan had 
for trips.
Xuan therefore stacked up $1.5 million. Ni had to beckon over the chip runner for $500K more.
PRO VS. PRO FOR $1M
It took only another 10 minutes before we saw our second $1m pot of the night, but this time it was a hand that played out between the two pros at the table, Patrik Anotnius and Danny Tang. It took the commentators by surprise, who weren’t expecting to see such apparent abandon from the players whose play tends to be a little more measured.
Antonius had 
and opened from UTG to $12,000. Tang, one seat over, had 
and three-bet to $38,000. Their table position pointed to extreme strength and the other players shied away.
The flop was the all-action 
and Antonius check-called Tang’s $20,000 bet. That brought the 
on the turn.
Both players now had a pair. Tang’s was bigger, but Antonius had the flush draw too. Antonius checked, Tang bet $90,000 and to the surprise of all, Antonius ripped it in for $442,000. Tang was confused, but decided to call. He was ahead by a significant margin.
They decided to run the river twice, with a blank giving the first run to Tang, but the 
river earning Antonius half the pot.
PHUA FLUSHES WANG FOR $1M
The session was not even 45 minutes old and the third million dollar pot appeared. This one wasn’t chopped, even though Tan Xuan bizarrely took delivery of a samurai sword from a friend on the rail just at the hand’s denouement.
Xuan wasn’t actually in this hand. Instead, it was Boss Man Paul Phua, going up against ST Wang. Phua had the Mystery Hand to start things off, and he raised to $13,000 with it from the hijeck. Wang, with 
, was the lone caller, in the cutoff.
Wang hit top pair after the 
flop. Phua led for $16,000 and Wang called. The turn brought the 
. Phua now slowed to a check but Wang took over with a bet of $38,000. Phua wasn’t slowing down at all, actually. He put in the check-raise to $125,000. Wang called.
The river was the and Phua jammed for $360,000. That put Wang into the tank. Through the whole week, Phua has been playing pretty cute. He certainly hasn’t been caught bluffing in huge spots on many, if any, occasions. Nevertheless, Wang thought something was up here. He made the call with his pair of aces.
Phua revealed the Mystery Hand. It was 
. That flush was good enough for a $1,040,000 pot.
ANTONIUS HAS COME TO PLAY
By the standards set early on this final day, a pick-up of “only” around $170K might seem meagre. But the way Patrik Antonius did this one was delightful. Antonius and ST Wang played all the way with not much in either of their hands. But then push came to shove, it was Antonius who pushed hardest.
Wang opened the pot with , making it $15,000 from the cutoff. Antonius looked down at and three-bet to $45,000 on the button. This hand might easily have ended there, but Wang found a four-bet to $105,000. And then Antonius, with the solver-approved hand, called in position.
Wang flopped top pair on a monotone flop of 
. He bet $50,000. Antonius called. They then both checked the turn.
The river 
changed almost nothing, but after Wang checked, Antonius saw his chance. He bet $355,000, leaving only $3,000 behind, which put Wang to the test with his second pair. Ultimately Wang decided to let this one go, none the wiser that Antonius had been at it with his ace high.
It’s the power of position. But it’s also the power of Antonius.
Only an orbit or so later, Antonius was back at the bluffing game, this time forcing Tan Xuan and Andy Ni into folding better hands. Xuan opened to $12,000 with 
from UTG+1 and Antonius called in the cutoff. Ni found 
in the small blind and squeezed up to $59,000. Both Xuan and Antonius called.
Antonius, for the record, had the mighty 
.
Nobody hit anything on the 
flop and they all checked. That took them to the turn, when none of them had anything still. Antonius tried to buy in here with a bet to $750,000. Ni was the first to back down, but Xuan paid to see the river with his flush draw and over-cards.
The completed the board and Xuan’s ace was now the most powerful card out there. But he checked, which allowed Antonius to blast $125,000 at it. The sizing seemed to suggest it wanted a call, which is perhaps exactly why Xuan didn’t do it. He folded, allowing Antonius to get away with another one.
TSANG BUILDING STEADILY AGAIN
Elton Tsang managed to put together another near million-dollar profit before the mid-session interval today, including taking a pot of $600,000 from Danny Tang. This was actually a case of what might have been, but the two campaigners backed down from a big river duel.
Tang opened from UTG+1 with pocket nines. He made it $13,000 to play. Tsang found 
in the small blind and three-bet to $55,000. Tang called.
Tsang hit one of his over cards when the dealer put the 
flop out there. Tsang bet $40,000, but Tang wasn’t going anywhere yet. He called to see the 
turn. Tsang bet another $200,000, having added a flush draw to his pair. Tang called once more.
The completed the board and Tsang took a long, long time pondering whether to go looking for some thin value. He took a good couple of minutes before thinking better of it and checking it over to Tang.
“He’s not checking to fold,” Randy Lew said, in the commentary booth.
Tang didn’t ponder all that long. His nines had showdown value and he checked it back. Tsang’s pair of kings were good and this brought his stack up to around $1.9 million, $900K of which was profit.
NI AND XUAN: GET A ROOM
Yet more shenanigans featuring Tan Xuan and Andy Ni, who have both been superbly entertaining this entire week at the Triton Cash Game Invitational. They can surely be expecting an invitation for the next one.
In this hand, Elton Tsang opened things with , making it $13,000 from UTG+1. Ni found suited connectors, and put in a three-bet to $36,000 from the hijack. But then Xuan found pocket tens in the small blind and four-bet to $115,000.
For the Cash Game Invitational, this was standard.
What was perhaps unexpected was that Tsang folded. Ni, however, made the call and the pair saw the flop of 
. Tsang would have flopped two pair, but the active players both missed. No matter. Xuan rifled $75,000 at it and Ni called with absolutely nothing.
The only card that could possibly give Ni encouragement was the , and he found it on the turn. Xuan, however, wasn’t done. He took a $100K stab at it. Now sitting with a big combo draw, Ni clicked the all-in button. He had $221,000 in his stack.
Surely Xuan couldn’t call this, with only third pair, could he? He nearly did. But ultimately he let it go and the chips went Ni’s way.
SURPRISE SURPRISE: XUAN BLUFFS AGAIN
Adrian Mateos and Brian Kim came in to replace Danny Tang and Patrik Antonius. The departing two fared slightly differently than each other, with Antonius recording a health profit and Tang licking his wounds.
But the pros had to wait a little while to get involved because ST Wang, Elton Tsang and Tan Xuan, yet again, got involved in the first significant pot. It was the very first deal after they had sat down after dinner.
Wang, who was nursing a deficit of around $1.7 million at this stage, had 
UTG and he raised to $13,000. Xuan, comfortably in the black for his night, called on the button, but then Tsang found in the big blind. He three-bet to $88,000. Only Xuan called. His cards were disguised from viewers on the stream.
The flop was and Tsang check-called Xuan’s bet of $38,000. They then both checked the 
turn. The river still didn’t connect with Tsang’s hand, but he put out a bet of $5,000 — in this game, only one big blind.
If this was meant to be a blocker, it didn’t quite work. Xuan put $160,000 forward. Tsang had the ace-king to go with the sevens on the board, but couldn’t quite find the call. He would have been good if he’d managed it. Xuan had for one more bluff.
MATEOS TAKES HEAPS; WANG WITH BRILLIANT FOLD
ST Wang ended today’s session with a loss of more than $1.1 million. But it might have been even worse for him had he not trusted his instincts in a pot against Adrian Mateos and Paul Phua in which he dumped the second nuts, and was right to.
This was an incredible fold, which came about in a hand that began with a raise to $15,000 from UTG from Mateos and a call from Paul Phua in the cutoff. Mateos’ hand only became known to viewers of the stream at the end, by which point all his chips were in the middle. Phua, however, had and Wang, who also decided to call in the big blind, had .
The flop brought top pair and a straight draw for Phua, with Wang picking up a flush draw. It was . Wang checked. Mateos checked. Phua bet $31,000 and Wang now put in the check-raise to $100,000. Both Mateos and Phua called.
The turn helped nobody and all three players checked. That brought the on the river, which filled everything. Phua now had his straight and Wang now had his flush. But after Wang checked, it was Mateos who took over. He broke cover with a shove for $385,000.
Phua took a moment but he called. And that put the decision back on Wang. He had the king high flush, but reasoned that the action before him suggested he might be beaten. He made a startling fold, especially given how deep in the hole he was.
Phua showed his straight, but Mateos revealed his for the nut flush. He took down the $1.12 million pot, with Wang saving himself an additional $300K.
MATEOS PULLS TRIGGER AGAIN; TSANG PONDERS FIRING BACK
Adrian Mateos won another big pot with the best hand here, but it was a case of what might have been for Elton Tsang. Tan Xuan played a bit-part, with an opening raise to $12,000 from UTG sitting with . Tsang called the cutoff with and Mateos, in the small blind, found . He three-bet to $65,000.
Both opponents called, meaning three players looked at the flop of . Mateos bet $65,000 with his ace high and the betting lead. Only Tsang called with his flush draw.
The turn was the 
and Mateos bet $200,000 at it. Tsang called again, taking them to the river. Mateos now bet $310,000, essentially bluffing with the best hand. Tsang could not call with his junk, but he pondered a long time whether he could potentially jam and get Mateos to fold.
Mateos had about $266,000 still behind, with Tsang covering that. It seemed that Tsang had smelt a rat and perhaps thought he could push Mateos away, claiming the $1.045 million pot for himself.
In the end, Tsang either reasoned he couldn’t get Mateos to fold, or he just thought better of the plan. He folded, allowing Mateos to take it. But Tsang’s senses are strong. He seemed to know something was up.
NI FELTS G IN OLDEST COOLER
Tony G took Paul Phua’s seat for the last frame of the night, the last frame of the entire festival, but he couldn’t make it until the end. That’s because he got his entire stack in pre-flop with pocket kings but rammed them into Andy Ni’s pocket aces, and the dealer did not deliver any more drama.
Tan Xuan actually started the action in the hand, raising to $13,000 with from the hijack. Tony G, in the cutoff, saw his kings and made it $50,000, but then Ni saw his aces in the big blind and four-bet to $155,000.
Xuan folded quickly, and it didn’t take all that much longer for Tony G to announce that he was all-in, for $636,000. Ni snapped him off, and Tony G quickly sensed the worst. “Aces?” G asked. Ni nodded.
There was a hasty conversation about whether to run it once or twice, but Tony G wanted the pain over quickly. “Once,” he said.
Players and friends and spectators crowded around the table to see the dealer deliver a dry board. Tony G hastily made his exit as the $1.242 pot went to Ni.
****
With that, the inaugural cash game festival drew gradually to its conclusion. It delivered everything that had been expected: enormous hands; enormous swings; massive pots; massive profits. One suspects this will not be the last of these.
DAY 7 PROFIT/LOSS
UP
Ferdinand: +$426,000
Patrik Antonius: +$413,000
Elton Tsang: +$259,000
Adrian Mateos: +$174,000
Andy Ni: +$153,000
Paul Phua: +$118,000
Brian Kim: +$112,000
DOWN
Danny Tang: -$42,000
Tan Xuan: -$179,000
Tony G: -$500,000
ST Wang: -$938,000
Photography by Drew Amato