The first short deck hold’em event of the 2019 Triton Series Montenegro is under way — and an explosive final hand of the evening offered further evidence why this variant is so beloved of the game’s gamblers and thinkers alike.
Until the very last deal of a 12-level day, Czech casino owner Leon Tsoukernik had made the tournament his own, building a stack of more than 5 million (from a starting 300,000) when pretty much nobody else crossed the 3 million mark. However he then found Peter Jetten in particularly obdurate mood, re-raise shoving over Tsoukernik’s open and putting his entire 2.2 million stack on the line.
Tsoukernik had 
in the hole, a super-strong hand in short-deck, and was put through the wringer, evidently unsure whether he might even be a favourite against pocket aces. (Short-deck does all kinds of odd things to established poker probabilities.)
Tsoukernik couldn’t resist and slammed in a call, learning he was up against Jetten’s 
. Tsoukernik flopped a straight draw, but the turn and river were blanks, and that rocketed Jetten up to 4.445 million and the chip lead. Tsoukernik can rebuild tomorrow from 2.92 million.
Those two are still strong favourites to make the money. Eleven players remained at the close of play and eight will cash, so they will quickly enter bubble play on the resumption. The full payouts schedule is below.
As is customary on the Triton Series, plenty of players fired, missed and reloaded on multiple occasions today. Of the 70 total entries, 28 were re-entries. John Juanda and Michael Soyza had four each, and both are out now for good. Tsoukernik was on his first bullet, while Jetten had two.
Jetten’s closest challenger is Tek Lon Tam, from Macau, whose tournament resume is blank at present, suggesting a cash game player taking a stab at these high buy-in events offered by Triton. Tam had 2.925 million, a single chip ahead of Tsoukernik, with Steffen Sontheimer one further place back.
Triton’s short-deck specialist Paul Phua has started in Montenegro as he finished in Jeju, with another deep run. Winfred Yu, best known as the organiser of many of Asia’s biggest cash games, also enjoyed this opening flight and bagged 2.225 million. The full counts of the final 11 are below.
Although the tournament has the smallest buy-in of the 10-event festival, the 70 entries at HK$100,000 apiece built a prize pool of HK$6.58 million (US$838,000 approx). It allowed a few of the more circumspect players a chance to test their skills at this variant, with players from across Europe, Asia and North America taking their seats. If they like it, there will be plenty of other chances to sample short deck here in Montenegro. Events #6, #7, #9 and #10 are short-deck, while Event #11 is the short-deck main event and has a buy-in ten times the size of this one.
This tournament plays to its champion tomorrow, with HK$2.04 million on offer to the winner. The full deck hold’em Main Event also gets under way, with a HK$1 million (US$127,500 approx) buy-in, and the poker room at the Maestral Resort will likely be full as a result.
Although the tournament has the smallest buy-in of the 10-event festival, the 70 entries at HK$100,000 apiece built a prize pool of HK$6.58 million (US$838,000 approx). It allowed a few of the more cautious players a chance to test their skills at this variant, with players from across Europe, Asia and North America taking their seats.
The tournament plays to its champion tomorrow, with HK$2.04 million on offer to the winner. The full deck hold’em Main Event also gets under way, with a HK$1 million (US$127,500 approx) buy-in, and the poker room at the Maestral Resort will likely be full as a result.
Overnight chip counts:
| 1 | Peter Jetten | Canada | 4,445,000 |
| 2 | Tek Lon Tam | Macau | 2,925,000 |
| 3 | Leon Tsoukerik | Czech Republic | 2,920,000 |
| 4 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | 2,605,000 |
| 5 | Ka Wing Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | 2,225,000 |
| 6 | Shkliaruk Ihor | Ukraine | 1,605,000 |
| 7 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 1,365,000 |
| 8 | Wei Seng Paul Phua | Malaysia | 895,000 |
| 9 | Samuel Greenwood | Canada | 870,000 |
| 10 | Jordi Urlings | Netherlands | 600,000 |
| 11 | Wei Lim Chin | Malaysia | 545,000 |
Confirmed prize pool/payout information:
Event #3 – Short Deck Ante Only
Dates: May 7-8, 2019
Buy-in: HK$100,000 (US$12,750 approx)
Entries: 70 (inc. 28 re-entries)
Prize pool: HK$6.58 million (US$838,000 approx)
1 – HK$2,040,000 (US$260,000)
2 – HK$1,370,000 (US$174,551)
3 – HK$920,000 (US$117,217)
4 – HK$700,000 (US$89,185)
5 – HK$540,000 (US$69,000)
6 – HK$420,000 (US$53,510)
7 – HK$330,000 (US$42,044)
8 – HK$260,000 (US$33,126)
Photography by Joe Giron/www.pokerphotoarchive.com
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