The Triton Super High Roller Series concluded Day 1 of its opening event, the HK $200,000 Suncity Cup, with only 14 out of the 30 players making it through the scheduled nine levels of regulation play. With the field starting out with a good mix of Asian businessmen and poker pros, what remained was just a downsizing of the same crowd at every table.
Chip leader: Sweden’s Mikael Thuritz
Earning the chip leader status at the end of the night was Sweden’s Mikael Thuritz, with the largest stack at 186,000 chips. Prior to Thuritz’s rise to the top of the chip count, it was Spain’s Sergio Aido who held a dominating lead and was well on his way to owning the night. However, during the last round of play, Aido went head to head against Thuritz that turned the tables when it awarded the Swede a big double up for his nut flush. A few hands after, Thuritz increased his stack further by eliminating USA’s Salman Behbehani with yet another dominating nut flush.
Joining Thuritz in the six-digit mark were Germany’s Philipp Gruissem with 153,300 in chips, USA’s Daniel “Jungleman” Cates with 100,600 in chips, and France’s Cyril Andre with 100,000 in chips. Indonesian pro John Juanda also made the cut but with a middle of the road stack.
John Juanda: “No one bluffs at my table”
In a funny moment, Juanda was overheard saying that no one bluffs at his table but moments later lost some chips to Germany’s Dominik Nitsche who caught him bluffing. Although that didn’t cost Juanda too much, one player whose bluff cost him not just his chips but his tournament life as well was Russian pro Timofey Kuznetsov who shoved on the river and was called out by Italy’s Luigi Curio with a winning full house. American pro Erik Seidel also made it through the day but has to make up some ground with his below average stack.
An Exclusive Vibe
With no re-entry nor rebuy allowed for the tournament, action all around the room was unlike most poker events where big hands tend to ignite loud celebrations. Instead, the event shed a more exclusive vibe with players taking it slow and casual at the felt. A few players fell early, one of them being USA’s David Peters, but it took some time before others began hitting the rail in succession with level eight seeming to be that deadly round. Sending some players out were Paul Phua who eliminated UK’s Stephen Chidwick with his pocket pair surviving a coin flip, and Malaysia’s Yong Wai Kin who eliminated Italian pro Mustapha Kanit with his dominating ace-queen.
Late Registration Still Open
The final day will resume tomorrow at 14:00p.m, however with late registration still open before the cards start flying, more players are expected to participate. We will have the final tally with the prize pool and expected payouts as soon as it begins.
(Recap by Somuchpoker)