The Triton Super High Roller Series, London ran from July 27 — August 10, 2023. Here are all the reports and results.

EVENT 17 – $30,000 SHORT DECK TURBO

IVEY TAKES DOWN SHORT-DECK TURBO TO LAND LONDON DOUBLE
The American great Phil Ivey won a second turbo tournament of his trip to London, taking his Triton haul to five. Ivey blasted through the series finale $30K event for another $280,500 victory.

Top five finishers:
1 – Phil Ivey, USA – $280,500
2 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $193,800
3 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $123,800
4 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – $94,900
5 – Thai Ha, Vietnam – $74,200

33 entries | $825,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 16 – $60,000 SHORT DECK MAIN EVENT

KOON CONTINUES UNSTOPPABLE RUN WITH NINTH IN SD MAIN EVENT
The Triton Ambassador Jason Koon now has an incredibly nine titles on this series after he outlasted everyone in the $60K Short Deck Main Event and secured another famous success.

Top five finishers:
1 – Jason Koon, USA – $828,000
2 – Kiat Lee, Malaysia – $598,000
3 – Lun Loon, Malaysia – $386,800
4 – Tan Xuan, China – $292,500
5 – Chris Brewer, USA – $226,300

46 entries | $2,760,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 15 – $30,000 SHORT DECK ANTE ONLY

YONG HITS FOUR AFTER SHORT DECK SPRINT IN LONDON
The day after his good friend Danny Tang won a fourth Triton title, Wai Kin Yong returned to the winner’s circle for the fourth time with a blink-and-you’ll-miss it rampage through the final table of the first Short Deck event.

Top five finishers:
1 – Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – $350,000
2 – Chris Brewer, USA – $252,400
3 – Karl Chappe-Gatien, France – $161,000
4 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $122,000
5 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $94,300

37 entries | $1,110,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 13 – $60,000 NLH

TANG JOINS THE FOUR-TIME CLUB WITH WIN IN LAST NLHE EVENT
Only five months since he won his first Triton title in Vietnam, Danny Tang was celebrating a remarkable fourth victory, blasting through the 106-entry $60K hold’em field for a $1.6 million score.

Top five finishers:
1 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $1,600,000
2 – Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – $1,080,000
3 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $703,000
4 – Jason Koon, USA – $582,000
5 – Keat Liu Chun, Malaysia – $469,000

106 entries | $6,360,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 12 – $60,000 NLH TURBO

ANOTHER MILLION DOLLAR DAY FOR 4-TIME CHAMP IVEY
Away from the mayhem of the $125K Main Event, the American poker legend Phil Ivey cruised through a $60K buy-in turbo event and claimed another million dollar payday, alongside his fourth Triton Series trophy.

Top five finishers:
1 – Phil Ivey, USA – $1,007,000
2 – Cary Katz, USA – $715,500
3 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $468,900
4 – Rodrigo Selouan, Brazil – $360,000
5 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $285,500

61 entries | $3,660,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 11 – $125,000 NLH MAIN EVENT

ADAMS HALTS THOREL’S CHARGE TO CLAIM MAIN EVENT TITLE NO. 2
In an incredibly fast final table of the biggest Main Event in Triton history, Canada’s Tim Adams managed to overcome the irresistible momentum of French businessman Jean Noel Thorel to land a second Triton title of his career — and close to $4.2 million.

Top five finishers:
1 – Timothy Adams, Canada – $4,185,000
2 – Jean Noel Thorel, France – $2,830,000
3 – Daniel Cates, USA – $1,940,000
4 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $1,582,000
5 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $1,260,000

151 entries | $18,875,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 10 – $25,000 POT LIMIT OMAHA

PLO ROOKIE GOTTLIEB LEARNS FAST TO LAND TRITON TITLE
He said he had only previously played about 20 hours of pot limit Omaha in his life, but American Seth Gottlieb schooled some of the game’s most seasoned performers with a $500K victory at Triton London. Gottlieb downed Dan Dvoress heads up to win.

Top five finishers:
1 – Seth Gottlieb, USA – $511,000
2 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – $355,000
3 – Pascal Lefrancois, Canada – $234,000
4 – Matthew Wood, UK – $184,800
5 – Michael Rossi, USA – $148,200

77 entries | $1,925,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 9 – $250,000 LUXON INVITATIONAL

KING KENNEY REIGNS AGAIN IN LONDON TO CLAIM LUXON INVITATIONAL
Four years to the week since he won the biggest prize ever awarded in a poker tournament, Bryn Kenney returned to the scene of that triumph and claimed a third Triton title, this time banking $6.86 million in the Luxon Invitational.

Top five finishers:
1 – Bryn Kenney, USA – $6,860,000
2 – Talal Shakerchi, UK – $4,650,000
3 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $3,107,000
4 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $2,540,000
5 – Chris Moneymaker, USA – $2,030,000

118 entries | $29,500,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 8 – $30,000 NLH TURBO BOUNTY

GARAGNANI BESTS VOLKMANN AS BRAZILIANS DOMINATE TURBO
The leading lights of Brazilian poker descended en masse to the Triton Series in London this week and secured a famous 1-2, with Pedro Garagnani beating his friend and countryman Bruno Volkmann heads up to win a boisterous bounty turbo

Top five finishers:
1 – Pedro Garagnani, Brazil – $459,000*
2 – Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – $375,300*
3 – Oya Masashi, Japan – $222,700
4 – Kane Hope, UK – $180,500
5 – Choon Tong Siow, Malaysia – $145,000

*denotes deal; does not include bounty payments

96 entries | $1,920,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 7 – $200,000 NLH 8-HANDED

YAN SEALS $3M+ WIN AFTER BATTLE WITH BARBERO
An enormous field in an enormous buy-in tournament produced one of the most keenly-fought final tables of the week. After a three-handed deal in which Nacho Barbero secured the biggest payout, David Yan overcame a heads-up deficit to claim a first Triton victory, and the first for a New Zealander.

Top five finishers:
1 – David Yan, New Zealand – $3,052,002*
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $3,445,807*
3 – Espen Jorstad, Norway – $2,766,191*
4 – Tim Adams, Canada – $1,550,000
5 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $1,247,000

*denotes three-handed deal

81 entries | $16,200,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 6 – $60,000 NLH 7-HANDED

IT’S EIGHT, MATE! KOON REIGNS AGAIN IN LONDON
The leading light of the Triton Series added yet another title, with Jason Koon taking down the $60K 7-Handed for his eighth tour win. Nobody else has more than four. Koon beat Brazil’s Rodrigo Selouan heads up.

Top five finishers:
1 – Jason Koon, USA – $1,570,000
2 – Rodrigo Selouan, Brazil – $1,060,300
3 – Justin Saliba, USA – $690,000
4 – Dan Smith, USA – $571,000
5 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $460,600

104 entries | $6,240,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 5 – $50,000 NLH 8-HANDED

SCHEMION MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT AT TRITON LONDON
He has been destroying tournament fields across the world for the best part of a decade, but Ole Schemion only played his first Triton event here in London this week. A few days later and he’s already a champion, earning another famous seven-figure score.

Top five finishers:
1 – Ole Schemion, Germany – $1,350,000
2 – Dao Minh Phu, Vietnam – $915,000
3 – Roberto Perez, Spain – $604,000
4 – Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey – $497,000
5 – Jamil Wakil, Canada – $400,000

112 entries | $5,600,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 3 – $40,000 NLH MYSTERY BOUNTY

JORSTAD RIDES OUT TURBULENCE TO LAND MAIDEN TITLE
Norway’s Espen Jorstad became the first WSOP Main Event champion to earn a title on the Triton Series too after surviving an incredible final table and beating Phil Ivey heads up. Jorstad claimed the final bounty after a thrilling passage of three-handed play.

Top five finishers:
1 – Espen Jorstad, Norway – $639,000
2 – Phil Ivey, USA – $434,900
3 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $287,000
4 – Johannes Straver, Netherlands – $236,500
5 – Eric Wasserson, USA – $190,000

133 entries | $2,660,000 prize pool + bounties
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 2 – $25,000 NLH 7-HANDED

HOLZ IS BACK! GERMAN NOTCHES THIRD TRITON TITLE
Seven years since he took the Triton Series by storm, and six years since his last title on the tour, the German phenom Fedor Holz returned to the top spot in the week of his 30th birthday. Holz downed form player Chris Brewer after the pair agreed a heads-up deal.

Top five finishers:
1 – Fedor Holz, Germany – $609,853*
2 – Chris Brewer, USA – $600,647*
3 – Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – $324,000
4 – Brian Kim, USA – $267,000
5 – Danilo Velasevic, Serbia – $214,500
* denotes deal

120 entries | $3,000,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 1 – $25,000 GG MILLION$ LIVE

LUC GREENWOOD MATCHES BROTHER SAM WITH TRITON TITLE
The Greenwood twins from Toronto, Canada, now have a Triton title each after Luc Greewood kicked off the London festival with victory in the $25K GG Million$ Live. Greenwood beat ACR Stormer Manuel Zapf heads up for his first win on this tour, and matches the achievement of brother Sam.

Top five finishers:
1 – Luc Greenwood, Canada – $897,000
2 – Manuel Zapf, Germany – $605,500
3 – Oliver Bithell, UK – $416,700
4 – Kiat Lee, Malaysia – $339,800
5 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $271,000

162 entries | $4,050,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive and Nick Pope.

The fastest final table in Triton Series history played out in London this afternoon, with Malaysia’s Wai Kin Yong tearing through the last seven in the $30,000 Short Deck event to claim a fourth Triton title.

It was blink-and-you’ll-miss it stuff. It took Yong only about 100 minutes to go from posing for the group photo to holding shaking hands with his last vanquished opponent, putting $350,000 more into his account and a fourth exclusive trophy on the mantlepiece.

“It’s crazy,” Yong said. “I just kept winning every hand. It was pretty insane.”

Last night, Yong’s friend Danny Tang won his fourth trophy, pulling him clear of Yong. But Yong was bullish about his chances of drawing back level.

“I told him [Tang] yesterday, I’m going to get my fourth one tomorrow,” Yong said.

He added that his wife was intending to come to watch the final stages of the event if Yong was still alive when they got three-handed. But she wasn’t quick enough. Her husband was the champion before 2.45pm.

That was the point at which Yong managed to down Chris Brewer heads-up, the duo both getting dealt a premium pair and getting their chips all in. Yong’s pocket queens held up against Brewer’s pocket jacks. Brewer finished second for the second time on this trip and banked a further $252,400.

However for Yong, it marks a return to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2019, when he won the NLH Main Event here in London. This one was worth quite as much as the $2.6 million he won that time, but he’ll take it. He even gets an hour off before the start of the short deck Main Event.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Part of the reason for the swiftness of the final table today was a crazy period last night ahead of the bubble, when eight players shared chips around for several hours. There had been 37 entries, with only seven players due to be paid, and they sliced the field down to a final table pretty quickly.

However, the bubble just refused to burst and with the ante level ever increasing, the stacks got very shallow indeed. Daniel Dvoress finally succumbed to the pressure and busted in eighth. It left the last seven, but only Yong had what you might call a big stack when they returned today.

FINAL TABLE LINE UP

Wai Kin Yong – 4.8 million (160 antes)
Karl Chappe-Gatien – 1.68 million (56 antes)
Paul Phua – 1.23 million (41 antes)
Chris Brewer – 975,000 (33 antes)
Sam Greenwood – 870,000 (29 antes)
Stephen Chidwick – 790,000 (26 antes)
Isaac Haxton – 755,000 (25 antes)

Stephen Chidwick is a fixture at Triton final tables, but his residence at this one could not have been briefer. On the very first hand after the photographic formalities, Chidwick got his stack in holding pocket jacks.

Paul Phua, who had limped pre-flop, made the call with . There was a queen on the turn and that did for Chidwick. He had been chip leader before all the bubble shenanigans last night, but suffered more than many others at that stage. His elimination in seventh earned him $58,200.

Phua’s victory in that pot all but doubled his stack, but short deck is so volatile that it didn’t take long until it had vanished again. The next hand, Phua lost with pocket tens to Sam Greenwood’s , and then two more stinging defeat, first to Haxton and then Chappe-Gatien sent him to the rail.

That last hand was especially brutal. Phua’s lost to . Chappe-Gatien rivered a straight. Phua ended this one with $72,100 for sixth.

The carnage was not done yet. Isaac Haxton was sitting with and saw Wai Kin Yong move in, with an enormous stack. Haxton made a simple call and was in good shape against Yong’s .

However, the queen on the flop was a killer, and the three sevens also on the board turned Yong’s hand into a full house. Haxton was left with a trip to the payouts desk where he picked up $94,300 for fifth.

Yong was finding his stride and then eliminated Sam Greenwood. The Canadian pushed his last 24 antes in with and Yong called with pocket queens. A ten on the river was not good enough for Greenwood and he departed in fourth, banking $122,000.

That wasn’t the end of the rampage. Chappe-Gatien had only 27 antes when he picked up . He shoved and Yong called with . The flop was , something for everyone, but Yong’s two-pair held after a turn and river.

Chappe-Gatien skipped away and picked up a $161,000 prize for third.

It left us with only two: Chris Brewer, who was heads-up for the second time on this trip to London, and Yong, who was seemingly romping to a fourth Triton title. Yong had 229 antes to Brewer’s 49.

The early stages were small ball, and then Brewer found the double up he needed to start his attempt to overhaul the disadvantage. He got it all in with pocket tens to Yong’s . By the time Yong hit a queen on the river, the smattering of other high cards also on the board meant Brewer made a straight.

That brought the stacks much closer: Yong’s 123 antes to Brewer’s 99. But the prospect of a small-ball grind quickly evaporated when they both got those pocket pairs. Yong had and called. Brewer had and put a raise in.

Yong then moved all in and Brewer called, essentially setting up a coup for the title.

There was scant help for Brewer. The board ran . And that was the end of that.

This Triton Series stop in London has seen both titanic fina table duels lasting long into the night, and now this one, which finished before afternoon tea.

Event #15 – $30,000 Short Deck Ante Only
Dates: August 8-9, 2023
Entries: 37 (inc. 13 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,110,000

1 – Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – $350,000
2 – Chris Brewer, USA – $252,400
3 – Karl Chappe-Gatien, France – $161,000
4 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $122,000
5 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $94,300
6 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $72,100
7 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $58,200

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive and Nick Pope

When Danny Tang won his first Triton title in Vietnam earlier this year, he said that he wasn’t sure he would ever get over the line. He’d watched all his friends and colleagues pick up trophies, and thought he had been left behind.

But after Tang pulled his finger from the dam, the titles have begun to flood in his direction. Tonight in London, at the Triton Series’ stop at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, Tang has just won a fourth title, in the $60,000 No Limit Hold’em event.

He adds that to two he picked up in North Cyprus, plus that one from Vietnam, and all of a sudden only one man has more Triton titles than Tang. Will it be the 30-year-old from Hong Kong who manages to rein in Jason Koon? In this form, anything is possible.

Tang had to outlast a final table of numerous other Triton superstars today, including that man Koon and Mikita Badziakouski, who has four wins of his own. But eventually Tang was left heads-up against Brazil’s Bruno Volkmann, who was sitting in the final two for the second time this trip.

Volkmann again succumbed in the heads-up phase, winning $1,080,000 for his troubles. Tang, however, added $1,600,000 to his career total and leaves him narrowly shy of $10 million winnings on the Triton Series.

He was at a loss to describe why such a rich feast has followed the famine.

“I don’t know what to say, I really don’t know what to say,” Tang told Ali Nejad. “I think I’ve played pretty much the same. I’ve maybe improved a bit, playing with these guys every day you’re going to improve. But I wouldn’t say my skill level has improved dramatically compared to six months ago.”

He then reached for a spiritual explanation: “Ivan’s blessing, right?”

FINAL DAY ACTION

During Day 1, 70 players contributed 106 entries, building a prize pool of $6.36 million. Exactly half the field remained — 35 players — but the field needed to be sliced in two once again, down to 17, before anyone would be paid.

They quickly set about reducing the field to the last 20 before an almighty slowdown occurred. Nobody was eliminated for more than an hour, until eventually Dan Smith and Oya Masashi hit the rail and they were down to the stone bubble.

There were more than a handful of short stacks, but one of them, Steve O’Dwyer, doubled through Jason Koon to survive. That left Koon in real trouble.

Juan Pardo had the third smallest stack at this stage, but he was not so fortunate when he money went in. He got his last eight big blinds in with pocket tens, but Kiat Liu Chun hit an ace on the river with his . It meant that Pardo followed his best ever finish on the Triton Series yesterday with a stone bubble.

Chun was now soaring, Koon had edged into the money once again, and the prolonged pre-bubble period had made almost every stack in the room fewer than 40 BBs. It follows that eliminations came thick and fast thereafter, with O’Dwyer, Nick Petrangelo, Yuri Dzivielevski and Ben Heath among those swept away.

With 10 left, and only nine seats at the final table, yesterday’s big winner Tim Adams got his chips in with a dominated ace in the hands of Danny Tang. Adams perished in 10th, rounding off his trip with a $130,400 cash. It left us with our final table.

FINAL TABLE LINE UP

They stacked up as follows:

Keat Liu Chun 5.855m (73 BBs)
Jason Koon 3.475m (43 BBs)
Danny Tang 2.6m (33 BBs)
Matthias Eibinger 2.435m (30 BBs)
Bruno Volkmann 2.33m (29 BBs)
Lewis Spencer 1.42m (18 BBs)
Mikita Badziakouski 1.25m (16 BBs)
Elior Sion 1.04m (13 BBs)
Sean Winter 790,000 (10 BBs)

There was a whole lot of Triton experience in many of the final table players: Koon had eight titles, Danny Tang had three and Matthias Eibinger two. Meanwhile Mikita Badziakouski has four. But there were also the newcomers Chun and Lewis Spencer to worry about at this table.

Sean Winter was also in the money for the first time on this trip to London, while Elior Sion had returned to the tables for the first time since the last time the tour was here.

Sion cashed once back then, and his second career Triton cash became worth $159,000. He was the first out from the final table, the most recent victim of Chun. Winter had doubled by this point, so Sion was in danger. He got his last eight bigs in with but Chun’s made a flush in clubs.

On the very next hand, Koon lost a huge flip against Bruno Volkmann, doubling the Brazilian and leaving Koon close to Winter at the bottom. However the whole table now battened down the hatches and refused to be drawn into an ICM-dubious plays. Koon and Winter both managed to tread water, which left Spencer as the next player to bust.

Spencer found himself folding repeatedly for a few orbits until he found on the button. He committed his chips but Matthias Eibinger had . Spencer couldn’t catch up and won $213,000 for eighth, his first Triton cash.

Stacks were getting critical now, with everyone waiting for a big hand to commit. But even picking up one of them was no guarantee of survival. Badziakouski, who has endured a pretty wretched stop here in London, found pocket kings and committed his last nine big blinds. Tang also had a big hand and called Badzikouski’s four-bet shove.

Tang was a big underdog until the dealer put the on the turn, and that was the end of it for Badziakouski. He picked up $283,000 for seventh.

Winter’s long and unlikely vigil eventually came to an end in sixth. He was down to only three big blinds when they went in against Eibinger. Winter min-raised, Eibinger pushed and Winter called off. Eibinger’s held against Winter’s .

Winter picked up $370,200 — the result of an amazing laddering feat.

With five left, the average stack was only 22 big blinds. Only Chun, Volkmann and Tang had more, and they were jostling for supremacy at the top of the counts. Eibinger and Koon were the shorties.

Koon, however, was in scrapping mode and managed a double through Volkmann. It was versus and the best hand held. That put Tang into the lead by default, with 33 big blinds.

Tang’s place at the top was relevant because of what happened next. He got involved in a big one against the man who had been leading for the best part of five hours, Chun. Tang picked up on the button and shoved, covering the two players behind him of course.

Eibinger folded his small blind but Chun considered his to be good enough and made the call. Tang hit one ten on the flop and another on the river, and that was the biggest pot this tournament had seen for quite some time.

Tang rocketed to more than 60 big blinds, while Chun’s tournament was over. It was his second cash of the trip and eared him $469,000.

Tang, with more than his three opponents combined, did what he had to do, which was to shove and pick up blinds. The level went up, leaving Eibinger with only three bigs, but he doubled through Tang with a dominant queen and then got a shove through unopposed. That gave him some breathing space.

Koon was not quite so fortunate. He picked up and moved in for 11 bigs from the small blind. He only had Tang to get through, but Tang was going nowhere with . Both players hit their ace, but Tang’s kicker played.

There was no remarkable ninth title for Koon this time. He has to settle for $582,000 and a fourth-place finish.

Eibinger’s race was run soon after. He shoved seven big blinds from the small blind with and Volkmann this time made the call. Volkmann had only but rivered a straight to eliminate Eibinger in third. The Austrian won $703,000.

And so they prepared for heads up, with Tang’s 65 big blinds in strong shape against Volkmann’s 19.

Two Partisan rails now appeared. The continent of Asia was behind Tang; Volkmann had a decent contingent of Brazilians across the other side rooting on their man. There was the chance of a long-ish battle, especially if Volkmann could find a double. But all it actually took was one major pot.

Tang limped with , Volkmann checked his , and the dealer put the flop on the board. Both players checked. The turn was the and Volkmann now bet 275,000. Tang called.

The river was the and after Volkmann checked, Tang bet 1.4 million. Volkmann had some showdown value with his deuce, but opted instead to turn his hand into a bluff and shoved. Tang was in agony. He had a straight, but it was far from the nuts. “I’m not slow-rolling you by the way,” Tang said, as he pondered the decision.

Tang eventually made the call and found out that his hand was good. Volkmann shook hands and left the stage, allowing Tang all the plaudits.

That was all it took. One last expertly played hand from Tang and he moves alongside Badziakouski and Phil Ivey as a four-time Triton champion. It’s been one very good 2023 for Tang so far. And there’s still more to come.

“All of the support, it means a lot you know,” Tang said, dedicating his win to his supporters. “I really enjoy this part of it. Brazil that side, Asia this side. I’m just blessed to have these good friends. We can all improve together.”

Event #13 – $60,000 NLH
Dates: August 7-8, 2023
Entries: 106 (inc. 36 re-entries)
Prize pool: $6,360,000

1 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $1,600,000
2 – Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – $1,080,000
3 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $703,000
4 – Jason Koon, USA – $582,000
5 – Keat Liu Chun, Malaysia – $469,000
6 – Sean Winter, USA – $370,200
7 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $283,000
8 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $213,000
9 – Elio Rion, UK – $159,000

10 – Tim Adams, Canada – $130,400
11 – Ben Heath, UK – $130,400
12 – Yuri Dzivielevski, Brazil – $114,500
13 – Cary Katz, USA – $114,500
14 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – $105,500
15 – Rodrigo Seiji, Brazil – $105,500
16 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $100,000
17 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $100,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

You can never describe Phil Ivey as an attention seeker. The 46-year-old from the United States may be most people’s pick as the best poker player in the world, but you wouldn’t know it from his demeanour. He is quiet and calm; focused but polite.

Tonight at the Triton Series stop in London, Ivey quietly set about his business in the $60,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em turbo, a tournament that took place in the shadow of the Main Event on the other side of the room.

As the clock struck about 1am local time, Ivey stood up from the table, shook the hand of his heads-up opponent Cary Katz, and began life as a four-time Triton Series champion. He paid the massage therapist who had been working on him for the previous couple of hours, posed for some photos and gave some interviews. And then off he went again, $1,007,000 in his account.

This was vintage Ivey. The on-table action was fast and frantic, with some of the other best players in the world picking their spots and doing their thing. But Ivey was somehow just better than them on the day, and accepted a few blessings from the poker gods.

“Good,” he said, when asked how it felt to pick up a fourth Triton trophy. “It’s always nice to win one of these.”

He added that he enjoyed playing on this tour more than any other. “I love these Tritons,” he said, stating that he’ll continue to play a full slate here in London, before “going home and waiting for the next Triton, I guess.”

Ivey now tops $8.5 million in Triton earnings, and pushes past $40 million in lifetime winnings. But as he strolled out onto the London streets, it was just the end of another day.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Organisers always schedule a turbo tournament during Day 2 of the Triton Series Main Event, allowing players disappointed by elimination from the big one a chance to make immediate amends.

In keeping with everything that has happened here in London this week, the tournament attracted a massive field: 61 entries, including 14 re-entries, which put $3.66 million in the prize pool. The late stages are always insane, and for whomever survived the inevitable buffeting, there was a prize of more than $1 million.

Action sped along until the bubble appeared in view, and suddenly every decision was now worth thinking a little more deeply about — or at least appearing to think a little more deeply, while secretly hoping someone else would bust.

Luc Greenwood had the very shortest stack, but doubled it thanks to a miracle river that turned his into a winner against Nick Petrangelo’s .

That put the pressure on David Yan, who was fresh from a $3 million win in Event 7. Yan found an ace — to be precise — but he slammed it into Phil Ivey’s pocket nines. The pair held and Yan was out in 14th.

On to the stone bubble then, and the torture of hand-for-hand. Cary Katz was taking care of most pots on one table, while the short stacks were mostly on the neighbouring table — including that in front of Kiat Lee. Lee watched Biao Ding open shove from under the gun, and then looked down at . He agonised over his decision, but eventually made the call. However, Ding showed pocket queens and Lee couldn’t beat them.

The Player of the Series from Vietnam perished on the stone bubble this time.

It left us with a final table that stacked up like this:

Phil Ivey — 41 BBs
Biao Ding — 27 BBs
Rodrigo Selouan — 26 BBs
Wai Kin Yong — 25 BBs
Cary Katz — 22 BBs
Nick Petrangelo — 21 BBs
Tan Xuan — 18 BBs
Aleks Ponakovs — 17 BBs
Luc Greenwood — 5 BBs

Having dramatically survived the bubble, Luc Greenwood was already essentially free-rolling, and had actually inched onto the final table thanks to the elimination of Henrik Hecklen and Santhosh Suvarna in 11th and 10th respectively.

That brought with it a jump up the payouts ladder of more than $13,000. Nothing is small on the Triton Series, even in one of these turbos.

Greenwood therefore tapped the table and wandered away without recriminations when his lost to Cary Katz’s , with the latter making a flush. Greenwood won $104,000 for ninth, continuing a fine time in London for the Event 1 winner.

It kind of goes without saying in these turbo events that stacks were critically shallow, and only getting more so as time went on. Wai Kin Yong was the next to be swept away, in a hand that also accounted for Tan Xuan. Yong, a three-time Triton champion, open pushed his short stack with and quickly found a call from the big stack Cary Katz.

Xuan, on the button, looked down at and determined that was good enough to join the party and shoved as well. Katz called again.

There was very good reason for that. Katz had pocket aces. There was nothing to get excited about on flop, turn or river, and with that two were out at once. Yong had the smaller stack and took eighth place money of $137,200. Xuan earned $175,700 for seventh.

By the standards of a turbo, things slowed down for a while. They went at least 30 minutes without another elimination as Nick Petrangelo trebled his short stack through Ivey and Katz, and the others stayed away from danger.

The sword of Damocles began to hover over Biao Ding, and when he looked down at pocket tens it must have felt like the perfect opportunity to move it on to someone else. However, Ivey was sitting with pocket jacks at the same time and Ding was done.

Ding has already amassed $2.3 million and one title since his debut on the Triton Series in Vietnam. He added another $223,200 to his ledger for this six-placed finish.

Aleks Ponakovs was next out. He’s another player who has enjoyed a stellar trip to London already, making three final tables including the Luxon Invitational, where he picked up $2.5 million for fourth. But his run in this turbo ended in fifth, when he lost a major pot to Petrangelo.

Ponakovs had and butted into Petrangelo’s . Two spades on the flop were joined by a third on the river and Petrangelo’s flush accounted for the Latvian. Ponakovs won $285,500.

The tournament played four handed long enough for the average stack to shrink to 15 big blinds. Katz was still leading; Ivey was breathing down his neck. But chips were being traded in small pots only as the others stuck around.

It obviously couldn’t last forever, and Rodrigo Selouan was the next out the door. He moved in after Ivey opened his button and Ivey called quickly. Ivey had pocket jacks and Selouan’s didn’t connect. These turbo tournaments have been favourable to Brazilians this week, and Selouan earned $360,000, to complement the Pedro Garagnani/Bruno Volkmann 1-2 from the other night.

Three Americans remained at the table, although Petrangelo’s further stay was brief. His money went in with , which was in good shape against Ivey’s . Good shape, that is, until the dealer put an eight on the flop.

Petrangelo has found his stride on the Triton Series in London this week and adds $360,000 to his tally for third.

Ivey had a big chip lead — 47 big blinds to 14 — when they started heads up play. And more importantly, he had all the momentum. Although bigger deficits have been overturned, this wasn’t to be one of those times.

Katz found what seemed to be a great spot to double when he got his last 10 bigs in with . Ivey had , but there were two more queens on the flop.

That’s how Phil Ivey does it. And that’s why he is now a four-time Triton champion.

Event #12 – $60,000 NLH Turbo
Dates: August 6, 2023
Entries: 61 (inc. 14 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,660,000

1 – Phil Ivey, USA – $1,007,000
2 – Cary Katz, USA – $715,500
3 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $468,900
4 – Rodrigo Selouan, Brazil – $360,000
5 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $285,500
6 – Biao Ding, China – $223,200
7 – Tan Xuan, Malaysia – $175,700
8 – Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – $137,200
9 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $104,000
10 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $91,500
11 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $91,500

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The biggest buy-in event of the Triton London Series so far produced yet another final table of ridiculously high quality from which New Zealand’s David Yan emerged victorious for a famous first Triton triumph.

This one was very hard won.

Despite the huge buy-in, the tournament attracted a massive field and Yan had to keep his composure past 3.30am local time, a titanic 14-hour session. He had to endure a turbulent heads-up battle against Argentina’s Nacho Barbero, who had the chip lead when the last three players agreed upon a deal.

It meant that Yan took $3,052,002 to Barbero’s $3,445,807, with Espen Jorstad, the third party to the arrangement, locking up $2,766,191. They only came to that agreement after previous negotiations between the last four failed to satisfy all parties. It stalled action for around an hour and contributed to the fatigue.

For all that, this final table was one for the ages, featuring not only the three eventual podium finishers, but form player Chris Brewer, Triton greats Timothy Adams and Danny Tang, and fearsome Europeans Aleks Ponakovs and Juan Pardo. Yan admitted that he hadn’t expected to prevail so soon on the Triton Series, having only played his first event in Vietnam earlier this year.

“It’s three stops,” Yan said. “It’s been an OK amount of tournaments but you still have to be really lucky. I’m over the moon, obviously.”

He is preparing to play the Luxon Invitational tomorrow, which is set to be even bigger than this one, but said he hopes today’s exploits can roll over.

“I am a believer in momentum so I hope I can keep it up,” Yan said. Referencing the rest of this series, he added: “We’re only half way through so there’s still a lot of poker to be played.”

But this is a significant boost to bankroll and confidence, and Yan is perfectly placed to make the most of both.

FINAL DAY ACTION

The $200,000 buy-in for this tournament marked it out as the biggest open event of the festival. And it duly attracted all the names you would expect, including a handful who crammed themselves in at the final opportunity this afternoon.

By the time registration closed, there were 81 entries, including 30 re-entries, which put an enormous $16.2 million in the prize pool. The top spot was worth $4.3 million. No one bar the winner of the Luxon Invitational will get that kind of money this week.

Most of those last-gasp entries were unable to turn their handful of blinds into a cash. Yuri Dzievielski, for example, played only one hand. But this was the kind of tournament where there was no shame in busting before the money. Three of this weeks winners — Jason Koon, Fedor Holz and Ole Schemion — as well as Phil Ivey, all crashed out before the money.

With a so-called min-cash worth $325,000, the bubble was one of those that took a good long while to burst. Seth Gottlieb cracked Tim Adams’ jacks to double; Dan Dvoress found aces to double his own short stack and stay alive.

When the bubble finally burst, it sent four-time champion Mikita Badziakouski to the rail. He had been one of the biggest stacks overnight, but shoved with pocket sevens on the button, got a call from Espen Jorstad in the small blind with , and then saw the dealer put a king on the river.

Badziakouski has probably given up on the idea of catching Koon’s Triton trophy haul, but this kind of thing really doesn’t help his cause.

The pre-bubble short stacks were now able to play with slightly less anxiety, but all of Christoph Vogelsang, Dvoress and Sam Grafton will still have been disappointed to hit the rail before the final table.

They were homing in on that stage of proceedings when a dinner break was also imminent, and it wasn’t clear initially which would come first. But then all of a sudden two players hit the rail simultaneously: Seth Gottlieb busted to Danny Tang with < , and Seth Davies perished at the hands of Chris Brewer. This one was < pocket sevens. It was a very bad couple of minutes to be named Seth. The final eight was therefore confirmed, and lined up as follows: Espen Jorstad - 61 BBs Nacho Barbero - 46 BBs David Yan - 38 BBs Chris Brewer - 37 BBs Danny Tang - 37 BBs Tim Adams - 23 BBs Aleks Ponakovs - 15 BBs Juan Pardo - 13 BBs Final Table Players[/caption]

As you would expect at a final table where every pay jump is plenty more than $150K, the tempo was a good deal more measured here than in other events (particularly in comparison with the boisterous turbo taking place in the same room).

Even so, Juan Pardo wasn’t able to grind up a short stack. He was patient, but also card dead. Pardo was eliminated in eighth, taking $600,000, after taking a stand after David Yan’s opening raise. Pardo’s was dominated by Yan’s and there were no surprises on the flop.

Aleks Ponakovs had managed to keep himself afloat with some well-timed shoves, and bought himself enough time to ladder up at least one more spot. That’s because the North American pair of Tim Adams and Chris Brewer went to war, with the latter this time landing on the receiving end.

Brewer has been running oven hot this summer, but he couldn’t win a crucial flip at this final table. Adams’ spiked a queen on the flop to beat Brewer’s pocket tens, and that left Brewer as the shortest stack. Danny Tang took the last crumbs of Brewer’s chips, while Brewer picked up $770,000 for his seventh place.

Ponakovs was back with the short stack, but a double through Nacho Barbero soon helped his cause and left the Argentinian with 10 big blinds. There were still six players left and not all that many chips split between them. It was the kind of situation that can sometimes prompt a hastening of the pace.

So it proved as Ponakovs and then Danny Tang departed in quick succession, and Barbero more than doubling up to move in the opposite direction. David Yan knocked out Ponakovs with beating . They were all in pre-flop, but Yan hit his king.

Barbero doubled through Yan to give himself some breathing space, and then took another massive leap by knocking out Tang. This one also went in pre-flop, with Barbero’s ending with a straight to beat Tang’s .

Ponakovs won $970,000, while Tang became the first millionaire from this event. He won $1,247,000.

After a few more orbits of play, the stacks continued to even out. Barbero actually pulled ahead, and the four players agreed to look at the numbers with the prospect of making a deal. They had the following stacks at this point, and it took the best part of an hour to negotiate:

Yan – 34 BBs
Barbero – 45 BBs
Adams – 20 BBs
Jorstad – 30 BBs

When they finally emerged from their concave, which included phone calls to backers, the had reached an impasse. There would be no deal. However, very shortly after, Adams perished at the hands of Barbero, and the negotiations started again.

Adams lost all of his chips to Barbero, in back to back pots. In the first, Barbero pushed Adams off with a shove on the flop. On the second, Adams couldn’t get pocket nines to hold against Barbero’s . Barbero turned a flush.

Adams took $1,550,000 for fourth. It was less than he had been offered in the deal, but that’s all part of the calculation.

Barbero now had 55 big blinds, which was more than Yan and Jorstad combined. They tried again to do the deal — and this time they succeeded. Barbero locked up $3,445,807; Yan would get $2,952,002 and Jorstad was guaranteed $2,766,191. There was $100,000 to play for, plus the trophy.

They also agreed to trim the length of the levels, with the clock ticking past 2am and all of them booked to play the Luxon Invitational in less than 12 hours. The modified structure seemed to have the desired effect as chips started to fly around much more readily.

Jorstad took a bit of an early hit, but then landed on the wrong side of a cooler that turned into a rough beat. He had pocket queens when Yan had pocket nines, and they got it in pre-flop.

Four hearts on the board matched the only heart in Yan’s hand and that was a flush. Jorstad’s incredible week continues, but he had to settle for this and the $2,766,191 he had already been guaranteed.

The elimination of Jorstad put Yan into the chip lead. It was 47 BBs to 34. But they played about another hour before the next major confrontation: an all-in pre-flop encounter in which Barbero’s stayed good against Yan’s . By this point it was past 3am, and Barbero now had a four-to-one chip lead.

In they went again.

Yan this time had , with Barbero turning over . Another dry board and Yan doubled back. It was now just a two-to-one advantage.

They weren’t hanging around any more, however. The very next hand and they were all in again, this time Yan’s taking a big advantage over Barbero’s .

Yan flopped two pair, faded a straight draw, and retook the chip lead.

That wasn’t the end of it, of course. When Barbero was down to 10 big blinds, he doubled up once more. This time remained ahead of . Was another comeback on its way?

This time, finally, it was not. The next time they got their chips in, the player with the best hand had the most chips. Yan was sitting with while Barbero had and the dealer didn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve.

Barbero slunk away, but must be happy with another exceptional payday. Yan picks up his biggest Triton payday too, plus the first trophy of his career and a first for New Zealand.

Just another day on this most remarkable poker series…

Event #7 – $200,000 NLH 8-Handed
Dates: August 1-2, 2023
Entries: 81 (inc. 30 re-entries)
Prize pool: $16,200,000

1 – David Yan, New Zealand – $3,052,002*
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $3,445,807*
3 – Espen Jorstad, Norway – $2,766,191*
4 – Tim Adams, Canada – $1,550,000
5 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $1,247,000
6 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $970,000
7 – Chris Brewer, USA – $770,000
8 – Juan Pardo, Spain – $600,000
9 – Seth Davies, USA – $453,000

10 – Seth Gottlieb, USA – $348,000
11 – Sam Grafton, UK – $348,000
12 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – $325,000
13 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany – $325,000

*denotes three-way deal

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive