It took Danny Tang 53 attempts at Triton Series events until he won his first title. But just two months and 10 tries later, he is the latest double champion on this prestigious Super High Roller series.

Tang just won the $50,000 NLH Turbo event at Triton North Cyprus, banking $545,000 in the process.

“Happy birthday, mum!” Tang shouted at the jib camera, which swung around to capture his winning moment. It came just before midnight, with the Main Event taking place on neighbouring tables, and after Tang down Santhosh Suvarna heads-up to claim this victory and put him among the multiple champions.

“I love $50Ks,” Tang said, referencing the buy-in for this event. His previous title actually came in a $25K buy-in short-deck tournament, which he rattled through like it was a turbo in Vietnam. Now he’s a no limit hold’em champ too, and was delighted with the outcome.

“What’s the jackpot?” one supporter asked from the rail, after Tang had sealed the deal. Tang didn’t even know. It wasn’t about the money. All of Kiat Lee, Elton Tsang and Punnat Punsri joined the winner’s photo, and Tang enjoyed every moment.

He did it despite battling an outbreak of gout that has plagued him this week, spreading from one foot to the next and back again, and causing him great pain to walk. Perhaps that was why he stayed at the table as long as he could.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With 32 entries, including 12 re-entries, action was frenetic from the outset. The key number here was six: that’s how many places would be paid, which meant there was no point hanging around until you were at the last table. Only then did things slow a little.

Both Igor Yaroshevsky and Santhosh Suvarna were very short, but a couple of double-ups ended up putting them to the top of the counts. And then Danny Tang got involved in a skirmish with Jonathan Jaffe that Tang didn’t like at the outset, but which left him smiling like the cat that got the cream by the end.

Tang open-pushed with pocket 10s for 16 BBs. He was then faux outraged when when Jaffe snap-called. Tang seemed to think he should have waited for some drama. Jaffe turned over his pocket jacks and was ahead of Tang. But after the dealer put a ten on the flop, the domination flipped and Jaffe was knocked out on the bubble.

Dao Minh Phu’s tournament had been something of a cakewalk until the final table too, but he was responsible for one of Yaroshevsky’s double-ups and so was left short for the first time. When he was all-in and at risk, he was immediately eliminated. Suvarna did the damage with pocket nines to Phu’s .

Phu was the first player to be paid. He earned $111,000.

Ding Biao has enjoyed a phenomenal trip to North Cyprus this time, winning one tournament and cashing another. He was at the final table of this one as well, but he couldn’t make it the double. After Suvarna opened from under the gun, Biao called from the big blind with and a tiny stack.

The pair saw a flop of and Bioa, with his pair, now ripped in his final handful of blinds. Suvarna snap-called.

“Wow! Top set!” the table cooed. Suvarna’s pocket jacks were very pretty in the circumstances, and although chop outs appeared when a fourth spade came on the turn, the river was an off-suit three. It was all over for Biao, who took another $144,000 for fifth.

It goes without saying that stacks were short at this point, none shorter than Brian Kim. However, he found a good spot for a potential triple up and got his chips in. The potential was not realised.

The hand in question began with an open raise from fellow shorty, Yaroshevsky, on the button. Suvarna then moved all in from the small blind. Kim burnt through about three time banks before deciding to commit his last six big blinds, but the result wasn’t what he was looking for.

Yaroshevsky folded and Suvarna tabled his . Kim was behind with his . Both players hit their kicker on the flop, but Suvarna stayed better. Kim was out in fourth for $184,000.

Yaroshevsky was again the short stack, but he doubled up again with pocket nines against Suvarna’s pocket fours, and it brought the stacks remarkably even. Yaroshevsky and Tang had 27 big blinds each, while Suvarna had 26. Not much play in it, but it was anyone’s game.

Tang started going through the gears. In one delicious pot, Yaroshevsky opened to 160,000 (big blind was 80,000) from the button and both Suvarna and Tang called in the blinds. They then saw a flop of and, after two checks, Yaroshevsky continued for 200,000. Suvarna called but now Tang found a check-raise to 580,000.

That gave Tang a decent filip, and Yaroshevsky never really recovered. He got his last chips in as a three-bet jam with but Tang wasn’t at it with his open. He had , called and won. Yaroshevsky won $240,000 for third.

Suvarna versus Tang heads up pitted two players who had already won one Triton title. Tang won his in Vietnam a few months ago; Suvarna won his at the beginning of this event. Tang took a 60 BB to 20 BB lead into the last phase of play, with the third important factor here being the clock.

They only played one hand before they slipped into the next level, and it was 47 BBs to 17.

Most pots stayed on the small side at the beginning of heads up play, but then came a whopper. Tang completed from the small blind and Suvarna checked. The flop was innocuous. It came . Suvarna check-called Tang’s bet of 150,000.

The fell on the turn and Suvarna checked again. Tang bet 375,000 and Suvarna suddenly moved all-in for 1.5 million.

Tang pondered for a moment, but then put out the calling chips. Suvarna showed , which was now a double-gutter. But Tang had for top pair.

“A picture and we win,” Tang said. The dealer delivered. The river was the and Tang was the champion again. Suvarna banked $376,000 and came up just short of a second win. But tonight the night belongs to the family Tang.

Event #12 – $50,000 NLH Turbo
Dates: May 21, 2023
Entries: 32 (inc. 12 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,600,000

1 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $545,000
2 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $376,000
3 – Igor Yaroshevsky, Ukraine – $240,000
4 – Brian Kim, USA – $184,000
5 – Ding Biao, China – $144,000
6 – Dao Minh Phu, Vietnam – $111,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The latest Triton Series trophy is heading to Azerbaijan tonight in the possession of the country’s leading poker player, Ramin Hajiyev.

That Hajiyev is not even a professional player is a crucial factor in this story. The 35-year-old for tennis pro is now an entrepreneur, concerned with food imports and exports and the restaurant industry. That qualified him to be one of 32 recreational poker enthusiasts who jumped at the chance to play the Luxon Invitational tournament at the Triton Super High Roller Series in North Cyprus.

Hajiyev not only outlasted the one professional player he was permitted to invite to this $200,000 buy-in event, but he beat the whole field of the game’s leading talents.

After agreeing a two-way deal with German professional Tobias Duthweiler at the conclusion of a three-day tournament, Hajiyev went on to win and bank $4,122,554. That’s more than his entire previous tournament poker cashes.

Hajiyev already had a near $2 million lead over his closest challenger in the Azrbaijan money list. He’s practically unassailable now — and overcome with delight.

“If you’re going to brick nine events and then ship a tenth, it’d better be this one, right?,” Hajiyev said, referencing a modest return in Triton tournaments before today. He added that his passion for poker kept him going through the lean spell.

“I know that poker has a lot of variance, so I was just staying focused, motivated, because I love the game, obviously,” he said.

This was a famous triumph. Hajiyev was ranked second in chips coming into the final, and was able to prosper as others suffered the cruel fortunes that are all too common at the end of major poker events like this.

His beaten heads-up opponent, Germany’s Tobias Duthweiler, was bottom of the counts coming into the tournament’s final day, but he enjoyed elevation to top two, and had his chances to win outright.

Duthweiler, a much-feared online cash game pro, was forced to make do with $3,606,446, however. That’s also his biggest tournament score.

The Luxon Invitational, with a $200K buy-in, pitted poker’s elite against high-rolling recreational players. The latter are always keen to do battle with the former and prove that tournament poker can be anyone’s game. The former are happy to entertain the notion, certain that their skills will prevail.

Both camps will consider their point proven. From a field of 62, six of 13 players who were paid were pros; seven were recreationals. From a final table of nine, five were pros; four were recreationals. And heads up, it was one pro versus one businessman. The equilibrium that characterises the tournament endured throughout.

Hajiyev, however, was able to follow Aaron Zang, winner of 2019’s £1m Triton Million to strike a blow for the boardroom.

FINAL DAY ACTION

After two long days of play, in which poker’s top talents came and went, nine players returned at the start of the final day. There was still plenty of play in it, at least on paper, but as things got going, it was clear that we might be in for some unpredictability.

FINAL TABLE STACKS

Sean Winter, USA – 5.295m (66 BBs)
Ramin Hajiyev, Azerbaijan – 4.875m (61 BBs)
Punnat Punsri, Thailand – 4.12m (52 BBs)
Patrik Antonius, Finland – 4.02m (50 BBs)
Kiat Lee, Malaysia – 2.115m (26 BBs)
Sosia Jiang, New Zealand – 1.905m (24 BBs)
Wai King Yong, Malaysia – 1.45m (18 BBs)
Ben Heath, UK – 1.045m (13 BBs)
Tobias Duthweiler, Germany – 895,000 (11 BBs)

Looking at the starting stacks, we might have expected a couple of early eliminations as the short-stacks looked to climb up the ladder. However, in the Super High Roller world, it is never financially prudent to be too reckless and ICM pressure was huge.

In the first hour, one all-in was chopped and Ben Heath doubled, but there were almost no other significant fireworks. And they’d play another three hours before the first player hit the rail from the final.

Despite that earlier double, it was Heath who grew short again and then took the walk. He had around seven big blinds when he found and raised for almost all of his stack. Punnat Punsri, with , three-bet and Heath was now all in.

He couldn’t catch the jack he needed to survive, however, and was first out today taking $481,000.

Sean Winter was still the table captain, and was the only player who could comfortably see some flops and play through the street. However, he lived to regret doing just that in a hand against Ramin Hajiyev, with the result being a change in the chip lead.

Winter, with , opened to 300K (2x the big blind) from under the gun and Hajiyev called from the cutoff with .

Winter check-called the flop, with his queens now ahead. Winter then led out on the turn, and Hajiyev called. That call was rewarded with the river, giving him the nuts.

Winter checked, Hajiyev made a big bet of 1.7 million and Winter wasn’t able to ditch his top pair. Hajiyev moved into the chip lead and put Winter back down in the pack.

Wai Kin Yong and Duthweiler were now two of the many short stacks, but their fortunes changed significantly on the very next hand. Yong found pocket sevens and shoved. Duthweiler looked down at pocket aces and obviously he was all in as well. Winter then woke up with in the big blind and had the chance for a double knockout.

He called, but the aces held. That gave Duthweiler a triple, cut some more from Winter, and sent Yong packing. Yong earned $636,000 for eighth.

Stacks were so short now that it felt that the next all-in-and-a-call was always imminent. When it duly arrived, it was the turn of Sosia Jiang to find herself up against the wall.

Not long after her Luxon Invitational partner Jason Koon had been narrowly defeated heads up in the PLO event, Jiang was knocked out of this big one. She three-bet jammed with over Winter’s open, but Winter had it this time. He called and tabled . He ended up making a straight.

Jiang’s fourth Triton cash was her biggest yet. She took $820,000 for seventh.

The top six prizes were all worth more than $1 million and it would be difficult for anyone to feel hard done by picking up a score of that size. Even so, with the tournament so shallow, everyone knew that if only someone else could be eliminated, that payday would grow significantly.

The truth was, this was now one of those tournaments where skill played only a small part in deciding the next few eliminations. Hands and situations were essentially playing themselves.

Kiat Lee bust next. He found pocket aces on the button and made a standard raise. Hajiyev found the “wrong” time to shove from the big blind with . However, there were three clubs on the board and Lee was toast. The final club just happened to be an ace, giving him a useless set.

Lee nonetheless took $1,030,000.

Punsri became Hajiyev’s next victim. Hajiyev opened with pocket tens, Punsri had and three-bet. Hajiyev shoved. There was a ten on the flop just to make sure and Punsri perished, picking up $1,325,000.

For a man who had been all-in on the stone bubble, Punsri cannot be too disheartened.

Then it was Winter’s turn. He opened with and Duthweiler was lurking behind with . Duthweiler three-bet, forcing Winter to put in all but one 25K chip to call. He opted to do just that rather than raise.

So they went to a flop of and then the last chip went in. Things hadn’t really improved for Winter, and the turn and river didn’t help. Winter race was run in fourth. He took $1,640,000.

Patrick Antonius might have a reputation as one of those aggressive northern-European types, but his is among the shrewdest minds in the game. And Antoninus thought nothing of clinging on with a micro-stack during this final table, doubling up once, but mostly just staying out of harm’s way and watching his pay-cheque increase in size.

He had only five blinds when he found pocket jacks, and got his money in eventually. (He too raised and left one chip back, putting it in on the flop after being called by Duthweiler.)

Duthweiler had so a flop of was good for him. However, he needed the turn and river to give him the straight that beat Antonius’s pocket pair. But either way, that was it for Antonius. His $2,100,000 prize was the second biggest of his career, and biggest since 2018.

With that, only two players remained. One pro and one recreational, but both with significant poker experience. Hajiyev is a semi-regular in the highest stakes tournaments across Europe, when he finds the time away from his various business pursuits. Duthweiler, known as “dudd1” online, is a formidable cash-game player, enjoying his best ever tournament run.

Hajiyev had the chip lead — 71 BBs to 33 BBs — and they immediately looked at the numbers. Duthweiler didn’t really like the ICM chop. He wanted to play it out. But Hajiyev said he would give him an additional $40,000 and they came to an agreement.

Duthweiler locked up $3,606,446 to Hajiyev’s $3,992,554. With $130K left on the side, the heads-up winner would also be taking the most money, alongside the trophy.

Hajiyev could have won it very quickly. All the chips were in the middle sharpish, but Duthweiler’s pocket nines held firm against Hajiyev’s . But then it flipped back again. They were all-in once more, but Hajiyev’s stayed good against .

There were at least three more all-ins called, which mostly favoured the shorter stack (one was chopped), until Duthweiler’s stack was small enough that even when he doubled it, he was still in great peril.

Finally, at around 8.25pm local time, Hajiyev got one to stick. He and Duthweiler got involved in a flip for it all: against Duthweiler’s . There was a king on the flop and that was all Hajiyev needed this time.

He held his head in his hands, then punched the air in obvious relief and delight. He accepted Triton’s invitation, came to Cyprus, and is now a huge, huge winner.

Event #9 – $200,000 NLH Luxon Invitational
Dates: May 18-20, 2023
Entries: 86 (inc. 24 re-entries)
Prize pool: $17,200,000

1 – Ramin Hajiyev, Azerbaijan – $4,122,554*
2 – Tobias Duthweiler, Germany – $3,606,446*
3 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $2,100,000
4 – Sean Winter, USA – $1,640,000
5 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $1,325,000
6 – Kiat Lee, Malaysia – $1,030,000
7 – Sosia Jiang, New Zealand – $820,000
8 – Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – $636,000
9 – Ben Heath, UK – $481,000

10 – Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey – $369,500
11 – Philip Sternheimer, UK – $369,500
12 – Anson Ewe, Malaysia – $350,000
13 – Linus Loeliger, Switzerland – $350,000

*denotes heads-up deal

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The biggest tournament poker bubble of 2023 just burst at Triton North Cyprus, with the elimination of Stephen Chidwick from the $200,000 buy-in Luxon Invitational.

Chidwick placed 14th in the tournament, one spot outside the in-the-money places, where a min-cash is $350,000. With 86 entries to the tournament, there’s $17.2 million in the prize pool and $4.56 million reserved for the winner.

But the chances of Chidwick, the current leader in the Triton Player of the Year race, went up in smoke at around 1.30 am local time when he ever-dwindling short stack became the possession of Punnat Punsri.

Punsri himself had been all in and under threat moments earlier, but managed to turn pocket kings into quads to beat Ben Heath’s . That gave Punsri enough chips to play some pots, including the one that burst through the enormous bubble.

In the decisive hand, Chidwick raised for almost all of his nine big blind stack. He left just one chip behind. Punsri called and they saw a flop of . The last chip went in here.

Punsri had while Chidwick had . Although the turn gave Chidwick a flush draw, the river was a brick.

The hand played out all but silently, with Chidwick quickly making his departure and the remaining 13 players settling back to play down to a final table of nine.

Over the other side of the tournament room, Jason Koon was among the last six in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha event, banking more Player of the Year points as Chidwick missed out on gaining more. Chidwick still has a comfortable lead in that race, but he won’t be quite so relaxed if Koon claims top spot in that one. It concludes tomorrow.

The Luxon Invitation also finishes off, with a characteristic constellation of the game’s biggest stars ready to divvy up this $17.2 million prize pool.

Event #9 – $200,000 NLH Luxon Invitational
Dates: May 18-20, 2023
Entries: 86 (inc. 24 re-entries)
Prize pool: $17,200,000

1 $4,560,000
2 $3,169,000
3 $2,100,000
4 $1,640,000
5 $1,325,000
6 $1,030,000
7 $820,000
8 $636,000
9 $481,000
10 $369,500
11 $369,500
12 $350,000
13 $350,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The Triton Series was founded in Malaysia, the home of its visionaries Paul Phua and Richard Yong. And the country has produced a long series of superlative talents, who have taken to Texas Hold’em as if Kuala Lumpur was somewhere between Dallas and Houston.

One of the absolute very best from this Asian hotbed of poker is Michael Soyza, who learned the game alongside the Triton founders and who has been a fixture on the series since its inception. Tonight, Soyza won the second Triton title of his brilliant career, took his lifetime earnings from all live poker tournaments past $14 million, and put Malaysia on the board for the first time on this trip to Northern Cyprus.

Soyza is the champion of the $75K buy-in Event 8 at Triton North Cyprus, banking $1.735 million. He also had to defeat a customarily formidable field of players, including a final five that featured all of Michael Addamo, Dan Smith and Mikita Badziakouski.

Fortunately for Soyza, he had an enormous chip lead by the time they got short-handed, which allowed him to treat those titans like bunnies. He appeared to be sauntering to the title for almost all of the final table, never being anything short of a dominant leader.

Only when he squared off against Badziakouski heads up did he face real resistance. Badziakouski doubled up twice and brought stacks all but even, and he then took a heroic stab on what turned out to be the final hand, forcing Soyza to dig deep to make an even more heroic call.

Badziakouski was the sixth player Soyza knocked out at the final, so his decision making had been A1 throughout. Even so, finding a call with on a board of must have been tough, with Badziakouski moving all in.

But Soyza did call, forcing Badziakouski to show his .

“We’re here to battle,” Soyza said in his post-game interview, admitting that Badziakouski had him worried for a while.

But Soyza completed the job brilliantly and claimed all the applause. Badziakouski fell narrowly short in his quest for a fifth Triton title, but has $1.2 million to fall back on. Soyza begins life as a double champion, with a new Shamballa Jewels bracelet around his wrist as well.

FINAL DAY ACTION

For the first time at this festival, registration remained open at the start of Day 2, and the predictable last-minute influx of players duly arrived. There were 10 re-entries at the start of play, worth 25 big blinds, and it brought the total entry tally to 87.

That meant a prize pool of $6.525 million and a projected first prize of $1.735 million.

Two of those last-gasp re-entries were still battling after the bubble had burst too — Matthias Eibinger and Addamo — while plenty of the players who had stuck around through a tough Day 1 found it even harder going on Day 2 and left with nothing.

That bubble featured as its starring man another of the Day 2 registrants (or, more correctly, re-registrants), Henrik Hecklen, whose elimination in 14th put everyone into the money.

There were a lot of players clinging on with sub 15 BB stacks as the money moved nearer, and then one of them, Badziakouski, doubled up with through Artur Martirosian’s . Badziakouski’s stack continued to move in the right direction, but Hecklen’s moved elsewhere.

Hecklen got his chips in with pocket tens, called by Dan Smith’s . Smith flopped a jack and Hecklen was raced out.

Short stacks including Ben Heath (who had been chip leader for long periods today) and Santhosh Suvarna breathed a sigh of relief. Hecklen’s departure meant that when they both departed soon after, they dropped by the payouts desk for $131,000 each. Hecklen didn’t need to make that stop.

The next point of order was the final table bubble, and we knew that every step of this tournament would take no more or less than the GTO-approved time. Every Triton field is full of poker’s elite, but when the higher buy-in events get towards their conclusion, the skill levels are at their absolute peaks.

Players make the right decisions in precisely the right amount of time. Even so, we sometimes see some big collisions — and we went from 11 to nine, then nine to seven, in only two hands thanks to two double eliminations.

The first of those skirmishes accounted for both Christoph Vogelsang and Nacho Barbero, and took us to a final. In it, Badziakouski opened with and Barbero moved all-in for his last 1.1 million (14 big blinds) with . Vogelsang, with five big blinds (two of which were in the middle already as blinds and antes), under-called all-in with .

Badziakouski flopped a full house to finish this one off quickly, and send two dangerous players out.

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

Mikita Badziakouski – 3.6 million
Dan Smith – 3 million
Vicheslav Buldygin – 2.2 million
Michael Soyza – 2.2 million
Artur Martirosian – 1.6 million
Michael Addamo – 1.5 million
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – 1.3 million
Matthias Eibinger – 805,000
Dylan Linde – 775,000

(Big blind was 80,000.)

The final was only a few hands old when that second double knockout occurred. And remarkably, perhaps, neither of the two short stacks were even involved.

This one was a real cooler, played expertly by Soyza, and it kickstarted his rush to the title. He laid a trap and watched two opponents fall head-first into it.

Artur Martirosian opened the pot from under the gun with a standard min-raise. Martirosian had pocket queens, so nothing wrong with that. Soyza called two seats along, and Triton first-timer Mikalai Vaskaboinikau called too from the big blind. He had . All pretty standard.

There were three of them to a flop of . That was top pair for Vaskaboinikau while Martirosian still had an over-pair. Oh, maybe it’s worth mentioning here that Soyza had .

All the money went in now, and those aces faded everything. It meant that Soyza rocketed up the counts while Vaskaboinikau was officially out in ninth, for $182,500, while Martirosian departed in eighth for $241,500.

The next two eliminations also came quickly, although it was separate hands that accounted for Dylan Linde and then Matthias Eibinger.

Linde was also making his first appearance on the Triton Series here in North Cyprus, and after a few whiffs in the opening events, he picked up $310,000 for this seventh place finish. He had the short stack coming into the final, and his was picked off by Addamo’s pocket queens.

Eibinger’s departure a couple of hands later was one from the book marked “standard” too. He got his chips in with and Viacheslav Buldygin knocked him out with pocket tens.

That proved to be the high point of this final table for Buldygin, however. His quest for a sensational back-to-back triumph finished in a fifth place and with a cheque for $502,500.

After knocking out Eibinger, Buldygin’s chips ended up scattered among all remaining adversaries, before the very last chunk went to Soyza. Soyza found pocket tens this time and open-raised. Buldygin shipped with , Soyza called and then won the race.

Buldygin was disappointed, but it wasn’t quite 48 hours ago since he was walking away with the Event 6 title. So the smile returned quickly.

With four players left, there was an enormous chip disparity. Soyza had close to 100 big blinds and nobody else had more than 20. But each of Badziakouski, Dan Smith and Addamo know their ICM shoving charts absolutely inside out, and it was simply a case of letting fate decide what happened next.

Soyza of course was simply pushing, pushing and pushing, usually collecting blinds and antes unopposed. When Smith tried to get something going and pushed himself, his timing was massively unfortunate. Soyza was sitting behind him with pocket queens and Smith’s was no match.

To further underline how difficult it is to do anything with a short stack and a dominant chip leader, look no further than what happened to Addamo. He scored a double up through Badziakouski when his hit a five on flop and turn to defeat pocket jacks.

But just as the brilliant Australian was hoping to get some momentum and charge for a third title, he found an ace of his own — — and got it in against what turned out to be pocket jacks in Soyza’s hands.

This time the jacks flopped a set and Addamo was done. He went double/bust in two hands. The $796,000 third-place prize was kind of nice, however.

That left two Triton stalwarts heads-up for the title. The four-time winner Badziakouski peered over the table at one of Malaysia’s very best, who had picked up a title in Jeju in 2019, and was last seen heads-up for the Vietnam Main Event. He came second in that one, but it was another million to his name.

In this tournament, Soyza had 99 big blinds to Badziakouski’s 17 BBs, so there was work for do for Badziakouski. He was, however, prepared to dig in for the fight — and to continue to play his game even after Soyza’s many fans poured int the bleachers after the player party kicked out.

Badziakouski was first all-in for 13 blinds with against Soyza’s . The first four cards — — were all OK for Soyza. But the river hit Badziakouski and doubled him up.

They played on. And there was soon another double.

This time, Badziakouski always had the best of it. His beat Soyza’s when they got it all in pre-flop.

Stacks were a lot shallower thanks to the blinds escalating rapidly. But they were very even now. Each player had 30-ish of them.

Blinds had actually just gone up again when the final hand came about. Soyza flopped middle pair while Badziakouski had a gutshot. Money went in on every street before Badziakouski decided to put Soyza to the test, having missed his draw. “Soyza in the blender,” said Randy Lew in the commentary booth.

Soyza was up to it. He made the call that brought the house down, with all the Malaysian contingent having poured into the tournament room chanting his name.

It puts him in great form for tomorrow, where Soyza will sit down in the pros’ side of the draw for the Luxon Pay invitational.

Event #8 – $75,000 NLH 8-Handed
Dates: May 16-17, 2023
Entries: 87 (inc. 32 re-entries)
Prize pool: $6,525,000

1 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia – $1,735,000
2 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $1,200,000
3 – Michael Addamo, Australia – $796,000
4 – Dan Smith, USA – $623,000
5 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $502,500
6 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $391,500
7 – Dylan Linde, USA – $310,000
8 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $241,500
9 – Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus – $182,500
10 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $140,500
11 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany – $140,500
12 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $131,000
13 – Ben Heath, UK – $131,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Two Triton first-timers played deep into the North Cyprus night tonight, eventually settling the first $25,000 single-day turbo event of the festival with a heads-up deal and a rapid conclusion.

The winner was Anatoly Zlotnikov, completing a Russian double on Monday night after his countryman Viacheslav Buldygin took down the $50K tournament that ran alongside this action-packed turbo.

Zlotnikov beat Niko Koop heads up, a matter of minutes after the pair decided to chop the prize money and lock up close to $500K apiece. With $16,000 on the side for the winner, Zlotnikov walked away with $496,100 to Koop’s $480,100.

Both players bettered their entire previous tournament cashes in one fell swoop, giving Triton another new champion to add to its glittering roster. Zlotnikov, whose previous best tournament score was $69,000, will now find his photo alongside the megastars that make the Triton Series their home.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT

There were 83 entries to the event, including 19 re-entries, the rate of which sped up as the end of the registration period approached. Of course, entering or indeed re-entering didn’t guarantee anything, and many of the world’s best players were scattered aside before the money even got close.

Much as in the $50k event taking place at the same time, this turbo raced through its bubble and then landed at a final table in double-quick time.

Ding Biao knocked out both Fedor Holz and Robert Kuhn on the same hand, trimming the field of 13 down to the 11 who would be paid. Biao had pocket jacks as Holz shoved with a raggy queen and Kuhn reshoved with . The jacks held.

After Damir Zhugralin and Dylan Linde went out on the next two hands, it was time for a group hug — sorry, group photo — and time to play some more turbo poker for heaps.

The stacks entering the final looked like this:

Ding Biao — 71 BBs
Niko Koop — 68 BBs
Paul Phua — 61 BBs
Elton Tsang — 39 BBs
Barak Wisbrod — 29 BBs
Linus Loeliger — 21 BBs
Anatoly Zlotnikov — 20 BBs
Phil Nagy — 13 BBs
Santhosh Suvarna — 9 BBs

The final table was, of course, intriguing — made all the moreso by the presence of two players who had already won tournaments this week: Ding and Suvarna. They were bookending the counts at this stage, but things can change so quickly.

They certainly changed for Elton Tsang. He went from middle of the pack to out first, losing a big one to Loeliger’s pocket queens (Tsang had pocket fours), and then being bounced for good by Barak Wisbrod. This time Tsang ran into kings.

After a surprisingly long period without an elimination, Survana then did take the fall. It came after another three-way all-in, with Koop knocking out India’s Triton champion, and doubling up through Zlotnikov at the same time.

Koop had pocket eights, Zlotnikov had and Suvarna had . Suvarna’s tribute to Doyle Brunson didn’t help him today, and even a king wasn’t enough for Zlotnikov. Koop was the only player with a spade and there were four on the board. Survana won $77,800.

If further proof was necessary about how volatile this kind of tournament can be, it came when the next player knocked out was Ding. He had been sitting pretty at the start of the final table, but took a big dip when Wisbrod doubled through his big slick with pocket jacks. Then Ding tried to outlast the blinds going up until he decided to get it in with , only to lose to Zlotnikov’s pocket sevens.

Ding, who won the mystery bounty event, picked up another $99,600 for seventh place in this one.

Phil Nagy was next to depart. The ACR founder was treating this tournament like a home game, and thoroughly enjoying every up and down. He experienced his fair share of both, until he called all-in from the button after Koop had open-shoved, and found out he had a dominated ace.

Nagy’s never caught up against Koop’s . Nagy has four previous Triton Series cashes, and this one earned him another $126,500.

Koop had a decent strategy of shoving any two cards with short stacks behind him, and it accounted for the ever-dangerous Loeliger soon after. Koop shipped, even though he had only the . Loeliger knew he had a very good chance of being ahead with his .

However, Koop flopped a queen and rivered a superfluous four, making two pair and sending Loeliger out. He picked up $161,900.

Zlotnikov wasn’t to be outdone either, and he did his bit by eliminating Wisbrod next. This one was a straight flip, with Zlotnikov’s beating Wisbrod’s . Wisbrod was cashing for the first time on the Triton Series and earned $204,500.

Paul Phua is not only Triton’s founder, he is one of the tour’s most successful players. However, he only managed one cash in Vietnam — meagre by his standards — and hadn’t yet cashed through five tournaments here. That simply wasn’t like Phua.

He remedied things in this turbo, lasting all the way to third. He could go no further, however, and lost with to Zlotnikov’s . Phua earned $265,600 for this one.

With stacks all but even heads-up — Zlotnikov’s 35 BBs versus Koop’s 31 BBs — the duo decided to look at the numbers. Both were playing at their first Triton stop, and were in the money for the first time. They locked up $480,100 each, leaving $16,000 on the side to play for.

It really didn’t take long. On one of the first hands of heads-up play, Koop got it in with pocket tens and Zlotnikov had . Without the kerfuffle of a TV production to worry about, the flop, turn and river was quick. And a in the window was decisive.

There will be more turbo action later in the series, but for now let’s congratulate our latest winner: Anatoly Zlotnikov.

Event #7 – $25,000 NLH 8-Handed Turbo
Dates: May 15, 2023
Entries: 83 (inc. 19 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,075,000

1 – Anatoly Zlotnikov, Russia – $496,100*
2 – Niko Koop, Germany – $480,100*
3 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $265,600
4 – Barak Wisbrod, Israel – $204,500
5 – Linus Loeliger, Switzerland – $161,900
6 – Phil Nagy, USA – $126,500
7 – Biao Ding, China – $99,600
8 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $77,800
9 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – $59,100
10 – Dylan Linde, USA – $51,900
11 – Damir Zhugralin, Kazakhstan – $51,900

*denotes heads-up deal

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

If you think elite modern-day poker players don’t ever show their emotions, you haven’t watched Viacheslav Buldygin play. The Russian star contorts his features through every flop, turn and river, seemingly hauling in winners or losers with a grin or a grimace.

And tonight at the Merit Resort & Spa in North Cyprus, Buldygin was doing equal parts smile and scowl: the smiles because he was hitting every card he needed to become champion of the $50,000 7-Handed event on the Triton Series, and the scowls because he knew full well he was getting the run of the deck and seemingly felt he needed to apologise, or at least show some embarrassment.

He really didn’t. Buldygin is a great talent and he also didn’t put a foot wrong as he ran the final table. He managed to knock out six of his last eight opponents, banking $1,342,000.

Asked to describe his animation at the tables, Buldygin told Ali Nejad: “I don’t know what’s going on in my head. Please king come. Please seven come. Please fold, please fold.”

He claimed that he didn’t study poker too much — “Just intuition” — but was happy to reveal his secret as to how he has started cashing far more recently. “I did more rebuys,” he said.

Whatever the truth, there was no one who could match him tonight. Those players cast aside included Jason Koon, falling short in his bid for a seventh title; David Yan, at a second final table inside two days; Punnant Punsri, looking for a second Triton victory; and then Brian Kim, the fearsome American hoping for a Triton first.

Kim lost heads up, banking $920,000, which was more than double his previous best cash.

But today was all about Buldygin, whose name seemed etched on the title from a long way out, and who made sure it stayed there, indelibly.

FINAL DAY ACTION

A field of 104 entries amassed on the opening day, with fewer than 30 remaining when they came back to finish things off.

For the second time this week, we were denied the drama of a protracted bubble period by the simultaneous elimination of two players. With the tournament boards showing 17 players left and 15 due to be paid, both Ben Heath and Soon Ewe were all-in and called on neighbouring tables.

Both were knocked out. Heath’s couldn’t beat Artur Martirosian’s pocket kings. Meanwhile, Ewe’s was no match for David Yan’s pocket aces.

Just like that, we knew the identities of the final 15, each guaranteed a minimum $88,400.

At $50,000, the tournament boasted the biggest buy-in of the trip so far and as buy-ins increase, the willingness of players to stick around with sub 20-big-blind stacks goes up. It usually means that stacks get shallow as they crawl toward a final table.

Such was the case today, as players including Dan Smith, Danny Tang and Henrik Hecklen fell short, but we ended up flying through another crucial stage of the event when we went from 10 to eight in the blink of an eye.

Artur Martirosian and Justin Bonomo busted in 10th and ninth all but simultaneously, which meant the following lined up around the final table:

Brian Kim – 63 BBs
Sean Winter – 30 BBs
Punnat Punsri – 26 BBs
Viacheslav Buldygin – 24 BBs
David Yan – 24 BBs
Teun Mulder – 19 BBs
Jason Koon – 14 BBs
Mike Watson – 8 BBs

Stack sizes dictated the style of play once again, with the number of tricky middle-ranked stacks making ICM considerations paramount. Mike Watson, propping up the counts, no doubt knew his precise shoving ranges and doubtless was in there, especially after Punnat Punsri had open-shoved.

Watson called, saw Punsri’s pocket tens, but didn’t get any assistance from the dealer. The board bricked and Watson, on the very cusp of the dinner break, was able to pass by the payouts desk en route to the buffet. He won $184,500.

Sean Winter’s stack went on an upward trajectory, pushing him up alongside Brian Kim at the top of the counts and allowing them the freedom to play. That was in clear contrast to all of the others, still ICM-shackled.

However Winter tumbled back to join them when he shoved pocket jacks over Viacheslav Buldygin’s open. Buldygin’ called off with pocket queens, held and doubled. So now only Kim and Buldygin had room for manoeuvre.

Jason Koon usually enjoys the freedom of a big stack. His incredible talent for chip accumulation usually makes sure of that. However, he couldn’t get anything going at his second final table of the week, and was forced all-in from the small blind with . Kim found an ace in the big blind and snapped him off. Koon whiffed.

The Triton Ambassador’s title tally sticks at six for the time being, but he picked up $241,000 for his seventh place, further ammunition for battles ahead.

David Yan is another player who has enjoyed a highly profitable trip to North Cyprus so far, and here he was again gunning for the top prizes.

It wasn’t to be for the New Zealander, however, as he became the latest to find an underpair when Buldygin was sitting behind with something bigger.

It was sevens versus nines this time, but the result was the same. Yan didn’t hit and his day was done. He took $306,400 this time around.

Buldygin now had the big stack, big enough to open-shove with impunity and force the tough decisions onto everyone else. Even Kim now was in a rough spot, sitting to Bulgygin’s right.

This state of affairs was the direct cause of the next two eliminations, with Teun Mulder and Winter sacrificing their short stacks to Buldygin. They both got it in very good against the bully, but in hold’em there’s rarely such a thing as a lock.

Buldygin’s beat Mulder’s . Then his bested Winter’s . Mulder won $392,300 for fifth and Winter took $488,000 for fourth. Buldygin just kept on building.

Buldygin had more than 60 blinds while his two opponents had only 20 between them. But the Russian was able to sit back and watch the two bald men fight over the comb. Kim shoved with and Punsri called with . Kim hit both of his cards on the flop, and although Punsri picked up a straight draw on the turn, he whiffed the river.

Kim actually had the smaller stack going into the hand, so Punsri survived with just a couple of blinds. But the blow was all but fatal. The last few chips ended up with Buldygin, whose rivered an ace to beat Punsri’s , which had flopped a king.

Kim had the daunting task of attempting to overturn a three-to-one disadvantage heads-up, particularly difficult when an opponent is playing and running as well as Buldygin. At least it didn’t last long. Kim got his chips in with pocket jacks and Buldygin had .

There was a king on the flop. Of course there was. Buldygin was the champion, and takes the latest Shamballa Jewels bracelet alongside the trophy and the million bucks.

Event #6 – $50,000 NLH 7-Handed
Dates: May 14-15, 2023
Entries: 104 (inc. 41 re-entries)
Prize pool: $5,200,000

1 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $1,342,000
2 – Brian Kim, USA – $920,000
3 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $603,000
4 – Sean Winter, USA – $488,000
5 – Teun Mulder, Netherlands – $392,300
6 – David Yan, New Zealand – $306,400
7 – Jason Koon, USA – $241,000
8 – Mike Watson, Canada – $184,500
9 – Justin Bonomo, USA – $135,000
10 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $109,000
11 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $109,000
12 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $96,500
13 – Rachid Ben Cherif, Netherlands – $96,500
14 – Dan Smith, USA – $88,400
15 – Steve O’Dwyer, USA – $88,400

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Players on the Triton Series in Northern Cyprus went bounty hunting today, scrapping for another title in the $30,000 Mystery Bounty event. Ironically, nobody will know until tomorrow how much those bounty tokens are worth, but we do know this: Biao Ding, from China has secured his first title on the series, locking up a first prize of $540,500 after an absolute roller-coaster of a final day.

UPDATE: PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR RESULTS OF MYSTERY BOUNTY DRAW

Ding’s confirmed payout is the lion’s share of half the prize pool. The tournament format awards $2.325 million in a regular payout schedule, with the same amount awarded in bounties. Those bounties will be cashed in tomorrow during a special ceremony. There’s another $2.325 million up for grabs then.

But we’ll worry about that tomorrow. Now is the time to celebrate with Ding, whose career on the Triton Series only began in Vietnam in March but is already one to be envied. He made two final tables among three cashes at his first stop, including a heads-up defeat in a $50K NLH event.

But he quickly put that right tonight, coming back from only a handful of blinds on more than one occasion and outlasting Nacho Barbero heads-up. Barbero was aiming for his second Triton title, but he was a bit of an underdog for long periods too as David Yan dominated.

However, things grew deeply unpredictable when the tournament was short-handed, and Ding deserves great credit for remaining perfectly level-headed throughout. His seasoned opponents Yan and Barbero were both visibly tortured by some of the situations they found themselves in, but Ding remained completely impassive, allowing a smile and a fist clench only when victory was secured.

FINAL DAY’S ACTION

Thirty-nine of the original 155-entry field came back for the second day — a higher number than usual thanks to the lure of the bounties. Only eliminations today earned a bounty token, and you had to be still involved going into Day 2 to have a chance to pick up a slice of the $2.235 million in the bounty pot.

But players such as Kiat Lee, Teun Mulder, Fedor Holz and Mikita Badziakouski perished in the tough early going, edging the remaining field ever near the formal bubble.

There was high drama as the cash got nearer, played out over four tables and featuring multiple double-ups, one triple-up and a number of big-stack confrontations as well. Throughout it all, Mario Mosböck had a stack of only two big blinds, but he was the man who tripled, and then chopped another pot. That meant he was able to edge into the money.

Adrian Mateos slunk away silently in 25th, and Danny Tang was all-in and at risk on the same hand. But his stayed good against Steve O’Dwyer’s to double him up — and Tang remained the dominant influence on bubble proceedings.

After a good 30 minutes of to-ing and fro-ing, the media pack ended up back at Tang’s table for what would prove to be the decisive bubble hand. Tang shoved from the button and Christopher Putz, short-stacked, peeked at his first card. “That one is good,” he said. Then he looked at the next one. “That one is good too.” He called all in for his last five blinds.

“Mario, I’ve got you!” Tang called out across the room, eliciting a smile from Mosböck. Tang added, “I have garbage. Like, complete garbage.” He then turned to Putz and prepared him for what might be coming. “I’m so sorry man,” Tang said.

After pots finished elsewhere, Tang and Putz could show their hands. “Four high!” Tang shouted, tabling . Unsuprisingly, Putz was ahead with . Tang predicted that there would be a three on the river, but Putz would have been more content after the flop.

The turn gave Tang’s hand a few more outs, but the on the river was the killer blow. He had predicted a three, but the four did the same job. Putz was sent packing, with a fist-bump and an apology from Tang.

Mosböck was knocked out on the next hand, but crucially picked up $27,000 as the 23rd place finisher. Putz, of course, got nothing.

The field began to shrink towards a final, with some A1 talents falling short. Dan Smith, Patrik Antonius, O’Dwyer, Justin Bonomo, Seth Davies and Stephen Chidwick all cashed but couldn’t make it to the top 10. And then a massive skirmish in which both Alexander Shelukhin and Jenya Gavrilovich perished at the hands of David Yan took them to a single table of seven players, with Yan sitting pretty at the top of the counts.

Yan had been one of the players all in on the bubble, but he survived with aces. He had more than double his nearest challenger when the final table was set.

FINAL TABLE COUNTS

1 – David Yan – 113 BBs
2 – Nacho Barbero – 58 BBs
3 – Artur Martirosian – 48 BBs
4 – Biao Ding – 36 BBs
5 – Danny Tang – 23 BBs
6 – Henrik Hecklen – 22 BBs
7 – Isaac Haxton – 12 BBs

Play at the final was complicated not only by the bounty consideration, but also by the start of the $40K NLH across the room. The potential end of registration in that one was like a siren call to the final table players, and they decided early to forsake a dinner break and to cut the regular breaks down to five minutes instead of 15.

They battled for every pot just the same, however, and both Haxton and Ding doubled to keep their hopes alive. (Ding needed that double after making a huge hero fold in a pot against Barbero. He was correct. He was behind. But the pot cost him a huge number of chips and put him dead last in the counts at that time.)

The only short stack who couldn’t get things moving in the right direction early on was Hecklen. He lost back-to-back big ones, the first when Haxton doubled and the second spelling the end. Hecklen’s was second best against Artur Martirosian’s .

Martirosian ended with a full house. Hecklen headed to the payouts desk looking for $92,100.

Tang’s involvement at the final table was typically volatile. He doubled up through Barbero, then did it again through Ding. Pocket queens helped him secure the second of those doubles, but the very same hand only moments later ended his tournament.

Yan open-shoved with his leading stack with . Tang snapped with his queens in the big blind. But there was an ace on the flop and nothing else of interest to Tang, sending Hong Kong’s finest to the rail in sixth. He earned $124,400.

Yan still had an enormous lead over all of his rivals, and he was soon able to account for another major threat. Few players in the world game command the respect of Isaac Haxton, even if the American has not yet won a title on the Triton Series. His chances of changing that in this tournament ended in a pot where he called all-in from the small blind after Yan’s button shove.

Haxton’s couldn’t hold against Yan’s . Haxton was able to hop into the $40K, with an additional $160,500 in his coffers.

Artur Martirosian is also still seeking a maiden Triton title, but was sitting at his second final table in two days. Yesterday he finished sixth in the $20K won by Jason Koon, and his challenge today took him to fourth.

That was where he perished after a collision with Biao Ding. Ding had the best hand when they got it all in pre-flop: to Martirosian’s . The board was entirely dry and that was the end for Martirosian.

He picked up $200,000 to add to his $154,400 payday from yesterday.

Yan now faced off against Barbero and Ding, seemingly a lock for one of the chairs in the heads-up duel. It seemed for all the world that Ding was going to be the man to occupy the other seat when he got involved in a pot against Barbero, with Ding’s up against Barbero’s .

However, Barbero rivered a diamond flush to secure a major double up, cutting Ding down to eight big blinds. And shortly after, Barbero won another big one against Yan to assume the chip lead for the first time.

It was quite the comeback from the Argentinian, and put Yan under pressure for the first time. Nothing was certain anymore.

Ding doubled up through Barbero. That allowed him to breathe a little. And then came the pivotal pot, a real thrill-ride for the two most experienced pros that ended in a huge torment for Yan — and his elimination.

It’s most interesting if we view it from Yan’s perspective. He was in the small blind with . Ding folded his button and Yan completed. Barbero checked his option.

The flop came . Yan bet 400K with his top pair (blinds were 200K/400K) and Barbero raised to 1.2 million. Yan called.

The turn brought the . Yan now checked and Barbero bet huge. He put out 3 million. Yan called, watching the complete the board.

Yan checked again. He still had top pair. But Barbero then announced he was all-in.

Yan went deep into the tank. He burned through pretty much all of his remaining time-bank chips before thumping a calling stack down. Barbero muttered something that amounted to an apology before tabling his , a flopped middle pair that had gone runner-runner straight.

Yan congratulated Barbero for the play and took his leave. He picked up $244,200, plus whatever he’ll get in bounties tomorrow. But that was a sick way to depart.

It was only now Ding who could potentially stop Barbero, but he was outchipped three-to-one.

But this incredibly volatile tournament wasn’t done yet. Ding doubled up with pocket tens through Barbero’s . And although Barbero still held a lead, that was no longer true when Ding’s made a straight to beat Barbero’s .

The one was dramatic too. Barbero flopped top pair, while the same three cards gave Ding a straight draw. Ding drilled that on the turn, but Barbero now had a flush draw. However, he whiffed that and Barbero shook his head as Ding was now in charge.

Registration was now long closed on the other tournament, but the pair had bought in just in case were keen to see some action regardless of how it went. And it went quickly.

The momentum was now with Ding and the first time they were all-in against one another with Barbero under threat, the tournament was over. Barbero had and Ding had . Barbero shoved, Ding called, and Barbero took the lead on the flop of .

But then the came on the turn leaving Barbero drawing to two outs. The river was not one of them.

Barbero took $366,200 for second, but his bounty token went to Ding. He ended up with five, meaning a minimum of $150,000 more will be going to the champion. We’ll see tomorrow how exactlymuch they all add to their tally, but it’s only going to be Ding with the Shamballa Jewels bracelet and the champion’s trophy and cap.

UPDATE: BOUNTY DRAW MAKES DING A MILLIONAIRE

The draw for the mystery bounties took place during the dinner break of the $50K tournament, held on Sunday, the day after the main phase of the tournament concluded — and it proved to be another very good night for Biao Ding.

There were 39 bounty tokens in play, but the remaining prize pool of $2.325 million divided best into 42 prizes, including a single top prize of $345,000. The lowest prize on offer was for $30,000, but two of the $30K envelopes also contained an instruction to draw again.

That “draw again” element proved to be decisive for Ding, who had six bounties to draw but pulled out “only” $200,000 worth, thanks to five $30K prizes and one $50K. However, one of those $30K envelopes had draw again included, and Ding dipped back in to pick out the big one on his seventh draw.

That prize of $345,000 brought his total bounty payout to $545,000, more even than what he received from the main prize pool yesterday. It also pushed his haul past $1 million for this tournament. His total payout, including bounties, his $1.085 million.

David Yan was another of the big bounty winners. His five envelopes included two $145K prizes, plus an $85K ticket. He rounded off with two $30K pick-ups, for a $435,000 bounty haul and $679,200 in total.

By far the most excited man in the room, however, was Moundir Zoughari, whose one bounty draw earned him $85,000. He hugged both Ali Nejad, the ceremony MC, and Luca Vivaldi, tournament director, before performing a circuit of the room high fiving everybody. It earned him a round of applause from the watching dealers.

Tournament results below now include bounty prizes.

RESULTS

Event #3 – $30,000 NLH 6-Handed Mystery Bounty
Dates: May 12-13, 2023
Entries: 155 (inc. 64 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,325,000

1 – Biao Ding, China – $540,500 (plus $545,000 in bounties)
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $366,200 (plus $195,000)
3 – David Yan, New Zealand – $244,200 (plus $435,000)
4 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $200,000 (plus $195,000)
5 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $160,500 (plus $80,000)
6 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $124,400 (plus $195,000)
7 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $92,100 (plus $80,000)

8 – Jenya Gavrilovich, Belarus – $67,600
9 – Alexander Shelukhin, Russia – $54,000 (plus $205,000)
10 – Brian Kim, USA – $45,300 (plus $110,000)
11 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $45,300
12 – Seth Davies, USA – $39,500
13 – Justin Bonomo, USA – $39,500 (plus $30,000)
14 – Steve O’Dwyer, USA – $36,000 (plus $80,000)
15 – Sean Winter, USA – $36,000
16 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $32,500 (plus $30,000)
17 – Moundir Zoughari, France – $32,500 (plus $85,000)
18 – Aleksei Platonov, Russia – $29,300
19 – Dan Smith, USA – $29,300 (plus $60,000)
20 – Sosia Jiang, New Zealand – $29,300
21 – Tom Vogelsang, Netherlands – $27,000
22 – Stoyan Madanzhiev, Bulgaria – $27,000
23 – Mario Mosböck, Austria – $27,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The unstoppable Triton winning machine that is Jason Koon set a new mark for titles on this prestigious series today, taking down the sixth Triton tournament of his career — two more than his closest rival.

Koon’s victory came in the second event of this festival at the Merit Hotel & Resort in Northern Cyprus, a $20,000 buy-in no limit event, for which he banked $663,000. Koon won his fifth title a few months ago in Vietnam, pulling him clear of Mikita Badziakouski, and once again demonstrated why his was a no-brainer pick to be an ambassador for the Triton Series.

The 35-year-old from Las Vegas pushed his career earnings past $44 million, consolidating his position in fifth on poker’s all-time money list. There were 138 entries in this event, but none could stop Koon.

“I love it, man,” Koon told Ali Nejad on the Triton live stream, shortly after securing victory, and asked what keeps him coming back. “I absolutely love the game…I just really, really love poker and I love the atmosphere here. I don’t travel for poker anymore unless it’s a Triton really. So these are all my friends. It’s fun to come compete. I just love it here.”

Asked how he continues to rack up such incredible results, Koon said: “I have obviously run well, but I have a lot of experience. I think one of the biggest things is that I’ve been doing it for a very, very long time. I’ve been playing with the same player pool for a very long time. There are some new faces in this smaller event, but I’ve played with the same competition for years and years. You start to download good information about people and you can make good decisions.”

As always on the Triton Series, this was a super-tough field, and a mightily difficult final table, also featuring Stephen Chidwick, Adrian Mateos, Artur Martirosian and Sean Winter — all high roller crushers themselves. But the most determined competition came from local player Kanan Taherkhani, who Koon beat heads-up.

Taherkhani was playing his first Triton event and took $451,200 for second. However he was powerless to stop Koon and lost after a brief heads-up battle, committing the last of his chips with two pair. By that point, Koon had a winning straight.

The result had seemed inevitable ever since Koon won a pivotal cooler at the final table against Martirosian — kings beating queens. But he still had to finish it off, which he did, of course, in characteristic style.

The banner that showed Koon as a five-time champ already needs updating, just two days after it was unveiled. With more than 10 tournaments still to play here, Koon might not be done just yet.

BLOW-BLOW-BLOW ACTION

There were 28 players returning overnight, from that starting field of 138 (including 44 re-entries). Martirosian was chip leader; Biao Ding was the short stack. The former was heading for the final table; the latter perished before the money.

The bubble this time was a roller-coaster of emotions for Nikolay Losev, ending with the lowest low. With 21 players remaining (20 due to be paid), Losev was in the big blind with pocket 10s and watched Viacheslav Buldygin open-shove from the button.

Losev called for his last five blinds, saw Buldygin roll over pocket fives, and then saw five blank cards on the board secure his double up.

On the very next hand, it seemed to get even better. Losev saw Sean Winter open from early position, and then peeked at his own cards to discover pocket queens. He three-bet. Winter, however, put it all-in, covering Losev, but those queens were good enough to justify another flirtation with disaster.

Winter made it even bleaker when he tabled his pocket kings. Once again the board was blank, and this time Losev had to take the walk. He missed out on what would have been his first cash on the Triton Series.

With some kind of payday now assured, the characteristic wave of eliminations carried away some of the game’s biggest stars: Isaac Haxton, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan and Hossein Ensan were all knocked out as the field thinned towards its final.

Such was the quality of the field, however, that the last nine still featured the all-time money-list leaders from the UK and Spain, the only player with five Triton titles, and Russia’s undisputed form player. The final nine lined up like this:

Stephen Chidwick – 61 BBs
Artur Martirosian – 46 BBs
Jason Koon – 43 BBs
Adrian Mateos – 36 BBs
Eduard Barsegian – 29 BBs
Sean Winter – 24 BBs
Kanan Taherkhani – 19 BBs
Ian Bradley – 17 BBs

Things had been going very well for Winter since he knocked out Losev on the bubble. The American reg was making a first appearance on the Triton Series, but clearly had the experience from the U.S.-based high roller tournaments to feel instantly at home.

However, he was quickly roughed up at the final table and became the first to be knocked out. He lost a pivotal hand to Kanan Taherkhani, when Winter’s pocket eights were no match for Taherkhani’s queens, and then Chidwick finished the job a couple of hands later.

In the final match-up, Chidwick raise/called Winter’s shove with and ended the hand with two pair. Winter’s did not improve on the board. He took $85,500 for eighth.

Ian Bradley was another player sampling life on the Triton Series for the first time here in Northern Cyprus, and after a whiff in the $25K curtain-raiser, he was sitting pretty at a final table on his second attempt.

Although he was now the tournament short-stack, he found a spot to get his chips in with on the button. Artur Martirosian called in the big blind with pocket fives, and Bradley would have been delighted to see a queen land on the flop. That delight turned to despair when Martirosian hit his two outer — the landed on the river.

Bradley recently took his lifetime poker earnings past $1 million, mostly from smaller buy-in tournaments in Europe. He added $115,900 to his tally for this maiden Triton cash and he’ll hit $2m pretty quickly if he keeps this up.

In case anyone was under the impression that these final tables are merely a series of all-in pre-flop flips, this next hand should dispel the notion. Mateos and Chidwick got involved in a major skirmish that showcased both their nerve and skill — with Chidwick this time coming out on top.

Chidwick opened with a min-raise from under the gun and Mateos called in the big blind. The pair saw a flop of . Mateos checked, Chidwick bet a little more than one big blind, and then Mateos check-raised. Chidwick called.

The came on the turn and Mateos now bet 400,000 (blinds were 75K/150K). Chidwick, with the covering stack, moved all-in. Mateos snap-folded. But what did they have?

We needed to wait an hour before it hit the Triton live stream, at which point we discovered Mateos had for a flush draw. Chidwick had one of those too, but his , coupled with his position, was stronger. It left Mateos on the ropes.

With Mateos sitting with a sub 10 BB stack, few would have forgiven the others to sit back and wait it out. But then Koon found pocket kings with which to go to battle against Artur Martirosian, and the good news for Koon was that his opponent found pocket queens.

The pair had decent-sized stacks and they put them all on the line, with the bigger pair holding. That catapulted Koon to the top of the counts and left Martirosian now struggling. Mateos scored a quick double, which left Martirosian rock bottom.

He got his last handful of blinds in with another pocket pair — threes — but once again his nemesis Koon had him out-pipped. Koon’s pocket fours stayed good through the full board and Martirosian had to leave.

The Russian picked up $154,400 for this result, while Koon remained focused on that new title mark.

Mateos had laddered one spot thanks to Martirosian’s demise, but he couldn’t build back a stack big enough to challenge. He got his last chips in pre-flop with and managed to find himself in a position to potentially triple up. Both Taherkhani and Barsegian called from the blinds.

They had and , respectively, and Mateos was far from down and out. But after an ace flopped, he could only sit helpless and watch his two opponents play out a side pot. He knew he would have to make do with $197,300 for fifth.

There was an interesting dynamic in the final four. Two of poker’s most recognisable figures — Chidwick and Koon — sat alongside two rookies — Eduard Barsegian and Taherkhani. The former pair were the obvious favourites, but Taherkhani put himself in a great spot to challenge by knocking out Barsegian.

Barsegian had been ticking along fairly evenly, but the blinds were now catching him up. He then called from the big blind with after Taherkhani made a small button raise. The flop came , and the flush draw was enough to persuade Barsegian to stick his last chips in.

Taherkhani didn’t have a pair either, but he called for five blinds with . The turn and river bricked and the ace high won it for Taherkhani. Barsegian was out in fourth, taking $245,500.

Koon still had a comfortable chip lead, while Taherkhani and Chidwick were all but level. Until Koon set to work nullifying the threat of Chidwick, thanks in no small part to a pot in which his made a four-flush in hearts to beat Chidwick’s pocket tens. Shortly after, Koon’s pocket deuces stayed good against Chidwick’s .

That cut Chidwick to shreds and his final chip went to Taherkhani. Chidwick won $298,000, plus a chunk more POY points to keep him ahead in that race.

Koon had a big lead going into heads-up — about three-and-a-half to one — and even though his opponent had more than 20 big blinds, and won the first few small pots during heads-up, there was practically nothing Taherkhani could do to halt a great player running well. That final hand said it all: Koon had to Taherkhani’s . They bet on every street as the board ran .

Koon had his straight on the turn, while the queen on the river gave Taherkhani the reason to move all in. Call. Done. That’s how six-time champs do it.

“I ran really well, man,” Koon admitted, before adding that he felt in good form to do even more damage. “I feel great this trip. The last couple of Tritons have gone really well for me, but I was in bad health for both of them. I just happened to get sick travelling and had to grind through them. But this Triton in particular, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in multiple years. I feel great. So I know I’m going to play really well this trip.”

He’s a man of his word.

RESULTS

Event #2 – $20,000 NLH 7-Handed
Dates: May 11-12, 2023
Entries: 138 (inc. 44 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,760,000

1 – Jason Koon, USA – $663,000
2 – Kanan Taherkhani, Turkey – $451,200
3 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $298,000
4 – Eduard Barsegian, Russia – $245,500
5 – Adrian Mateos, Spain – $197,300
6 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $154,400
7 – Ian Bradley, UK – $115,900
8 – Sean Winter, USA – $85,500
9 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $66,200

10 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $55,200
11 – Kiat Lee, Malaysia – $55,200
12 – Samuel Ju, Germany – $48,400
13 – Hossein Ensan, Germany – $48,400
14 – Tom Dwan, USA – $44,200
15 – Alexey Tsessarsky, Russia – $44,200
16 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $40,000
17 – Andriy Lyobovetskiy, Ukraine – $40,000
18 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $35,800
19 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $35,800
20 – Axel Hallay, France – $35,800

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive