triton poker Archives - Page 2 of 6

Wai Kin Yong aims for remarkable double, leads short deck main event

A most remarkable story is developing here at the Triton Super High Roller Series in London, where Wai Kin Yong booked his place as chip leader at the final of the £100,000 short deck main event, less than 24 hours after winning the £100,000 full deck version.

Needless to say, the short deck/full deck main event double has never been achieved before, but it is now in sight for this hugely talented 28-year-old from Malaysia. With a £2.67 million first prize on offer for this one, Yong is on course for earnings of £5.8 million over 48 hours.

But that’s not all. Yong is joined at tomorrow’s final table by a glittering supporting cast, including the man he beat heads up yesterday. Paul Phua, the Triton co-founder, has once again made the very deep stages of a tournament on the series he created–along with Richard Yong, Wai Kin’s father. If we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes, we wouldn’t believe it either.

Paul Phua doubles, and books his place at another final

Take a look at the full line up of players for tomorrow’s grand finale to this festival at London’s Park Lane Hilton, and you’ll quickly see that success for either Phua or Yong is far from a foregone conclusion.

Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia — 7.595 million
Justin Bonomo, USA — 5.91 million
Rui Cao, France — 4.375 million
Paul Phua, Malaysia — 3.905 million
Xu Liang, China — 3.585 million
Ming Zhong Liu, Macau — 3.53 million
Isaac Haxton, USA — 3.51 million

Justin Bonomo, sitting in second overnight, may have been powerless to stop Bryn Kenney leapfrogging him at the top of poker’s all-time money list this week, but demonstrated today that he’s going to fight Kenney to regain top spot. Bonomo won a short deck event in Jeju earlier this year, and is well positioned to take a second.

Meanwhile Rui Cao was the short deck main event champion in Montenegro in May, and lo and behold he’s in with a chance of defending his title. Similarly David Benefield won the first short deck event of this festival yesterday, and it was his elimination in eighth tonight that ended the day and took us to the final.

When you add the fact that all of Stephen Chidwick, Jason Koon, Tom Dwan and Elton Tsang also cashed, it’s almost like this game does require some skill after all.

Jason Koon: Missed out on a second final of the week

They’ll all be richly rewarded. When registration closed on this one today, there were 108 entries, including 55 re-entries, which built a prize pool of £10.37 million. First out at tomorrow’s final will win £482,200.

Both Romain Arnaud and Gabe Patgorski have had a good deal of success on the Triton Series, but this trip to London has been harsh on them. They were knocked out in 17th and 16th respectively, with Patgorski’s elimination bursting the bubble. It was harsh in particular for Patgorski, whose pocket kings lost to Liu Ming Zhong’s

In short deck, this is a near flip: the suited ace-king has 45 percent against kings. But it still hurts when you see it for 73 antes on the bubble, and the board of sealed it.

Two Yongs made it through the bubble, but the senior party, Richard Yong, was the first out in the money. His assassin was his friend, business partner and fellow Triton founder Phua, whose rivered a straight to beat Yong’s after a run-out. There appeared to be no hard feelings.

Tom Dwan: all the kit, but still no Triton title

A relative storm then swept all of Tsang, Cary Katz, Dwan, Furkat Rakhimov, Koon and Chidwick out of the door, with tense moments then following for Wai Kin Yong and Phua on the final table bubble. But they both doubled up when the other option was a day off tomorrow, leaving poor Benefield to hit the rail in eighth.

David Benefield: Run ends in eighth this time

Benefield had not been knocked out of a short deck event for three days, but even he couldn’t halt Wai Kin Yong. Benefield had when he and Yong got it all in, with Benefield’s 2.5 million stack at risk, looking at a flop of . Yong had all the outs with his and hit the on the turn.

That consolidated Yong’s lead and brought us to our final. We will find out tomorrow if there’s a double in the offing for one of the former champions, or whether Phua can finally break his heads-up hoodoo.

Triton London Short Deck Main Event
Dates: August 6-8, 2019
Buy-in: £100,000
Entries: 108 (inc. 55 re-entries)
Prize pool: £10,370,000

1 – £2,670,000
2 – £1,835,000
3 – £1,202,500
4 – £974,500
5 – £783,000
6 – £611,900
7 – £482,200

8 – David Benefield, United States, £368,100
9 – Stephen Chidwick, UK, £269,600
10 – Jason Koon, United States, £217,700
11 – Furkat Rakhimov, Russia, £217,700
12 – Tom Dwan, United States, £191,900
13 – Cary Katz, United States, £191,900
14 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong, £177,000
15 – Richard Yong, Malaysia, £177,000

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Triton extends helping hand to charities in Macau and Taiwan

The Triton Million – A Helping Hand for Charity is about much more than just the biggest buy-in and first prize in tournament poker history. In fact, in his introductory speech to the event, Triton co-founder Paul Phua said the first priority when organising this spectacular tournament was its unique charitable aspect.

Don’t forget, the £50,000 entry fee appended to each £1 million buy-in went directly to charity—that’s a helping hand worth at least £2.7 million.

This donation is in keeping with Triton’s guiding principle. The organisation has always been run as a not-for-profit entity, with any additional money earned being donated to charity, typically in south-east Asia where both Phua and Richard Yong, the Triton co-founders, grew up.

The spectacular London event sent money to charities based in Europe, Hong Kong and Malaysia, but here we look at two charities based in Macau and Taiwan, respectively.

Caritas Macau was established in the early 1950s, a time of great economic and geopolitical turbulence in what is now a Special Administrative Region of China. Fr. Luis Ruiz Suarez arrived to Macau from his native Portugal and established an office to help fellow immigrants with basic supplies and administrative chores as they looked to settle in the Portuguese colony. Through the subsequent 70 years, the Fr. Suarez’s organisation grew and the charity’s purpose shifted to meet the most pressing demands, including periods proving food and support to the poor and homeless elderly, addressing problems with child labour, and general social work. As Macau modernised rapidly in the 1980s, then went through even more dramatic changes into the 21st century, Caritas Macau provided any assistance necessary to help the existing population adjust.

Its mission statement now is “to provide services to the individuals, families, communities and societies, to help them to live in the society in a more humane condition economically, morally and spiritually; to encourage them to be responsible towards their own life and activities; to enable them to build within their environment a community based on truth, justice, fraternity, freedom and peace.” It focuses on the most marginalised in society and to “enable those who need help to become self-support and be able to contribute positively to the society”.

Caritas runs services for the young and old, families and children, and has rehabilitation, residential and training centres across Macau.

Taiwan Osteosarcoma Caring Association offers complete support to patients and families affected by osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, and related illnesses. With a simple two-word slogan — “We Care” — the Taipei-based association provides resources before, during and after treatment, helping to alleviate some of the suffering related to a disease that most commonly affects young people.

The Association’s work takes on three major purposes: advocacy, care and assistance. The Association aims to raise awareness of osteosarcoma so that doctors can make early diagnosis and patients can receive treatment as early as possible. It then aims to offer care for families in treatment, providing whatever assistance will be of most help. The families can then be offered both psychological and physical counselling at the end of treatment, with the hope of keeping lasting effects to a minimum.

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

£10 million prize pool for UK’s biggest ever short deck event

The remarkable popularity of short deck hold’em shows no sign of slowing down as the £100,000 short deck main event here at the Triton Super High Roller Series in London built a prize pool of more than £10 million.

When registration closed on the event at the Park Lane Hilton, organisers had recorded 108 entries, including 55 re-entries, and planned to award the winner £2.67 million.

It immediately set a new bar for the biggest prize pool for a short deck tournament ever held in the UK as well as the biggest first prize. It’s the second largest anywhere in the world, trailing only the short deck main event that took place on the Triton Series in Montenegro in 2018.

The tournament plays down to its final table today, and then crowns its champion tomorrow, on the last day of play at this festival.

Top 5 largest short deck tournaments (by prize pool):

1 – Triton Montenegro, May 2018
Buy-in: HK$1 million
Entries: 103
Prize pool: US$12,344,129
Winner: Jason Koon
First prize: US$3,579,836

2 – Triton London Short Deck Main Event
Dates: August 6-8, 2019
Buy-in: £100,000
Entries: 108 (inc. 55 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$12,600,483
Winner: tbd
First prize: $3,244,290*

3 – Triton Montenegro, May 2019
Buy-in: HK$1 million
Entries: 98
Prize pool: US$11,737,873
Winner: Rui Cao
First prize: US$3,351,130*

4 – Triton Jeju, March 2019
Buy-in: HK$1 million
Prize pool: US$9,699,981
Winner: Jason Koon
First prize: US$2,899,000

5 – Triton Jeju, July 2018
Buy-in: HK$1 million
Entries: 60
Prize pool: US$7,645,357
Winner: Kenneth Kee
First prize: US$2,867,009

*Triton introduced a flatter payout structure between events in Montenegro and London, so first prize is smaller now despite larger total prize pool.

Full payouts for Triton Short Deck Main Event:

Triton London Short Deck Main Event
Dates: August 6-8, 2019
Buy-in: £100,000
Entries: 108 (inc. 55 re-entries)
Prize pool: £10,370,000

1 – £2,670,000
2 – £1,835,000
3 – £1,202,500
4 – £974,500
5 – £783,000
6 – £611,900
7 – £482,200
8 – £368,100
9 – £269,600
10 – £217,700
11 – £217,700
12 – £191,900
13 – £191,900
14 – £177,000
15 – £177,000

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Benefield survives choppy Triton short-deck waters to win first live tournament

A chip lead guarantees nothing in poker, and that is even more true in a short-stacked, short-deck tournament, where the volatility is at its highest. The first short deck tournament of this Triton Super High Roller Series stop in London demonstrated that more visibly than perhaps ever before, with players seizing the lead only to see it crumble away to nothing soon after.

When all the drama finally halted, it was David Benefield, the high stakes cash game superstar, originally from Texas, who raised the trophy and picked up a winner’s check for £650,000. Even he was not immune to the buffeting of this game, but he did the one thing that seemingly nobody else had managed to do: get a chip lead to stick.

“I’m delighted,” he said. “It’s an emotional roller coaster, but that’s short deck. You just keep going all in. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

He said he’s only been playing short deck for about a year, dabbling online and then coming to the Triton stops. But now here he is with the first outright live tournament title of his career and a prize second only to the $950K he picked up for finishing eighth in the 2013 WSOP Main Event.

He was congratulated by friend and Triton Ambassador Jason Koon, and bubble-boy Seth Davies also joined the winner’s picture. With two more short deck events to play this week, chances are he’ll be giving this one another go.

Jason Koon congratulates Benefield on his victory

The opening day of action yesterday was characterised by a thrilling bubble period during which there were countless double ups, including the occasional one-outer for added drama. Things were far more sedate today, however, as they eased to a final table thanks to the eliminations of Danny Tang (10th – £52,800), Mike Watson (9th – £65,500) and Jordi Urlings (8th — £89,000).

China’s Yu Feng Pang had the slight lead, but Bjorn Li and Wei Lim Chin were close behind.

Final table chip stacks:

Yu Feng Pang — 6.060 million
Bjorn Li — 5.815 million
Wei Lim Chin — 5.105 million
Cheok Leng Cheong — 4.455 million
David Benefield — 4.225 million
Peter Jetten — 3.545 million
Talal Shakerchi – 2.595 million

Final table at £25K short deck (l-r): Peter Jetten, David Benefield, Talal Shakerchi, Wei Chin Lim, Bjorn Li, Yu Feng Pang, Cheok Leng Cheong

The British businessman Shakerchi was playing his first major short-deck event, so making the final table was a doubly exciting achievement. It was probably more of an exploratory toe-dip into these waters for Shakerchi, so even when he was knocked out in seventh, he may not have minded too much. His last hand saw his shove with picked off by Cheong’s . Shakerchi won £117,000.

Talal Shakerchi: A successful first stab at short deck

Jetten was the beneficiary of the one-outer on the bubble last night (even if he had got his chips in good) but he ended up busting in fifth, for £148,300, shortly before the overnight leader Chin Wei Lim also bust, both sending their chips to Bjorn Li, whose 13.1 million stack seemingly sprawled across the table.

A telling absence of chips in front of Wei Lim Chin

But Benefield, who retains great respect and mystique from his days as an online poker crusher, soon found it was his turn to go on a surge. He captured the lead from Li and then knocked him out, with to Li’s . Benefield flopped a queen and Li was out in fourth for £236,500.

It then got a big silly. With spectators shouting the magic words “Short deck!” from the bleachers, everyone seemed to be doubling up through everyone else. Hong Kong’s Feng, the final table leader, was swept away in all this, winning £292,000, and that left Benefield heads up against Cheok Leng Cheong.

Yu Feng Pang: Another chip leader who couldn’t hang on

Most of the room thought Benefield was already the champion when the tournament announcer awarded him the pot when his flopped a set against Cheong’s , which they got all in pre-flop. But the full board read and that was a straight for Cheong, on the river.

A spirited heads up battle from Cheok Leng Cheong

Cheong doubled up once more, with his beating Benefield’s . But finally it was the chip leader who managed to secure an outdraw and end things.

Benefield’s turned a straight to beat Cheong’s . The full board read .

One more time: “Shooort deck!”

Triton London Event #6 – Short Deck
Dates: August 4-5, 2019
Buy-in: £25,000
Entries: 106 (inc. 53 re-entries)
Prize pool: £2,517,500

1 – David Benefield, United States, £650,000
2 – Cheok Leng Cheong, Macau, £445,000
3 – Pang Yu Feng, Hong Kong, £292,000
4 – Bjorn Li, Hong Kong, £236,500
5 – Chin Wei Lim, Malaysia, £190,000
6 – Peter Jetten, Canada, £148,300
7 – Talal Shakerchi, UK, £117,000

8 – Jordi Urlings, Netherlands, £89,000
9 – Mike Watson, Canada, £65,500
10 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong, £52,800
11 – Jason Koon, USA, £52,800
12 – Devan Tang, Hong Kong, £46,500
13 – Jun Wah Yap, Malaysia, £46,500
14 – Rui Cao, France, £42,800
15 – Gabe Patgorski, USA, £42,800

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Short deck makes safe transition to UK; 100+ entries to £25K Event #6

As the main event was playing into its deep stages today, the first short-deck event of the week got under way at Triton London. And if you thought this variant might not make the safe transition over to the UK, you’d be wrong. This tournament was as healthily attended as any.

In fact, by the time registration closed there were 106 entries (including 53 re-entries) each of £25,000 apiece. That built a prize pool of more than £2.5 million and meant that tomorrow someone will win £650,000 as the champion. That’s not bad for a poker variant that probably dealt its first hand in this country only about 18 months ago. Ten players are left.

After a tortuous bubble period, with the tournament playing 17-handed for at least 90 minutes, Seth Davies was finally knocked out to give everyone at least £42,800, with Wei Lim Chin, pictured top, seizing the chip lead.

There were at least 10 bubble-ups, none more dramatic than one in which Peter Jetten survived. He was all in with and called by David Benefield’s . Jetten was out of his seat on the turn, with the board reading , the apparent victim of a grim out-draw.

But with tablemate Rui Cao claiming he had folded an ace, Jetten hit his one-outer when the rivered. Jetten then survived another hairy moment, when his looked like it had been outdrawn by Benefield’s . In that instance, the first four cards were to give Benefield a straight. (This is short-deck, remember.) Then, however, the ace on the river meant a chop.

Only Davies couldn’t pull off the miracle. He had to Cao’s . Though the flop looked good for Davies — it was — the turn hit Cao and the river was a blank.

Chin’s lead came about when he secured a huge double on the bubble, with his staying strong against Mike Watson’s .

FULL CHIP COUNTS

Wei Lim Chin, Malaysia – 6.455 million
Yu Feng Pang, China – 5.46 million
David Benefield, USA – 3.485 million
Cheok Leng Cheong, Macau – 3.485 million
Jordi Urlings, Netherlands – 2.77 million
Danny Tang, Hong Kong – 2.755 million
Bjorn Li, USA – 2.275 million
Mike Watson, Canada – 2.11 million
Talal Shakerchi, UK – 1.97 million
Peter Jetten, Canada – 1.02 million

Triton London Event #6 – Short Deck
Dates: August 4-5, 2019
Buy-in: £25,000
Entries: 106 (inc. 53 re-entries)
Prize pool: £2,517,500

1 – £650,000
2 – £445,000
3 – £292,000
4 – £236,500
5 – £190,000
6 – £148,300
7 – £117,000
8 – £89,000
9 – £65,500
10-11
11 – Jason Koon, USA, £52,800
12 – Devan Tang, Hong Kong, £46,500
13 – Jun Wah Yap, China, £46,500
14 – tbc £46,500
15 – Rui Cao, France, £42,800
16 – Gabe Patgorski, USA, £42,800

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Late surge sends Paul Phua into main event lead at Triton London

The £100,000 no limit hold’em main event at the Triton Super High Roller Series in London is down to its last nine players–but the tournament is now edging into a third and final day.

As has happened often at this festival in the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, increased player numbers have forced a change to the advertised schedule with another day necessary to find a winner.

Not that Triton co-founder Paul Phua (pictured above) will complain. By his standards, the vivacious Malaysian had had a poor stop in London so far, with only one cash, but he went on a remarkable late surge late tonight to carry the chip lead into the final.

He was the short stack on the bubble, but now has the most. He only has a tiny pip more than Ben Heath and Wai Kin Yong, but a lead is a lead. (It’s been good for the Triton family, and Malaysia, all round: Wai Kin is the other co-founder Richard Yong’s son, and four of the final nine are from the same country.)

Ben Heath denied the lead by the last hand

It’s always true, but let’s say it again: the full line-up features a clutch of the game’s very best players, and the prize pool is enormous. There was £12.22 million to be divided between the last 17, with the winner set for £3.08 million.

FINAL TABLE PLAYERS

Paul Phua, Malaysia – 5.875 million
Ben Heath, UK – 5.81 million
Wai Kin Yong, Malaysia – 5.03 million
Michael Soyza, Malaysia – 3.87 million
Michael Zhang, UK – 3.74 million
Stephen Chidwick, UK – 2.955 million
Sam Greenwood, Canada – 2.385 million
Wai Leong Chan, Malaysia – 1.65 million
Daniel Cates, USA – 1.2 million

Main Event final table (l-r): Paul Phua, Wai Leong Chan, Stephen Chidwick, Michael Soyza, Sam Greenwood, Michael Zhang, Wai Kin Yong, Ben Heath, Dan Cates.

Registration closed at the start of play today, with the final total hitting 130 entries (including 52 re-entries). They vast majority gradually hit the skids until the bubble loomed into view at around 8.30pm. Only Seventeen were due to be paid.

There was major drama in the run-up to the most nervous period, with Justin Bonomo sending both Mikita Badziakouski and Randy Lew out of the tournament on the same hand. It was grim for Lew in particular as his was in fine shape against Bonomo’s and Badziakouski’s .

But the run out of filled Bonomo’s straight and what could have been a timely near-triple for “nanonoko” instead became a dreadfully timed bad beat. Lew’s 420,000 and Badziakouski’s 320,000 went to Bonomo.

But Bonomo himself was soon the man in danger on the stone bubble. Michael Zhang got it all in with pocket queens and Bonomo called with pocket tens. This was a pot of more than 2.5 million chips. The queens won this time, leaving Bonomo with only seven big blinds to try to weave his way into the money.

He got a big boost thanks to a pair of kings, which earned him a double through Wai Kin Yong’s and it was at this point that Paul Phua, a tournament short stack, came over and said to Bonomo: “I might be bubble boy.”

But he survived too during a protracted period of hand-for-hand play, which lasted a little over an hour. Eventually it came down to another bad beat with Michael Soyza’s spiking a seven to beat Tong Siow Choon’s . Phua offered his countryman and neighbour a fist bump that was equal parts consolation and celebration.

Tong Siow Choon is fist-bumped out by Paul Phua on the bubble

The post-bubble rush of eliminations, either side of a dinner break, accounted for a number of established Triton superstars, and two who likely have a great future.

Timothy Adams and Bonomo went out on the same hand, busted by Dan “Jungleman” Cates and a pair of kings. Bonomo had and Adams had (both were short-stacked) and Cates accounted for them both. Adams secured his third in-the-money finish from three tournaments entered this week, but missed out on another final. He won £192,000 for 16th; Bonomo took £201,600 for 15th. Overnight leader Tan Xuan went out in 13th, with Isaac Haxton quickly behind.

Wiktor “limitless” Malinowski preceded them all, but will almost certainly be visiting a final table soon enough on the Triton series. He is one of the huge online stars who has recently migrated to the live arena and this was his first Triton cash. But his reputation ensures that there will be plenty more, should he continue to play.

A word too about Sosia Jiang, who was the only woman to play the £1 million Helping Hand for Charity tournament this week, despite battling what looked like a fairly dreadful cold. She played the main event while clearly still suffering — standing away from the table drinking hot water and honey — but despite all became the first woman to cash on the Triton Series.

Sosia Jiang battled illness to make the money

Her tournament came to an end when she shoved from the button with and slammed into Michael Soyza’s aces. Jiang left, but left her mark as well.

The tournament was now very shallow, and sure enough there was still time for Isaac Haxton, Xu Liang and Matthias Eibinger to bust and gather everyone around a final table. Phua was still among the shorties, but now started a surge. He had only 15 big blinds but doubled up for the first time with to beat Wai Leong Chan’s and then won another big pot from Cates on the last hand of the night. Phua flopped a full house with his pocket threes while Cates’s flopped trips. Cates managed to get away without losing his whole stack, but he is now nine out of nine coming back.

That allowed Phua to go on a victory lap around the short-deck tables, saying “Chip leader!” to anyone who would listen.

They start again at 1pm tomorrow when we’ll see if he can translate the lead into his first title.

Triton London Main Event
Dates: Aug 4-6
Entries: 130 (inc. 52 re-entries)
Prize pool: £12.22 million

1 – £3.08 million
2 – £2.07 million
3 – £1.35 million
4 – £1.12 million
5 – £902,000
6 – £711,000
7 – £544,000
8 – £410,000
9 – £305,000

10 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria, £250,400
11 – Liang Xu, China, £250,400
12 – Isaac Haxton, USA, £220,000
13 – Xuan Tan, China, £220,000
14 – Sosia Jiang, New Zealand, £201,600
15 – Justin Bonomo, USA, £201,600
16 – Timothy Adams, Canada, £192,000
17 – Wiktor Malinowski, Poland, £192,000

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Triton London Main Event to pay winner £3 million

Tournament organisers released details of the prize pool for the Triton Million Main Event when registration closed at noon at the Park Lane Hilton. From a prize pool of more than £12 million ($14.6 million), the winner will take £3.08 million ($3.75 million approx.)

Triton London Main Event
Dates: Aug 4-6
Entries: 130 (inc. 52 re-entries)
Prize pool: £12.22 million

1 – £3.08 million
2 – £2.07 million
3 – £1.35 million
4 – £1.12 million
5 – £902,000
6 – £711,000
7 – £544,000
8 – £410,000
9 – £305,000
10-11 £250,400
12-13 – £220,000
14-15 – £201,600
16-17 – £192,000

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Xuan leads after first day of bumper £100K Main Event

Enormous tournaments continue to come thick and fast on the Triton Super High Roller series, and a day after we awarded the biggest prize in poker history, and only hours since three men picked up prizes in the region of $1 million, the main event at Triton London got under way.

Yes, you read that right. We only today began the first of two tournaments for which organisers have reached for the word “main”. This one is a £100,000 buy-in full deck no limit hold’em event, and of course we already have a prize pool north of £10 million.

That’s because today’s field already comprises 122 entries (including 41 re-entries) and registration remains open. Should you find yourself in the vicinity of London’s Hilton Park Lane at noon tomorrow, you too can buy in and pick up 250,000 chips. It’ll be 25 big blinds, and you’ll be up against players with six times that amount, but why not? What’s a hundred grand anyway? You could win more than £2 million.

To be a little more specific: Tan Xuan from China is the chip leader at this stage having bagged 1.612 million at the end of the day, which he ended seated between David Peters and Erik Seidel.

The short-deck specialist fired only one bullet for that total, and enjoyed life all day long, especially as superstars such as Stephen Chidwick, Alex Foxen, Charlie Carrel, Patrik Antonius, Christoph Vogelsang, Dominik Nitsche, Dan Smith and Justin Bonomo had to dip into their pockets at least twice. (Whisper it: Carrel was in and out three times.)

The top five also includes Triton stalwarts Timothy Adams (1.323 million) and Matthias Eibinger (1.123 million), while Kyle Carlston continues to enjoy his transition from backgammon. He has 1.207 million. Yesterday’s Triton Million champion Aaron Zang also bagged at the end of today.

The full chip counts are below, as well as the Day 2 seat draw. Tournament officials have already conceded that this is not going to get done inside the scheduled two days, but have brought tomorrow’s start time forward to noon (from 1pm) and plan to play down to a final, or a little further if time permits.

DAY 1 END CHIP COUNTS

Name	Country	Chips
Xuan Tan	China	1,612,000
Timothy Adams	Canada	1,273,000
Kyle Carlston	United States	1,207,000
Matthias Eibinger	Austria	1,123,000
Chi Zhang	China	1,008,000
Elior Sion	United Kingdom	994,000
Jean-Noel Thorel	France	938,000
Samuel Greenwood	Canada	911,000
Liang Xu	China	874,000
Louis Nyberg	Sweden	870,000
Michael Watson	Canada	869,000
Lucas Greenwood	Canada	863,000
Tong Siow Choon	Malaysia	853,000
Stephen Chidwick	England	839,000
Ben Heath	United Kingdom	818,000
Jun Wah Yap	Malaysia	792,000
Daniel Dvoress	Canada	749,000
Daniel Cates	United States	711,000
Wai Leong Chan	Malaysia	647,000
Peter Jetten	Canada	632,000
Christopher Michael Soyza	Malaysia	622,000
Wiktor Malinowski	Poland	586,000
Rachid Cherif Ben	Netherlands	564,000
Kahle Burns	Australia	560,000
Sosia Jiang	New Zealand	551,000
Herman Mulder Teun	Netherlands	521,000
Fedor Holz	Germany	513,000
Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	489,000
Henrik Hecklen	Denmark	479,000
Rui Cao	France	411,000
Isaac Haxton	United States	408,000
Randy Lew	United States	368,000
Mikael Thuritz	Germany	354,000
Linus Loeliger	Switzerland	352,000
Nick Petrangelo	United States	350,000
Tony G	Lithuania	347,000
Bryn Kenney	United States	345,000
Alexey Rybin	Russia	317,000
Erik Seidel	United States	280,000
Justin Bonomo	United States	278,000
Benjamin Pollak	France	265,000
Paul Phua	Malaysia	263,000
Seth Davies	United States	250,000
Timofey Kuznetsov	Russia	239,000
Wei Lim Chin	Malaysia	216,000
Elton Tsang	Hong Kong	216,000
Dominik Nitsche	Germany	206,000
Talal Shakerchi	England	204,000
Igor Kurganov	Netherlands	184,000
Cary Katz	United States	178,000
Steve O Dwyer	United States	167,000
Adam Reynolds	United Kingdom	160,000
Charlie Carrel	England	142,000
Jason Koon	United States	134,000
Danny Tang	Hong Kong	133,000
David Peters	United States	132,000
Christoph Vogelsang	Germany	132,000
Nick Schulman	United States	130,000
Dan Smith	United States	128,000

Table/Seat	Name	Chips
1-1	Dominik Nitsche	206,000
1-2	Steve O Dwyer	167,000
1-4	Timothy Adams	1,273,000
1-5	Herman Mulder Teun	521,000
1-7	Wei Lim Chin	216,000
1-9	Smith Daniel Steven	128,000
2-1	Kahle Burns	560,000
2-2	Igor Kurganov	184,000
2-3	Randy Lew	368,000
2-5	Jean-Noel,Andre,Robert Thorel	938,000
2-7	Seth Davies	250,000
2-9	Liang Xu	874,000
3-3	Michael Watson	869,000
3-5	Wai Leong Chan	647,000
3-6	Christoph Vogelsang	132,000
3-7	Samuel Greenwood	911,000
3-8	Sosia Jiang	551,000
3-9	Mikita Badziakouski	489,000
5-1	Tong Siow Choon	853,000
5-2	Louis Nyberg	870,000
5-3	Benjamin Pollak	265,000
5-4	Daniel Cates	711,000
5-5	Bryn Kenney	345,000
5-6	Isaac Haxton	408,000
6-1	Fedor Holz	513,000
6-2	Mikael Thuritz	354,000
6-4	Chi Hang Daniel Tang	133,000
6-5	Kyle Carlston	1,207,000
6-7	Christopher Michael Soyza	622,000
6-9	David Peters	132,000
7-1	Antanas Guoga	347,000
7-3	Chi Zhang	1,008,000
7-5	Benjamin Heath	818,000
7-7	Nick Schulman	130,000
7-8	Justin Bonomo	278,000
7-9	Henrik Hecklen	479,000
8-2	Wei Seng Paul Phua	263,000
8-3	Rui Cao	411,000
8-6	Jason Koon	134,000
8-7	Adam Reynolds	160,000
8-8	Ka Wai Elton Tsang	216,000
8-9	Xuan Tan	1,612,000
9-1	Lucas James Greenwood	863,000
9-2	Rachid Cherif Ben	564,000
9-3	Cary Steven Katz	178,000
9-5	Matthias Eibinger	1,123,000
9-7	Stephen James Chidwick	839,000
9-9	Timofey Kuznetsov	239,000
10-2	Linus Loeliger	352,000
10-3	Peter Jetten	632,000
10-5	Elior Benjamin Sion	994,000
10-6	Erik Seidel	280,000
10-7	Nick Petrangelo	350,000
10-9	Jun Wah Yap	792,000
11-2	Daniel Dvoress	749,000
11-3	Charlie Carrel	142,000
11-5	Alexey Rybin	317,000
11-7	Wiktor Malinowski	586,000
11-8	Talal Shakerchi	204,000

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Loeliger delights virtual rail with first major live win at Triton London

One of online poker’s biggest stars today earned his stripes in the live arena when Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger took down the £25,000 Triton London Six-Max Turbo, his first major title. It was worth £690,000, more than three times his total previous live earnings.

He makes an absolute ton on the online tables, mind you.

Loeliger’s victory will have been cheered most enthusiastically in the online chat-boxes and poker forums, where his superlative cash-game skills have long impressed virtual railbirds. He was customarily unflustered as he parlayed his final-table chip lead into a trophy.

The tournament, which attracted 117 entries (including 44 re-entries) was originally intended to end on the opening day of this Triton London festival, but was postponed when they reached a final table. Seven players returned today, three days after they started, still technically in with a shot at the £690,000 first prize. But Loeliger was in unforgiving mood and barely gave them a chance, finding some help from the deck when he needed it too and to beating Luc Greenwood heads up.

Michael Soyza was the first man out, finding in the small blind and action folded to him. It was plenty good enough to push in his last 17 big blinds, but Loeliger, the only player to his left, had and made the call. Loeliger won the flip and Soyza left in seventh for £122,300.

This six-handed tournament therefore reached its official final, with Loeliger way out in front. His stack of 6.9 million was 30 percent of the chips in play, but the shallowness of the event meant it was only 69 big blinds.

Kahle Burns had only six of them, but quickly managed to double through Timothy Adams. However, it was only a temporary stay of execution because when he three-bet pushed with , he wasn’t to know that Loeliger’s open represented a real hand. Loeliger’s held to send Burns out in sixth, for £160,000.

Elior Sion headed home in fifth, pushing with on a board of but finding Greenwood lurking with .

Better known as “CrazyElior” online, but with significant live experience and a WSOP $50K Player’s Championship bracelet, Sion was has been making his Triton debut this week in his home town. This result earned him £202,900 but leaves him seeking his first title on the tour.

Something of a short-stack specialist, Cary Katz had again managed to grind his way into the big money in this turbo event, but his run came to an end in fourth. Though he had largely kept out of harm’s way, he ended up busting in one of the most entertaining pots of the week.

He got his last 16 big blinds in with and was called by Greenwood’s — so far, so standard — but then Katz flopped a set when the dealer put the out there.

All looked good at that point, until the next card was the . “Oh that’s terrible!” Katz said. Greenwood now had 10 outs, and the dealer duly delivered the on the river. “What the hell was that run-out?” Katz said, shaking hands and heading from the table. He took £251,500 and there were no hard feelings.

Greenwood’s rush put him on top of the counts, with about 11.6 million to Loeliger’s 8.5 million. (The third man, Timothy Adams, had 2.5 million.) But Loeliger hit a huge double up to flip everything back in his favour.

In what would turn out to be the tournament-defining hand, Greenwood raised his button to 500,000 with and Loeliger called in the small blind with . Adams also came along with his .

There was something for everyone on the flop and Loeliger bet 375,000 with his draw. Adams called, leaving himself only 1.8 million back, and Greenwood, with the best hand still, tried to protect it. He raised to 1.5 million.

Loeliger called, persuading Adams out, and the dealer gave Loeliger the guaranteed win with the turn. All that remained to be seen was whether he could get the maximum.

He laid the trap with a check and Greenwood bet 1.5 million, unknowing that he was only drawing to a chop, and with two of his outs in his opponent’s hand. Loeliger moved in for 7.25 million and Greenwood made a clearly crying call.

It put heaps back in front of Loeliger, and left Adams and Greenwood with only seven and eight big blinds, respectively. Adams found on the next hand, and called after Loeliger shoved with . Adams was in a great spot to double, but having busted the £1 million charity event with pocket kings, Adams was again sent to the rail in a grim one. A five came on the flop to give Loeliger the win. Adams added yet another Triton cash, this time worth £307,000, but couldn’t add to his trophy haul.

Third place, but a rough end, for Timothy Adams

The heads-up “battle” was no such thing. It lasted one hand. Greenwood pushed with , Loeliger called with and nobody hit anything. It meant that Greenwood earned £466,600, but Loeliger banked £690,000 and, more importantly, his first title.

“Compared to yesterday it was pretty smooth,” Loeliger said, referring to a 12-hour session in the £50K event, which ended at 4am when he was knocked out in third. “I still got seven-and-a-half hours sleep,” he added. “I had to skip breakfast though.”

It was the smallest of sacrifices to become a Triton champion.

Triton London Million
Event #1 — Six-Handed Turbo
Date: July 31, 2019
Buy-in: £25,000
Entries: 117 (inc. 44 re-entries)
Prize pool: £2,749,500 ($3,359,311 approx)

1 – Linus Loeliger, Switzerland, £690,000
2 – Luc Greenwood, Canada, £466,600
3 – Timothy Adams, Canada, £307,000
4 – Cary Katz, USA, £251,500
5 – Elior Sion, UK, £202,900
6 – Kahle Burns, Australia, £160,000
7 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia, £122,300
8 – Tong Siow Choon, Malaysia, £92,100
9 – Carlston Kyle, Sweden, £68,700
10 – Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey, £56,300
11 – Erik Seidel, USA, £56,300
12 – Ben Lamb, USA, £49,500
13 – Paul Phua, Malaysia, £49,500
14 – Chan Wai Leong, Malaysia, £43,300
15 – Dan Smith, USA, £43,300
16 – Ben Heath, UK £43,100
17 – Patrik Antonius, Finland, £43,100

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Carrel claims first Triton title as Koon denied a fourth

Jason Koon and Charlie Carrel eventually flipped their way to deciding the winner of the Triton London £50,000 title at London’s Park Lane Hilton today, with Carrel managing to seal his maiden Triton success and deny Koon his fourth.

After two long days, in which a field of 109 entries was reduced to its final pair, the tournament was paused at 4am this morning, in accordance with local gaming regulations. It left Carrel and Koon stranded with a trophy still to play for, as well as the £1.3 million first prize.

Charlie Carrel, left, and Jason Koon reconvene

Both players had been left short-stacked by last night’s marathon, but both also thought their superior heads-up play could decide the destination of the trophy. To the outsider, it appeared to come down to a series of flips although there was clearly also plenty of metagame, with two fierce competitors refusing to give any quarter. (Carrel also confirmed they did not discuss a chop at any point.)

Carrel started the additional day marginally behind Koon — 9.6 million to 12.15 million — but pulled himself ahead during the first hour of play.

It then quickly seemed as though Koon would come out on top when he won what looked to be a decisive race — his beating Carrel’s when a five hit — but Carrel fought back. The British star got to hold up against Koon’s , and even that wasn’t the end of it.

Triton Ambassador Jason Koon will need to wait for his fourth title

The lion’s share of the 50 big blinds flip-flopped from one to the other at least twice more, before it all went in again with Carrel holding to Koon’s .

The on the river gave the victory to Carrel.

“Sick!” Carrel said. “We did it, man. I feel pretty good.”

Koon was evidently disappointed at how things played out, sharing some discontented mutterings with fellow players. He was particularly aggrieved by one hand in which Carrel called a huge turn bet looking at a board of . Koon had to Carrel’s , but Carrel got there with river.

“You came second, though,” Michael Thuritz reminded him, a placing that earned him £907,000. Koon allowed himself a rueful smile, and will likely return to play the rest of the Triton London schedule.

Carrel bubbled the £25,000 tournament in what was his first ever Triton event. He has now won his second–and immediately hopped into the £100,000 Main Event, hoping to run this one up even more.

Review yesterday’s action here

Triton London Event #3 – No Limit Hold’em
Dates: August 3-4, 2019
Buy-in: £50,000
Entries: 109 (inc. 43 re-entries)
Prize pool: £5.123 million

1 – Charlie Carrel, UK, £1,321,000
2 – Jason Koon, United States, £907,000
3 – Linus Loeliger, Switzerland, £594,000
4 – Kahle Burns, Australia, £481,500
5 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria, £386,000
6 – Robert Flink, Sweden, £302,100

7 – Jun Wah Yap, Malaysia, £238,000
8 – Dvoress Daniel, Canada, £182,000
9 – Isaac Haxton, United States, £133,000
10 – Talal Shakerchi, UK, £107,500
11 – Mikael Thuritz, Sweden, £107,500
12 – Sam Greenwood, £94,700
13 – Jesus Cortes, Spain, £94,700
14 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany, £87,000
15 – Ben Pollak, France, £87,000

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Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive