triton poker Archives - Page 3 of 6

Carrel and Koon stranded as late-night marathon can’t decide £50K

The Grand Ballroom at the London Hilton, Park Lane, was hopping tonight. That was inevitable as the biggest buy-in poker tournament of all time awarded the biggest ever first prize.

But it’s a measure of just how high they play on the Triton Super High Roller series that shortly after the Aaron Zang/Bryn Kenney party moved to more traditional nightclub surroundings, tournament organisers prepared to hand over another prize of more than £1.3 million to another champion, in front of a silent and deserted room. Yes, enormous tournaments are so routine on the Triton Super High Roller series that even a seven-figure first prize can pass by silently in the dead of night.

Or that was the plan. But in fact, a second event of the week had to pause in the dead of night, with UK gaming regulations demanding a halt to proceedings at 4am. That left Jason Koon and Charlie Carrel, pictured above, still with chips and still with the task of splitting around £2 million between them.

The plan is now to play this one out tomorrow, at the same time at the £25K turbo finishes and the £100K Main Event gets started. Koon has the marginal advantage with 12.15 million to Carrel’s 9.6 million.

THE STORY SO FAR

As the £1 million event was still playing its early final table stages, registration closed on the £50K with 109 entries (including 43 re-entries) building a prize pool of £5.123 million. They burst the bubble when Sergio Aido lost his last six blinds to Talal Shakerchi, but Shakerchi himself was knocked out in a torrent of post-bubble eliminations.

All of Benjamin Pollak, Christoph Vogelsang, Jesus Cortes, Sam Greewood, Mikael Thuritz and Ike Haxton were similarly swept away before the final table (receiving between £87,000 and £133,000 for their troubles). Canada’s Daniel Dvoress joined them on the rail before seven-handed play decamped to the feature table at the conclusion of this week’s flagship event.

Play began on feature table seven-handed (clockwise from left): Charlie Carrel, Jason Koon, Linus Loeliger, Kahle Burns, Matthias Eibinger, Robert Flink, Jun Wah Yap

Malaysia’s Jun Wah Yap was enjoying his first cash from several attempts on the Triton series, but ended up on the rail in seventh after losing his last 13 big blinds to Linus Loeliger. Off he went, with £238,000.

The race began as to whether this tournament could get finished tonight at all. Gambling regulations in the UK meant that we had to be done by 4am, and it pushed past 2am with still six players left. The short-stacked Matthias Eibinger doubled up twice, with better than Kahle Burns’ and then with over Robert Flink’s .

It left Flink in shoving mode, and he was less fortunate. Flink, who led overnight, lost with to Charlie Carrel’s when an eight flopped. Flink won £302,100. “See you tomorrow,” Jason Koon said, even though tomorrow was already today.

Carrel might have knocked out Burns on the next hand, but Burns survived his all-in push with pocket queens against Carrel’s . Burns continued to push with his relative short stack, getting no callers, before a possibly tournament-defining hand played out.

The only “haves” at a table of mostly “have nots” were Carrel and Loeliger, and the two of them went to war. Loeliger open-shoved under the gun, with but with a stack big enough to withstand any issues from his left. Carrel was the only opponent who could hurt, and he called all in, for close to 5 million. (The big blind was 160,000.) Carrel’s ended up staying good to double him up and relegate Loeliger back into the pack.

With all the shoving, something had to give, and it was Eibinger who went out in fifth. Burns jammed his small blind with 2.45 million, and Eibinger, with a smaller stack, called in the big blind. Eibinger’s was ahead of Burns’s , but the river changed that. Eibinger won £386,000.

Koon, the Triton Ambassador from the United States, had been sitting tight while the chips changed hands around him. He looked weary, and he was also bemoaning his bad luck earlier when neither of his sweats at the Triton Million final table was able to seal the deal.

But Koon suddenly sprang to life in three quickfire hands. He doubled through Carrel with over and then took heaps of Burns’s stack, before finishing off the Australian with staying good against Burns’s . Burns, who needs to play the final table of the delayed £25K turbo tomorrow, was free to get some sleep at about 3.30am. He took £481,500 for fourth.

At this stage, it was clear that the clock was going to be the real winner tonight. There was no hope of a conclusion. But Loeliger, who also has a seat at tomorrow’s £25K final table, still had time to hit the rail.

This was a brutal one, which played through the streets, and put a board of out there. Carrel made a big bet, big enough to force Loeliger to make a decision for his tournament, and Loeliger called with . “Sorry man,” Carrel said and turned over .

Linus Loeliger’s departure ends the night

Loeliger took £594,000 and the two remaining players immediately decided to bag, booking themselves a return at 2pm tomorrow. Carrel’s 9.6 million is slightly behind Koon’s 12.15 million, but there’s still plenty of play. See you tomorrow/today!

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 £1,321,000
2 £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

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS

Les Ambassadeurs is one of the most prestigious private clubs and casinos in London, with a history dating from the early 19th century. Situated in the heart of London’s exclusive Mayfair district, it is formerly the favoured gambling destination of Victorian aristocracy and diplomats and is still one of the most elegant and stylish casino floors in the world.

partypoker LIVE was created in January 2017 as a global poker tour, with the aim of bringing large field, high guarantee tournaments to players all over the world. Within just 12 months the partypoker LIVE tour has grown into the world’s largest ever poker tour and is guaranteeing over $70,000,000 in the 2018/2019 season.

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Zang takes Triton Million title as Kenney wins biggest ever prize

The biggest buy-in poker tournament in history ended in the most spectacular surprise tonight when Aaron Zang, (pictured above), a previously unheralded financier from Shanghai, China, beat some of the world’s best known poker players to win the Triton London – A Helping Hand for Charity tournament.

The event required a buy-in of £1.05 million, the most ever for a poker tournament, from which £50,000 per person went to charity. With 54 entrants, the total prize pool weighed in at £54 million, and was originally scheduled to pay its winner £19 million.

However with two players left, Zang, 37, arranged a deal with his final opponent, Bryn Kenney, from Long Island, New York, to split the remaining prizes. At that point, Kenney had four times as many chips as Zang and so took the most money: £16,890,509 to Zang’s £13,779,491.

But Zang, with shaking hands and a racing heart, was able to overcome the imbalance in chips and experience, and won two crucial hands to clinch the title and the trophy. “Miracles happen,” an emotional Zang said, as he became the first Chinese player to win on the Triton Series.

“I didn’t think you were that good,” joked Triton co-founder Paul Phua as he handed the trophy to his old friend Zang.

Kenney cannot be too disappointed. The 32-year-old’s payday was the biggest ever awarded to a poker player in tournament history, even if he is officially the runner-up. His near £17 million ($20.5 million) prize sent him to the top of poker’s all-time money list, leapfrogging his countryman Justin Bonomo. It took Kenney’s career winnings to more than $55 million, more than $30 million of which has come this year. Kenney’s spectacular run has included huge scores in Australia, South Korea, Montenegro and now London.

“I wanted the trophy but it’s the biggest win that anybody’s ever had, number one on the all-time money list, what can I complain about?” Kenney said. “It’s incredible.”

The new all-time money list leader Bryn Kenney

Eight players remained at the start of play on the final day, including three other players – Dan Smith, of the United States, Stephen Chidwick, of the UK, and Canadian Timothy Adams – who also could have become the leading money earner in world poker had they won. But Adams was knocked out in eighth, and Kenney then eliminated both the other two, with Chidwick falling in fourth and earning £4.41 million, and Smith knocked out in third, taking £7.2 million.

The tournament was open only to a select group of recreational poker players extended an invitation by Triton, who could then bring one guest—a professional poker player—with them to play. Both Chidwick and Smith were joined at the final by their businessman partners, although Alfred DeCarolis (Chidwick’s partner) was knocked out in seventh, for £1.72 million, and Bill Perkins (Smith’s partner) went out in sixth, for £2.2 million. The overnight chip leader Vivek Rajkumah perished in fifth.

Zang played in the businessmen side of the draw, and admitted on several occasions that he was not as skilled as the players he outlasted in the tournament. “This shows that anyone can win,” Phua said, encouraging more recreational players to take up poker. Zang said he is more comfortable playing cash games than tournaments, but may change his mind after this result.

When combined with Kenney’s characteristic excellence — his relentless aggression, perfect timing and shrewd calculations — it meant that Kenney drew right up on to Rajkumar’s shoulder, with Chidwick flailing toward the bottom of the pack.

But then the dam broke. It eventually has to. And wouldn’t you know, it all started flowing again in Rajkumar and Chidwick’s direction.

Adams, the Triton Jeju champion, hadn’t managed to stamp his authority on this final table as he had previously, and found that his most notable contribution to the early going was folding the best hand to DeCarolis’s fearless bluff shove. Adams managed to pull off one double-up of his own, when his pocket sixes stayed good against Chidwick’s fives, but when he picked up his first premium hand of the day, it proved to be his last.

Adams found in the hijack and his standard raise picked up a call from DeCarolis in the small blind. Rajkumar then moved all in, covering both opponents, and Adams called it off. (DeCarolis folded.)

Rajkumar’s needed help, but duly found it on the ace-high flop. He ended the hand with a straight and Adams was eliminated in eighth, for $1.4 million.

“I can’t complain,” Adams said. “Last night on the bubble I got it in and hit a one-outer. I came into today three out of eight, but stacks are so shallow…It’s a tournament, you have to win all ins, there’s not much you can do. You get used to it.”

He added: “There’s big tournaments coming up all the time. I’m going to be a more final tables, I’m going to win more tournaments. There’s going to be scenarios when it is your time, and when it’s not your time, it’s not your time. I’m OK. Yeah it sucks, but you keep things in perspective.”

Only a matter of minutes later, Chidwick was staring down the barrel of a gun when Rajkumar made a big move in a raised pot and shoved the river looking at a board of . Chidwick had and, after tossing all of his time-bank cards forward, called all-in for his tournament life. He backed his judgment to stay alive and was right. He scored the double up.

Moments after that he was further rewarded when he found pocket aces and DeCarolis raised then shoved all in ahead of him. DeCarolis was the man who had invited Chidwick to play this event, but even though DeCarolis was his meal ticket, Chidwick couldn’t fold the best hand in hold’em and stayed good against DeCarolis’s .

DeCarolis took £1.72 million for seventh place, a success for the man who was considered the rank outsider in the pre-tournament betting markets. As his bluff against Adams will go down as one of the best.

The eight-handed final table had three players more suited to the boardroom than the poker table, which represented an excellent showing for the supposed underdogs in this delicately balanced field. (Half the 54 players were recreational invitees; the other half their guests.) But after DeCarolis departed, the next man out–finally–was Perkins. His run of double ups had to end somewhere and it happened when he pushed with and Kenney woke up with aces. They held.

Perkins won £2.2 million, but had already pledged at least 10 percent of it to REG charity–and his philanthropic tendencies could easily persuade him to part with more.

“It was great,” Perkins said of his time in the tournament. “I so want to be up there still. I want to thank Paul Phua and Richard Yong for inviting me out here. They put on a fantastic show together. It was a lot of fun.”

As the chip fluctuations continued, Rajkumar’s bleeding started again. He lost a monster pot to Dan Smith when a gross run-out ensured all the money was going to go in.

Smith raised from under the gun with and Rajkumar called on the button with . Rajkumar flopped two pair on the flop, and there was no getting away for either of them. Smith was in trouble with his overpair but spiked the on the river to double up.

Rajkumar lost almost all flips he played today, and watched his chip-leading stack become the smallest six-handed. Then when he got it all in with , Kenney found another pair of aces, called and knocked Rajkumar out. Watched by his businessman invitee, Rick Salomon, Rajkumar wandered over to the tournament payout desk and picked up £3 million.

“Overall the tournament has been amazing,” Rajkumar said, highlighting his appreciation for the attention to detail on this tour. He even said it may tempt him away from the cash games, where he has been focused for the past few years. “I think I’m going to put a bit more of my money into Triton events in the future,” Rajkumar said.

It’s fair to say that by the time the tournament went four-handed, anybody could have won. The stacks, which had started so high, were now all short–and there’s no way that any of Smith, Kenney or Chidwick were going to put a foot wrong in this spot. They’re all too experienced and too darn good.

Even though the fourth man, Zang, was a comparative unknown quantity in this company, he quickly demonstrated that he too would be no pushover. He made the right moves at all the right times and managed to double up twice, through Kenney and then through Smith. It actually put him into the chip lead–albeit briefly. Because Kenney was about to enter boss mode.

With chips, and the bit between his teeth, there’s no player in the world game who is more brilliantly ruthless than Kenney. He was exemplary in picking the right moments to bet, putting the squeeze on each and every one of his opponents.

Chidwick moved back into second place as the tournament went on a 30-minute dinner break, but he became the next to depart when they returned. Chidwick, as is customary, barely put a foot wrong through three full days of play, and he was ahead with his pocket sevens when he and Kenney got it in pre-flop. Kenney had king-jack. Kenney flopped one of his overcards, however, and Chidwick had to take the walk.

His fourth-place prize of £4.41 million is the biggest single cash of his career, but he missed out on the chance to leap to the top of the global money list. After he shook hands with Kenney and hugged Smith, Zang performed a respectful, we’re-not-worthy-style bow towards Chidwick. He is an exceptional talent.

On that subject: this was now the Bryn Kenney show. He had all the chips and all the momentum, and he also quickly added the scalp of Smith. This one was a pretty tough spot for Smith, who lost with poker card=”ad”] to Kenney’s . The dealer put a queen and two hearts on the flop to send Kenney ahead in the hand, and then added another queen on the turn. Smith couldn’t hit any of his four outs on the river.

“The queen hurt,” Smith admitted. “But then I signed the piece of paper and saw that £7 million is a lot of money.” Smith had only got into the tournament at the last minute, thanks to the invitation from Perkins. He said that both businessman and pro had a piece of each other and, given they both made the final table, it’s been a very successful partnership.

There seemed to be absolutely no stopping Kenney at this point, but he was smart enough to know that no lead is entirely safe in poker. He and Zang decided to look at the numbers and lock up a deal, keeping £1.1 million on the table still to play for but securing a minimum £12.68 million Zang and for £16.9 million for Kenney. That was enough to sent him to the top of the all time money list, and was still the biggest poker prize of all time.

Tournament director Luca Vivaldi helps Kenney and Zang arrange a deal

It was just as well too. As Kenney later said: “I got heads up with a four-to-one chip lead, but the thing about heads up is that you can run all over the table and lose two all-in flips and lose the tournament, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Those two flips were perfectly standard: the first was when Zang’s beat Kenney’s . The second was when Kenney had a world out outs with on a flop but whiffed, handing the victory to Zang and his .

“I think I played really well,” Kenney said. “Everything went well until the heads up. At least if something’s going to go wrong, it goes wrong in heads up after you make a deal, take the most money and the biggest prize.”

And so ended the biggest buy-in poker tournament ever held, which has galvanised Triton’s reputation as the leading brand for Super High Roller poker, and further benefited a host of the most deserving causes in the world.

“The tournament has been a great success, even more amazing than we could possibly have hoped,” said Triton co-founder Richard Yong. “Not only have we made headlines across the world, thanks to the record-breaking prize money, but we have also raised at least £2.7 million for some of the most deserving charities across the globe.”

He added: “Inside and outside the poker community, everyone has been watching the tournament this week and we’ve shown just what’s possible for this game we all love. Aaron is a very worthy winner. He’s a great player, a great guy, and we are delighted that he has become the champion of the biggest tournament in poker history.”

Triton Million for Charity
Dates: August 1-3, 2019
Buy-in: £1.05 million
Players: 54
Prize-pool: £54 million

1 – Aaron Zang, China, £13,779,491*
2 – Bryn Kenney, United States, £16,890,509*
3 – Dan Smith, United States, £7.2 million
4 – Stephen Chidwick, UK, £4.41 million
5 – Vivek Rajkumar, India, £3 million
6 – Bill Perkins, United States, £2.2 million
7 – Alfred DeCarolis, United States, £1.72 million
8 – Timothy Adams, Canada, £1.4 million

9 – Wai Leong Chan, China, £1.2 million
10 – Chin Wei Lim, China, £1.1 million
11 – Winfred Yu, Hong Kong, £1.1 million

*denotes heads-up deal

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS

Les Ambassadeurs is one of the most prestigious private clubs and casinos in London, with a history dating from the early 19th century. Situated in the heart of London’s exclusive Mayfair district, it is formerly the favoured gambling destination of Victorian aristocracy and diplomats and is still one of the most elegant and stylish casino floors in the world.

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Triton reaches out to help Hong Kong-based charities

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 earlier this week, 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 goes 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 Triton Million has a huge charity aspect to it

Three of the charities receiving donations from the Triton Million this week are based in Hong Kong: Caring for Children Foundation, Credit One World Charity and Healthy Hong Kong. Each organisation does sterling work in improving the lives of people who have fallen on rough times, either as a result of circumstance or poor health.

Credit One World Charity focuses on children aged between three and 15, whose families are unable to provide as much support as they would like. The charity organises activities, events and lessons to ensure every child is “loved and supported” is “understood” and has the chance to be “joyful and equally treated”. It teaches equal opportunities and helps children understand their responsibilities in the community. The charity’s mission statement says: “We believe every child is unique and special. Every child deserves opportunities to change the world.”

Caring For Children Foundation also aims to improve the lives of young people in particularly unfortunate circumstances. In addition to an educational programe, its rehabilitation program focuses on children with disabilities; its foster care program helps to offer crucial support for orphans; and its disaster relief program helps people affected by natural catastrophe to rebuild their homes.

The foundation’s many projects include such diverse endeavours as teaching photography to primary school children in Dongsheng; providing a monthly stipend (including living, study and medical allowances) to orphans in poverty-stricken rural areas in Yunnan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces; funding a volunteer visitor program to hospital patients in Guangzhou; and providing disaster relief work following earthquakes in Sichuan and Yunnan.

“For more than 20 years, we have penetrated more than 160,000 people in the remote mountainous areas of 15 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China, and donated more than HK$120 million,” the charity says.

Healthy Hong Kong was founded in January 2015 and provides free Chinese medicine treatment and other services through its charity scheme “Kun Yan Chinese Medicine Service Centre”. The charity has helped more than 45,000 people, including people living in poverty or elderly members of the community who do not have families helping to support them.

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Flink leads as field for £50K grows customarily huge

While all the attention in the banqueting suite of the Park Lane Hilton tonight was justifiably focused on the crucial bubble stages of the Triton Million for Charity tournament, another enormous event got under way only a few paces away.

Event #3 at the Triton Super High Roller Series London is a £50,000 buy-in event, which has already attracted 83 entries, including 29 re-entries. Registration is not yet even closed, but the prize pool is pushing £4 million. That’s an enormous total already, even if the massive event next door dwarfs everything by comparison.

The chip leader at this stage is Sweden’s Robert Flink, pictured above, but the tournament has so far to run that even he won’t be guaranteed of making the money. This event, which will resume at 3pm, is also scheduled to wrap up tomorrow, but it’s certain to run deep into the night.

Here’s the latest chip counts, with Day 2 seat draw below.

Name	Country	Chips
Jochanan Robert Flink	Sweden	1,077,000
Julius Schamburg	Germany	836,000
Jean-Noel Thorel	France	755,000
Talal Shakerchi	England	713,000
Steve O Dwyer	United States	665,000
Kahle Burns	Australia	661,000
Charlie Carrel	United Kingdom	635,000
Isaac Haxton	United States	592,000
Liang Xu	China	545,000
Qiang Wang	China	531,000
Sergio Aido	Spain	494,000
Matthew Moss	United Kingdom	474,000
Imad Derwiche	France	460,000
Samuel Greenwood	Canada	453,000
Cary Katz	United States	431,000
Xuan Tan	China	419,000
Benjamin Pollak	France	403,000
Ivan Leow	Malaysia	383,000
Jinghui Ying	China	371,000
Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	369,000
David Peters	United States	335,000
Daniel Dvoress	Canada	330,000
Linus Loeliger	Switzerland	330,000
Bjorn Li	United States	293,000
Luc Greenwood	Canada	289,000
Daniel Cates	United States	280,000
Alex Foxen	United States	273,000
Jason Koon	United States	256,000
Henrik Hecklen	Denmark	252,000
Wai Kin Yong	Malaysia	248,000
Seth Davies	United States	242,000
Kristen Bicknell	Canada	232,000
Danny Tang	Hong Kong	232,000
Justin Bonomo	United States	220,000
Matthias Eibinger	Austria	220,000
Jesus Cortes	Spain	215,000
Michael Soyza	Malaysia	182,000
Benjamin Heath	United Kingdom	137,000
Louis Nyberg	Sweden	131,000
Michael Watson	Canada	106,000

Table/Seat	Name	Country	Chips
1-2	Jesus Cortes	Spain	215,000
1-3	Sergio Aido	Spain	494,000
1-5	Steve O Dwyer	United States	665,000
1-6	Daniel Cates	United States	280,000
1-7	Jason Koon	United States	256,000
1-9	Bjorn Li	United States	293,000
2-1	Kristen Bicknell	Canada	232,000
2-3	David Peters	United States	335,000
2-5	Louis Nyberg	Sweden	131,000
2-6	Linus Loeliger	Switzerland	330,000
2-8	Isaac Haxton	United States	592,000
2-9	Jochanan Robert Flink	Sweden	1,077,000
3-1	Daniel Dvoress	Canada	330,000
3-3	Julius Schamburg	Germany	836,000
3-5	Liang Xu	China	545,000
3-7	Lucas James Greenwood	Canada	289,000
3-9	Matthew Moss	United Kingdom	474,000
5-1	Jinghui Ying	China	371,000
5-2	Matthias Eibinger	Austria	220,000
5-3	Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	369,000
5-6	Xuan Tan	China	419,000
5-7	Jean-Noel Thorel	France	755,000
5-9	Michael Watson	Canada	106,000
6-1	Charlie Carrel	United Kingdom	635,000
6-2	Benjamin Pollak	France	403,000
6-3	Imad Derwiche	France	460,000
6-7	Ivan Leow	Malaysia	383,000
6-8	Samuel Greenwood	Canada	453,000
6-9	Talal Shakerchi	England	713,000
7-2	Henrik Hecklen	Denmark	252,000
7-3	Seth Davies	United States	242,000
7-6	Ben Heath	United Kingdom	137,000
7-8	Christopher Michael Soyza	Malaysia	182,000
7-9	Kahle Burns	Australia	661,000
8-1	Chi Hang Daniel Tang	Hong Kong	232,000
8-2	Cary Katz	United States	431,000
8-3	Alex Foxen	United States	273,000
8-5	Wai Kin Yong	Malaysia	248,000
8-7	Qiang Wang	China	531,000
8-8	Justin Bonomo	United States	220,000

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Rampant Rajkumar takes monstrous lead to final of Triton Million London

The nature of the Triton Million – A Helping Hand For Charity tournament, which is taking place this week in London’s Park Lane Hilton, was always guaranteed to bring thrills, spills and heartbreak. And today, as the field of players who paid £1.05 million just to sit down was trimmed to its final eight, we enjoyed and endured it all.

For some, such as Vivek Rajkumar, pictured above, and Stephen Chidwick, there was nothing but glee. They have by far the two biggest chip stacks going into tomorrow’s final day, and are the favourites to win the £19 million first prize, the biggest ever awarded at a poker tournament.

However, if you ever mention today to the Russian pro Igor Kurganov, you should do so solemnly and from a long distance, for your own safety. Kurganov finished this tournament in 12th place, on the stone bubble, leaving with nothing to show for his work. The 11 players from whom he was estranged guaranteed themselves a minimum £1.1 million. It was the bitterest pill for Kurganov to swallow.

Kurganov was one of a small clutch of players whose hopes hung by a thread as the original starting field of 54 was whittled towards its top 20 percent. By that point, other superstars including Jason Koon, Sam Greenwood, Justin Bonomo, Nick Petrangelo and Christoph Vogelsang were also already on the scrapheap.

The end of the road for poker’s most unfortunate bubble boy, Igor Kurganov

But then Kurganov’s pocket tens ran into the pocket jacks of Bill Perkins, and Kurganov was unable to find an outdraw when he really needed it most. It was actually Perkins who was officially under threat, with marginally fewer chips, but the hedge fund manager’s better hand remained more powerful and kept him alive. Kurganov was left only with shrapnel and lost it to Rajkumar moments later.

Perkins kindly agreed to donate 10 percent of his winnings from this tournament to REG charity, the foundation established by Kurganov and friends, and to whom he had made the same pledge. The donation will be in addition to the £2.7 million already heading to charitable concerns from this tournament, the result of the £50,000 entry fee going directly to charity.

After Kurganov’s departure, the original plan was then to lose two more players and set a final table of nine. But Hong Kong businessman Winfred Yu was quickly knocked out in 11th, collecting £1.1 million, before two more Asian stars went out almost simultaneously. Bryn Kenney knocked out Chin Wei Lim and Adams sent Wai Leong Chan home. It left us with only eight still in the hunt and a line-up for tomorrow as follows (in seat order):

1 – Timothy Adams, Canada, 5.735 million
2 – Bryn Kenney, USA, 5.54 million
3 – Alfred DeCarolis, USA, 5.455 million
5 – Vivek Rajkumar, India, 18 million
6 – Bill Perkins, USA, 2 million
7 – Stephen Chidwick, UK, 9.79 million
8 – Dan Smith, USA, 2.35 million
9 – Aaron Zang, China, 5.06 million

Winfred Yu, top, Chin Wei Lim, left, and Wai Leong Chan depart

“I could not have scripted this better,” said Rajkumar, the leader. He admitted that he wasn’t sure if he was even going to play the event, but became a last-gasp registrant when Rick Salomon extended an invitation to him. “I had other commitments with family and stuff, but then I thought I’d come and play this awesome event.”

Coincidentally, Salomon was the first player out of the tournament, busting yesterday within two hours of it starting. But Rajkumar’s superlative show raises the prospect of that partnership bookending the entire tournament in hugely unlikely fashion. “It’s nuts,” Rajkumar said.

The two other partnerships of note are between Alfred DeCarolis and Chidwick, and Perkins and Smith. All four have made it to the final, guaranteeing a significant payday for all of them. Both Chidwick and Smith have a further incentive: either of them could overtake Justin Bonomo as poker’s all-time leading money winner if they he prevails tomorrow. The same applies to Bryn Kenney, who has made yet another final table on the Triton Series.

Stephen Chidwick, left, and Alfred DeCarolis: the power partnership

Play will begin tomorrow at 1pm when the stakes have never been higher. The players are also all now required to dress for the occasion — a prospect that will mean a last-gasp shopping trip for both Perkins and Rajkumar at least.

“Holy shit! I gotta get a suit!” Perkins said. These are different types of businessmen.

PAYOUT INFORMATION

Triton Million for Charity
Dates: August 1-3, 2019
Buy-in: £1.05 million
Players: 54
Prize-pool: £54 million

1 – £19 million
2 – £11.67 million
3 – £7.2 million
4 – £4.41 million
5 – £3 million
6 – £2.2 million
7 – £1.72 million
8 – £1.4 million

9 – Wai Leong Chan, China, £1.2 million
10 – Chin Wei Lim, China, £1.1 million
11 – Winfred Yu, Hong Kong, £1.1 million

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS

Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive

Triton Announce £1m Buy-In Tournament for London, Richest Ever Held

The rumours have been flying around for several months, and today the details can finally be revealed. It’s true. It’s official. The Triton Super High Roller Series is coming to London, and will include the biggest buy-in poker tournament ever held.

Get ready for the Triton Million – A Helping Hand for Charity.

From August 1-3, 2019, in the Grand Ballroom of London’s Park Lane Hilton, the highest high rollers in the global game will play a tournament costing £1.05 million to enter.

The £50,000 entry fee will go to charity, promising several million pounds to a variety of worthwhile causes. Meanwhile the £1 million buy-in — more than it has ever cost before to play a poker tournament — will create one of the biggest prize pools of all time. The champion will likely earn more than has ever been won at a poker tournament anywhere in the world.

Uniquely, the field is guaranteed to provide a perfect balance between high-rolling recreational poker enthusiasts and the game’s top professionals. The only way to secure a seat into the event is to either be a recipient of an official invitation from Triton, or to be an invitation holder’s nominated guest.

Invitations have been sent to some of the best-known and successful businessmen and women (or recreational player) around the world, who share only one thing in common: their love for poker. The invitation holders are then permitted to register a guest to play the tournament too, with these official “plus-ones” likely to be poker’s top stars.

Triton Ambassador Tom Dwan and Triton Co-Founder Paul Phua

The field will be split for most of the first of three days, allowing the recreational players to play only against other recreational players, while the pros do battle with the pros. As players are knocked out, the fields will merge for the second and third days.

Further rules, intended to level the playing field between the recreational players and the professionals, include a prohibition on sunglasses, hats and hoodies. Players will not be allowed to cover any part of their body from the neck up. Furthermore, players in the final nine will be required to wear a formal suit for the final day’s play. (Full Triton Million Details Here)

The full Triton Super High Roller Series London festival will last for 10 days and feature at least seven events. Confirmed events and starting days so far are:

Note: Schedule subject to change, and other events may be added.

VENUE
London Hilton on Park Lane Grand Ballroom
Address: 22 PARK LANE, LONDON, W1K 1BE, UNITED KINGDOM

Please check out the Triton London 2019 Landing page for more information.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

Partypoker LIVE is the official tour partner of the Triton London 2019 festival. Created in January 2017 as a global poker tour, partypoker LIVE tour has grown into the world’s largest ever poker tour within just 12 months and is guaranteeing over $70,000,000 in the 2018/2019 season.

Jungleman Cates swings in to claim last-gasp Triton Montengro victory

True to form on the Triton Super High Roller Series, the completion of the pre-scheduled slate of tournaments did not mean the end of this festival in Montenegro. Where there are players, there is a game, and a last-minute turbo was added on the final day giving players one more chance to mix it up at the Maestral Resort, Budva.

This was a HKD 300,000 buy-in event, combining the players’ two greatest loves: short deck and full deck hold’em, alternating every six hands, with 25-minute levels. There were 27 entries including 10 re-entries and that produced a prize pool of HKD 7.86 million — as near as dammit to $1 million. There aren’t many places in the world where a last-minute event can build a seven-figure prize pool, but the Triton Series is one.

There also aren’t that many places in the world — the real world, at least — where you’ll find three titans of poker named Dan Cates, Jason Koon and Rui Cao engaged in a three-way scrap for heaps. Cates is best known as “Jungleman”, the online cash-game sensation (and sometime soft porn actor), while Cao sometimes goes by “PepperoniF” as he clashes with the best for the biggest online pots. Koon is a Triton Ambassador and three-time champion on this series, and the fact that it was those three left at the end gave an indication of how tough and prestigious these events are.

In a matter of about eight hours, it was all done and dusted and Cates posed for the winner’s picture this time. The week began for him writhing on a poker table with a harem of women in various states of undress. It ended with him sitting with in one hand, a trophy in the other, and another title, plus HKD 3.93 million ($501,000) to his name.

“Pretty good,” he said, when asked how it felt to become the latest Triton champion, earning his second title. But he was’t yet sure what the future held for him. “I didn’t think of that,” he said when asked how he was going to celebrate. “There’s a party. I guess I’ll go to that and see what happens next.”

With Jungleman, that could mean absolutely anything.

Cates beat Koon heads-up, although it only lasted one hand. Koon’s was outdrawn, ending this festival in some-way appropriate manner. “What a heads-up battle that was,” Koon chirped after watching his hopes of a fourth title vanish. “Good game, buddy,” he added. Koon took HKD 2.367 million ($302,000) for second.

Triton Ambassador Jason Koon has to settle for second

With only three places to be paid from this small field, the usual pre-bubble tension only really descended after Paul Phua had departed in fifth. Phua should look back on the week in Montenegro with fondness, having cashed a remarkable six times. But it was bittersweet for him as he still doesn’t have a title, and he could’t get one at the last opportunity either. He clung on with a short stack, but eventually he lost it.

Mike Watson, who became the actual bubble boy not long after, probably won’t remember this trip with any real enthusiasm. He’s been on the receiving end of more than his fair share of beats, and today went out on the bubble with to Dan Cates’s . It was a short deck hand and equities were close, but it’s another sickener for Watson. They got it in on the flop of , when Watson had tons of outs. But he shook his head resignedly as he missed, finishing a series in which he cashed only once, for HKD 850,000 ($108,306).

Another sickener for bubble boy Mike Watson

With the last three now assured a minimum of HKD 1.56 million ($199,000), the pressure eased. Cao was the first to bust in the money, losing a massive pot with to Cates’s aces. He couldn’t fully recover and eventually succumbed to Koon in a full-deck hand. We know it was full deck because Cao got his last shrapnel in with and lost to Koon’s .

The blinds were big and the stacks were shallow, so a titanic heads-up duel was always unlikely. But they got it all-in on the first hand, the dealer delivered the outdraw, and that was that for the festival.

We had close to 1,000 entries, a combined prize pool of more than $42 million, and 11 champions from 12 events. Steve O’Dwyer was the first, Cates was the last and Bryn Kenney won two.

All the reports are on the news page of the Triton website. We’ll see you in London in a couple of months.

Triton Montenegro Event #13 – Short Deck/NLHE Mix
Dates: May 17, 2019
Buy-in: HKD 300,000 ($38,000)
Entries: 27 (inc. 10 re-entries)
Prize pool: HKD 7,857,000 ($1,000,000)

1st: Dan Cates, USA — HKD 3,930,000 ($501,000)
2nd: Jason Koon, USA — HKD 2,367,000 ($302,000)
3rd: Rui Cao, France — HKD 1,560,000 ($199,000)

Photography by Joe Giron/www.pokerphotoarchive.com

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

Lamb prepares for WSOP tilt with maiden Triton title

Through the past decade, Ben Lamb has become one of the United States’ most successful tournament poker players, making the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event twice within six years. More recently, Lamb has decamped to Asia, where he has become a regular in the biggest cash games on the planet. But this week, as the Triton Super High Roller series visited Montenegro, Lamb has been mixing it up in both — and tonight he made a winning return to the tournament tables taking first place in the HKD 500,000 short deck event.

Thirty-four-year-old Lamb beat Romain Arnaud heads-up to top a 42-entry field, banking HKD 7.65 million ($994,500), his largest tournament cash outside of his two WSOP finals. He came second in the pot limit Omaha tournament only a few days ago here at the Maestral Resort & Casino, Budva, but now has his hands on a first trophy.

Ben Lamb: Biggest win outside of WSOP finals

The tournament played out in only one day and wrapped at 3.30am on Friday morning, with Lamb’s staying good against Arnaud’s . “Staying good” is far from a foregone conclusion in short deck hold’em, and the tournament saw countless outdraws and huge chip swings.

Heads up between Romain Arnaud and Ben Lamb

But Lamb retained his composure to leave Arnaud still seeking his first Triton title — and then said he’s heading back to Las Vegas tomorrow for a golf trip, before preparing again for the WSOP.

“It feels good,” Lamb said.

After the announcement that the start would be delayed and the levels shortened, a rush of players arrived to the poker room and quickly built a prize pool of HKD 20.8 million ($2.56 million). That came from 42 entries, including 13 re-entries.

Most of the usual suspects were in attendance, but many of them quickly departed too. When seven gathered around the final table, Romain Arnaud led, from Ben Lamb, with Tan Xuan, Timofey Kuznetsov and Robert Flink comfortable, and Isaac Haxton and Ivan Leow in the danger zone.

Last seven in Event #9 (l-r): Romain Arnaud, Timofey Kuznetsov, Isaac Haxton, Ivan Leow, Xuan Tan, Ben Lamb, Robert Flink

Leow found the quickest way out of that wretched zone, by winning a tournament-ending pot from Haxton. Haxton’s was undone by Leow’s and, though stacks were close, Leow had the most. He all but doubled just ahead of the bubble, whereas Haxton was free to make other plans.

That put them on the stone bubble, the difference between zilch and nearly a quarter of a million dollars. We sometimes grow immune to the sizes of the prizes, especially on the Triton Series, but a bubble that size is never something to be taken lightly. Certainly Flink, who fell on the wrong side of it, didn’t look especially pleased.

His last hand involved a couple of limps and then shove from him with . Unfortunately one of the player behind him was Arnaud, with both big stack and a big hand, . There was a king on the flop and Flink was drawing dead on the turn.

Robert Flink ups and leaves on the bubble

The bubble was not long burst before Kuznetsov — aka “Trueteller” — was next to depart in a hand that took a long time to play out, but which would have ended exactly the same way whatever had happened. Lamb opened with a raise to 320,000 and Kuznetsov, with a stack of around 2 million, used a time bank chip and then called. Tan Xuan used two time banks before he opted to fold, and that meant just two of the world’s best cash game players went to a flop. Lamb moved all in pretty much instantly, and Kuznetsov’s chips beat Lamb’s into the pot.

However Kuznetsov’s was behind Lamb’s and stayed there through turn and river. Kuznetsov won HKD 2.35 million ($305,500).

The next big moment also featured a kings vs. aces showdown, but it had a third hand involved as well for good measure. Leow found , Tan had , but Arnaud’s was menacing, especially when he had the covering stack.

The flop made the threat of a double knockout very real, then the turn increased the likelihood. But the river was a blank, giving Leow more than a double up and sending Tan, with the smallest stack, out in fourth. He won HKD 2.35 million ($305,500) from his second final table of the day. (He previously finished sixth in Event #10 for HKD 2.7 million.)

The last three players — Lamb, Arnaud and Leow — were all pretty even and the blinds hadn’t yet really caught up with their stacks. They had the time and the chips to pass a few between them, and the game slowed for a while. Arnaud ended up short when he had to fold to a big river shove from Lamb, but doubled up a couple of hands later with pocket nines, which flopped a set and Leow’s flush draw missed. He then moved into the lead.

After an hour or so, everything did shallow out, and Leow found himself on the slide. He got his last 2 million in with but he got properly short-decked by Arnaud’s . The board ran . Leow has had a tough time of it in Montenegro, but at least he got on the board at the end. He won HKD 3.25 million ($422,500).

Ivan Leow: Belatedly on the board in Montenegro

Both Lamb and Arnaud were in the money for the fourth time on the Triton Series, but neither yet had a title. This was obviously their big chance, and it could have gone either way. Arnaud had a lead of 98 antes to 60 when they went heads up, but Lamb chipped away until he had more than a two-to-one lead.

That soon evened itself out again, however, when Arnaud got it all in with and turned a flush to beat Lamb’s .

But back Lamb came and Arnaud could not get the chips to stick. Eventually, Arnaud made a weary push and Lamb made the call with his dominating hand. And then belatedly that was the end of that.

Triton Montenegro Event #9 – Short Deck
Dates: May 16, 2019
Buy-in: HKD 500,000 ($64,000)
Entries: 42 (inc. 13 re-entries)
Prize pool: HKD 20,080,000 ($2,560,000)

1st: Ben Lamb, USA — HKD 7,650,000 ($994,500)
2nd: Romain Arnaud, France — HKD 4,920,000 ($639,600)
3rd: Ivan Leow, Malysia — HKD 3,250,000 ($422,500)
4th: Tan Xuan, China — HKD 2,350,000 ($305,500)
5th: Timofey Kuznetsov, Russia — HKD 1,910,000 ($248,300)

Photography by Joe Giron/www.pokerphotoarchive.com

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

Brilliant Badziakouski claims third title, rises to top of Triton rankings

Late last night, as the poker room at the Maestral Resort & Casino, in Budva, Montenegro, emptied, only a handful of reporters, a security guard and one player remained. The tournament — the HKD 750,000 ($96,000) short deck — was long over for the night but that player, the Belarusian superstar Mikita Badziakouski, sat hunched over his phone, alone. He was watching the Triton Series live stream, on a 30-minute delay, and was desperate to know what had happened on the last two hands he played.

The truth was he had lost them both. He was out-flopped and maybe outplayed by Tan Xuan on the first, and on the second attempted to run a bluff against the same opponent and got raised off his hand. He will have learnt that Xuan had the nuts — Badziakouski was correct to fold — and then he went back to his room for some sleep to return at noon today to play on.

Flash forward another few hours, and Badziakouski is again the last player remaining in the room. But this time it’s because he is the champion, booking his third outright win on the Triton Series and adding another HKD 13.3 million ($1.73 million) to his name. Badziakouski may have struggled in the late stages last night but he was unstoppable today, racing up the counts and sitting at the top for hours, then knocking out four of his last five opponents to seal the deal.

He now leapfrogs Jason Koon at the top of the Triton Series all-time rankings and pushes his winnings on the series beyond $10 million.

The final hurdle today, from a field of 52 entries (including 23 re-entries) was the Canadian pro Sam Greenwood, who had also been heavily involved in the action at the end of Day 1. Greenwood scored an enormous double up with one of the last hands of the day, and that allowed him similar big-stack comforts today. But when only two were left, Badziakouski’s heads-up lead was too much and Greenwood had to settle for second, worth HKD 8.6 million ($1.118 million).

Sam Greenwood, left, and Mikita Badziakouski

It’s the penultimate tournament of this 11-event festival, and the third to name two millionaires. There are few more deserving than Badziakouski and Greenwood.

“This was the first time I went deep in a short deck tournament. I was losing for a long time in short deck. I’m happy to finally win,” Badziakouski said. “It feels great, obviously.”

The early going today was brisk and brutal — starting up again when it left off last night. There were 17 players who came back, but ten went within the first two levels. Goodbye Isaac Haxton, Richard Yong, Jesus Cortes, Timofey Kuznetsov, Ivan Leow, Sergey Lebedev, Michael Soyza, Wai Leong Chan, Winfred Yu and Daniel Dvoress. Every one of those players has had a story to tell from this year’s Triton Montenegro, but it was only as a bit part in this particular tournament.

Last seven (l-r): Sam Greenwood, Devan Tang, Mikita Badziakouski, Tan Xuan, Qiang Wang, Paul Phua, Andrew Robl.

It was also a bit part only for Devan Tang, but his elimination in sixth afforded him special bubble-boy status. Tang won a short deck event in Jeju in March, but he was eliminated when his pocket jacks lost to Andrew Robl’s pocket aces. They both flopped a set, but Tang couldn’t his another one-outer to survive. Robl, playing his first tournament of the week, and who had also been all in and survived on the bubble, was delighted.

Tang’s knockout was great news in particular for Paul Phua, the overnight short stack, who had again managed to cling on and cash again — his fifth of this festival and 12th overall, more than anybody. “Oh my god, Paul again?” said John Juanda as he dropped by the poker room to check on the latest.

Phua was potentially going to be the first man out in the money as he got his stack in with in a three-way coup. He was covered by Robl’s stack, but Robl’s was drawing thin. The other player, overnight leader Tan Xuan, had , and he was in even more trouble.

The board bricked out, which meant Phua all but tripled, but Xuan was knocked out. Even his big stack from yesterday wasn’t insurance against the short-stack buffeting, but Phua’s resurgence showed the possibilities on the other side of the coin. Xuan won HKD 2.7 million.

Although Robl survived that confrontation, he suffered what proved to be more than just a flesh wound. He had only 22 antes left and was plenty good enough to speculate it all against Mikita Badziakouski’s pocket nines. By the time they got the full stacks in, Robl had a pair of queens on the flop but Badziakouski then turned a nine and Robl was toast. His HKD 3,422,500 ($444,925) payout it probably not much more than a big blind in the cash games he’s been playing, but it was fun while it lasted.

“It feels good,” Robl said after he was knocked out. “It’s always disappointing to go out of tournament, but I never had any chips. Once the bubble went down that was a relief. In a tournament, especially a short deck tournament, you have to win your all-ins to make a final table. It’s always fun to win them.”

“Always fun” might be Phua’s motto at the poker tables too, and no one has played more this week than him. However, his trophy cabinet still remains empty as his tournament this time ended in fourth place. Phua got his stack of 2.125 million all in with pocket queens, but Badziakouski’s turned an ace to win. Phua added another…ah, he doesn’t care about that, it’s all about the trophy!

Paul Phua, in customary final table pose

Badizakouski was on a tear and Wang Qiang, aka Shanghai Wang, must have feared the worst when he got his chips all in with to be faced by Badziakouski’s . Although Wang was a decent favourite, Badziakouski couldn’t miss today. And sure enough, the turn won another one. Wang played exceptionally solid poker, but had to make do with HKD 5.7 million ($741,000).

Badziakouski had a near four-to-one chip lead when they got heads up — 316 antes to 81 — and it seemed a foregone conclusion. That was especially true when Badziakouski limped his button, Greenwood pushed for about 1.5 million, and Badziakouski called, quickly tabling to Greenwood’s . Greenwood, however, wriggled out of this trap thanks to a couple of queens on the board.

The remarkable comeback faltered again, however, and Badziakouski closed it out just after 6pm local time. This time his held against Greenwood’s and that was the end of that.

Triton Montenegro Event #10 – Short Deck
Dates: May 15-16, 2019
Buy-in: HKD 750,000 ($96,000)
Entries: 52 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: HKD 38,122,500 ($4,860,000)

1st — Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – HKD 13,300,000 ($1,729,000)
2nd — Sam Greenwood, Canada – HKD 8,600,000 ($1,118,000)
3rd — Wang Qiang, China – HKD 5,700,000 ($741,000)
4th — Paul Phua, Malaysia – HKD 4,400,000 ($572,000)
5th — Andrew Robl, USA – HKD 3,422,500 ($444,925)
6th — Xuan Tan, China – HKD 2,700,000 ($351,000)

Mikita Badziakouski and girlfriend Melika Razavi

Photography by Joe Giron/www.pokerphotoarchive.com

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

12BET is an online betting company specializing in sports betting and casino products. 12Bet became operational in 2007, quickly becoming one of the most popular online betting options throughout Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.partypoker LIVE was created in January 2017 as a global poker tour, with the aim of bringing large field, high guarantee tournaments to players all over the world. Within just 12 months the partypoker LIVE tour has grown into the world’s largest ever poker tour and is guaranteeing over $70,000,000 in the 2018/2019 season.

Tan Xuan lands on top in $95K short deck musical chairs

Another day, another massive short deck event on the Triton Super High Roller Series, this time demanding an enormous HKD 750,000 ($96,000) buy-in and quickly building a prize pool of more than HKD 38 million ($4.86 million). That means that this time tomorrow, two more millionaires will be named, with the first prize weighing in at HKD 13.3 million (nearly $1.7 million).

All that money came from 29 unique players and 24 re-entries, only 17 of whom survived 11 levels of play. With six places paid, it’s going to be a tense few hours to kick off Thursday’s action, which will be the penultimate day on this two-week festival.

The chip lead changed hands four times within the last level, with Isaac Haxton being overhauled first by China’s Wang Qiang and then by Sam Greenwood. Then Qiang’s neighbour Tan Yuan, pictured top, leapfrogged them all with two big hands against Mikita Badziakouski, not long after he knocked out Danny Tang.

Greenwood’s big double up was the most dramatic moment: he made a call for his tournament life three hands from the close of play. Haxton shoved for his 2 million stack, covering everyone at his table. It was a classic big-stack bully move and Greenwood wasn’t buying it. He called with his and caught Haxton with . Haxton missed and so Greenwood flew to 1.95 million.

By that point, Qiang had also edged towards the top of the counts, finishing with 1.881 million, but all eyes should really have been on Tan, who bagged 2.186 million.

Tan finished second to Jason Koon in the short deck main event here in Montenegro last year for the biggest cash of his career — HKD 18.121 million ($2.3 million), and Randy Lew described him as “one of the most experienced short deck players there is”. He showed all those skills late on, when he ironed out Badziakouski, twice.

Tan called a three-bet with , flopped an ace, and let Badziakouski barrel into him with . Tan rivered two pair and put out a big bet, eventually forcing Badziakouski to fold.

On the next hand, Badziakouski tried to represent a flush on a board of , but Tan was the man who actually had it. His was the nuts.

Badziakouski was intrigued enough by the hands to sit behind at the end of play to watch it through on the stream, on a 30-minute delay. “This last hour of poker has been amazing,” Lew added in the commentary box.

The hand between Haxton and Greenwood took place on the same table as Triton cashing machine Paul Phua, who is eyeing his 13th in-the-money finish on the series he co-founded. Phua’s quest received a late boost when he knocked out Triton Ambassador Jason Koon, but there’s still a healthy contingent of the Triton family involved, with Richard Yong also going deep and making it into the second day.

Although it was mostly very familiar faces in the field today, there was one newcomer to action this week: Andrew Robl sat down to play a tournament after mostly focusing on cash since arriving in Montenegro. He needed to survive a late scare when he got his chips all in with and was dominated by Jesus Cortes’s . But the board made Robl a straight to double him up and give him 756,000 in the overnight counts.

Here’s how they line up for tomorrow’s noon re-start. The day two seat draw is alongside.

Name	Country	Chips	Seat
Xuan Tan	China	2,186,000	3-3
Samuel Greenwood	Canada	1,950,000	2-7
Qiang Wang	China	1,881,000	3-7
Sergey Lebedev	Russia	1,585,000	1-6
Ivan Leow	Malaysia	1,217,000	1-5
Isaac Haxton	United States	1,024,000	1-3
Daniel Dvoress	Canada	896,000	3-2
Devan Tang	Hong Kong	894,000	1-1
Michael Soyza	Malaysia	866,000	3-6
Andrew Robl	United States	756,000	2-3
Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	648,000	1-7
Winfred Yu	Hong Kong	490,000	1-2
Timofey Kuznetsov	Russia	354,000	2-6
Wai Leong Chan	Malaysia	300,000	2-2
Jesus Cortes	Spain	256,000	2-1
Richard Yong	Malaysia	208,000	2-5
Paul Phua	Malaysia	193,000	3-5

Triton Montenegro Event #10 – Short Deck
Dates: May 15-16, 2019
Buy-in: HKD 750,000 ($96,000)
Entries: 52 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: HKD 38,122,500 ($4,860,000)

1st — HKD 13,300,000 ($1,694,000)
2nd — HKD 8,600,000 ($1,096,000)
3rd — HKD 5,700,000
4th — HKD 4,400,000
5th — HKD 3,422,494
6th — HKD 2,700,000

Photography by Joe Giron/www.pokerphotoarchive.com

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS