If Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit chose the game of poker to define his temperature scale, then ‘boiling point’ would be Triton Million London.

We knew that the £1,050,000 buy-in would make it the richest buy-in for a live poker tournament in history. Now, with 41-confirmed players, the £39m ($48m) prize pool makes it the largest for a live poker tournament outside of the WSOP Main Event.

Within the 41-person roster is a plethora of players with seven-figure buy-in experience, but only one of has reached the summit of this rather expensive dune – Elton Tsang.

Tsang vanquished 28-entrants to win the €11,111,111 first prize in the €1m buy-in Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza back in 2016. It remains his last ITM finish on The Hendon Mob. Although, he turned up in Montenegro during the 2018 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, ending up on the wrong side of the largest-ever cash game pot broadcast live (€2m versus Jason Koon).

Check it out.

Tsang joins the fray courtesy of an invite from Wiang Qiang. The businessman finished third in the HKD 750,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro recently.

Joining Tsang in the Triton Million event is Fedor Holz. Despite not featuring in a Triton event since 2017, Holz is the ninth most successful Triton player (money earned) with $5.6m of the Germans $32m coming in these incredible events. Holz may not play as much poker as the rest of the pro field, but he’s mustard when it comes to his performances in life-changing buy-in events. In 2018, he finished runner-up to Justin Bonomo in the $1m buy-in One Drop earning $6m.

Holz gets an invite to the party courtesy of Tony G. The former European Member of Parliament, will make sure the fans at home are kept on the edge of their seats with his usual mix of aggression both technically and verbally.

Orpen Kisacikoglu is one of the most consistent- non-pros frequenting the high roller circuit on the European Poker Tour, and his $3m in live tournament earnings makes him Turkey’s all time money earner. Kisacikoglu has invited Matthias Eibinger the feared Austrian with $7m in live tournament earnings. Eibinger hasn’t competed in a seven – figure buy-in before, but he has banked a seven-figure score, finishing runner – up to Jason Koon in a $100K buy-in at the ARIA in 2018.

Martin Kabrhel has been in sparkling form these past 18-months. The Czech star had an outstanding 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) winning the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller, and finishing second in the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Leon’s High Roller. Kabrhel earned more than €3.3m during that festival, and he gets into the lineup courtesy of an invite from Leon Tsoukernik. The owner of the King’s Resort in Rozvadov is a former €50,00 European Poker Tour (EPT) High Roller winner and finished fourth in the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl.

Two other recent additions are Zang Shu Nu and Tan Xuan. Xuan is a Triton reg with two wins on his resume, and a career-high $2.3m for finishing runner-up to Jason Koon in the $1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck. During the post-match interview at that event, Koon referred to Tan as one of the best Short-Deck players in the world.

Here is the up to date list of players.

Paul Phua – Tom Dwan

Richard Yong – Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates

Stanley Choi – David Peters

Wai Kin Yong – Rui Cao

Bobby Baldwin – Jason Koon

Cary Katz – Bryn Kenney

Kiang Yu – Mikita Badziakouski

Ivan Leow – Timofey Kuznetsov

Rob Yong – Sam Trickett

Alfred De Carolis – Stephen Chidwick

Chin Wei Lim – Wai Leong Chan

Chow Hing Yaung – Christoph Vogelsang

Pat Madden – Nick Petrangelo

Talal Shakerchi – Igor Kurganov

Sosia Jiang – Sam Greenwood

Wang Qiang – Elton Tsang

Zang Shu Nu – Tan Xuan

Tony G – Fedor Holz

Leon Tsoukernik – Martin Kabrhel

Orpen Kisacikoglu – Matthias Eibinger

Rick Salomon – TBA

World-Class Broadcast Talent

Everything about Triton is world-class, and that includes its broadcast team. ShareHand creates an unparalleled visual spectacle for the fans, and there is an array of talent, helping to develop the narrative.

In the commentary booth, Lex ‘RaSZi’ Veldhuis returns alongside Randy ‘nanonoko’ Lew, and joining them for the first time is Jeff Gross, Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman. The last time we saw Schulman at a Triton event was in Jeju (2018) where he took down the HKD 100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck. Outside of the commentary booth YouTube sensation, Marle Cordeiro, returns, as does Pete Latham, and joining them for the first time is the polymath, Liv Boeree.

Triton Million London takes place July 31 to August 8 with buy-ins at the £25,000, £50,000 and £100,000 price points, as well as the world-record £1m buy-in event, taking place Aug 1 – 3.

Here is the schedule in full.

https://triton-series.com/triton-super-high-roller-series-london-2019/

If Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit chose the game of poker to define his temperature scale, then ‘boiling point’ would be Triton Million London.

We knew that the £1,050,000 buy-in would make it the richest buy-in for a live poker tournament in history. Now, with 35-confirmed players, the £35m ($44m) prize pool makes it the largest prize pool for a live poker tournament outside of the WSOP Main Event.

Within the 35-person roster is a plethora of players with seven-figure buy-in experience, but only one of has reached the summit of this rather expensive dune – Elton Tsang.

Tsang vanquished 28-entrants to win the €11,111,111 first prize in the €1m buy-in Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza back in 2016. It remains his last ITM finish on The Hendon Mob. He did turn up in Montenegro during the 2018 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, where he lost the largest-ever cash game pot broadcast live (€2m versus Jason Koon).

Check it out.

Tsang joins the fray courtesy of an invite from Wiang Qiang, who finished third in the HKD 750,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro recently.

Joining Tsang in the Triton Million event is Fedor Holz. Despite not featuring in a Triton event since 2017, Holz is the ninth most successful Triton player for money earned with $5.6m of the Germans $32m coming in these incredible events. Holz may not play as much poker like the rest of the pro field, but he’s mustard when it comes to significant buy-in events. In 2018, he finished runner-up to Justin Bonomo in the $1m buy-in One Drop for $6m.

Holz gets an invite to the party courtesy of Tony G. The former European Member of Parliament (MEP), will make sure the fans at home are kept on the edge of their seats with his usual mix of aggression both technically and verbally.

Two other recent recruits are Zang Shu Nu and Tan Xuan. Nu has made six final tables in his career, without recording any mind-blowing scores. Xuan, a Triton reg, has two wins on his resume, and a career high $2.3m for finishing runner-up to Jason Koon in the $1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck. Koon referred to Tan as one of the best Short-Deck players in the world.

Here is the up to date list of players.

Paul Phua – Tom Dwan
Richard Yong – Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates
Stanley Choi – David Peters
Wai Kin Yong – Rui Cao
Bobby Baldwin – Jason Koon
Cary Katz – Bryn Kenney
Kiang Yu – Mikita Badziakouski
Ivan Leow – Timofey Kuznetsov
Rob Yong – Sam Trickett
Alfred De Carolis – Stephen Chidwick
Chin Wei Lim – Wai Leong Chan
Chow Hing Yaung – Christoph Vogelsang
Pat Madden – Nick Petrangelo
Talal Shakerchi – Igor Kurganov
Sosia Jiang – Sam Greenwood
Wang Qiang – Elton Tsang
Zang Shu Nu – Tan Xuan
Tony G – Fedor Holz
Rick Salomon – TBA

World-Class Broadcast Talent

Triton Million London takes place July 28 to August 8, with the £1m buy-in event running Aug 1-3.

By Lee Davy

Talal Shakerchi, CEO of Meditor Capital Management, and serious poker aficionado arrives at the King’s Lounge, in the Pavilion at the Rio during the 50th Anniversary of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). He’s here to do some promotional work for Triton Million London: A Helping Hand For Charity.

‘Raidalot,’ as he’s known in online poker circles, sits in a chair facing the camera. A red WSOP hoodie drowns his thin frame; spectacles sit snugly on his beak, and he wears a playful yet pensive look on his face.

A member of the production team claps, and beneath the incessant cricket-like riffle of thousands of poker chips, Shakerchi answers a question on how he has been so successful in life?

“Life is a lot like poker,” says Shakerchi, “You can prepare, train and upskill, but ultimately luck is going to be the predominant factor in your success.”

Luck and skill are the Yin and Yang of poker, and here sits Shakerchi confirming that the Yin runs straight through the heart of the highest echelons of the game – the 1%ers.

Warren Buffet once said, “If you’re the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.”

One wonders if that’s how the Triton Million concept began.

Triton Million London: Genesis

October 2018, and Leon Tsoukernik and his team at the King’s Resort in Rozvadov are hosting the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). A collection of the finest components of the high roller stratum are in town to compete in a €25,500 High Roller and two €100,000 Super High Rollers.

Amongst them are Triton Poker’s co-founders Richard Yong and Paul Phua, and Dusk till Dawn (DTD) Poker and Casino owner, Rob Yong. Over dinner, the conversation inevitably turns to poker. The Triton owners ask Yong if he thinks it’s feasible to run a big charity event, similar to the One Drop. Yong nods his head, and the germination process begins.

The trio next meets in Jeju, 2018, during the Triton Poker Series, and discuss buy-ins, structure, location and potential beneficiaries.

“At this time we had a concept, but no more,” says Triton co-founder, Paul Phua. “We decided to let the ideas stew, but the excitement was palpable. I knew we were on the verge of creating something special.”

Triton Million London: The Birth

Eight months pass before the two Yongs, and Phua meet at the Maestral Resort and Casino in Montenegro during the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series.

“We knew that it was important to at least match the previous buy-ins of the One Drop events, so we quickly agreed that the buy-in would be $1m,” said Phua. “Then, we began discussing locations. The group considered Montenegro and Manila, but I was always insistent that London would be the ideal venue. It’s a world-class environment, with an incredible infrastructure.

“It was important to make the venue accessible from all parts of the world, and many Asian High Rollers have homes and children based in the UK. I also know from playing with them that the American high rollers love London. Choosing London also meant the creation of the biggest buy-in event ever – a £1,050,000 buy-in, with £50,000 from each buy-in donated to charity. At this point, the group felt that the event should be open to all players, but there was something about this decision that kept me awake that night.”

Creating the biggest buy-in poker tournament the world has ever seen needs input from the players, and when it comes to high stakes action, there is nobody more experienced than Andrew Robl.

“I woke up the next morning, and knew that we had to try something different,” said Phua. “I called the group together, and this time invited Andrew Robl, and I walked them through the idea of the invitation format with the field split 50/50 between pros and non-pros.

“Andrew named a few American-based pros and non-pros he felt confident would play, and I did the same with the Asian players. A rough headcount threw up 22 players, and Triton Million London was born.”

The Format

“We began sending invites to non-pros, and as time went on, we believed that we could get 30-players. We dissected previous big buy-in events and noted what had worked well, and picked out areas we felt we could improve. One area I was sure we could improve was the format for the non-pros. The non-pros needed to feel as comfortable and interested as possible. So, I suggested we could segregate the pros from the non-pros on Day 1, and also place severe restrictions on players using clothing to hide the neck and face. It was also a unanimous decision to make the wearing of a suit and tie mandatory for the final table. One of the core challenges we had was determining the status of borderline cases of applicants for the non-pros. We know we cannot please everyone, but we are confident of being fair and not for personal interests.”

Being a Part of History

Triton Million London: a Helping Hand for Charity takes place over three days: Aug 1 -3 at London’s Hilton on Park Lane. So far, 31 players have paid a non-refundable £50,000 deposit. £1,550,000 has already been raised for charities such as The One Drop Foundation, Raising for Effective Giving (REG) and The Caring For Children Foundation, and the numbers keep rising.

Triton Million’s fathers, Phua and Richard and Rob Yong will compete alongside the likes of Bobby Baldwin, Talal Shakerchi and Rick Salomon. From the professional side three-time, Triton Poker Champions Jason Koon and Mikita Badziakouski will compete as does the hottest player in the world, right now, Bryn Kenney.

With Ali Nejad, Nick Schulman, Lex Veldhuis, Randy Lew, Jeff Gross, Marle Cordeiro, Liv Boeree and Pete Latham on the broadcast team, Triton Million will go down as one of the most spectacular broadcasts in history.

How does it feel to be an integral part of the genesis of such an incredibly complex and challenging project?

“I feel honoured in so many ways,” says Phua. “I am honoured to have Rob’s {Yong} and partypoker’s support, and also that Rob is playing in the event. I am also honoured to be a part of a great Triton team who all want to make this tournament a smooth yet exciting ride.

“On a personal level, for once, how I perform on the table will have to take a back seat. I already feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction in what we have done. If we can get 40 players or more, which I believe is realistic at this point, then it would be truly incredible.

“I want the players to have a wonderful and enjoyable experience. Pros and non-pros gambling in the highest stakes in the world, in a fair, grand and fun environment. If we can raise £2.5m for charity, and the media receives the event well, I will feel like I have done a good job not just for Triton, but for poker and society as a whole. I love this game. I love helping people who are less fortunate than I am. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of history.”

There’s that word again.

Luck.

Who is going to be the luckiest come August 3?

It’s a special tournament when it’s more challenging to create a list of the Top 5 businesspeople/recreational players than professionals, but that’s the brunt of it.

16 business people/recreational players have paid their £50,000 registration fee (so far). They face their peers on Day 1 of the Triton Million: A Helping Hand for Charity, August 1. If you fancy a flutter, here are our five top picks.

In no particular order:

1# Paul Phua

When it comes to making the final table of Triton Poker Super High Rollers, there is a Tony Stark accuracy to the crosshairs of Paul Phua. Triton’s co-founder has made it to the final nine places no fewer than 13-times and stands alone at the top of that merit system.

Phua, who has won more than $11.4m playing live tournaments, is often cited by his peers as being the greatest non-professional of the lot. Included in his achievements is a £1m victory in a £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event held in London (2012), and a victory in the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza (2016).

The only thing missing from Phua’s CV is a Triton victory. He’s come close, finishing runner-up twice in 2019, finishing second to Jason Koon in the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck in Jeju for $2,025,607, and second to Rui Cao in the same event in Montenegro for a career-high $2,178,871.

2# Richard Yong

Paul Phua sits #2 in the Malaysian All-Time Money list, and the person who occupies the one rung ahead of him is Richard Yong. The man who co-founded Triton with Phua has earned $12,254,112 competing in live tournaments, including two victories.

Yong’s first win came in 2015 when he topped a field of 70-entrants to win the prestigious AUD 100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions for $1,477,560. His second made him a Triton Champion when in 2018 he conquered a 35-entrant field in an HKD 250,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max in Montenegro for $388,024.

Yong has finished ITM seven times at Triton events, including finishing runner-up to Manig Loeser in the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event in Montenegro (2017) for $1,441,797, and a career-high $2,130,848 in the HKD 2m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event in Jeju, finishing third (2018).

3# Ivan Leow

Ivan Leow has the fastest growing reputation of any non-professional in the world. In 2016, Leow earned $7,096 playing live tournaments. In 2017, he did a trifle better, winning $110,547, and then in 2018, he exploded.

With $5,691,986 in live tournament earnings, 2018 was a breakout year for Leow. Included in that haul were two victories in Triton events: a win in an HKD 500,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck for $1,079,367, and a win at a Triton event in Sochi for $1,133,555. Leow also won the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) for $1,422,140.

Leow has finished ITM, nine times in Triton events.

4# Talal Shakerchi

Talal Shakerchi wins poker tournament — Image from Pokerstars

When you have the financial capability to pay £1m to compete in a poker tournament, and then finish 6/5720 in the PokerStars Sunday Million, then you have to love the game of poker.

Talal Shakerchi has been a mainstay in the high stakes stratum for as long as anyone. He’s one of the few players to ever compete in all four $1m/€1m buy-in One Drop events and has accrued $7,354,464 playing live tournaments.

Shakerchi’s presence in the Triton Million will be his first Triton experience, but London is his backyard. He’s won eight live tournaments in his career. His most significant victory came in London when he took down a 137-entrant £10,300 High Roller at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in London.

Shakerchi made the final table of December’s Super High Roller Bowl (4th), the PokerStars Players Championship (8th) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100k (5th), both in January. He also enjoyed deep runs in the $50,000 No-Limit High Roller (13th), and $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship (11th) at the recent WSOP.

5# Cary Katz

Cary Katz is the most consistent non-professional performing in the live tournament scene. Katz is the founder of Poker Central and the ARIA High Roller Series, and he holds the record for most cashes in ARIA live tournaments (61).

Katz has earned $19,870,459 playing live tournaments and is in impressive form cashing ten times in the summer (WSOP & ARIA events), including an incredible six final tables.

21 live tournament wins is a fantastic return for a non-professional, and included amongst those results are $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em victories in the PCA and Aussie Millions.

The only time Katz has experienced a Triton event (Jeju, 2018), he finished runner-up to Kenneth Kee in an HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck for $1,773,722. He has also made money twice in $1m/€1m buy-in events coming eighth in 2014 for $1.3m, and fifth in 2016 for $1.5m.

Triton Million: a Helping Hand for Charity is less than a month away. The cast continues to grow, and at last count, it totalled 28, the same number of entrants who competed in the 2016 €1m buy-in Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza – the richest poker tournament the world has ever seen. That record falls on August 1, because to compete in the Triton Million you have to stump up £1,050,000.

Triton Million’s unique and innovative format means that for the first time in history, there will be an equal division of recreational players versus professionals, but these recreational players aren’t scavengers. Some of them treat their hobby with as much respect as their business dealings.

In a one-off, freezeout event of this magnitude, anyone can win. The Poker Gods will have a part to play. Edges, no matter how small, mean everything, and the home-court advantage is one of those edges.

You may think that there’s no such thing as ‘home-court advantage’ in poker, but there is. Five players view any event created by Triton as a ‘home’ event, and as such, they have earned more money on this tour than anyone else.

Top 5 Triton Earners of All Time

Mikita Badziakouski – $11,778,001
Jason Koon – $10,884,804
Bryn Kenney – $9,683,224
Paul Phua – $7,783,159
Rui Cao – $6,774,900

If anyone is going to win the Triton Million, you can’t look further than these five players.

Let’s analyse their results in more detail.

Mikita Badziakouski

Mikita Badziakouski has earned more money competing in Triton events than anyone. The Belarusian has finished in the money (ITM) nine times and won an incredible three titles (a record he holds with Jason Koon).

Badziakouski won the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event in Montenegro for $2,499,184. Then in Jeju, he won the HKD 2m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for another $5,257,027 – making him the first player to win back-to-back Main Event No-Limit Hold’em titles. The Belarusian’s most recent Triton victory came in Montenegro in May when he won the HKD 750,000 Short-Deck No-Limit Hold’em for $1,694,397.

Only Justin Bonomo earned more live tournament dollars than Badziakouski in 2018 ($25.4m v $14.5m), and so far in 2019, Badziakouski has won $4.1m, including back-to-back $25,000 High Rollers at the ARIA at the beginning of July, so he goes into the event in fine form.

Jason Koon

Jason Koon has finished ITM on 11 occasions and has also won three titles (a record shared with Badziakouski). Koon made such a powerful impact on the Triton tour that the founders climbed into the crater to offer him a deal to become Triton’s first-ever ambassador, a handshake that Koon made.

It all began in 2018, when Koon banked the $3,579,836 first prize in the HKD 1m Short-Deck No-Limit Hold’em in Montenegro, before taking a starring role in the Jeju’s 2019 competition winning both the HKD 1m Short-Deck No-Limit Hold’em for $2,840,945, and the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Refresh for $973,306.

Koon earned $12.4m in 2018 (third behind Bonomo & Badziakouski), and so far this year has added another $5.6m to that tally.

Bryn Kenney

Bryn Kenney has finished ITM six times on the Triton Poker tour and has won two titles.

Kenney finished runner-up to Timothy Adams in March’s Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju, earning $3,062,513. Undeterred, Kenney turned up in the next event in Montenegro and won the 79-entrant HKD 500,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max for $1,431,376, and the 75-entrant HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for $2,713,859.

Kenney is one of two players (David Peters the other), who could take over Justin Bonomo at the top of the Global All-Time Money List if he wins the Triton Million London. Kenney has $34,925,380 in total live earnings (Bonomo has $45,014,707). Kenney comes into this event as one of the hottest players in the world, sitting #1 in the 2019 Earnings List with $9.2m.

Paul Phua

Triton’s co-founder is the most consistent performer on tour with a record 13-cashes, but he’s still to win a title. It’s worth pointing out that all 13 of those ITM finishes ended with him sitting at the final table.

Professional poker players pride themselves on getting into those Top 3 spots, and Phua has done that on five occasions. What’s worth noting about Phua’s consistency is he’s currently in the middle of an incredible run of results.

It began in March with three final tables in Jeju, including finishing runner-up to Koon in the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck for $2,025,607, and ended with him making an incredible five final tables in Montenegro, including finishing runner-up to Rui Cao in the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck for $2,178,871.

What a moment it would be for Phua to win that first trophy.

Rui Cao

A cash game player by trade, Rui Cao, is one of the most feared competitors on the Triton Super High Roller Series and will be one of the favourites to win the Million event.

Cao has made money on six occasions in Triton events, and they’ve all been close shaves. In May 2018, Cao made the final table of two games, including finishing runner-up to Badziakouski in the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for $1,683,711. Two months later, and Cao turned up in Jeju, finishing runner-up to Ivan Leow in the HKD 500,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck for $672,852.

In the last Triton Series event in Montenegro, Cao made three final tables, finally taking one down, winning the 98-entrant HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for $3,351,130.

Triton London runs from July 31 to August 8 with the Triton Million: a Helping Hand for Charity playing the starring role August 1 to 3.

Who do you think is going to take this one down?

Here’s the full schedule of events.

https://triton-series.com/triton-super-high-roller-series-london-2019/

A horse stood in its stalls, air billowing from its nostrils like steam from a kettle; his tail swatting the flies hellbent on creating an itch, back hooves scraping the ground. Looking ahead, focused on nothing else, it leapt over the door, leaving his kin behind, landing in a field filled with some of the most magnificent creatures the horse had ever seen.

“Who are you?” Asked one of the high stakes thoroughbreds.

“I’m Danny Tang.”

Just like that, he was one of them.

Tang made the leap during the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, making two final tables, finishing 8/79 in the HKD 500,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed for $179,719, and 2/75 in the HKD 1m No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, for $1.7m, and he has no intention of going back.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) officials agreed to insert Event #90: $50,000 Final Fifty into the schedule at late notice after some prominent members of the high roller fraternity suggested the initial $50,000 event occurred too early in the series.

Ben Heath won that first $50,000 event, after ploughing through a field of 110-entrants, and the Final Fifty pulled in 13-more. Heath once again made a deep run, finishing 10th, and by the time the final seven prepared to take their seats for the ultimate face-off, Brandon Adams, the new $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em Online High Roller winner, had the chip lead. Tang remained in the middle of the pack, waiting to leap.

Starting Day Chip Counts

Seat 1: Brandon Adams – 11,970,000
Seat 2: Michael Addamo – 5,765,000
Seat 3: Danny Tang – 4,550,000
Seat 4: Keith Tilston – 1,500,000
Seat 5: Ali Imsirovic – 2,190,000
Seat 6: Sam Soverel – 3,600,000
Seat 7: Adrian Mateos – 7,375,000

The Action.

Ali Imsirovic Eliminated in 7th Place For $212,292.

Ali Imsirovic is one of the in-form players in the world, so the field would have had a fuzzy feeling to see the Bosnian go the way of the CD in seventh place.

With blinds at 125k/250k/250k, Imsirovic shoved every chip into the pot from the cutoff, and Brandon Adams called in the big blind. Imsirovic’s A8 was the better hand, but Q5 rivered two-pair to make that fact irrelevant.

Keith Tilston Eliminated in 6th Place For $275,874.

In the same level, Keith Tilston shoved from under the gun for 1.18m, and Adrian Mateos did likewise for 4.51m in the cutoff. Nobody else fancied a piece of the action, and Mateos and his pocket kings made Tilston’s Th8h look like a crappy old moped after the five-card dash.

Adrian Mateos Eliminated in 5th Place For $367,186.

The Winamax pro couldn’t turn Tilston’s chips into his fourth WSOP bracelet, after seeing his stack dwindle to the point where with blinds at 150k/300k/300k, he moved all-in for 2.85m from the small blind holding Jc8c. Adams looked down to see QdJc in the big blind, and it was good enough for the call. Neither hand improved, and that means, Adams’ hand was the stronger, and Mateos left in fifth.

Brandon Adams Eliminated in 4th Place.

By this time, Tang had created some distance between himself and the other three players, and he extended that lead further after removing Adams from the equation. With blinds at 250k/500k/500k, Tang opened the button with AhQd and then called when Adams moved all-in holding AcJc – no clubs, no jacks, no hope for Adams.

Danny Tang – 30.6m
Sam Soverel – 5.1m
Michael Addamo – 1.3m

Michael Addamo Eliminated in 3rd Place.

Tang took a 31.9m v 5.1m chip lead into heads-up after eliminating Michael Addamo in the third place. The pair got it in with Tang’s Kd9d dominating the Kh5d of the Australian, and it remained that way after the flop, turn and river.

Heads-Up.

Soverel doubled up once (AhTs>Qh3h), but the Poker Central High Roller of the Year wasn’t able to build any momentum. It was Tsang’s tournament. A defining moment in his career. And it ended with blinds at 300k/600k/600k, when Soverel moved all-in for 11.2m, and Tsang made the call.

Soverel was way behind with Ac3h facing AhJh, but he took a shock lead on the fourth street (TsTc5d3c). Tang would later tell PokerNews that he had been able to bolt out of the stables because he was ‘lucky’, and perhaps he had this river card in mind when he said that as the Ad landed right on cue to give Tang the same two-pair hand, but with a stronger kicker.

It’s the ninth time Tang has said “Cheese,” and with $6.3m in live tournament earnings, he’s closed the gap on Stanley Choi to $1.4m at the top of the Hong Kong All-Time Money List.

Final Table Results

Danny Tang – $1,608,406
Sam Soverel – $994,072
Michael Addamo – $697,375
Brandon Adams – $500,282
Adrian Mateos – $367,186
Keith Tilston – $275,874
Ali Imsirovic – $212,292

A businessman preferring high stakes poker games to trips to the amusement park has taken down the $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em Online High Roller at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

After several high profile players complained of playing 18-hour sessions without making money in the 50th Anniversary bracelet events, 45-year-old, Brandon Adams, won a bracelet in less than 12 hours playing on WSOP.com.

Adams conquered a field of 593-entrants to capture the $411,561 first prize, playing under the pseudonym ‘DrOctagon.’ Adams was like a minotaur at the final table, sticking the horn into the man with more Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles than anyone alive or dead, Calvin Anderson, and the two-time bracelet winner, Norbert Szécsi.

We can’t tell you if Adams’ online win was a fluke or if the entrepreneur is a hardcore online grinder in his spare time. We do know that the Wichita man has accrued close to $4m competing in some of the toughest live tournaments in the world, including finishing runner-up to Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen in the 2010 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship at the WSOP.

Other highlights in Adams’ hobby include a runner-up finish to James Chen in the 2017 AUD 25,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions for $447,363, a victory in a $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $819,000 in the 2017 Poker Masters, a win in a $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $370,000, and a success in a $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em during the 2018 Poker Masters for $400,000.

Brandon Adams Reacts Well to Court Case Kick in the Balls

In early June, Adams pleaded guilty to an illegal gambling misdemeanour in his home town of Wichita. Adams received three years probation, 200 hours of community service, and had to forfeit close to $1.1m as part of his plea deal. He could have received a year’s jail time.

The court heard how Adams concealed the transfer of betting information for an illegal poker game taking place in his neighbourhood, including hiding handwritten ledgers and electronic systems that showed the financial management of the illegal poker games. The beak decided that Adams’ actions kept the other participants in the game hidden in the shadows hence the slap on the wrist.

Adams, who owns a series of health clubs and car dealerships, told PokerNews after pleading guilty that he just wanted to get on with his life, and was eager to play some poker.

Final Table Results

Brandon Adams – $411,561
Nabil Abdien – $253,643
Vladimir Alexandrov – $173,241
Calvin Anderson – $120,422
Mike Vanier – $85,449
Norbert Szécsi – $61,653
Lior Orel – $45,429
Harsukhpaul Sangha – $34,071

Luke Schwartz is a hawk; a pigeon killer, but deep down, inside that fist-sized blob of matter that pumps 1.5 gallons of blood around his body, there is a romantic poker idealist.

There was a time when Schwartz would have discarded the bracelet like the dead skin of a snake, with the money pulling him in like the Millenium Falcon stuck in the Death Star’s tractor beam. To many, Schwartz was Darth Vadar, the ultimate bad guy; to others, he was Han Solo, a hero, albeit in the maverick sense of the word.

Today, he stands on top of the Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw world, hallucinogen dizzy, after conquering a 100-player field to win his first-ever bracelet.

“It’s a nice thing to have as a poker player.” Said Schwartz.

The 35-year-old rarely steps foot into a live tournament arena. As a decade-plus cash game grinder, he knows the suicide rates are high if you make that move, a cautionary tale heeded as this is his first victory in an open event.

Johannes Becker, a man that Schwartz claimed is the ‘best 2-7 player in the world,’ led the final 32 players at the end of Day 1, with Schwartz third in chips. George Wolff led the last nine at the end of Day 2, with Schwartz, the only other player with more than a million in chips.

And it would be those three: Becker, Wolff and Schwartz that would contest the bracelet at the end of Day 3.

But before we get there, let’s take a look at the nutshell action on Day 3.

Nutshell Action: From Nine to One.

Mike Gorodinsky eliminated the short-stacked Daniel Ospina. Both players drew two cards, and Gorodinsky’s 8x6x5x4x3x smashed the Kx7x5x3x2x of the Colombian, leaving him a $24,604 prize for his ninth-place finish.

Mark Gregorich eliminated Brian Hastings in eighth place when his Jx7x4x3x2x beat Jx8x7x4x3x, and we lost the former WSOP Player of the Year when Schwartz sent Gorodinsky to the rail with Tx7x6x5x2x beating 9x8x4x3x3x.

Schwartz then shot into the lead faster than snot flying out of an unclamped mouth suffering from a cold, when he eliminated the bracelet winner, Calvin Anderson in sixth place – 8x6x5x4x2x beating Tx8x7x6x5x.

Gregorich took his second scalp of the final table when he sent Yueqi Zhu to the cash desk earlier than he would have liked. Gregorich stood pat on 9x8x5x3x2x, forcing Zhu to break Tx9x7x6x5x, and the resulting AxKx was not the two card combo he wanted.

Schwartz then took a commanding lead into three-handed action after eliminating Gregorich – 8x6x5x4x2x beating 9x7x6x4x3x.

Schwartz – 2,750,000
Becker – 1,650,000
Wolff – 1,650,000

Schwartz never lost the chip lead in the three-handed war, and would take a 4,585,000 v 1,415,000 chip advantage into a heads-up duel with Wolff after eliminating Becker 8x7x6x4x2x > 8x7x6x5x3x.

Becker would later tell PokerNews that it was “the most intense three-handed battle ever.”

A pigeon killer of the highest calibre, this would be Schwartz’s first Wolff pelt. Schwartz threw it over his shoulder after both players patted on the last draw and Schwartz took the bracelet with 8x7x6x4x2x bettering the worse eight of his opponent.

The win moves Schwartz to $1.7m in live tournaments, in only his fifth-ever cash at the WSOP, his best performance, finishing 4/108 in the 2012 $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship for $406,736, a tournament that he will be hoping falls under his spell like this one did.

Final Table

Luke Schwartz – $273,336
George Wolff – $167,936
Johannes Becker – $116,236
Mark Gregorich – $81,635
Tueqi Zhu – $58,547
Calvin Anderson – $42,898

In a recent poll run by CardPlayer 61 high-stakes poker players chose the best poker player in the world, and Stephen Chidwick picked up more than 3x the votes of his nearest rival.

Chidwick is the most successful live tournament player in England with more than $24.7m in earnings, but until a few days ago, each time he had spun his fishing reel over the rich waters of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) he had never caught anything other than a few old boots.

All of that changed when Chidwick won the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, beating 278-entrants, to capture the $1,618,417 and his first gold bracelet. Ironically, after trying so hard to win one for so long. Chidwick, a new father, arrived at the WSOP late, after a family trip to Paris, and took down the bracelet in his first event, not even his strongest, after late-regging on Day 2.

It’s a well-deserved victory after 52 WSOP cashes and 13 final tables, and it comes three months after winning $1,128,685 for finishing runner-up to Jason Koon in an HK$ 1m No-Limit Hold’em event at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju. It’s his 17th live tournament win and his sixth seven-figure score since March 2018.

While Chidwick is a No-Limit Hold’em genius, he’s not exactly rolling the dice when he has four cards in his hands. Chidwick won the $25,000 PLO event at the US Poker Open in February, beating a much smaller field of 39-entrants to claim the $351,000 first prize. He made the final table of a 78-entrant AUD 5,000 PLO event in the 2016 Aussie Millions, finishing eighth. And, in 2014, he finished 10/1128 in a $1,000 PLO event at the WSOP.

Chidwick beat James Chen, heads-up, to claim the bracelet. It was Chen’s third final table, and the closest he had come to claim one. The final table also housed the 12th place-finisher in the $50,000, Matthew Gonzales, four-time bracelet winner, Robert Mizrachi, the recent $10,000 Short-Deck winner, Alex Epstein, and the legend Erik Seidel.

A pivotal moment in the final table came when Chidwick took out Alex Epstein in the fifth position. Until that hand, only Epstein had led, outside of Chidwick, during the Day 4 shenanigans.

With blinds at 150k/300k, Epstein raised to 1,050,000 from under the gun, and Chidwick was the only caller from the small blind. The Dealer dunked As5d3s onto the table like the dregs of the deck, and Chidwick check-called a 1,200,000 Epstein c-bet. The 4d produced a dizzying array of draws on the turn, and after Chidwick checked, Epstein moved all-in for a smidgen more than 4 million, and Chidwick called. Epstein was chasing a flush draw with KsQcTc2s, and Chidwick was ahead and held with AdQdTs9c.

After that hand, Chidwick never surrendered the chip lead despite Chen pushing him all the way.

Final Table Results

Stephen Chidwick – $1,618,417
James Chen – $1,000,253
Matthew Gonzales – $699,364
Robert Mizrachi – $497,112
Alex Epstein – $359.320
Erik Seidel – $264,186
Wasim Korkis – $197,637
Ka Kwan Lau – $150,483

Three other stars of the game that pressed most of the right keystrokes in this one included online legend Ben Tollerene (11th), three-time bracelet winner, Paul Volpe (15th), and the incredible Sean Winter (16th).

Raising a child is one of the most complex tasks you will encounter before you become the pig on the spit. A question guaranteed to induce insomnia in the mindful is whether to give your children oars. It starts there, then goes deeper – do you show them how to handle them, how to row, and what direction? Do you jump in, tell them to shift-over, and start rowing?

It all boils down to attitude.

How do you cultivate the right attitude, and what does right even mean? It changes depending on the art of culture and how it’s spray painted over your world.

Let’s start with Daniel Negreanu.

Kid Poker is the face of poker. When David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen considered who to choose to deliver a poker Masterclass Negreanu got the call. With more than $40m earned playing live tournaments, a place in the Poker Hall of Fame, Negreanu is mustard.

Negreanu is the most successful poker player the world has ever seen because he’s developed the right attitude. When it comes to the ingredients that make up a successful life, missing a ladle of ‘attitude’ is like making oxtail soup without the ox’s tail.

Most people focus on strategy, tactics and execution – as does Negreanu, but if the attitude that underpins these essential tools is missing, you have a body devoid of cartilage.

Before the weekend blew its nose, Negreanu lost to John Hennigan, heads-up, in Event #41: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. It would have been Negreanu’s seventh bracelet. Instead, it’s Hennigan’s sixth.

It’s Negreanu’s eighth cash of the series, and his second final table after coming sixth in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty at the start of the summer. More notably, it’s his sixth runner-up finish since winning PokerStars’ Shark Cage in 2015, and his eighth since locking up his second World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year badge with a victory in the €25,600 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).

If you think that’s more heartache than a child feels watching Bambi for the first time, then consider that Negreanu has lost eight-times, heads-up, for a bracelet.

2017: lost to Abe Mosseri in the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo Championship
2014: lost to Daniel Colman in the $1m Big One for One Drop
2014: lost to Paul Volpe in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball
2013: lost to Eli Elezra in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
2009: lost to Barry Shulman in the 2009 WSOPE Main Event
2009: lost to John Parker in the $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six-Handed
2003: lost to Phil Hellmuth in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em
2002: lost to Mike Matusow in the $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo Split

To come so close to the elation of victory only to step aside, suck it up and applaud while the man who got luckier than you, or played better than you, picks up the most coveted prize in poker, so many times – for that not to break you, you’re going to need the right attitude.

Final Table Results

John Hennigan – $245,451
Daniel Negreanu – $151,700
David “ODB” Baker – $104,416
Mikhail Semin – $73,810
David Singer – $53,621
Chris Tryba – $40,066
Frank Kassela – $30,817
Frankie O’Dell – $24,419

Three other ghosts gliding through poker tables deep in this one were bracelet winners Michael Mizrachi (9th), Paul Volpe (11th), and Scott Seiver (12th).

Wins For Mizrachi, Mueller and Cheong

A few days before Michael ‘The Grinder” Mizrachi racked up his first cash at the series with a ninth-place finish in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, he had taken down his fifth bracelet in nine years making him the most successful bracelet winner of the decade. Mizrachi beat Robert Gray, heads-up, to win the $142,801 first prize in the 460-entrant Event #27: $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.

Negreanu couldn’t finish for the Canadians, but Greg Mueller could, winning his third bracelet and his first in a decade, after taking down the 172-entrant Event #29: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Mueller won $425,347 after beating the classy Colombian, Daniel Ospina, heads-up. The race to the bracelet became so hot in this one that the WSOP needed the burns unit nearby with the likes of Dario Sammartino (3rd), Phil Galfond (8th), Anthony Zinno (10th), Brian Hastings (12th), and Jennifer Harman (16th) all coming within a cough drop of winning.

Joseph Cheong took the tag of ‘one of the best players never to win a bracelet’, stitched it into the fabric of a wheelchair, boarded a plane to Gatwick, took a coach to the white cliffs of Dover, and then let it trundle over the edge.

Cheong defeated 6,214-entrants to capture the $687,782 first prize and first bracelet of his career in Event #34: $1,000 Double Stack No-Limit Hold’em after beating David Ivers, heads-up.

The PokerNews crew sticking a microphone in his mush shortly after his win trying to vacuum Cheong’s emotion after finally crossing the finishing line were disappointed with the response.

“I have been playing poker for so long; it was just another day at work.”

Before breaking his duck, Cheong had lost three-times when heads-up for the bracelet as well as coming third in the WSOP Main Event in 2010, a performance that made him a star.

2014: lost to Steven Wolansky in the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball
2013: lost to Philipp Gruissem in an AUD 50,000 No-Limit High Roller at the WSOP-APAC
2012: lost to Aubin Cazals in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max
2010: finished third in the 2010 WSOP Main Event

The former WSOPE Main Event Champion, Jack Sinclair, finished 27th in this one.

The Best of the Rest

Phil Hellmuth ran deep in Event #28 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em finishing 16/2477, and Shaun Deeb finished 28th in the same event. Adrian Mateos finished 22nd, and Manig Loeser finished 27th in a 754-entrant, $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed. Shaun Deeb finished runner-up to Adam Friedman in the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship. Friedman successfully defended his title in that one: Nick Schulman finished 6th, Jeff Lisandro was 10th, and Luke Schwartz finished 18th.

Andrew Lichtenberger finished 4/313 in the $3,000 No-Limit Shootout. Martin Zamani (9th), Justin Bonomo (10th), Dario Sammartino (11th), James Obst (13th), Rainer Kempe (16th), Byron Kaverman (23rd) and Kristen Bicknell (24th) also ran deep in that one.

Rainer Kempe finished 3/2403 in the $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha DeepStack Event with Calvin Anderson also finishing 11th in that one.

Loren Klein became only the third player to win four bracelets in four successive years when he topped the 218-entrant field in the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event. Mike Sexton (7th), David Benyamine (11th), Jeff Lisandro (15th), Chris Ferguson (20th), Alex Foxen (22nd) and Cary Katz (27th) ran deep in that one.