Category: My news, views and fun facts

Standing patiently by the reception desk, notepad in hand, hair that you grimace at, daily, knowing it’s desperation to severe itself from your body, eager to find a drain. The ace of spades tars a hand holding a pen, his ginger beard in need of a shave.

Justin Bonomo walks past him.

Nothing.

Timothy Adams.

He doesn’t flinch.

Isaac Haxton.

He doesn’t move a muscle.

Then, walking at his typical brisk pace, Warren Lush by his side like a faithful dog, Tony G enters his orbit. Suddenly, as if a pin has pricked his prick, he shifts into action.

“Can I have your autograph, please?”

Tony G stops, grabs the notepad and pen, scribbles furiously, and continues carving a path through the Triton Million tunnel. The man smiles, about turns, and heads down the escalator.

Tony G is a polarising figure.

You either love him or hate him.

This man loved him.

Tony G had a rocket-bitter time in London, locking his targeting laser onto a raft of buy-ins that were so high, entering them would give you motion sickness, and he bricked every single one of them.

The Hilton fractured him, but it didn’t break him. After the event ended, rather than head to the nearest political rally to espouse his views on climate change, cryptocurrency or the future of windmills, he hopped on a private jet, destined for the King’s Resort.

Leon Tsoukernik’s gaff is a happy stomping ground for Tony G. In December; he celebrated his birthday at the King’s Resort, two-months after finishing 4/33 in the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em ‘Leon’s High Roller’ at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). When G skips his stones in Rozvadov, they tend to reach the other side.

Tony G Wins The €25,000 Triton Short-Deck.

The second of Triton’s two events at partypoker’s MILLIONS Europe escapade was a €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck event. The event attracted 27-entrants, and after two-days of insane action, G was the man creating the largest mushroom clouds.

G was at his mercurial best, bad-mouthing the competition, and sending people on their bikes courtesy of his concoction of skill and luck. He was the man to catch, and a few bulldogs were chewing on wasps more than capable of spitting them out and replacing the wasps with his butt.

Leon Tsoukernik has €25,000 and €50,000 High Roller trophies in his trophy cabinet. Notwithstanding his fourth-place finish in the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl, and the fact that he was playing on home turf.

Yake Wu warmed up for this event by finishing runner-up to Andrey Pateychuk in the $5,000, $2m GTD No-Limit Hold’em Card Player Poker Tour Main Event in the Venetian less than a month ago.

Liang Yu arrived in the Czech Republic after winning a £50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck event for £777,000 during Triton London, Triton co-founder, Paul Phua, was appearing in a Triton final table for a record 17th time, and Cary Katz was also in the house, as Katz always is when goosebumps come out to play.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Tony G – 2,305,000
2. Leon Tsoukernik – 1,700,000
3. Yake Wu – 1,685,000
4. Cary Katz – 1,025,000
5. Liang Yu – 525,000
6. Paul Phua – 453,000
7. Choon Tong Siow – 405,000

The Action

Only five players would finish in the money (ITM), meaning two would have spent a day and a half as slaves to the game. The first to bust was Phua. The Triton co-founder moved all-in holding QhJh and lost to the AdKh of Tony G after busting out a Broadway performance on the river.

Phua’s exit landed the event on the stone bubble; the place where some prefer the chameleon approach of blending in and not being noticed, with others firing away like an NK Black Panther tank.

The bubble burst, and the tension flew into the ether after the table released Liang Yu from its chains. Yu got it in with Ah9h against the JsTd of Katz but lost to a straight flush on the river. He was the final person to leave empty-handed.

Working at the King’s Resort cash desk is a busy little job, and the first person from the €25,000 to apply more pressure on that position was Choon Tong Siow. It seems the PokerNews employee paid to cover the event must have gone for a Jimmy Riddle at the same time Siow busted, so we have no clue how he died, but die he did.

We do know how Katz lost his final life, and it wasn’t pretty. The PokerGO Founder moved all-in for his last 245k, Wu and Tsoukernik both called, and checked down the to the river in a bid to tag team piledrive the American out of the competition. It worked as the KdQh of Tsoukernik out-kicked the KxJc of Katz.

Away from the tables, Tony G and Tsoukernik are good buddies. On the table, the pair are like battleships desperate to blow each other out of the water. On this occasion, it was Tony G who hit the bullseye, when his 9d7c flopped trip sevens to send the Ah6h smashing onto the rocks.

Tsoukernik’s exit left Yu facing a 6.13m v 1.97m chip deficit during the heads-up duel. Having failed to pen the right lyrics for his victory song in the Venetian less than a month ago, Yu was eager to produce the right melody on this occasion.

It wasn’t a battle.

It wasn’t a war.

Think of this heads-up battle, as Yu being the fly, and G being the tail trying desperately to keep it from giving him worms.

Wu closed the gap.

G then flopped trip sevens with Kc7c to beat pocket eights.

Wu doubled up four more times.

Finally, the tail swatted the fly dead, when Wu moved all-in with AdJh, and G called and survived the five-card gauntlet to win his first live tournament in more than two years.

If autograph hunters were waiting for the G-Meister General, they now have soggy notepads.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!I’m @tritonpoker @partypokerlive champion! I have the big heart and the big spray! #MILLIONSEurope pic.twitter.com/NvunboijTf— Antanas Guoga (@TonyGuoga) August 14, 2019

ITM Results

1. Tony G – €237,250
2. Yake Wu – €163,000
3. Leon Tsoukernik – €104,500
4. Cary Katz – €75,500
5. Choon Tong Siow – €61,000

Back in 2016, Orpen Kisacikoglu hit the headlines after discovering his neighbour owned a small piece of cobblestoned land leading to his £4.8m North London home.

Each time, Kisacikoglu entered his driveway, he was effectively trespassing, so he entered talks to buy the land. The Daily Mail reported that Kisacikoglu offered £2,000, an amount the neighbour called ‘derisory’. The property is known as a ‘ransom strip,’ and planning experts said the piece of land could be worth £500,000.

Kisacikoglu decided to find a new path to his kingdom.

Fast forward three-years and Kisacikoglu again found himself barred from reaching his promised land. Only this time, the world’s greatest poker players stood in his way, not a noisy neighbour.

The €100,000 Triton High Roller at the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe in the King’s resort in Rozvadov attracted 32-entrants, and Kisacikoglu built a path leading to the doorstep of the €1,040,000 first prize.

It’s a win many years in the making. Since winning the $10,000 High Roller at the 2017 PokerStars Championships in Panama, Kisacikoglu has reached the final table of 13 $10k+ buy-in events, finishing in the top three spots more often than not.

The Action

Twenty-one players turned up for Day 1 of the Triton branded high roller. Included in the field were Triton co-founders Paul Phua and Richard Yong, the Triton London No-Limit Hold’em Main Event winner, Wai Kin Yong, and a rare appearance from Phil Ivey. Of those 21-players, there were seven re-entries, moving the Day 1 needle to 28-entrants. Here are the chip counts at the end of Day 1.

Top Ten Chip Counts

1. Igor Kurganov – 743,000
2. Michael Addamo – 552,000
3. Charlie Carrel – 440,000
4. Wai Kin Yong – 432,000
5. Paul Phua – 418,000
6. Sam Trickett – 350,000
7. Phil Ivey – 341,000
8. Tony G – 321,000
9. Ben Heath – 313,000
10. Orpen Kisacikoglu – 300,000

Igor Kurganov is a troubadour, making all the right noises, without the help of the Poker Gods. This contest was no different. A week ago, Kurganov bubbled the £1m Triton Million London, losing out on a £1.1m payday and lightning struck twice.

The Raising for Effective Giving (REG) co-founder, shipped his final ten big blinds from the small blind holding 7h5d. Cary Katz made the call from the big blind holding AsTh. It wasn’t a massacre – Kurganov flopped a gutshot to go with his pair-puts – but the runout favoured the PokerGO founder, wiping Kurganov from the live stream.

After the money bubble tension, players eased up, and we witnessed a host of double-ups before the first player walked the ‘cash desk plank’.

Vladimir Troyanovskiy doubled through Ben Heath Ac7c>KcJc. Heath then doubled through Wai Kin Yong when they got it in with top pair. Heath’s second card kicked like a mule, Yong’s like a praying mantis. Then Yong doubled through Troyanovskiy KK>QQ, and the Russian doubled through Kristen Bicknell 66>Ad7h.

Short-stack supremacy ended when Bicknell jammed for 14 big blinds, holding Ah3d on the button, and Kisacikoglu woke up with aces. There was blood. All of it was Bicknell’s. We were down to five.

Cary Katz played in seven of the eight events at Triton Million London before flying straight into the Czech Republic for this one. Katz cashed in two of those events, and he made it #3 after dragging his last five big blinds over the finishing line in the fourth place. Katz limped from the hijack holding 8d7c and then jammed the 5s3d2d flop after Troyanovskiy had checked his option from the big blind. The Russian called, holding Qd6d, and the 4s on the river handed him a straight to eliminate the American.

Moving into four-handed action, and Wai Kin Yong had dropped to the bottom of the chip counts. Yong entered this tournament as the man in form after winning the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for £3m, and finishing second in the £100,000 Short-Deck Main Event for £1.8m during Triton London. Yong added another €349,000 to that haul, after busting at the hands of Heath. Yong moved all-in holding Qs9d, and Heath called and won with QdTc.

Troyanovskiy then doubled up through Kisacikoglu AA>88, but the man from Turkey recovered to eliminate Heath 22>AdTc. Heath banked €455,000 for his third-place finish. It was another impressive performance from the man who won the $50,000 No-Limit High Roller at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and cashed in two of his three appearances in Triton London (including taking third in the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for £1.35m).

Heath’s elimination gave Kisacikoglu a 3.5m v 2.9m chip lead when heads-up against Troyanovskiy. The Russian took the lead when Ad2c beat Qs7h before Kisacikoglu fought back to take the lead, the title, and enough money to buy a new cobblestone driveway in the following hand.

Troyanovskiy opened to 250,000 from the small blind holding 9h8h, and Kisacikoglu defended the big blind with Th8d. The 8s3d2s flop was as bloody as a butcher’s shop with both players getting the money in. The Jd and Ks runout changed nothing, meaning Kisacikoglu’s ten-kicker was strong enough to boot Troyanovskiy into the rail.

Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results

1. Orpen Kisacikoglu – €1,040,000
2. Vladimir Troyanovskiy – €710,000
3. Ben Heath – €455,000
4. Wai Kin Yong – €349,000
5. Cary Katz – €273,000
6. Kristen Bicknell – €213,000

Triton’s business relationship with partypoker continues with a €25,000 Short-Deck event currently active with mercenaries from East & West looking to win the €237,250 first prize.

partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe also plans to hold two €10,300 High Rollers, a €25,500 Super High Roller and will award the winner of the MILLIONS Main Event with a seven-figure prize.

Click here for the full schedule.

https://partypokerlive.com/en/event/millions-europe-2019/schedule#millions-high-roller-schedule-3339

On the 5th April 2017, Justin Bonomo and Jason Mercier sat at opposite ends of a poker table. The tournament was the $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, Florida. They were the only two warriors left.

Mercier won the brawl and the $794,600 first prize. Soon after, Mercier stepped away from the tables to concentrate on being the best father he could be, earning less than $300,000 (gross) in live tournaments throughout 2018.

Bonomo didn’t have a baby, nor did he step away from the tables. Instead, he marched to the top of the All-Time Money List winning more than $25m in 2018, including both Super High Roller Bowl events and the Big One for One Drop.

A spit ago, Bonomo took down the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck Main Event at the Triton London Super High Roller Series in London. And across the pond, Mercier put down his baby rattle to win the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

The Competition

Mercier was one of the 41-entrants to compete in the $50,000 event, and by the time the final table rolled around, Mercier sat behind a chip stack that was five-times larger than his nearest competitor.

The hometown boy began as a clear favourite, but there was still enough talent on the table to create an upset.

Thomas Boivin won the $25k No-Limit High Roller at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Gardens Poker Festival in July. Giuseppe Iadisernia won the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the partypoker Caribbean Poker Party in November for $845,000. And Manig Loeser won the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in Monte Carlo for €603,777 in April.

The Action

The first player to leave the field was Albert Daher when his KQ failed to beat the AT of Mercier. Iadisernia eliminated Sam Sweilem after hitting a flush when all in on the flop with Sweilem ahead with middle pair. Then Manig Loeser slipped down the pecking order after losing a big flip against Franklin Fok before losing his remaining chips against Mercier when K9 lost to A8.

Fok doubled through Iadisernia before eliminating him in fourth place when AQ beat A9. And despite twice doubling through Mercer, Boivin exited in the third place when T8o fell to the KQs of Fok when all-in, blind on blind.

Fok limped into the heads-up duel facing a 7:1 chip deficit. It was all over after nine hands. The last of which saw Mercier’s pocket fives out flip the AJ of Fok.

Final Table Results

1. Jason Mercier – $715,860
2. Franklin Fok – $457,355
3. Thomas Boivin – $288,330
4. Giuseppe Iadisernia – $198,850
5. Manig Loeser – $139,195
6. Sam Sweilem – $109,370
7. Albert Daher – $79,540

The win was Mercier’s 23rd of his career and the $715,860 banked moves his all-time live tournament earnings to the $19.5m mark. It’s his first win at this price point after winning numerous $25k and $100k titles.

The Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, London, is a mausoleum. The people you never see in front of the TV cameras have deconstructed the stage, taken the legs off the tables, and stowed the lot away, in readiness for the next Triton adventure.

It’s going to have to be something special to beat this.

The £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck Main Event attracted 108-entrants (55 re-entries), and Justin Bonomo prevented Wai Kin Yong from winning both London entrées after beating him to the title.

Coming into Triton Million London, Bonomo knew that his position at the top of the All-Time Money list was tenuous with a den of carnivores looking to eat his record alive.

Bryn Kenney was the man to usurp Bonomo’s throne, but the New Jersey native reacted brilliantly to win the Short-Deck Main Event. Poker fans will be disappointed, however, to learn that there will be no clash of the titans in the ensuing years.

After Bonomo put thought to the mic at the end of a gruelling competition, the two-time Triton Champion declared his intention to play fewer hands of poker, claiming that he has nothing left to prove after his incredible performances in 2018.

“My plan is to play less poker, Bryn’s plan is to play a lot of poker, so as far as I’m concerned I’ll probably never get number one again. It’s not really a goal of mine, and I’m totally fine with that,” said Bonomo.

And by ‘less poker’ that means even less Short-Deck.

“I like it when I win, but honestly I don’t like crazy all-ins,” Bonomo said. “I don’t like getting it all in with 55 percent but you have to in this game. Some people enjoy the all-ins. I find them extremely stressful. Obviously, when you win tournaments, it’s great, but other than the fact that I’m winning these tournaments, I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite game.”

It’s a feeling shared by Wai Kin Yong, who in 2018, told us about the toll that Short-Deck can have on your playing career, but it hasn’t stopped the young man having a blinding Triton London series.

Yong won the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for £2.5m, and came a few flops, turns and rivers away from winning the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck until Bonomo’s KcJd beat Yong’s Ac8c, thanks to a jack on the river. Yong received £1.8m for finishing second, totalling £4.4m earned in the time it takes the binmen to clear your trash. Not bad, for someone who declared his poker idleness in the build-up to this series.

Here’s the nutshell action.

The Nutshell Action

Final Table

1st – Wan Kin Yong – 253 antes 7,595,000
2nd – Justin Bonomo – 197 antes 5,910,000
3rd – Rui Cao – 146 antes 4,375,000
4th- Paul Phua – 130 antes 3,905,000
5th – Liang Xu- 120 antes 3,585,000
6th – Ming Zhong Liu – 118 antes 3,530,000
7th – Isaac Haxton – 117 antes 3,510,000

The first player who saw their final table experience expire like a lit matchhead was Ming Zhong Liu who moved all-in from the hijack holding 9c8c, only for Bonomo to isolate and win with AcKh.

Bonomo’s buddy, Isaac Haxton, was next to fall, and he took Rui Cao tumbling over the edge with him. Haxton moved all-in from the first position holding pocket rockets, Yong jammed his massive stack in the middle with pocket kings, and Rui Cao called with JdTd. Yong flopped a king, Haxton and Cao failed to improve, and suddenly Yong had half of the chips in play with four left.

Yong overcame Paul Phua, heads-up, to win the No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, but ruled out a repeat confrontation when he eliminated the Triton co-founder when AsQs flopped Broadway and then rivered a flush for good measure when all-in against KsQc.

Three-Handed

The three-handed play was an exhaustive affair with everyone briefly sitting at the summit before Bonomo set up a classic East v West heads-up confrontation eliminating Liang Xu when Th9h beat KcQh, after flopping trip tens.

Heads-Up

Heads-up play began on an even keel with 105 antes a piece, until Yong stretched to a 3:1 chip lead. Bonomo fought back like a true champion to retake the lead before dragging the final curtain off the rails in the last hand of the game.

Final Table Results

1 – Justin Bonomo, £2,670,000
2 – Wai Kin Yong, £1,835,000
3 – Liang Xu, £1,202,500
4 – Paul Phua, £974,500
5 – Rui Cao, £783,000
6 – Isaac Haxton, £611,900
7 – Ming Zhong Liu, £482,200
8 – David Benefield, £368,100
9 – Stephen Chidwick, £269,600
10 – Jason Koon, £217,700
11 – Furkat Rakhimov, £217,700
12 – Tom Dwan, £191,900
13 – Cary Katz, £191,900
14 – Elton Tsang, £177,000
15 – Richard Yong, £177,000

The Triton Poker Super High Roller in London began as a construction site. Today, the scent of broken records hangs in the air. Tables occupy the outer rim like a graveyard. Underneath the hue of the TV cameras is the grandest table of them all – shimmering in purple, gold and black, feeling the burden of seven plastic bags full of chips.

The bag that contains the most belongs to Wai Kin Yong, the 28-year-old from Malaysia, who two days ago, won the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. At 1 pm, a row of patient crocodiles awaits him, each desperate to swallow him whole. If he can manage to avoid becoming a snack, he will achieve something remarkable.

Mikita Badziakouski once won back-to-back Triton Super High Roller Series Main Events (Jeju & Montenegro). Nobody has ever won the two core Main Events (Short-Deck and No-Limit Hold’em) at the same series, and Yong could do that, today.

The chip lead may belong to Yong, and his blood may run through the DNA of the Triton brand, yet he has no claim to this title. Amongst those crocodiles are some of the fiercest teeth, you will see in poker.

Trailing Yong by a mere 33 antes is Justin Bonomo. The man who accrued more than $25m in live tournaments in 2018, could do nothing but watch as Bryn Kenney took his live tournament annual haul record, and his number one seat at the head of the All-Time Money List this week. Bonomo only knows one way to react – winning titles and large sums of money. Bonomo already has a Short-Deck title on his resume; a second is six eliminations away.

Sitting in third place is Rui Cao. The enigmatic Frenchman who rarely plays tournaments told us after his Triton Million exit that he’s still not comfortable with tournament elimination. The high stakes cash game specialist will be hoping to become the first player to win back-to-back Short-Deck Main Event titles if he can avoid swallowing that bitterest of pills.

The fourth-place currently belongs to Paul Phua. It was the Triton co-founder who faced Yong heads-up for the No-Limit Main Event title, and he makes his 16th Triton cash (a record). It’s undoubtedly a matter of time before Phua wins one, and with £2.6m up top, and all profits from Triton going to charity, this is the one to win.

Isaac Haxton is the last familiar name to take a seat at the top table. Haxton is arguably the best live tournament player not to have played in the Triton Million. Haxton is preparing for his tenth Triton final table, without a victory, and his third cash in London.

Here is the final table lineup.

The action begins at 1 pm London time.

Final Table

1st – Wan Kin Yong – 253 antes 7,595,000
2nd – Justin Bonomo – 197 antes 5,910,000
3rd – Rui Cao – 146 antes 4,375,000
4th- Paul Phua – 130 antes 3,905,000
5th – Liang Xu- 120 antes 3,585,000
6th – Ming Zhong Liu – 118 antes 3,530,000
7th – Isaac Haxton – 117 antes 3,510,000

ITM Finishes

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

You get the impression that Linus “LLinusLlove” Loeliger is going to be a permanent fixture in Triton Poker events. The 24-year old has taken down Event #1: £25,000 Triton London Six-Max Turbo, at only his second ever Triton event.

We first saw the Swiss wizard in Montenegro back in May when he finished 3/45 in the HKD 250,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed Turbo for $219,262, for only his fourth-ever live cash. Then he rocks up to London and takes down the first event.

There was nothing particularly ‘turbo’ about the turbo given that it took five days to finish it. The organisers had to shimmy and shake after the sheer volume of interested players (73+44 re-entries), and the inclusion of three of the final seven in the £1m buy-in Triton Million, prompting the need for a second day.

It was a lovely little top table.

Michael Soyza, Cary Katz and Timothy Adams were all fresh off their £1m experience. Soyza and Katz failed to make money in the Million, but Adams finished eighth for £1.4m.

Elior Sion doesn’t play too many tournaments but put a £25,000 in his backyard, and he’s going to stick a fold-up chair in the ground and get stuck in.

Kahle Burns finished runner-up to Anuj Agarwal in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship 6-Handed at the WSOP, and Luc Greenwood is a Triton Poker reg, albeit still looking for his first cash.

The Action

The first man to dive into the consolatory £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event was Michael Soyza. The Natural8 ambassador shipped his last 17 big blinds from the small blind, holding QcTh, only for Loeliger to wake up with pocket sixes in the big blind. A call came, the sixes held, and Soyza was out.

With Soyza out of the way, we had our ‘official’ six-handed final table, and the first to bow out, albeit gracefully, was Burns. Once again, Loeliger played the role of executioner after his pocket queens held against AJ.

The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Poker Player’s Championship (PPC) winner, Sion, was the next to leave when he pushed holding JcTh on a board of QsJh4s. Greenwood gladly made the call, holding AcQh, and the dominating hand held.

Katz told us that he used all of his ‘run good’ on Day 1 of this event and it proved a correct assessment after his pocket fours lost to Greenwood’s pocket sevens despite flopping a set. The dealer placed the 9d6c4d onto the flop. The 5d gave Greenwood a straight draw, and the 3d on the river handed Greenwood the pot, leaving Katz with nothing but a shaky head.

Greenwood became the chip leader with that hand but lost it to Loeliger in dramatic fashion in the pivotal moment of the tournament. Greenwood looked down to see pocket aces, opened to 500,000, and both Loeliger (pocket fives), and Adams (J4cc) made the call in the blinds. The flop of 6h4s3s had ‘fight! Fight! Fight!’ written all over it. Loelieger led for 375,000, Adams called, Greenwood raised to 1.5m, Adams folded, and Loeliger called. The 2c on the turn gave Loeliger the straight, and he checked to Greenwood who bet 1.5m. Loeliger moved all-in for 7.25m, and Greenwood reluctantly called.

That left Greenwood and Adams on fumes, with Loeliger light-years ahead. Adams got it in with AK versus the A5 of Loeliger, only for a five to land on the flop to set up a heads-up encounter between Greenwood and Loeliger.

It lasted a single hand.

Greenwood got it in with Ts7s, Loeliger called with Jd7h, and jack-high ended being the winning hand.

It was a sweet moment for Loeliger, who also finished third in Event #3: £50,000 No-Limit Hold’em, a tale for another time.

Payouts

1. Linus Loeliger – £690,000
2. Luc Greenwood – £466,600
3. Timothy Adams – £307,000
4. Cary Katz – £251,500
5. Elior Sion – £202,900
6. Kahle Burns – £160,000
7. Michael Soyza – £122,300
8. Kyle Carlston – £92,100
9. Tong Siow Choon – £92,100
10. Orpen Kisacikoglu – £56,300
11. Erik Seidel – £56,300
12. Ben Lamb – £49,500
13. Paul Phua – £49,500
14. Wai Chan Leong – £45,300
15. Dan Smith – £45,300
16. Ben Heath – £43,100
17. Patrik Antonius – £43,100

If you spend three days watching the world’s greatest professional poker players competing against a selection of successful business people, entrepreneurs and philanthropists in a poker tournament, the presence of luck and skill blinds.

Bryn Kenney arrived in London with more than $9m locked up in winnings since Christmas. He had won seven of his past eight heads-up confrontations, with only Timothy Adams able to dodge the Lone Wolf’s eclectic mix of missile systems and mines in Jeju recently.

Coming into Triton Million: A Helping Hand For Charity, Kenney was adamant that he would win, and take his rightful place at the head of the All-Time Money List.

“Poker needs someone like me to represent the game,” he told me in one of our many discussions this week.

The reigning Aussie Millions Champion and two-time Triton Champion used that confidence, sprinkled with experience, skill, and gangster poker to make it to the heads-up stage of the event.

Standing in his way was Aaron Zang. In the minutes before Zang settled down to face Kenney, he told me that he had ‘no idea what he was doing,’ that he never realised these players would be ‘so good,’ and it would be ‘a miracle’ if he overturned Kenney’s 4:1 chip lead and became the Triton Million champion.

A miracle?

Let’s see what we can do.

Eight players landed on the shores of the Triton Million Final Table each hoping to win the £19m first prize and to own a small piece of poker’s history, and the overwhelming favourite was Vivek Rajkumar who began proceedings with more than double the stack of Stephen Chidwick, in second.

Final Table Seat Draw

Seat 1: Timothy Adams – 5.735m
Seat 2: Bryn Kenney – 5.54m
Seat 3: Alfred DeCarolis – 5.455m
Seat 4: Vivek Rajkumar – 18m
Seat 5: Bill Perkins – 2m
Seat 7: Stephen Chidwick – 9.79m
Seat 8: Dan Smith – 2.35m
Seat 9: Aaron Zang – 5.06m

A Poor Start For Rajkumar; Perkins Doubling

Bill Perkins had the shortest stack in the room, and his strategy was a simple one – choose your spots wisely, and ship it. The entrepreneur stuck with the plan, doubling through Vivek Rajkumar twice – a sign of the times to come for the cash game pro.

The man of the level was Dan Smith, who added 4m chips to his stack with some well-timed moves and intelligent plays. Alfred DiCarlos also showed that the razzmatazz of the final table wouldn’t phase him, after running a successful bluff on Timothy Adams and showing the table.

Smith & Chidwick Soar; Rajkumar Plummets

Smith’s incredible run continued in the next two-levels, although he needed some luck along the way. Smith went into the second break of the day with the chip lead, after doubling through Rajkumar in fortunate circumstances.

With blinds at 125k/250k/250k, Smith opened from the first position to 500k holding pocket jacks, and Rajkumar called on the button with Th9h. The flop was a perfect looking Tc9s4h for both players, and they got it in. After the inconsequential 3d hit the turn, Smith was one card away from elimination before a third jack hit the river to change everything.

Chidwick also moved into the frame at this time, and once again Rajkumar was the man handing out chips. With blinds at 100k/200k/200k, Rajkumar opened to 450k on the button holding As8c, and Chidwick called from the big blind holding Jd5d. The flop fell Jc9s4h to give Chidwick top pair, and he called a 300k bet from Rajkumar. The Qs landed on the turn, and this time Chidwick called an 850k Rajkumar double-barrel. Rajkumar then fired a third barrel of 2.9m at the sight of the 6h. Chidwick moved all of his time bank chips into the middle, and when he had finished thinking, he had made the right call.

Rajkumar’s only slice of luck arrived with the elimination of Timothy Adams. The Triton Jeju Champion had a horrible final table, encapsulated by his final hand finding pocket kings, only for Rajkumar to find an ace on the flop when all-in, pre holding ace-ten, to send the Canadian to the rail in eighth.

Alfred DeCarolis joined Adams, in seventh place, after running Ah3h into the pocket aces of Chidwick. The UK All-Time Money Earner was chosen by DeCarolis to compete in this event, so it was with a twist of irony that the real estate developer would fall at his hands.

Rajkumar Falls; Kenney Leads

The fifth and sixth levels spelt the end of a dreadful final table experience for Rajkumar, although you would never have thought it if you had seen the smile on the man’s face as he left the competition.

The demise began when Perkins doubled through Rajkumar for the third time when AK beat A3 in a blind on blind thing. Perkins, however, couldn’t keep hold of those chips, eventually handing them to Bryn Kenney, running KT into aces in a standard spot.

After eliminating Perkins, Kenney turned his attention to Rajkumar. It could have been a tough spot for Kenney with the big stack to his left, but it wasn’t to be. Kenney found aces for the second time in succession. Rajkumar held A8ss, and five community cards later the pre-final table favourite was out.

In between eliminations, Kenney had also faced elimination, doubling through Aaron Zang nines versus 87dd, dodging a myriad of outs on a Jh9d3h6d board. The Qs on the river forcing Kenney to come to the rail to tell his mother he needed a break because he was on such a rush.

Zang recovered from his smash on the nose by winning a flip against Dan Smith.

Zang Takes The Lead

When four-handed, the only non-pro left in the field suddenly found himself with the chip lead. First, Zang doubled through Kenney when flopping two pair against top pair, and then he doubled through Smith for the second time when AK flopped a king against pocket eights.

Kenney Emerges as The Major Contender; Chidwick and Smith Struggle

Zang didn’t hold the lead for too long before Kenney began to take over. Chidwick and Smith couldn’t seem to put anything together, and as their chip stacks dwindled, Kenney’s increased.

Smith doubled through Zang when 97o flopped a seven against the A3o of Zang in a blind on blind confrontation, and then we lost Chidwick when he called a shove from Kenney holding pocket sevens against KJo, only for the deck to produce a second king on the flop to send the man from the UK home in fourth.

Smith exited in the third spot when his ATo lost to Kenney’s QThh in a race to the death, and Kenney’s rail erupted in jubilation, a sense of victory in the air, as he prepared to take on Zang with a 4:1 chip lead, all of the momentum, and all of the experience.

Heads-Up: Kenny v Zang

Kenney: 44.2m
Zang: 9.8m

As soon as Smith exited in third, Zang asked Kenney for a deal, and a nod and handshake later, here were the scores on the doors.

Kenney: £16.89m
Zang: £12.6m

The Tournament Director insisted that the pair play for £1.1m, and the finale of Triton Million: A Helping Hand For Charity contained two main scenes.

In the first, Zang doubled through Kenney when pocket sixes beat KQo, reducing the gap between them to 7m chips. Then Zang took the chip lead, before the final all-in and call.

Zang moved all-in on a flop of 8s4s3c, holding 8d5d for top pair, and Kenney made the call with As6s for the drawing hand. The 9c was black, but the wrong emblem for Kenney. The Kd on the river was another card that Kenney didn’t want to see, and Zang took the title.

It was a strange feeling at the end. Typically, we have a winner and a loser, but today, we had two winners. Zang banked £13,779,491 and the title of Triton Million winner. Kenney collected £16,890,509, meaning he wears the All-Time Money List crown with $55.5m in lifetime earnings. He also broke the record for most earnings in a calendar year with $29.8m and the most significant single prize in poker with $20,563,324.

“I lost two flips,” said Kenney. “That’s what it boils down to. It’s poker. I’m happy. I would have loved the title, but I told you, I wanted that spot on the All-Time Money list, and now I have it. I couldn’t be happier.”

During the closing ceremony, Triton co-founder, Paul Phua, grabbed the microphone and told the crowd that he had played with Zang in Macau for the past nine years.

“It goes to show, that anyone can win,” said Phua.

Zang and Kenney weren’t the only winners, so were Triton.

The production and the action matched the pre-tournament buzz around the event. Let’s hope that in the future if they ever do this again, more successful people in business will find hope and inspiration from Zang’s win, and join the fray, but will they ever do this again?

Final Table Results

1. Aaron Zang – *£13,779,491.
2. Bryn Kenney – *16,890,509
3. Dan Smith – £7,200,000
4. Stephen Chidwick – £4,410,000
5. Vivek Rajkumar – £3,000,000
6. Bill Perkins – £2,200,000
7. Alfred DeCarolis – £1,720,000
8. Timothy Adams – £1,400,000
   *Indicates a heads-up deal.