paul phua Archives - Paul Phua Poker

When Paul Phua won the Global Poker Award (GPA) for Industry Person of the Year, it was his first piece of silverware since winning a 13-entrant €100,000 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) event at the 2016 Monte-Carlo One-Drop Extravaganza.

Four years is a long wait for a man who leads the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in the money finish (ITM) leaderboard with 16, proving that he doesn’t merely mingle with the supremely talented, he is one.

The wait is other.

Phua came into the final day of Event #6: $100,000 NLHE as the shortest stack of the nine remaining players, but breezed through Day 2, overcoming Matthias Eibinger, heads-up, for the title.

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty.

Nutshell Action

As the 42-entrant field boiled down to the final seven combatants, only six would receive a check. The first person to dangle from that precipice was Michael Soyza, and he fell.

The action folded to Matthias Eibinger on the button, and he applied maximum pressure on the players in the blinds by moving all-in holding Ad2d. Soyza woke up with AcKc and made the call.

Soyza had Eibinger dominated, and the situation worsened when a second king arrived on the flop to increase Soyza’s lead. Then, the light at the end of the tunnel for Eibinger, as the 3d hit the turn to give the Austrian a wheel draw that connected when the 5c hit the river.

It was an exit that stank of intestines and curse words, but Soyza took it like the champion he is.

Paul Phua then doubled through Kahle Burns. The Australian opened with AhKc from under the gun, and Phua called with pocket deuces. The two shortest stacks didn’t need surgical instruments after the nuclear flop of Kh7d2c put the writing on the wall. Phua checked, Burns bet 60,000, and Phua called. The 4h hit the turn, and Burns bet 130,000, Phua raised all-in for 180,000 more, Burns made the call and mucked when he saw how dead he was.

Burns fell to a mere four big blinds after that hand. He did double-up through Eibinger when As5s beat Kh9s but then fell to Adrian Mateos when Ac3s hit the dam like AsJd.

Michael Addamo followed his compatriot out of the poker room door next. The action folded to Addamo in the cutoff, and he moved all-in for 1,140,000 holding Ks8s, and Chin Wei Lim isolated with a jam holding two red aces. The deck had placed a ligature around Addamo’s neck, and it cut off all oxygen after five blank community cards.

Then we lost Adrian Mateos.

The Spaniard moved all-in from the small blind holding 4c5c, and Phua made the call from the big holding Ks7c. A second seven landed on the flop, leaving three in the hunt for the title.

Chip Counts

Matthias Eibinger – 4,450,000
Chin Wei Lim – 2,400,000
Paul Phua – 1,500,000

From the bottom of the pack to the top, Phua took the lead after doubling through Eibinger when AhQc beat AsJd when all-in pre-flop. Eibinger would have the chance for retribution after Phua then eliminated Lim to face the Austrian heads-up.

Phua opened the button to 250,000 and Ac5d, and Lim called with 7c5c in the big blind. The dealer dropped 4h3d3s onto the flop like a cloud dropping rainwater into a gutter, and Lim check-raised jammed after Phua had bet 175,000. However, Phua would not be fooled and made the call with ace-high. The turn and river bricked and Lim was out.

Both Phua and Eibinger battled hard during the heads-up phase, but the Austrian’s chip stack never reached the heights of the Triton founder. The final hand saw Phua open to 400,000 with As8s, and Eibinger call holding Th8h. The dealer dealt a mustard flop of Ah9d8c, and Eibinger check-called for 250,000 and 500,000 when the Kd hit the turn. Finally, the 6c hit the river to give Phua a lock on the hand, and he moved all-in.

“I don’t believe you,” said Eibinger.

The call arrived, and Phua, not Eibinger ended up with the trophy.

ITM Results

Paul Phua – $1,512,000
Matthias Eibinger – $1,008,000
Chin Wei Lim – $672,000
Adrian Mateos – $420,000
Michael Addamo – $336,000
Kahle Burns – $252,000

Every great game hinges on four defining traits.

A game needs goals orientated meaningful work and play. Rules that place limitations on how people achieve those goals. Voluntary participation born out of natural curiosity and drive towards enjoyment, and in some cases, mastery. Finally, a feedback system that tells people how close they are to achieving their goal, motivating them to keep on playing, and for the poker industry to thrive, we need certain people to keep on playing.

On Friday night, poker honoured a deluge of different denizens at the Global Poker Awards (GPA) in Las Vegas. PokerGO captured the celebrations, beaming them into the living rooms of subscribers, and the results once again underlined the impact that the high stakes stratum has on the ecosystem.

Never before has high stakes poker had the capability to transcend the game like it does, today. It began with Alex Dreyfus adding a sheen of professionalism to one of the bastion feedback systems in poker – the Global Poker Index (GPI). It has continued with the likes of Triton and Poker Central, creating frameworks and production systems resulting in world-class stages for world-class players.

And, it’s for this reason that it was positive for poker when Paul Phua won the Industry Person of the Year Award, last night.

Phua began playing poker in his 40s, by which time, he had already achieved the level of financial freedom that only exists in most people’s prayers. Phua didn’t create Triton to increase his wealth. He created Triton because he loves poker.

Along with his co-founder, Richard Yong, Phua has spent the past few years building a poker tour with a difference. Reducing suffering through philanthropy, creating a world-class product for the community, and a safe, secure and fun environment for those fortunate and smart enough to rise through the ranks are the goals that have gelled into a masterpiece.

Triton Poker takes a game that for so many years was played in the darkest corners of the room, slaps the most incredible Gladrags on, and rolls out the red carpet. Triton Poker is a world-class, nostalgic tour de force, and on Friday night, the poker world recognised that, and that feedback is priceless.

To be considered for @gpi Awards' Industry Person Of The Year is a great honour and privilege. I can't express how grateful I am to be the recipient of this award. Thank you everyone from my team at @tritonpoker and also my lovely supporters! pic.twitter.com/XAPLbqA6eP
— Paul Phua Poker (@paulphuapoker) March 7, 2020

The Right Feedback Produces The Right Engagement

The feedback cycle has changed significantly thanks to the advent of a social media shit show that flew from the guts of advanced technology like a Ridley Scott idea bursting through a rack of ribs.

When you compete for a living in a game where you lose more than you win, you have to develop a callused heel heart. Still, if you’re focusing in the wrong place for feedback, those calluses can chill and crumble in even the most cement-like blood pumpers.

That’s why poker awards are of value to the poker industry.

Voters recognised the Triton brand in numerous categories, coming short in all but one (Phua’s Industry Person of the Year Award). Phua’s vision of showcasing poker to the world is slowly unravelling, but the tail is still nowhere in sight.

Triton Million gave the world a glimpse into the vision.

If you hit this short-list or like Phua, were lucky enough to win, then your contribution to poker is likely to intensify thanks to the emotional Nutribullet of winning one, and missing out on others. It’s not the titles that matter. It’s the creation of engagement those titles and near misses create where the real gold lies.

That’s fantastic news for everyone who calls poker our ‘job,’ because we must remember that one of the defining traits of this beautiful game, on the table, and off it, is voluntary participation. I don’t know about you, but this writer hopes the likes of Phua voluntarily participate in this game in the way that he does for many years to come.

GPA Awards: The Results in Full

GPI Breakout Player of the Year

Robert Campbell (Winner)
Ramón Collilas
Ben Farrell
George Wolff

Final Table Performance of the Year

Phillip Hui – $50k Poker Player’s Championship (Winner)
Hossein Ensan – WSOP Main Event
Alex Foxen – WPT Five Diamond
Bryn Kenney – Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, Montenegro

Twitter Personality

Jamie Kerstetter (Winner)
Barny Boatman
Kitty Kuo
Kevin Mathers

Toughest Opponent

Stephen Chidwick (Winner)
Michael Addamo
Kahle Burns
Ali Imsirovic

Streamer of the Year

Lex Veldhuis (Winner)
Hristivoje Pavlovic
Ben Spragg
Matt Staples

Vlogger of the Year

Andrew Neeme (Winner)
Jaman Burton
Daniel Negreanu
Brad Owen

Podcast of the Year

The Grid by Jennifer Shahade (Winner)
DAT Poker Podcast
Poker Life Podcast
The Fives

Industry Person of the Year

Paul Phua (Winner)
Phil Galfond
Cary Katz
Matt Savage

Tournament Director of the Year

Matt Savage (Winner)
Jack Effel
Paul Campbell
Tony Burns

Event of the Year

PokerStars Players Championships (Winner)
Triton Million
WSOP Main Event
WSOP BIG 50

Mid-Major Tour/Circuit

RUNGOOD Poker Series (Winner)
WPTDeepStacks
Road to the PSPC
WSOPC

Journalist of the Year

Joey Ingram (Winner)
Lance Bradley
Haley Hintze
Nick Jones

Broadcaster of the Year

Nick Schulman (Winner)
Joe Stapleton
Jeff Platt
Jamie Kerstetter

Media Content (Written)

Poker and Pop Culture by Martin Harris (Winner)
A Fight for Fatherhood by Lance Bradley
Kevin Roster Spread Sarcoma Awareness by Aleeyah Jadavji
The Unabridged Story of the Hendon Mob by Paul Seaton

Media Content (Photo)

Drew Amato (Winner) – Dario Sammartino at the WSOP
Antonio Abrego – Ryan Laplante
Joe Giron – Frank Stepuchin
Hayley Hochstetler – Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion

Media Content (Video)

Investigating Mike Postle – Joe Ingram (Winner)
Legends of the Game Stu Ungar – PokerGO
The Big Blind with Jeff Platt
Who Makes Money From Professional Poker – Sam Rega for CNBC

Poker Personality of the Year

Jonathan Little (Winner)
Joey Ingram
Ryan DePaulo
Lex Veldhuis

Hand of the Year

Ryan Riess Makes 10-High Call at EPT Monte Carlo (Winner)
Bryce Yockey v Josh Arieh
Sam Trickett v Stephen Chidwick
Thi Xoa Nguyen v Athanasios Polychronopoulos

Poker ICON Award

Johnny Chan (winner)

The Hendon Mob Award

John Cernuto

What’s Short-Deck Poker?

Poker has a problem.
Short-Deck is the answer.
Also known as, Triton Hold’em, Short-Deck has its roots in Asia, where successful businessmen, and poker lovers, Paul Phua and Richard Yong, experimented by removing a few cards from the standard 52-card deck, increasing the likelihood of strong pre-flop hands.
Out went the 2s.
Then the 3s.
Then the 4s.
Finally, the 5s.
The net result, was a 36-card deck – a Short-Deck – and the outcome was incredible.
One of the problems that amateurs have when playing superior players, especially professionals, is they play with a broad range of starting hands because their primary focus in the game is to enjoy themselves, and you can’t do that if you fold. The better player begins with a narrower range of hands, and this disparity means the amateur ends up with the worst of it more often than the pro.
Folding isn’t fun.
Neither is losing all the time.
Paul and Richard found that by removing the lower half of the cards, they increased the likelihood that an amateur would receive two very playable starting hands.
As the former World Series of Poker (WSOP), Player of the Year, Ben Lamb, mentions during his first experience of Short-Deck during a 2018 Triton Poker Series in Jeju, South Korea.

Ben Lamb - Short-deck at Triton Poker Series Jeju 2018 — Ben Lamb at Triton Poker Series Jeju, South Korea (July 2018)

“The first thing you notice when you sit down to play Short-Deck is the equities run much closer than No-Limit Hold’em.”

And the closer you get, the more often a weaker player wins, and the more likely he or she is to remain in the game. At a time when poker’s ecosystem is under pressure from advancements in technology and available poker resources, with players getting improving at a rate never before witnessed, Short-Deck is fixing a leak that is in danger of drowning the game.

The Rules of Short-Deck Poker

The variant featured in Triton Poker Series events is called Short-Deck, Ante-Only. There is no small or big blind, and instead everyone has to post an ante that increases each level in the same way blinds do in a standard game of No-Limit Hold’em. The player on the button posts a double ante.
Each player begins with three bullets.
Stack sizes can vary, but in the early events at Montenegro and Jeju in South Korea, each bullet was worth 100,000 in chips. And loading these three bullets into the chamber is important, as Ben Lamb explains.

“You have to put your stack in more often than the other games. That’s why they give you three bullets, that’s smart.”

Like No-Limit Hold’em, the player to the left of the button begins the action by calling the size of the double ante, raising or folding. The action continues in sequence as per No-Limit Hold’em rules. Post flops actions plays the same.
Here’s Ben Lamb again to give you a few tips.

“You need to see a lot of flops. There are more passive ways to play the game, like limping, but this an action game. Stay away from dominated hands. Recognise the difference between shallow and deep-stacked play.”

During the early action, you can be forgiven for thinking you have walked into a game of deuces wild. All-in and calls are common, the action is crazy fast, and there is a lot of laughing and joking around the tables. But once the game gets deep, you need to switch gears, and this is why the game suits both skilled and weaker players alike.
And the best thing about Short-Deck is it’s a new game. It’s perfect for local home games where you can experiment with the rules and formats, while keeping an eye on the Triton Livestream to see how the Godfathers of the game continue to evolve.

Short-Deck Poker Hand Ranking (Best to Worst)

Royal flush
Straight flush
Four of a kind
Flush
Full house
Straight
Three of a kind
Two pair
One pair
High card
It’s important to remember that a flush beats a full house. That’s the only hand ranking difference when compared to No-Limit Hold’em.
One of the features of Short-Deck, is unlike Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) where players have to learn to use four hole cards, Short-Deck is more suitable for people who have grown up playing the more familiar No-Limit Hold’em.
A few things to note:
Pocket aces come along 1 in 105 hands, not one in 220, but they are cracked way more often.
Straight draws arrive on the flop 48% of the time, not 31%.
The odds of flopping a set are 18%, and not 12%.
The other change to be aware of is the role of the ace. As in No-Limit Hold’em the ace plays both low and high when creating straights, meaning it becomes a five when 6,7,8,9 is on the board.

Triton Poker Series Spearheads Short-Deck Poker Trend

After playing Short-Deck in their local home game, and seeing the improvements in sociability and joy firsthand, both Paul and Richard decided to test the new variant at a professional level.
The Triton Poker Series was born.
Taking place in some of the most salubrious destinations around the world, the Triton Poker Series is a high stakes series that pits some of the wealthiest amateurs against the very best professionals in the game.
In 2018, at the Triton Poker Series at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Montenegro, Paul and Richard hosted a HKD 250,000 (USD 32,000) and a HKD 1,000,000 (USD 127,000) buy-in Short-Deck, Ante-Only event, put the word out, and hoped they would come.
Come they did.
The most feared and respected poker player in the modern game, Phil Ivey, beat 61 entrants to win the HKD 4,749,200 (USD 604,992) first prize in the HKD 250,000 (USD 32,000) version, and Jason Koon defeated 103 entrants to bank the HKD 28,102,000 (USD 3,579,836) in the HKD 1,000,000 (USD 127,000) version, in only his second ever Short-Deck event.
Not only did the amateurs love the game, so did the pros, and so did the poker community, who tuned in to watch the livestream in their droves. There had not been this much buzz over a format of poker since the Texas Road Gamblers decided to add the words ‘All-In’ to the game of Limit Hold’em.
Paul Phua and Richard Yong had achieved the remarkable.
Short Deck became the antidote to a game that was in danger of turning into a robotic, emotionless, and dull experience.
“People who fold too much are going to get eaten up, you have to be prepared to gamble,” Ben Lamb.
But how do you play this game?

The Future of Short-Deck Poker

The Triton Poker Series Livestream numbers show that this is a variant of the game that the poker community adores. It turns quite a boring spectator sport into one of the most illuminating.
All sports and games have their magic moments.
The goal.
The punch.
The all-in and call.
There are more swings than a kid’s playground, and for this reason, Short-Deck poker is going to be here to stay, but where does it take it’s seat in poker’s landscape.
Back to Ben Lamb.
“It will grow, especially in America. I am going to try and help that happen by running games at ARIA and my local game in LA,” says Lamb, who played the variant in Jeju, for the first time, and fell in love with it. “It fits a niche. Amateurs want to enjoy themselves. Pot Limit Omaha cash games tend to be more fun for amateur players, but Short-Deck takes it to another level. More gambling. More fun. The edges are smaller, and that’s a great thing for the long term ecosystem of poker. Just because your a pro it doesn’t mean you don’t like to gamble. I love to flip and gamble.”
Poker’s purpose is to enthrall, enlighten and entertain.
Somewhere along the way we forgot that.
Short-Deck won’t let us make the same mistake twice.
Suddenly, it feels like poker has no problem at all.

In this latest video for the Paul Phua Poker School, Winfred Yu explains how he became one of Asian poker’s prime movers. Paul Phua picks the highlights

I have known Winfred Yu for many years now. Through the Poker King Clubs he runs for SunCity, as well as the poker tournaments he has organised through Kings Consulting, Winfred has become a key figure in the Asian poker industry.

Sadly, that position has its drawbacks! Winfred is a keen poker player with a deep love of the game, who has more than $2 million in live tournament earnings. And yet he has played with enough of the world’s top pros to realise that he would have to invest more time than he currently has in the game to reach their level.

“l think l’m not as concentrated or have the advantage like the pros,” Winfred says in this video interview for the Paul Phua Poker School, “because l still have my marketing team, dictating tournaments, running my own room.”

The Daniel Negreanu connection

How did Winfred Yu end up with a career as one of Asian poker’s prime movers? He explains that he started off simply as a fan of the game.

He emigrated from Hong Kong with his family to Canada at the age of 14, and studied maths and statistics at university. This was a good background for a poker player, and when he encountered his first game, Winfred says he was “hooked on day one”. This was also the day he ran into the Canadian who would become the world’s most successful live tournament player…

“It was the first time in Canada that they introduced poker,” says Winfred. “And the first day that l sit down and play, the guy next to me is Daniel Negreanu! And at that time he actually was a dealer at a poker club. And l guess on the first day l already learned from one of the best!”

The rise of the Poker King Club

It wasn’t long before Winfred got a job in one or two of the new Canadian poker rooms, where he was talent-spotted by the Asian gaming operator SunCity and brought to Macau to run poker rooms for them.

With Winfred’s guidance, SunCity dared to dream big. Facing the problem that poker was less well known in Asia than in the West, they helped finance a Poker King feature film to popularise the game. Winfred himself had a cameo role in the comedy, which came out in 2009, alongside real-life poker players including the great Johnny Chan.

Clearly, they did something right! Having started in Macau at the StarWorld casino, Winfred then opened his Poker King Club in the huge Macau Venetian. There are now three more in key Asian cities: a Poker King Club at the Solaire casino in Manila; one in Jeju, South Korea; and in early July a new one also opened at the Star Vegas Resort and Club in Poipet, Cambodia.

As if that wasn’t enough, Winfred Yu also organises several major poker tournaments, including the recent Triton Super High Roller Series at the Maestral Resort and Casino in beautiful Montenegro.

When Winfred Yu met Paul Phua

I met Winfred when the ultra-high-stakes cash game known as “the Big Game” was held at the StarWorld in Macau. He is a smart man, and a keen poker player, so we immediately got on well.

In this video for the Paul Phua Poker School, Winfred admits that he did not expect us to become friends, because I was already friendly with his boss. “He’s a good friend of my boss,” explains Winfred, “and he said ‘take care of Paul, he has super-interest in poker’… he’s such a generous guy he didn’t even think, you know, that he’s a friend of my boss… they treated us all like friends.”

Of course! I look forward to many years more of friendship with Winfred Yu. These are exciting times for the Asian poker market, and you can be sure that Winfred will be in the driving seat.

Who is Winfred Yu? Poker player profile

Winfred Yu runs the Poker King Clubs in Macau, Manila, Jeju and Poipet
Winfred also organises major Asian poker tournaments including the Triton High Roller Series and the Poker King Club Cup
He has previously hosted the ultra-high-stakes cash game known in poker circles as “the Big Game”
Winfred Yu has more than $2 million in live poker tournament earnings

**The world’s top poker pros battled for the coveted Triton SHR Series Main Event title. Paul Phua was in the thick of the action**

The Triton Super High Roller Series in beautiful Montenegro ended in a heads-up battle between German poker pro Manig Loeser and my good friend, Richard Yong. After an hour of ups and downs, Richard’s stack was crippled when he ran his pocket sevens into Manig’s flopped two pair. The very next hand sealed Richard’s fate: with A-4 against Manig’s J-2, the Jack came on the flop to give Manig the first prize of HK$16,877,600 (US$2.16m).

What a poker tournament this was! The high buy-ins, and the attractions of the recently reopened Maestral Resort and Casino, brought in some of the world’s top poker pros – as you can see from my photograph!

The $100m poker selfie

In the top row, left to right, are Andrew Robl, Fedor Holz, Dan “Jungleman” Cates and Wai Kin Yong.

In the middle row, left to right, are Sam Trickett, Steve O’Dwyer, Koray Aldemir, Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov.

In the bottom row, left to right, are Winfred Yu, myself and Richard Yong.

Someone added up the combined live tournament earnings of the players in the picture. They told me it came to about $100 million.

The only pity is that my good friend Tom Dwan came just a few minutes too late to join the group shot!

Tom Dwan, Jungleman and Sam Trickett

I don’t believe you would find such a high concentration of poker pros anywhere in the world as we had at the Triton SHR Series. At one stage Tom Dwan was seated directly across the table from Jungleman, with England’s No 1 poker player, Sam Trickett, in between them!

I myself had the US pro Steve O’Dwyer on my left at the beginning of the tournament; then I had John Juanda, who ended up in fourth place; and then the chip leader at the time, “Shanghai Wang” Qiang. I had to rebuy twice, but still did not manage to make the final table against such stiff competition!

The good thing about poker is that there are always cash games when you bust out of tournament, and those were going strong well into the night.

And there is always another tournament, too! Another Triton SHR Series is being planned for Macau this October, and I know it will not be long before it returns to Montenegro.

Interviews for Paul Phua Poker

I hope you have enjoyed the tournament photos and updates on my Twitter feed, @PaulPhuaPoker. My video crew have also been shooting some fascinating strategy interviews with the poker pros here. Some of them, like Jungleman and Tom Dwan, have featured in previous Paul Phua Poker School videos. Many more will be new to my website, including some very famous players. I can’t wait to share them with you, once the hours of film have been edited.

But for now, this is goodbye from the Maestral Resort and Casino in Montenegro, with its wonderful beaches, glorious sunsets and warm, shimmering sea. Plenty of fish in there – not so many in the Triton SHR Series poker tournaments!

**Sam Trickett is among the top pros sitting pretty after Day One of the Triton SHR Series Main Event. Others have had to rebuy. The Paul Phua Poker team reports**

Day One of the Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro Main Event has just gone, and what a day it was! Some of the biggest names in poker were among the 47 (including re-entries) so far who have stumped up the HK$1m (US$128k) entry fee, making for some exciting poker tournament action and some very difficult tables.

At one point Paul Phua found himself seated in the most unfortunate position of all: with the young internet legend Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov to his left, and veteran five-time WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda to the left of that! Perhaps it’s not surprising that Paul Phua was knocked out twice during the day. Undaunted, he has bought in a third and final time for Day Two!

Top pros who suffered an early knock-out, and then bought in again, include Steve O’Dwyer, Wai Kin Yong and David Peters. Even the recent Triton SHR Series 6-Max Montenegro champion, Fedor Holz, busted out and rebought. And despite the tournament experience born of two bracelets and more than 33 cashes at the WSOP, Dominik Nitsche was forced to buy in three times just as Paul Phua was.

Qiang Wang, the million-chip man

There is just one million-chip man going into Day Two: Qiang Wang. Top pros with significantly bigger stacks than the 250k they began with include Mikita Badziakouski (825k), Sam Trickett (715k) and Steffen Sontheimer (600k). Montenegrin local hero Predrag Lekovic, who came third in the Triton SHR Series 6-Max warm-up event, is sitting in tenth place with 357k. Lekovic busted Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsoz out of the tournament on the very last hand of the day!

Registration remains open until the beginning of Day Two. The big question is, will Tom Dwan make a last-minute appearance? Or is he too caught up in the exciting side action of high-stakes cash games at the Maestral Resort and Casino?

Interviews for the Paul Phua Poker School

Once the tournament broke up for the night, the Paul Phua Poker team filmed even more video interviews with the top pros. We’re really excited by the great strategy advice they have given us, as well as their insights into the life of a professional high-stakes poker player. We can’t wait to get all the footage edited so we can share it with you in the Paul Phua Poker School.

In the meantime, follow @PaulPhuaPoker on Twitter for updates on the Triton SHR Series Main Event.
No one can tell the future, least of all in poker. But there is one thing we can say for sure: with some of the world’s top poker pros competing, it’s going to be a thriller.

**Fedor Holz, Dan “Jungleman” Cates and Sam Trickett are just some of the poker pros playing in the exclusive Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. The Paul Phua Poker team reports**

Is it really just a year and a half since the first Triton Super High Roller Series took place? Already it has become a key fixture in the top poker pros’ calendars, and Day One of the Triton SHR Series in Montenegro shows why.

The Main Event, starting on July 18, is expected to bring out the very brightest stars in poker. We’re now only just on the warm-up tournament: the 6-Max Texas Hold ’Em, with an entry fee of “only” HK$250,000 (US$32,000). And yet some of the world’s finest poker pros are playing already.

The great, late Fedor Holz

Fedor Holz, the likeable German poker prodigy who at 23 has already amassed $23m in live tournament earnings, arrived fashionably late – by three hours! Even so, true to form, he wasted no time in building a commanding stack. He finishes Day One in sixth place, with more than double his starting stack of 50,000.

Three places above him, with 129,000, is Steve O’Dwyer. The US high-stakes specialist, who has $18.5m in live tournament earnings, is now poised to notch up another big win. Pity the Canadian pro Lucas Greenwood, who started the day with the fearsome Steve O’Dwyer to his left – and then, having busted out and rebought, drew the legendary Dan “Jungleman” Cates to his left instead!
Greenwood has a comfortable 64,600 as he enters Day Two. He’s not sitting pretty, however. Who’s that two places to his left? It’s Steve O’Dwyer, yet again!
Other huge poker names who have survived to Day Two include John Juanda, Sam Trickett, Richard Yong, Winfred Yu and Mikita Badziakouski.

Paul Phua Poker interviews the poker pros

The Paul Phua Poker team was at the Triton SHR series too, with cameras at the ready, to bring you live action on Facebook and Twitter (follow @PaulPhuaPoker). We also conducted exclusive interviews with Fedor Holz, Dan “Jungleman” Cates and the British No 1 Sam Trickett – we’ll add those videos to the Paul Phua Poker School in due course – and there will be many more to come as the Triton SHR Series unfolds.

Wish you were here? You can have the next best thing: tweet your question for the Triton poker pros to #PhuaTriton, and Paul Phua will do his best to get them answered.

Maestral, Montenegro, magnificent

Another reason to love this particular Triton SHR Series is the idyllic location. The five-star Maestral Resort and Casino where the tournaments are being held has been comprehensively refurbished over the last few months, and the Montenegrin Prime Minister himself cut the ribbon on its reopening last week. The Maestral now has 183 rooms and 22 suites, all finished to the highest design specifications, with superb cuisine and a Wellness & Spa Centre that already in 2016 had been named Montenegro’s best. It also offers a private beach and an expansive terrace bar overlooking the sea.

Montenegro has some of the most beautiful coastline in Europe, with dramatic hills rising above perfect sandy beaches in tranquil coves. But even by Montenegrin standards this particular stretch is prized as one of the best. In the immediate vicinity of the unique island resort of Sveti Stefan, near Budva with its Old Town and modern nightlife, it is well worth visiting – even without Fedor Holz enjoying a post-tournament dinner on the Maestral’s sea-view terrace a few tables to your right!

For more Triton SHR Series action, follow @PaulPhuaPoker on Twitter, like and follow Paul Phua Poker on Facebook, and tweet your questions for the Triton pros to #PhuaTriton

In this latest “In Conversation” video for the Paul Phua Poker School, Wai Kin Yong and Rui Cao share three secrets for poker success, and remember an amazing hero call. Paul Phua picks the video highlights

If the Triton Super High Roller Series has a break-out star, it’s surely Wai Kin Yong. My young friend has had a superb run: in three Triton SHR tournaments between September 2016 and February 2017, he won twice and came sixth once, for a total of more than US$3m.
Watch this new video for the Paul Phua Poker School, in which Wai Kin Yong explores the secrets of his success with me and Rui Cao, one of the most respected of all French players.

Learn from other poker players

In Wai Kin Yong and Rui Cao’s previous Paul Phua Poker School video, they talked about their aggressive playing style. But actually, as you will find in this new video, Wai Kin Yong achieved poker tournament success only when he tempered that style with a little more caution. In poker tournaments your chips are more precious than in cash: you cannot rebuy. It makes sense to take a slightly less aggressive strategy, and to narrow your hand range.
Here, Wai Kin Yong gives credit to his excellent mentor, the pro Mikael Thuritz. “He’s a great teacher,” says Wai Kin Yong. “I mean, he improved my game, like, 500% maybe!”
Rui Cao, too, stresses the importance of learning from others, no matter how high a level you reach at poker. “I used to watch a lot of videos,” says Rui Cao, “talk with a lot of friends, so it’s not a single person, but just a group of people who made me a better player. I like to talk with good players all the time, so little by little I become better, l think.”

Play the poker player, not the cards

Wai Kin Yong and Rui Cao have played poker together many times, but when asked for their most memorable hand, they both immediately think of the same one.
On a board that ended up something like 7-4-J-6-A, Wai Kin Yong held just pocket nines. All the same, when Rui Cao check-raised the flop, bet the turn, then jammed the river, Wai Kin Yong still managed to call him down! It shows how important it is to know your opponent’s playing style: Wai Kin Yong evidently decided Rui Cao was capable of a triple-barrel bluff.
Wai Kin Yong explains: “I was like, ‘Hmm, it’s Rui Cao. I call with nines. Good!’ And he got so mad about it. I called with nines, ha ha!”
That fearlessness, that ability to trust your read no matter how intimidating the bet, is one of the many things that separates the true poker pro from the amateur.

Play for love of the game, not just money

Finally, we discuss what it takes to be good at poker. Rui Cao believes you need to play from the heart as much as the head; for love, not money.
“If you play the game to win money,” says Rui Cao, “you can be a top player, but you won’t be world class. Maybe you are going to be able to win a little bit, but you’re not going to love it. I think loving the game is the most important thing in poker.”
Wai Kin Yong returns to the opening theme of the video when he says: “I think the most important thing for beginners is their willingness to learn, and admit that you’re not good, you know. Whereas l have known people who play poker every day, and they are losing every day, but they just think it’s bad luck. And l don’t think poker has that much bad luck.
“You have to question yourself, and improve.”

**The Paul Phua Poker team will be filming interviews with top pros at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro on July 16-20. Paul Phua explains how you can be part of the action**

Some of the world’s top poker pros will be travelling to Montenegro on July 16-20 for the Triton Super High Roller Series, and Paul Phua Poker will be bringing you tournament news and interviews from this key event.
At the Triton SHR Series Manila in February, the Paul Phua Poker School secured video interviews on poker strategy with Phil Ivey, Dan Colman, Dan Cates, Wai Kin Yong and Rui Cao.
The Paul Phua Poker team will again be filming at the Triton SHR Series Montenegro. And this time, we are giving you the chance to put your own questions to the pros!
Would you ask Phil Ivey about his stone-cold bluffs? Would you ask Tom “Durrrr” Dwan about heads-up strategy? Or have you a general question about poker strategy to ask the experts?

You tell us!

Follow me on Twitter at @PaulPhuaPoker to keep up with the action, and join in with our Twitter chat at #PhuaTriton. To ask questions of the pros, Tweet your question with the hashtag #PhuaTriton. We don’t yet know exactly who will be playing, but availability permitting, I’ll make sure some of the best get answered.

Top pros play the Triton Poker Series

This is one of the pros’ favourite tournaments – mine, too. Whereas the Main Event of the World Series of Poker has become so crowded that some wonder if any top player can win it again, the Triton Series has high buy-ins that give the pros a chance to shine. For instance:

Fedor Holz won the Triton SHR Series Cali Cup in 2006 for $3m.
Daniel Colman won the Triton SHR Series Paranaque 6-Max Event in 2017 for $3.6m, after a heads-up battle with Erik Seidel.
Koray Aldemir won the Triton SHR Series Paranaque Main Event in 2017 for $1.3m, with Dan “Jugleman” Cates coming third.
Phil Ivey placed fifth in the Triton SHR Series Paranaque $200k NLH in 2016 for $656,000.
Wai Kin Yong has taken down two titles and a sixth place finish in different Triton tournaments for more than $3m.
And I myself, Paul Phua, have cashed in three Triton SHR Series tournaments for more than $800,000.

About the Triton Super High Roller Series

The Triton poker series started in January 2016 with the Triton SHR Cali Cup. The Main Event broke WPT records as its highest ever buy-in, with 52 players buying in for £200,000 each.
Ever since, the high buy-ins to the Triton poker series have attracted some of the top pros, as well as high-rolling businessmen who want to measure themselves against the world’s finest. At these high levels of poker, most of the players know each other. The recently revamped Maestral Resort & Casino, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea in Montenegro, will be full of animated conversation and lively cash side-games.
In addition, the Triton SHR Series raises a lot of money for worthy causes. All proceeds from the tournaments, after expenses (many of which are defrayed by sponsors), go to a named charity. Past beneficiaries have included The Red Cross and Project Pink.
We know that most poker players can only dream of affording the buy-in for these tournaments. Joining in with the Twitter chat at #PhuaTriton is the next best thing.

**In his second video for the Paul Phua Poker School, Dan “Jungleman” Cates reveals why aggression pays. Paul Phua picks the interview highlights.**

If you have been playing poker for as long as I have, you will have noticed that playing styles have become more aggressive over the years. The aggressor is the one able to take initiative, and aggressive raising also gives you “fold equity”, forcing a fold from a stronger hand. These days there are many expert players who 3-bet pre-flop with hands that others might not even call with.
It makes them unpredictable and hard to play against. They might have Ace-King, Ace-Queen or a big pair… but they might also have just suited connectors!

Why Dan Cates 3-bets with 5-3 suited

In his previous video interview for the Paul Phua Poker School, Dan “Jungleman” Cates talked about the aggression that has made him one of the world’s best heads-up players – “I just try to win all the pots I can!” In this second “In Conversation With Paul Phua” video for the Paul Phua Poker School, Dan “Jungleman” Cates talks in greater detail about the hands he likes to 3-bet with.
“If we’re playing in our game,” says Jungleman, “the deep game [high-stakes cash], l’d 3-bet the biggest hands, obviously, but also, like, the bluffs that play the best post-flop, the ‘best bluffs’ so to speak. Like 6-5 suited, 5-3 suited, obviously.”
It may not be obvious to less experienced players that one could raise with 5-3 suited! But that’s what makes Jungleman one of the most successful poker pros around. Dan Cates made more than $10 million profit on the Full Tilt poker site before transitioning to live games, and has since racked up more than $5 million in tournament cashes.

Why 3-bets depend on player and position

As with everything in poker strategy, how you 3-bet will depend on who you are playing against. Jungleman explains: “If someone plays either like tight or aggressive or whatever, l would rather not 3-bet something like AJ offsuit. But if they play passive, and like, just call down or don’t have too many moves, l’d rather 3-bet AJ offsuit a lot.”
And of course it also depends on your position. Jungleman continues: “Or maybe some players I might want to 3-bet more than others, like, if l want to play more in position with them or whatever.”

Why size matters in bluffing

One strategy I have noticed some aggressive poker pros adopt is to deliberately bet more with their bluffs to create a bigger pot. By the time the river comes, the pot is so large that many amateur players will not dare to call with anything much less than the nuts.
In this new Paul Phua Poker School video interview, I ask Jungleman about that. “l think it can make sense to do that,” he agrees. “l mean, l think at least in theory things are quite a bit more complicated, for various reasons.
“l mean, you can manipulate pot stack size if you just know, like, how much they’re going to call on the turn and then fold on the river, if someone just always calls and folds on the river or something. But l think that’s kind of a complicated subject.”
What he means is, this is not something you should try unless you genuinely are an expert player!

How often should you bluff?

Jungleman also talks about when and how to bluff: “The one thing l think about more is how many bluffs do l want to turn up with. In pretty much every situation, basically, you can kind of, like, weight the value of various different bluffs in a lot of the spots and, like, how strong ranges players have. l think about stuff like that…”
And then Jungleman shows that, however aggressive the pro players can be, for the most part they still follow the most simple and fundamental poker advice of all: “But mostly l try to play big pots with big hands

Who is Daniel “Jungleman” Cates? Poker player profile

Dan Cates, 27, from the United States, is one of the world’s leading heads-up poker players.
He plays online under the names “Jungleman12” and “w00ki3z”.
He has made more than $10 million profit on the Full Tilt poker site.
He has nearly $5 million in live tournament cashes.
He often plays cash poker for high stakes in “the Big Game” in Macau and Manila.
He is known for his aggressive style of play.