Triton Super High Roller Archives

**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

**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.