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The Story of the 2023 Triton Poker

After the biggest year yet, in 2022, when the Triton Poker Series went to Madrid, Cyprus, and England, the series was back and bigger than ever in 2023. Visiting London, England, the city of Hội An in Vietnam, Kyrenia in Cyprus, and Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco, the Triton Poker Series travelled to four different stops. It turned poker players’ dreams into reality.

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Victory in Vietnam

A total of 13 events played out in the city of Hội An in March as Vietnam became a Triton tour stop for the first time in poker history. The opening event was unique in that it was a live GGMillion$, and instead of the regular $10,000 online buy-in at GGPoker, this one was a $25,000-entry event. With an amazing 166 entries, a prize pool of $4.15 million was built to be awarded to the top 23 players. Among those cashing, Erik Seidel (21st for $48,200), Patrik Antonius (13th for $70,500), and Nick Petrangelo (5th for $286,300) all made the money but fell short of glory. The event was won by Chin Lim, the Malaysian claimed the top prize of $965,000 after beating Czech player Roman Hrabec heads-up for the title.

Plenty of No Limit Hold’em events crowned well-known winners, with Nacho Barbero (Event #2 for $600,000), Orpen Kisacikoglu (Event #7 for $1.75m) and Jason Koon (Event #10 for $574,000) all racking up big wins. The $100,000-entry Short Deck Main Event went the way of Aaron Zang, who bagged the top prize of $1,54 million when he beat Michael Zhang heads-up, but after that event, the biggest one of the series would play out, the Main Event in NLHE.

Also carrying a cost of $100,000 to play, the big one had 135 entries, generating a prize pool of $13.5 million and offering a top prize of $3.25 million. Players such as Erik Seidel (18th for $175,000) and Bryn Kenney (17th for $195,400) made a small return on their buy-ins, while Roman Hrabec (9th for $324,000), Timothy Adams (6th for $756,000), and Adrian Mateos (4th for $1.2m) went closer. The title was won, however, by English hedge fund manager and high roller regular Talal Shakerchi, who triumphed heads-up against Christopher Soyza to take the title and the glorious Triton trophy.

Kyrenia Calling

By the time the Triton Poker Series pitched up at the edge of Kyrenia’s tranquil blue waters and historic castle, player excitement was at fever pitch. The glamorous coastal resort welcomed players back onto the Triton Poker Series tour, as the destination of two events in 2022 came back for just one stop in 2023. Following its popularity in Vietnam, the live GGMillion$ event again kicked off the action in Cyprus. A total of 101 entries at $25,000 each meant $700,000 was on the line for the winner after a three-way deal helped end the event quickly. Players such as Patrick Antonius (21st for $45,800), Mike Watson (16th for $55,300), and Henrick Hecklen (12th for $67,100) made the money, while Canadian Sam Greenwood (5th for $272,500) and Turkish player Selahaddin Bedir (3rd for $620,000) came close. The winner was the Indian high roller Santosh Suvarna, who claimed another major title after getting close in previous events. This started a run of wins which saw Suvarna win his first WSOP bracelet in 2024, the Indian proved he’s one to watch in future Triton events. 

Daniel Tang was one of several other big winners in Cyprus that May, taking not one but two Triton trophies back to Britain, where the Hong Kong player usually resides. Tang won a pair of $50,000-entry events, with the Short Deck variant gaining him a top prize of $750,000 and the No Limit Hold’em turbo event winning him $545,000. Victories for Biao Ding (Event #3 for $540,500), Chris Brewer (Event #10 for $292,449), Richard Yong (Event #15 for $323,000), and Daniel Dvoress (Event #17 for $214,000) were highlights along the way, but the series belonged to the man who had become Triton’s record winner – Jason Koon.

Koon began his series in fine form, winning Event #2, the $20,000-entry NLHE 7-max event for $663,000 when he outlasted fellow crushers Stephen Chidwick and Adrian Mateos at the final table. But that wasn’t close to his biggest success of the series. After being denied victory heads-up against Brewer in Event #10, the next event was the Main Event, and Koon made it his own.

With 65 entries and 36 re-entries, the $100,000-entry Main Event topped $10 million in prize money and saw 15 players make the money. The aforementioned Chris Brewer min-cashed for $175,000, while Fedor Holz (13th for $190,000), Stephen Chidwick (8th for $358,500), and Dan Smith (5th for $762,000) all got close. Koon, however, would not be denied the title. After agreeing to a heads-up deal, Koon beat friend and rival Sam Greenwood heads-up as the Canadian claimed the runner-up prize of $1.92m, and Koon took home $2.45 million, yet another seven-figure score in Triton events.

London Calling

In July 2023, 15 events took place at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel in London as four years after Bryn Kenney’s historic biggest-ever win at the live felt, the All-Time Money List leader was back to win big again. Just like in Vietnam and Cyprus, England’s first Triton event of 2023 was the GGMillion$ Live event, and once again, it was well attended, with 107 entries all putting up $25,000 to take part. With 27 players making the money, stars of the felt such as Dan ‘Cowboy’ Smith (23rd for $44,500), Nick Petrangelo (18th for $48,600), Chris Brewer (11th for $77,000), Sam Grafton (9th for $91,000), and Henrick Hecklen (5th for $271,000) all made the money. The title was won by Lucas Greenwood, the Canadian, who topped the field to take the title and an incredible $897,000. 

Once again, a Triton stop provided double champions along the way. Phil Ivey bagged the $60,000-entry No Limit Hold’em Turbo Event #12 for just over a million dollars when he beat Cary Katz heads-up and then added Event #17, a $25,000-entry Short Deck event for $280,500 for a profitable series. Jason Koon did even better, scoring $1.57 million in the $60,000 NLHE 7-Max Event #6 before also taking down Event #16, the $60,000-entry Short Deck event for $828,000. Another astonishing return of $2.5m confirmed the latest series as Koon’s ideal playground. Such was his dominance of Triton events that he was starting to have the same power over them as Phil Hellmuth does at the World Series of Poker. 

The $125,000 buy-in Main Event was won by Canadian player Timothy Adams, who claimed $4,185,000 as champion when he outlasted a final table featuring runner-up Jean-Noel Thorel ($2.83m), Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates (3rd for $1.94m), and Stephen Chidwick, who came fifth for $1.26m. With 97 entries and 54 re-entries, the event saw 27 players make the money, including Paul Phua (13th for $311,000), Erik Seidel (19th for $226,000), and Bryn Kenney, who won $207,500 in 21st place. 

That cash was a drop in the ocean of money soaked up by ‘King Kenney’ in the $250,000-entry Luxon Invitational event. There were 91 entries and 27 re-entries in the event, which saw a prize pool of $29.5 million and a top prize of $6.86 million that was won by Kenney. While his biggest-ever win was in London several years earlier, the title win in 2023 is key to his lead over Justin Bonomo at the top of The Hendon Mob All-Time Money List.

While London had broken more records and seen poker legends win millions, the 2023 Triton Poker Series was not over, with one more very special festival to close out the year.

Monte Carlo Crowns the Cowboy

The brand-new stop of Monte Carlo welcomed the Triton Poker Series in October and November, as 12 events took place in the most exclusive principality in the world. The opening event was the most expensive, as the $200,000-event, the Special Triton Invitational, awarded a top prize of $3.87 million. With 73 total entries, two Hong Kong players made the final six, with Danny Tang (6th for $875,000) and Elton Tsang (3rd for $1.78m) both reaching the latter stages. It was Dan ‘Cowboy’ Smith who won the event, taking home the biggest top prize of his career.

The GGMillion$ LIVE tournament was the 10th event of the series and featured an incredible 187 entries in total. With 31 players reaching the money place, Triton legends like Justin Bonomo (30th), Punnat Punsri (29th), and Phil Ivey (28th) all min-cashed for $41,000. At the same time, other GGMillion$ and Triton crushers – Bruno Volkmann (19th for $55,400), Sam Greenwood (15th for $69,000), Henrick Hecklen (12th for $76,000), and Paul Phua (6th for $228,000) – all made the money too.

The top prize was won by Chin Lim after an all-Malaysian heads-up saw him beat Hing Chow to the $899,893 top prize. Others to reach the final table included British high roller Ben Heath, who came fourth for $380,000, and Biao Ding, who finished in eighth place for $166,600. The Main Event was around the corner, and with a $125,000 entry fee, it offered a huge top prize of over $3.46 million. The tournament turned out to be a classic.

About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.

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Edited by Shawn A.