GGPOKER

The Story of the 2019 Triton Poker

In 2019, the Triton Poker Series increased its travelling circus to include a stop in London, England, to add to the 2018 destinations of Jeju, South Korea, and Budva, Montenegro. This new stop would eventually provide the biggest single win in the history of tournament poker and a result that has been talked about ever since. The story of the Triton Poker Series in 2019 was one for the record books.

JOIN THE POKER TABLES AT GGPOKER!

Justin and Jason Star in Short Deck

The first stop in 2019 was in Jeju, South Korea, as four Short Deck and three No Limit Hold’em events were part of a seven-tournament series in the Far East. The opening event cost $70,000 to play and featured some of the best players in the world, with just the top eight making a profit on their investment. 

Former Triton champion John Juanda cashed for $77,724 in eighth place, before Ben Lamb (7th for $99,385), Choon Siow (5th for $159,270), and David Benefield (4th for $206,414) all made the money. Justin Bonomo won the event for $586,114, further strengthening his cause in the race to top The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List against Bryn Kenney.

Three more Short Deck events followed across the series, with Devan Tang winning the first one for $1,239,758 before Jason Koon bagged not one but two events, with the first earning him $2,840,945 in Short Deck before he topped the 22-player NLHE High Roller event for $973,306. 

“It’s ridiculous to sign up for six tournaments and turn up and final table four of them and win two of them.” Koon said after a phenomenal series for him. 

The No Limit Hold’em events across the series were very well attended. With 49 entries, a $1.42 million top prize was created, and Malaysia’s Chris Soyza won it after he defeated Canadian Sam Greenwood heads-up for the glittering trophy. The Main Event had fewer entries, with 32 participants, but with 16 re-entries in a $250,000 buy-in event, meant the total prize pool was $11,491,541. 

After cashes for Isaac Haxton (6th for $802,589), David Peters (5th for $1,038,269), Peter Jetten (4th for $1,323,634), and Dan ‘Cowboy’ Smith (3rd for $1,732,572), Bryn Kenney and Timothy Adams battled for the top prize of over $3.53 million. In the end, Kenney had to settle for second prize of just over $3m after a heads-up deal, as Adams won a crucial pot with full house over full house. 

“To win, it feels amazing,” Adams said after victory, “I obviously had to run very, very good, as I think most people have to to win a poker tournament. I’m thrilled that it’s me. I’m really tired right now [after] three really gruelling days of poker. The best players in the world were in the field.”

Big Names Bully in Budva

Poker’s biggest names won huge in Budva, as Montenegro welcomed players back to the Triton Poker Series in May. Stars of the felt such as John Juanda, Ben Lamb, Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Mikita Badziakouski, Steve O’Dwyer, Henrick Hecklen, and Rui Cao all won Triton trophies, but it was Bryn Kenney who made the headlines. 

The $60,000-entry NLHE 6-Max event saw nine players cash, and among them were some players who had already become Triton legends. Danny Tang (8th for $179,719), Richard Yong (7th for $231,977), and Jason Koon (5th for $378,556) all made the money, while Seng Leow went close to victory, finishing third for $646,222. The title was won by Bryn Kenney, who claimed the $1,431,376 top prize after beating Daniel Dvoress heads-up, relegating the Canadian to runner-up for a result worth $947,028.

In the $120,000 buy-in Main Event, three of the most successful ten players in poker tournament history reached the final nine, and it was Jason Koon who was first to bust inside the money places for $261,193. Matthias Eibinger (8th for $341,462) and Erik Seidel (7th for $440,842) followed before Triton co-founder Paul Phua departed for $560,609. Phua was all-in on the flop holding middle pair, but ran into Bryn Kenney’s top set, and that was a sign of things to come. 

Sam Greenwood left in fifth place for $719,873 before Mikita Badziakouski lost a painful coinflip. Again, it was Kenney who came out of the skirmish smiling as his pocket sevens triumphed over the Belarusian’s ace-jack as Badziakouski left with $925,005. Peter Jetten left next, busting in third for $1,223,148 when his king-six couldn’t hold against Kenney’s ten-nine.

Heads-up, it was Kenney against Danny Tang, but the latter was a massive underdog, having just one twelfth of the chip leader’s stack. Soon, he had the roundest number of all, and Kenney could celebrate a famous win worth $2,713,859 compared to Tang’s result worth $1,796,498. 

“I was just really in the zone [and] played very well, crushed the table,. I had a few things go my way – it’s always the best.” Kenney said after the battle of Budva. The Triton Poker Series of 2019 had one more stop – London. The Capital of England was about to change the face of poker.

London Calling

Across 11 days in London, the Triton Poker Series hosted nine events as poker reached for the stars in England’s capital. Five Short Deck events took place, with the winners David Benefield, Justin Bonomo, Yu Liang, Xuan Tan, and John Patgorski all lifting their new Triton Poker Series trophy. 

A six-handed NLHE event was won by Linus Loeliger a.k.a. online poker legend ‘LLinusLLove’ for £690,000, while an eight-handed NLHE event was taken down by English player Charlie Carrel for £1,321,000 after he beat Jason Koon heads-up, with Loeliger coming third for another £594,000.

Wai Yong, so often a threat on the Triton tour, beat fellow Malaysian Paul Phua to the title in the £100,000-entry Main Event, with both men locking up over £2.5 million after a heads-up deal. Amazingly, however, that wasn’t the biggest prize at the event, not by a very long way.

Triton Million for Charity

The Triton Million for Charity event took place across the opening three days of August, and when the dust settled, the biggest-ever prize in poker had been awarded. With 54 entries, each of them costing £1 million, there was eye-watering money on offer to the winner, and, as it turned out, second place too. 

A total of 11 places were paid, and players such as Bill Perkins (6th for £2.2m), Vivek Rajkumar (5th for £3m), and England’s longest-lasting player, Stephen Chidwick (4th for $4.41m), all ran deep. With three players left, Dan Smith’s ace-ten was at risk and lost to Bryn Kenney’s queen-ten after a board of Q-J-8-Q-2 rolled onto the felt to send play heads-up, with ‘The Cowboy’ shot down for a score of £7.2m. 

After a dominant opening to the heads-up exchange, a deal had been done between the leader Bryn Kenney, and his rival, Aaron Zang. The latter, hailing from China, trailed at that stage but changed the script when a missed draw and a bold bluff from Kenney ran into Zang’s flopped trip kings. 

The Chinese player won when Kenney got his chips in with the nut flush draw on the flop, but Zang’s top pair held. Upon winning, both men would celebrate wildly. While Zang won the title and £13.77 million, Bryn Kenney’s prize of £16,890,509 ($20,563,324) was the biggest single prize in poker history, overtaking Antonio Esfandiari’s WSOP Big One for One Drop title from seven years earlier. The monumental achievement by Bryn Kenney put him literally on top of the world as he took over as the greatest live tournament poker player on The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List. 

The Triton Poker Series had announced itself as the biggest poker tournament series in the world by prize money… and it was here to stay. 

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.