The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series returns to the Maestral Resort and Casino in Montenegro, and Steve O’Dwyer wins the first event for HK$3,708,784 after beating Isaac Haxton in heads-up action.
Moments ago, Paul Phua, the co-founder of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, stood in front of former Triton Champions, people of the ilk of John Juanda, Jason Koon and Mikita Badziakouski, and talked eloquently and emotionally about his plans to turn the Triton brand into something special.
Steve O’Dwyer stood behind him, a mere two hours after becoming a champion himself, and if this brand is not yet special, then the poker world had better prepare themselves for an assault to the five senses the likes of which they have never seen before.
The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series is in the Maestral Resort & Casino, Budva, Montenegro. Phua called it his ‘favourite stop’, and said it was ‘refreshing’ that so many people, players and staff alike, had brought their families.
Maybe the sight of all the children got to O’Dwyer, because after beating Isaac Haxton, heads-up, to win the HK$3,708,784 first prize in Event #1: HK$250,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed Turbo, he held up a birthday message to his mother during his check acceptance.
The event attracted 54-entrants (43-unique, 11 re-entries), and at the end of Day 1 seven players were remaining with Sam Greenwood at the top of the chip counts, and O’Dwyer hanging around in the arctic cold bottom.
Full chip counts
1. Sam Greenwood – 2,100,000
2. Linus Loeliger – 1,755,000
3. Beh Kok Weng – 1,475,000
4. Dietrich Fast – 1,160,000
5. Isaac Haxton – 890,000
6. Steve O’Dwyer – 820,000
7. Wei Lim Chin – 805,000
The first goal for all of these players was to reach the money. The bubble was unusually severe with a min-cash representing 4x the HK$250,000 buy-in, and it led to some interesting spots.
Wei Lim Chin’s pocket sevens fell to Beh Kok Weng’s pocket eights, and things got extremely interesting after Dietrich Fast moved all-in with T7ss in the small blind only for Haxton to wake up with pocket kings in the large.
It was an unfortunate moment for Fast that left him with less than a big blind, and he wasn’t about to fling it in on a whim. As Fast protected his last chip, O’Dwyer deployed a different tact. When the second shortest stack in the competition picked up pocket jacks, he must have looked at them and thought, “Not Jacks!” But there they were. O’Dwyer opened with a raise, Weng made things interesting when he flat called with ATdd in position, and Fast folded hoping for a miracle.
The flop fell queen high, and realising the dynamics of the situation, Weng moved all-in. O’Dwyer looked like he had swallowed a rubber hosepipe, but made the call, and doubled up through the player from Malaysia.
Then deja-vu, sort of.
O’Dwyer picked up pocket queens in late position, opened with a raise, and also realising the dynamic, Sam Greenwood moved all-in with Q9, only for O’Dwyer to call and take the chip lead.
Fast eventually bowed out in sixth place after his lowly looking 64 failed to beat Haxton’s holding during a family outing, but by the time that had happened, O’Dwyer and Haxton had all of the chips.
Greenwood was the first player to hit the rail after reaching the money, losing a flip against O’Dwyer, and then Linus Loeliger removed Weng from the equation when his pocket queens beat K7s. Loeliger was unable to sustain that momentum, falling in third after turning two pairs at the same time O’Dwyer stared at a straight.
Haxton and O’Dwyer agreed upon a deal that saw the chipped up O’Dwyer bank HK$3,708,784, with HK$2,901,216 going to Haxton, and HK$250,000 left in the middle. Haxton began the brightest, winning pot after pot, but he didn’t win the pot that mattered. The partypoker ambassador limped-shoved Kc7s and O’Dwyer brought the competition to an end, calling and winning with KQ.
It’s the fifth time that O’Dwyer has made a Triton final table, finishing in Haxton’s position twice before, and you can expect him to appear on a few more as the series progresses.
ITM results
1 – Steve O’Dwyer HK$3,708,784*
2 – Isaac Haxton – HK$2,901,216*
3 – Linus Loeliger – HK$ 1,720,000
4 – Beh Kok Weng – HK$ 1,240,000
5 – Sam Greenwood – HK$ 1,005,000
* Indicates a heads-up deal
Here are the remaining events:
#2 Mon May 6 – HK$500k – No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed (Two-Day Event)**
#3 Tue May 7 – HK$100k – Short-Deck Ante-Only (Two-Day Event)*
#4 Wed May 8 – HK$1m Triton Montenegro No-Limit Hold’em Main Event (Three-Day Event)**
#5 Fri May 10 – HK$250k Short-Deck Ante-Only (Two-Day Event)*
#6 Sat May 11 – HK$200k Short-Deck Ante-Only Turbo (Two-Day Event)*
#7 Sun May 12 – HK$250k Pot-Limit Omaha (Two-Day Event )*
#8 Mon May 13 – HK$500k Short-Deck Ante-Only (Two-Day Event)*
#9 Tue May 14 – HK$750k Short-Deck Ante-Only (Two-Day Event)*
#10 Wed May 15 – HK$1m Triton Montenegro Short-Deck Ante-Only Main Event (Three-Day Event)*
* Indicates a 3:00 pm start
** Indicates a noon start
Day 2/3 Resumptions begin at noon.
