The second of ten events are in the books at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, and Bryn Kenney becomes the first person to bank a million after winning the HK$500,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max.
In 2017, Bryn Kenney earned more money playing poker than all the people in the universe, and after winning Event #2: HK$500,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, he’s on course for a repeat.
Kenney only came to Montenegro to support a brand that’s dear to his heart, telling me during a short interview of his disappointment that the buy-ins are too low. It was a statement, ordinary people wouldn’t make, but Kenney is anything but ‘ordinary.’
The man who ploughs a lonely furrow in this business has been on top of his game-winning the Aussie Millions Main Event and a $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the US Poker Open in Las Vegas, so he was always one of the favourites, no matter what the game.
The event pulled in 79 entrants (inc. 34 re-entries), and Kenney was nestled #9 of #24 by the end of the day. After dodging booby traps with his armour intact, the New York star faced Daniel Dvoress, heads-up for the title, with a pay jump of $500,000 between first and second.
Dvoress is also a man in form after flying into Montenegro from the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monte Carlo with final table appearances in the €100k and €25k tucked into his underpants. And what a performance it was for Dvoress, starting as the shortest stack in the room to take an almost 2:1 chip lead into heads-up against Kenney.
Let’s take a nutshell look at how they got there.
The first to enter the museum of this thing once we’d reached the final six players was Christoph Vogelsang. The former Super High Roller Bowl winner got his last eight big blinds in the middle with pocket fours, only for the sixes of Jason Koon to eat him alive.
Koon was making his ninth Triton final table in the past 12-months, but he couldn’t turn his run into a fourth title. When his demise came, it was a cooler, opening with jacks in late position before jamming after Bryn Kenney raised with kings from the big blind.
The EPT Monte Carlo €100k winner, Sergio Aido, arrived in Montenegro minus his luggage. It was the perfect opportunity for Aido to do a Kenney and play in his bathrobe and slippers, but it seems he, instead, wore someone else’s clothes.
They weren’t lucky clothes.
With blinds at 60k/120k/120k, Aido moved all-in from the small blind for 1.44m holding Ah3c, and Daniel Dvoress called and won from the big blind holding the inferior Kd5c after turning a Broadway straight.
Ivan Leow is another Triton Poker powerhouse, with six final tables in the past 12-months. Leow’s run in the Montenegrin Six-Max ended the same way as his recent excursion in this event in Jeju – third. Leow moved all-in on the button for 1.06m holding JhTs for 1.06m, and Dvoress had an easy call to make in the small blind holding pocket queens.
So we arrived at the final stage of the tournament with Dvoress in the ascendency.
It took one hand for Kenney to double up through Dvoress, and after shimmying into the lead, he didn’t abandon it winning the final hand coming from behind to river a flush.
It’s the 19th live tournament win of Kenney’s career, and the perfect tonic after the champ lost to Timothy Adams in the final of the HK$2,000,000 Main Event in Jeju recently.
ITM finishes
1 – Bryn Kenney, USA – HK$11,230,000 (US$1,431,264)
2 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – $7,430,000 (US$946,954)
3 – Ivan Leow, Malaysia – HK$5,070,000 (US$646,172)
4 – Sergio Aido, Spain – HK$3,820,000 (US$486,859)
5 – Jason Koon, USA – HK$2,970,000 (US$378,527)
6 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany, HK$2,300,000 (US$293,135)
7 – Richard Yong, Malaysia, HK$1,820,000 (US$231,959)
8 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong, HK$1,410,000 (US$179,705)
9 – Cheong Cheok Ieng, Macau – HK$1,080,000 (US$137,646)
Here are the remaining events:
#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.
