Wai Kin Yong is on course for an unprecedented second successive Triton Main Event title after making the final table of the £100k Short-Deck Main Event with the chip lead.
Each poker tournament is a personal Thermopylae. There is no vast legion of support — no buddy to help you along when you get knocked down. The rail is a hungry beast devouring poker players like stranded frames of flesh wandering in the desert.
Wai Kin Yong is a man who remembers his Thermopylae.
Two days ago, the 28-year-old from Malaysia won the £2.6m first prize in the £100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. If his shields hold for one more day, he will become the first person to win both the Long and Short-Deck versions of the Main Event in the same series.
The £100,000 Short-Deck Main Event attracted 108 entries (inc. 55 re-entries) raising a prize pool of more than £10.3m. Fifteen players received a minimum £177,000 for their war efforts. Triton regular, Gabe Patgorski, earned the unwanted title of ‘Bubble Boy’ when his pocket kings crumbled against Liu Ming Zhong’s AdKd.
The first person to cash was Yong’s father Richard, followed by luminaries such as the former One Drop winner, Elton Tsang, Triton Ambassadors Tom Dwan and Jason Koon, and the incredibly consistent Stephen Chidwick.
The final table bubble boy was David Benefield. Fresh off his victory in the £25,000 Short-Deck event, Benefield collected another £368,100 after Wai Kin Yong’s Ts9s secured a flush on the river when up against two red aces.
It’s a zany, crazy, final table sure to entertain those watching on the live stream.
$10m in live tournament earnings separate Bryn Kenney from Justin Bonomo at the top of the All-Time Money List, and Bonomo’s attempt to shorten the gap begins today. Bonomo begins second in chips.
Mikita Badziakouski is the only man to win back-to-back No-Limit Hold’em Main Events (Jeju & Montenegro). Rui Cao has the chance to become the first to win back-to-back Short-Deck Main Events. The Frenchman took down the 98-entrant HKD1m Short-Deck Main Event in Montenegro for $3.35m, despite tournaments not being his modus operandi.
It wouldn’t be a Triton final table without Paul Phua occupying one of the pews. The Triton co-founder is making his record 16th final table. It was Phua who lost heads-up to Yong in the No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. He will be keen not to have an instant replay.
Rounding off the list of stars battling for this title is Isaac Haxton. Like Phua, Haxton is a serial Triton ITM finisher, making money ten times without a win, and he begins with the shortest stack in the room.
The action begins at 1 pm, where we will play down t a winner.
Final table
1st – Wan Kin Yong – 253 antes 7,595,000
2nd – Justin Bonomo – 197 antes 5,910,000
3rd – Rui Cao – 146 antes 4,375,000
4th- Paul Phua – 130 antes 3,905,000
5th – Liang Xu- 120 antes 3,585,000
6th – Ming Zhong Liu – 118 antes 3,530,000
7th – Isaac Haxton – 117 antes 3,510,000
ITM finishes
8th – David Benefield – £ 368,100
9th – Stephen Chidwick – £ 269,600
10th – Jason Koon – £ 217,700
11th – Furkat Rakhimov – £ 217,700
12th – Tom Dwan – £ 191,900
13th – Cary Katz – £ 191,900
14th – Elton Tsang – £ 177,000
15th – Richard Yong – £ 177,000
