As the WSOP starts to wind down, another series of poker tournaments will be just about ready to get underway halfway around the world. In just a little more than a week, the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series will kick off in Jeju, South Korea with five tournaments scheduled across the 10-day event. Out of the five, three will be ante-only short-deck tournaments.
Short-deck, or Six-Plus Hold’em, is the latest variation of the popular Texas Hold’em format and has rapidly increased in popularity. In this version, the cards from 2 to 5 are removed, making the 6 the lowest card in the game. The Ace is still played high or low, meaning a player can have a straight of A-6-7-8-9 or one of 10-J-Q-K-A. Additionally, flushes beat full houses and a set beats a straight. Short-deck has created an entirely new twist on a popular game, and probably shouldn’t be played after a few too many cocktails.
The Triton series will offer the short-deck version as ante-only games. No blinds are posted; rather, players who receive hole cards pay an ante with the ante increasing in size at regular intervals. The result is more players competing in a given hand, as they have already paid into the pot.
The festival will begin on July 23 and run through Aug. 1. There will be short-deck games with buy-ins of $13,000, $64,000 and $127,000, as well as a regular NLHE game of $64,000 and the competition’s Main Event with a buy-in of $255,000.
Triton recently held another high-roller festival in Montenegro that saw several players pick up some massive paydays. Jason Koon took down the $127,000 buy-in short-deck event for over $3.5 million, while Phil Ivey was victorious at the $32,000 event for $604,977. He also finished third in the $127,000 tournament for a not-to-shabby prize of $1.6 million. Both are expected to make appearances in Jeju, along with Richard Yong, Daniel Cates and Mikita Badziouski, who took down the Montenegro Main Event for $2.5 million.
Coverage of the series will be available on Twitch, with Lex Veldhius, Chen An Lin and Randy Lew providing commentary.
