HK $1,000,000 Main Event
Day 1 Started
HK $1,000,000 Main Event
Day 1 Started
With the Triton Super High Roller HK$250,000 (~$32,000) 6-Max Event aperitif already served and Fedor Holz adding yet more silverware to his already amply filled trophy cabinet it’s time to dish up the main course.
The HK$ 1-million (~$128,140) Triton Super High Roller Series 2017 Montenegro Main Event will be starting at 1pm CET and with some of poker’s best and brightest in attendance the field looks set to be a star-studded one.
With previous Triton Series events attracting some of the biggest names on the international circuit and past winners including Holz (twice), Daniel Cates, Daniel Colman, Wai Kin Yong and Koray Aldemir the stage is set for a thrilling three days of high-octane action.
It was none other than German wunderkind Holz who emerged victorious in the first ever $200,000 Triton SHR Series Main Event held at the Solaire Resort in Manila in January 2016, locking up a payday of $3,072,748 with Daniel Cates, Wai Kin Yong and Koray Aldemir following in Holz’ footsteps over the following 12 months.
In addition to Germany’s highest earning tournament poker player a slew of big names have made the trip over to the magnificent Maestral Resort and Casino, located in the heart of the Balkans by the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea.
The United Kingdom’s highest earning tournament player, Sam Trickett, has called in on his way back from the WSOP in Las Vegas. High stakes crusher Steve O’Dwyer has returned from a two-month poker hiatus and seems keen to add to his already impressive tally of victories. Tournament stalwartJohn Juanda is in attendance to represent the poker old school, with the new school internet superstars represented by Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates and most interestingly of all, the infamous Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan looks to be making an Ali-like return to the ring.
Dwan had been absent from the live tournament circuit until the recent Macau Billionaire’s Poker 2017 Spring Challenge at the Babylon Casino back in March, where he announced his return with a bang, or rather a bink, when he finished runner-up to Belarusian Mikita Badziakouski for an HK$1.95 million (~US$252,153) payday – his first live tournament cash in over three years.
Whether Dwan will repeat or better that feat here in Montenegro remains to be seen, but with three-day Main Event boasting multiple re-entry until the end of level 10 – before 1pm CET on Wednesday 19 July on Day 2 – there is certainly going to be some fantastic high stakes poker tournament action on display over the next few days.
Day 1 Level Structure
Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
2 | 600 | 1,200 | 200 |
3 | 800 | 1,600 | 200 |
4 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 300 |
5 | 1,200 | 2,400 | 400 |
6 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 500 |
7 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 500 |
8 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 500 |
9 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 |
Players start with 250,000 in chips and will have 60-minute levels in which to use them and play will conclude for the day at the end of level 9 with Day 2 resuming at 1pm CET on Wednesday 19 July. Of course the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the tournament thrills and spills so watch this space.
As is often the case with High Roller tournaments there is a slight delay in starting. However, we are sure that the cards will be in the air in the not too distant future.
Steve O’Dwyer and Liang Yu have taken their seats over on table one and Winfred Yu, Paul Phua and Cheok Ieng Cheong are wandering the room so we could well be getting underway shortly.
Level: 1
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100
The cards are now in the air with Triton Super High Roller 6-Max third place finisher Predrag Lekovic, China’s Liang Yu and Steve O’Dwyer playing three handed for the first three hands before Greece’s Alexandros Kolonias sat down to make it a four-handed affair.
“Some poker players are just lazy,” joked O’Dwyer, who is always prompt in arriving on time and getting into the thick of the action; an admirable trait that usually works out for him if you judge these things by the results he posts.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve O'Dwyer | 250,000 | |
|
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Liang Yu | 250,000 | |
Predrag Lekovic | 250,000 | |
Alexandros Kolonias | 250,000 | |
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Lucas Greenwood has recently taken his seat and won his first hand in a blind on blind battle against Predrag Lekovic. The Canadian limped the small blind and Lekoivc checked his option, before calling a Greenwood 1,200 lead on an flop.
Greenwood fired again for 1,500 on the turn and that was enough to take down the hand.
Steve O’Dwyer has won himself a couple of early pots, opening from under-the-gun for 3,000 and finding no customers for the first and then winning the next hand after Liang Yu limped from UTG, picking up a caller in Greenwood in the cut off to take play three-way to a flop of , which was checked all around.
O’Dwyer opened for 2,500 when the hit the turn, which was enough to take it down. Belarusian Mikita Badziakouski then joined the table, as did David Peters to bring the number of players up to seven.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve O'Dwyer |
255,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
||
Lucas Greenwood | 253,000 | |
|
||
David Peters | 250,000 | |
|
||
Mikita Badziakouski | 250,000 | |
|
Steve O’Dwyer is continuing to play a lot of early pots and has made it 3,000 to go from both the cutoff and the hi-jack to take down the blinds and antes two hands in a row.
Following O’Dwyer’s lead, Liang Yu decided to get something going, opening to 3,000 from the hi-jack the next hand and picking up a customer in big blind Predrag Lekovic, who checked the flop over to Yu.
Yu continuation bet 3,000, which Lekovic called and the dealer flipped over the turn, bringing checks from both players.
The Montenegrin checked the river over to Yu for a third time and the Chinese player fired for 15,000, which was enough to win the hand.
Steve O’Dwyer opened yet another pot, this time for 2,500 from under-the-gun, only to see Mikita Badziakouski reach for raising chips and he made it 8,200 to go.
Action folded back over to O’Dwyer who stared Badziakouski down for a bit before reaching for chips and three-betting to 26,500 in total. Badziakouski re-checked his cards, tapped the table and made the fold leaving O’Dwyer to rake in a 10,000-chip pot without showdown.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve O'Dwyer |
270,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
||
Liang Yu |
258,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
Predrag Lekovic |
244,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
Mikita Badziakouski |
241,000
-9,000
|
-9,000 |
|
We caught the tail end of a sizable pot between Lucas Greenwood (big blind) and David Peters just as the latter led out for a half-pot sized bet of 18,500 on the river with the community cards reading .
Greenwood has roughly 176,600 behind and was in the midst of tanking as we arrived. Eventually though, after rechecking his cards Greenwood gave it up and Peters raked in the pot.
A slew of late arrivals heralded the end of the level and both Steve O’Dwyer and Alexandros Kolonias are moved to a new table as Paul Phua, Dominik Nitsche, Fedor Holz, Peter Chan, Steffen Sontheimer and Manig Loeser arrive, growing the field to 13 players, spread over two tables.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
David Peters |
277,000
27,000
|
27,000 |
|
||
Paul Phua | 250,000 | |
|
||
Dominik Nitsche | 250,000 | |
|
||
Fedor Holz | 250,000 | |
Peter Chan | 250,000 | |
Steffen Sontheimer | 250,000 | |
Manig Loeser | 250,000 | |
|
||
Lucas Greenwood |
176,600
-76,400
|
-76,400 |
|
Level: 2
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 200
Mikita Badziakouski opened the action to 2,500 from under-the-gun and action folded around to big blind Liang Yu, who made the call to take the action heads-up to a flop of .
Yu checked the flop over to Badziakouski, who fired for 3,400 and after a minute’s careful contemplation Yu tossed in the call.
The turn brought another check from Yu, with the Chinese player shooting Badziakouski a calculating look after the Belarusian checked it back and the landed on the river to complete the hand.
Yu checked for a third time and Badziakouski quickly bet close to a pot-sized 11,000, which Yu eventually called, though he looked fairly unimpressed when the Belarusian rolled over for the rivered nut straight.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Mikita Badziakouski |
273,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
||
Liang Yu |
208,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |