Triton Poker: Ivey's Aces Cracked on Final Table; Punsri Runs Hot for $2M Payout
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There have been a plethora of seven-figure payouts at Triton Poker's jaunt in Jeju for its super high roller series, and the biggest prize of the festival so far was just dished out.
A cool $2,010,000 awaited the winner in Event #8: $50K NLH 7-Handed and the poker wizard to claim the champion's spoils was Punnat Punsri. Thailand's All-Time Money List leader romped to the finish line in dominating fashion and overcame a red-hot Sergio Aido in heads-up play.
Phil Ivey booked his second final table appearance of the high-stakes fiesta and found himself right behind Punsri with seven remaining until the duo tangled in what was the hand of the final table.
The two-day tournament garnered 190 entries, which set up the $9,500,000 prize pool. The top 31 players made the money, with the min-cash set at $84,000.
Event #8: $50K NLH 7-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | $2,010,000 |
| 2 | Sergio Aido | Spain | $1,353,000 |
| 3 | Brian Kim | United States | $954,000 |
| 4 | Mike Watson | Canada | $773,000 |
| 5 | Ren Lin | China | $611,000 |
| 6 | Michael Soyza | Malaysia | $465,000 |
| 7 | Phil Ivey | United States | $339,000 |
| 8 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | $248,000 |
Click here for a full list of payouts.
Hecklen Bubbles as Second Biggest Stack
Poker is a cruel game, and that was exemplified on the stone bubble of the tournament.
With blinds at 20,000/40,000/40,000bba, Punsri opened to 80,000 before Henrik Hecklen three-bet to 400,000. The former moved all in for 3 million and covered Hecklen by a single T-5,000 chip. Hecklen called off his stack, and the room came to a standstill as the two chip leaders locked horns.
Punsri tabled A♣K♦ while Hecklen revealed he had K♥K♣.
"This is absolutely monstrous," said an astounded Sam Grafton from the commentary booth.
Players surrounded the table ahead of the runout, and then it was up to the dealer to deliver the players' destiny.
The air was immediately sucked out of the room as the A♥A♠10♣ flop hit the felt to leave Hecklen drawing only to a chop. The 4♥ turn gave Punsri the checkmark in a pot that will be talked about for quite some time.
During his winner's interview with Triton Media, Punsri talked about the hand. “I thought we had the same hand, obviously. Looking back at it, it was a big punt. Wrong, but the right time.”
Euros Continue to Dominate in Jeju
Final Table Action
Anson Ewe's departure in ninth place set up the eight-handed final table. Aido and Punsri remained on top of the counts while Ivey and Michael Soyza propped up the rest of the pack.
However, the first casualty at the end stage of the event was Steve O'Dwyer. Ren Lin collected the Irishman's stack after getting three streets of value with aces, besting O'Dwyer's top pair on the king-high board.
Soon after, Ivey received a double-up courtesy of Punsri in a blind-on-blind battle, but those newfound chips were quickly back in Punsri's possession.
At 100,000/200,000/200,000bba, Punsri made it 675,000 from the small blind with 10♥3♥ and Ivey defended with K♥J♣.
The flop was gin for the poker GOAT as he made Broadway as the dealer fanned out the A♦Q♥10♠. Punsri check-called 400,000 before the J♥ turn checked through to the 9♥ river. Punsri, with the second-nut flush, set the trap and checked before Ivey fired out 800,000. Punsri put in the raise to 3,400,000, and Ivey went deep into the tank.
Ivey burned through 15 time banks as he mulled over his options, and it looked like he was going to get away from it on a few occasions. Ultimately, he announced "call," and found himself in the danger zone as the pot was pushed to Punsri.
The hand left Ivey with 12 big blinds, which quickly became a stack of one after Soyza received a double-up from the icon. The last of Ivey's chips went in the middle when he looked down at pocket aces. Aido and Punsri called from the blinds. Aido flopped two pair and filled up on the turn to end Ivey's run.
Soyza, Lin, Mike Watson and Brian Kim were next to find themselves on the wrong side of the rail, leaving Aido and Punsri to duke it out.
A war of attrition appeared to be on the cards, but Punsri landed the knockout blow after turning a seven-high straight when Aido had aces. Punsri looked to end proceedings on the river with a jam, and Aido quickly called off his stack.
The win marked Punsri's second on the Triton tour; Aido once again found himself as the runner-up, falling one short like he did on the GG Million$ final table.
Holz Cracks Aces for Fourth Title; Rokita Comes Out on Top in Rollercoaster Heads-Up
Addamo Leads $150K NLH 8-Handed
The biggest buy-in of the series also kicked off, and plenty of poker's star names were in attendance for Event #9: $150K NLH 8-Handed.
After ten levels of play, Michael Addamo ended as the Day 1 chip leader. Crushers like Artur Martirosian, Patrik Antonius and Fedor Holz also finished among the top ten chip counts.
So far, there have been 93 entries with 39 of those still in play. Late registration is open until the start of Day 2, and the action will resume on Level 11, where there blinds are 5,000/10,000/10,000bba.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Addamo | Australia | 1,308,000 | 163 |
| 2 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 1,305,000 | 102 |
| 3 | Liang Xu | China | 818,000.00 | 96 |
| 4 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | 770,000 | 96 |
| 5 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | 764,000 | 92 |
| 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 732,000 | 90 |
| 7 | Fedor Holz | Germany | 717,000 | 88 |
| 8 | James Chen | Taiwan | 701,000 | 84 |
| 9 | Jonathan Jaffe | United States | 669,000 | 81 |
| 10 | Elton Tsang | Hong Kong | 650,000 | 80 |
Photo credit: Triton Poker/Joe Giron
Triton Poker 2024 Jeju Remaining Schedule
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum's proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.
