Tollerene Wins Doyle-Style as Foxen Smashes Career Record in Triton Main Event
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Career-best scores were the theme on Thursday as Ben Tollerene captured a second Triton Main Event title, winning the $100K NLH Main Event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju for $3,766,000.
The Texan, now with more than $36 million in live earnings, held off a late surge from Philip Sternheimer heads-up to add to his PLO Main Event title from Triton Montenegro last year, while Kristen Foxen also banked a career-best payday with a fourth-place finish.
Tollerene, who entered the final table with a sizable chip lead, faced challenges from some of the world’s best, including reigning GPI Player of the Year Punnat Punsri, third-placed Elton Tsang, and Foxen herself, who was attempting to achieve the largest ever cash by a female player. In that endeavor, Foxen folded Kings preflop with nine players remaining in one of the craziest hands seen at this, or any, Triton final table.
However, the day belonged to Tollerene, who proved once again his indisputable class, collecting his fourth Triton title and joining close friend Jason Koon as a two-time Triton Main Event winner.
Speaking to Triton after his victory, Tollerene said "I'm obviously very pleased, I had no cashes going into today on this trip so I was feeling not so great about how everything was going. And then everything aligned today and yesterday and I somehow did it again."
He added, "These are the biggest tournaments in the world. I also think just having all the best players in the world here, it kind of lifts me up. I want to show them I'm on that level and that I can compete against them. That motivates me."
Check out the full final table results below:
Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju $100k NLH Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ben Tollerene | $3,766,000 |
| 2nd | Philip Sternheimer | $2,535,000 |
| 3rd | Elton Tsang | $1,787,000 |
| 4th | Kristen Foxen | $1,449,000 |
| 5th | Punnat Punsri | $1,146,000 |
| 6th | Sean Winter | $870,000 |
| 7th | Xu Yang | $635,000 |
| 8th | Tom Fuchs | $464,000 |
| 9th | Felipe Ketzer | $385,000 |
Tollerene Gets It Done, Doyle-Style
There was a fitting finale for Fort Worth’s Tollerene, who emulated another Texas poker legend, the great Doyle Brunson, by concluding the Main Event battle with Sternheimer using none other than ten-deuce.
Tollerene, in the small blind, completed with 10♥2♥. Sternheimer checked K♦7♥, and the flop came 2♦A♦10♠, giving Tollerene a healthy-looking two pair.
Sternheimer check-called a bet on the turn 6♦, picking up a nut-flush draw. The river 2♠ gave Tollerene a full house. He bet 5.5 million into 6.5 million, prompting Sternheimer to shove his remaining 12 million in a bluff.
Tollerene snapped it off, revealing the full house and the same hand Texas Dolly used to win the 1976 and 1977 WSOP Main Events. The vanquished Sternheimer, who had seemingly put Tollerene out of contention on Day 1 after a huge cooler, was the first to congratulate his opponent as they both collected the best part of over $6 million.
Foxen Banks Another Record Score
There was also yet another phenomenal run for Kristen Foxen on the Triton tour, as the reigning GPI Female Player of the Year and all-time money leader showed her class once again to finish 4th and bank $1,449,000.
Foxen, who has now cashed sixteen times on the Triton circuit, is beginning to build an affinity with the Les a Casino in Jeju, where her only other seven-figure win came in the $125k NLH 7-Handed for $1,104,000 in September of last year.
The Canadian, one of poker's foremost stars, is no stranger to grabbing the headlines, and she'd do that again at this Main Event final table, folding pocket kings preflop after she found herself in a brutal ICM spot with play nine-handed.
However, Foxen, who was in pursuit of the all-time record win by a female player (currently held by Liv Boeree), can consider her approach justified after entering the day 6th in chips and climbing to a 4th-placed finish and $1.4m payday.
Attention Now Turns to Triton's 10-Year Anniversary
With the Triton NLH Main Event now complete, attention in Jeju will shift to a very special tournament, Triton Poker's $150,000 NLH 10th Anniversary Special.
The event, sure to draw another huge field of some of poker's biggest stars, shuffles up and deals in Jeju on Thursday, before playing down to a winner on a Friday. Full coverage is available on the Triton Plus Poker app.
For a full rundown of the remaining events from this Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju, check out the table below:
Images courtesy of Triton Poker
