Badziakouski Eyes Back-to-Back Main Event Victory; Leads Final Six at Triton Jeju With $5.26 Million for Champion
Widely regarded as one of the best no-limit hold'em players in the world, Mikita Badziakouski has already been competing in the highest buy-in tournaments for several years. Badziakouski has earned a strong reputation for his notoriously known expert knowledge of the technical aspects of the game. And while this year is rightfully a year of Justin Bonomo, Badziakouski has also been riding a tremendous wave of success in the recent months.
Badziakouski is now closing on adding another major feather to his cap. He's leading the last six players into the final day of the spectacular 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju HK$2,000,000 Main Event with incredibly huge prizes up for grabs. All finalists have already locked up roughly $827,000 for their efforts, having survived the bubble.
| Position | Prize (HKD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 41,250,000 | 5,255,456 |
| 2nd | 25,520,000 | 3,251,376 |
| 3rd | 16,720,000 | 2,130,212 |
| 4th | 11,550,000 | 1,471,528 |
| 5th | 8,470,000 | 1,079,120 |
| 6th | 6,490,000 | 826,858 |
Badziakouski already knows how it feels to win a Triton Main Event. He arrived in Jeju as a reigning champion after conquering the previous edition in Montenegro for a $2.5 million payday. The stakes have doubled since then and the highest buy-in Triton event in the tour's history will see the champion walk away with a whopping HK$41,500,000 first-place prize, equalling $5,255,456. One thing is guaranteed: the final six will battle it out for one of the biggest prizes ever awarded in poker.
It will be an intense climax to the exclusive 55-entry tournament which attracted the world's elite players to come and take to the felt. Some of them weren't scared of firing multiple bullets. While the owners of the two biggest stacks – Badziakouski and Sergio Aido – were both able to navigate to the final table through one attempt, the other four remaining contenders have all invested in more shells; Richard Yong, Jason Koon, Chan Wai Leong and Sam Greenwood have all used the benefit of unlimited re-entries.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sergio Aido | Spain | 3,000,000 | 100 |
| 2 | Chan Wai Leong | Malaysia | 1,055,000 | 35 |
| 3 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 1,715,000 | 57 |
| 4 | Jason Koon | United States | 2,500,000 | 83 |
| 5 | Richard Yong | Malaysia | 2,415,000 | 81 |
| 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 3,065,000 | 102 |
Day 2 kicked off at a solid pace and by the time the registration closed, there were only 19 players still eyeing a profit. The field was soon narrowed to the final two tables where the tournament hit a stalemate with 15 players remaining. While a long period without any elimination followed, the end of level 14 triggered an eventful hour full of bustouts. The likes of Stephen Chidwick, Patrik Antonius, Steve O'Dwyer, Bryn Kenney and David Peters were dismissed within one level of play and then the Greenwood brothers clashed in a fierce fight which saw Sam eliminate Luc in 10th place.
The nine remaining players continued on one table where Cary Katz lost his short stack with queens against Badziakouski's ace-queen and the Belarussian solidified his position as the tournament chip leader. With an $867,000 bubble looming, Peter Jetten was forced out of the door in a nasty cooler. Jetten raised and then four-bet shoved with ace-king suited only to run into Yong's aces.
The difference between seventh and sixth place was bigger than first-place prizes in most of the prestigious events in the world. But the remaining players were still willing to trade blows. Aido and Koon were the main heroes of two large pots. Koon scooped the first one after rivering a nut flush against a flopped bottom set. However, Aido was able to escape and refused to pay Koon on the river.
Then Aido flatted ace-king in the big blind and flopped full house at the same time when Koon made trips with king-ten. Koon kept the betting lead all the way to the river and Aido called all three barrels. He skipped a check-shove on the river, preventing himself from a catastrophic loss should Koon hold aces. While some might suspect that Aido missed value by not raising the river, it would be incredibly hard for Koon to call with worse hand on the stone bubble.
Shortly afterwards, Koon himself took care of the key moment of the tournament. He bet-called on the turn with top pair and top kicker against Ivan Leow who had a kicker trouble. Leow was unable to catch up on the river and left the Triton Main Event empty-handed.
That was it for the day with the remaining players bagging their chips ahead of one of the biggest days in their respective poker careers. PokerNews will monitor the action on the final table so make sure to tune back to the live coverage on Wednesday, August 1 at 2 p.m. to see the high stakes action culminate in Jeju.
and Ivan Leow was in the hijack seat and he just called with 
. Action folded around so the two were heads up. 
and Koon continued with a bet of 150,000. Leow called. 
turn, Koon put out a bet again, making it 325,000. Leow quickly moved all in for 455,000 and Koon snap-called. 
and that changed nothing. Leow was eliminated, bubbling the HK$2,000,000 Main Event. Leow fired multiple bullets today and will walk away with nothing to show for his efforts. 
. Sergio Aido called in the cutoff with 
, Sam Greenwood was in the small blind with 
and he called as well. Jason Koon called in the big blind with 
.
and action checked to Aido who flopped a set with his threes. He put out a bet 120,000. Greenwood decided to call with his top pair. Koon called as well with his flush draw while Yong folded. 
turn, action checked to Aido again and he put out a bet of 410,000. Greenwood folded his top pair, but Koon called.
and Koon made his flush. He thought for a while then lead out with a bet of 700,000. Aido laid down his hand relatively quickly, so Koon took down the pot to chip up to nearly three million.
.
and Aido checked. Greenwood checked behind and the 
came on the turn. There, Aido put out a bet of 205,000 and Greenwood called. 
river, Aido completed his flush then he checked. Greenwood thought for a bit then he checked it back. Greenwood's jaw dropped upon seeing Aido's straight, then he patted himself on the back with a smile after checking his set back.
and Cary Katz moved all in next to act for 315,000 with 
and he called. Action was back to Badziakouski and he tanked for a bit before he four-bet, making it 725,000. Aido folded so it was heads-up between Katz and Badziakouski.
, giving Badiakouski a massive lead with trip aces, leaving Katz nearly drawing dead, save for a running royal flush. The turn was the 
and the river was the 
thought, so that meant Katz would be the first to fall at the final table, cutting the field down to eight.
and Sam Greenwood called in the big blind holding 
. 
and Sam checked to Luc who put out a bet of 75,000. Sam called. 
and left the tournament in 11th place.
and that meant O’Dwyer would be eliminated as Koon made a pair of queens to take the leaad.. Koon raked in the pot and moved to 2,200,000 chips while O'Dwyer's series ended without a cash in the Main Event.
