$8,000 Triton ONE Main Event
Day 1a Completed
$8,000 Triton ONE Main Event
Day 1a Completed
The marquee event of the first-ever Triton ONE festival wrapped up early Saturday morning on South Korea's Jeju island with 105 players remaining out of 520 entrants. Far in front in the $8,000 Triton ONE Main Event is Taiwan's Chih-Yuan Wang with 5,305,000 in chips over big stacks including China's Shaoshuai Li (3,585,000), Taiwan's Jia-Chi Li (3,245,000), Thailand's Punnat Punsri (2,940,000) and Triton's own Danny Tang (2,510,000)
Among the notable names who bagged at Landing Casino are Stephen Song, Fabian Gumz, Ladies Event end-boss Shiina Okamoto, Jun Obara, Michael Wang, Justin Saliba, and Ren Lin, perhaps the happiest poker player on either side of the Great Wall of China.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chih-Yuan Wang | Taiwan | 5,305,000 | 133 |
| 2 | Shaoshuai Li | China | 3,585,000 | 90 |
| 3 | Jia-Chi Li | Taiwan | 3,245,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | 2,940,000 | 74 |
| 5 | Congya Zhang | China | 2,660,000 | 67 |
| 6 | Alisson Piekazewicz | Brazil | 2,655,000 | 66 |
| 7 | Chengcai Pan | China | 2,605,000 | 65 |
| 8 | David Chen | USA | 2,590,000 | 65 |
| 9 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 2,510,000 | 63 |
| 10 | Julian Warhurst | Australia | 2,450,000 | 61 |
Song told PokerNews earlier in the series that "people aren't afraid to" go for it in Jeju and that some of the players that this island attracts "will try to savage you." That aggression was on full display in the first of two flights as there seemed to be more three, four, five and six bets than there were Triton hoodies in the tournament area.
One player who's never been afraid to go for it is Alex Foxen, who busted his top-five stack in the $10,000 Mystery Bounty before hopping into the opening Main Event flight. The American high-stakes pro had a short-lived run as he ran a three-street bluff with ace-high, only to get looked up by an unconvinced Alisson Piekazewicz.
Foxen didn't hop back into the opening flight and his wife, Kristen Foxen, never got the chance. She was too busy chip-leading the Mystery Bounty, where she reached the final table, where she is currently fighting for a Triton ONE title.
Other aggressors in the field included Isaac Haxton, who six-bet Mi Deng preflop before shutting down after an unfavorable flop. Haxton ran his stack back up but was eliminated later in the evening.
The highlights kept coming from there, including Xinjing Li flopping a straight flush to decimate the ace-high flush of fellow Chinese grinder Yixi Tang, as well as Tom Heung cracking the trips of Niko Koop with a rivered two-outer that gave him a full house.
Poker Hall of Famer Phil Ivey made a late-night appearance that was short-lived, while other notable eliminations include, Jesse Lonis, Kenny Hallaert, Biao Ding, Mike Watson, Artur Martirosian, Jessica Vierling, Sosia Jiang and Jonathan Jaffe.
There's still one more starting flight to play out, which will kick off at noon local time on Saturday, Sept. 6. Day 1B will follow the same structure as Day 1a, meaning players will begin with starting stacks of 250,000 and blinds will start at 500/1,000/1,000.
Levels will once again be 40 minutes in duration with 15-minute breaks every three levels and a 45-minute dinner break after Level 9. After 15 levels, the players will bag and then join the Day 1a survivors for Day 2 on Sunday, Sept. 7.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews team is here in Jeju and will continue providing updates until the first-ever Triton ONE Main Event champion is crowned. Of course, updates can also be found on the Triton stream.
*Photos courtesy Triton, Drew Amato & Spenser Sembrat
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,305,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
3,585,000 | |
|
|
3,245,000 | |
|
|
2,940,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
2,660,000 | |
|
|
2,655,000 | |
|
|
2,605,000 | |
|
|
2,590,000 | |
|
|
2,510,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
2,450,000 | |
|
|
2,395,000
1,265,000
|
1,265,000 |
|
|
2,175,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,105,000
805,000
|
805,000 |
|
|
2,095,000
355,000
|
355,000 |
|
|
2,085,000
2,085,000
|
2,085,000 |
|
|
2,080,000
1,130,000
|
1,130,000 |
|
|
1,995,000
595,000
|
595,000 |
|
|
1,980,000
1,471,000
|
1,471,000 |
|
|
1,940,000
740,000
|
740,000 |
|
|
1,935,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
|
1,935,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,770,000
385,000
|
385,000 |
|
|
1,745,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
1,730,000
230,000
|
230,000 |
|
|
1,725,000
155,000
|
155,000 |
Day 1a has ended with the clocks showing 103 players remaining.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,305,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,585,000
315,000
|
315,000 |
|
|
3,245,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
2,940,000
840,000
|
840,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,660,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
2,655,000
2,167,000
|
2,167,000 |
|
|
2,605,000
505,000
|
505,000 |
|
|
2,590,000
190,000
|
190,000 |
|
|
2,510,000
1,410,000
|
1,410,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,450,000
325,000
|
325,000 |
Ren Lin raised to 60,000 for Jiaxian Pan on the button and Aren Bezhanyan in the big blind to call. The trio headed to the K♥5♠2♦ flop on which Bezhanyan check-folded to a bet of 90,000 by Lin and a call of Pan.
On the 5♥ turn, Lin check-called 150,000 and checked the J♠ on the river. Pan jammed the last 305,000 with A♥3♥ and was caught bluffing by Lin who earned the knockout with the K♠6♠.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,600,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
1,500,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
During the last hands of the night, Joshua McCully raised to 60,000 and then called the shove by Axel Hallay for 175,000.
Axel Hallay: J♣J♠
Joshua McCully: 4♦4♥
"That's bad," the Aussie joked when he saw the superior pocket pair on the other side of the table.
The K♣7♦3♠K♠Q♥ board changed nothing and Hallay doubled just before the end of play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,465,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
|
425,000
295,000
|
295,000 |
Daniel Lee open-shoved for the last 300,000 and James Mendoza did so for 585,000 to force out the blinds.
Daniel Lee: Q♥J♣
James Mendoza: 9♠9♥
The pocket pair remained ahead on the A♠A♣9♦4♣10♦ board for Mendoza to earn the knockout with a flopped full house.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
960,000
640,000
|
640,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Kuo-Wei Kao raised to 60,000 from under the gun for Junzhong Loo and Axel Hallay to call, leading them to the J♣8♥7♦ flop. It checked to Loo and he bet 120,000. Hallay folded and Kao raised to 280,000, Loo just called.
On the 10♠ turn, Kao check-called the all-in of Loo for 530,000.
Junzhong Loo: J♥J♠
Kuo-Wei Kao: Q♥Q♣
Loo's flopped set was ahead and the 2♣ river brought no upset, as he doubled to a healthy stack during the final hands of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,900,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,500,000
653,000
|
653,000 |
|
|
130,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
The clock has been stopped with 11:33 minutes left in the level and table eight drew for the final hands of the night. A five was exposed and that's how many hands will be played on each table before bagging and tagging. Some 108 players currently remain but that may still change during the remainder of the night.
Yuefeng Pan opened the action with a raise to 60,000 from under the gun and he then called a three-bet to 150,000 by Jia-Chi Li in the cutoff. On the A♦Q♣7♥ flop, Pan check-called for 105,000 and checked the 7♠ on the turn. Li bet another 180,000 and Pan let go.
One table over, Congya Zhang is also sporting one of the largest stacks in the field, though they are well short of Chih-Yuan Wang.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,300,000
1,720,000
|
1,720,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,200,000
1,650,000
|
1,650,000 |
|
|
2,650,000
2,497,000
|
2,497,000 |
|
|
460,000
460,000
|
460,000 |
|
|
||