Less than a week after finishing runner-up to Alex Boika in Event #5: $25,000 NLHE 8-Handed, Philp Sternheimer is back in action at Triton Jeju.
With the $100,000 Main Event getting underway today, Sternheimer is an early chip leader after taking a small but significant pot from Phil Ivey.
The Main Event is scheduled to crown its champion on Wednesday. A long way to go yet, but a step in the right direction for Sternheimer.
You can follow live updates right here on PokerNews.
Joao Simao raised to 800,000 in the cutoff and quickly called when Yang Wang shipped in 3,925,000 from the small blind.
Yang Wang: 5♦5♣ 
Joao Simao: A♦10♦
The J♥4♦9♠K♥ turn provided Simao with a straight draw for some extra outs, and he hit it on the Q♦ turn, making the nuts to send the start-of-day chipleader home in fourth place.
Winfred Yu open-shipped for 2,575,000 on the button, and Joao Simao quickly called in the big blind.
Winfred Yu: A♠7♣
Joao Simao: 10♦10♣
The 8♦4♦3♥Q♦ turn strengthened Simao's tens with a flush draw, and the 4♠ river was the final nail in Yu's coffin.
Yu waved off in sixth place, while Simao increased his dominating chip lead even further.
Hannes Jeschka shoved in the majority of his stack under the gun. It folded to Winfred Yu in the big blind, who asked for the rest. Jeschka quickly called for 875,000 in total.
Hannes Jeschka: K♦7♠
Winfred Yu: K♠10♠
Jeschka found himself dominated, although the 2♥Q♦A♣ flop did provide some chop outs. The 4♣ turn did little, and the 10♦ river sealed the deal, giving Yu top pair to eliminate Jeschka in seventh place.
Joao Simao raised to 600,000 in middle position. Thomas Boivin then three-bet to 4,000,000 on the button, risking about two-thirds of his stack.
Seth Davies was in the small blind and four-bet jammed, quickly folding out Simao with A♣4♠. Boivin reluctantly called off his remaining chips, putting him at risk of elimination.
Thomas Boivin: A♦J♦
Seth Davies: A♠K♦
Boivin was in bad shape, and the 7♠8♦2♣3♥6♠ board did nothing to save him. Boivin packed his bags in eighth place, while Davies chipped up to share the chip lead with Simao.
Eric Tsai open-shoved for 300,000 in the cutoff, and Biao Ding called in the small blind. Yang Wang defended his big blind, after which he and Ding checked through the entire K♦4♣10♠5♠A♥ board.
Tsai revealed Q♣7♣ for queen-high, but Wang and Ding both had pairs. Ding won the pot with J♥10♥ against Wang's 8♦5♣, eliminating Tsai in the process.
Away from all the excitement of the final table of the $200k Invitational, the $100k Main Event is underway too!
So far we've got some huge names in the 40-runner field like Alex Foxen, Artur Martirosian, Adrian Mateos, and many more.
You can follow live reporting of Day 1 of this one on PokerNews, and of course, there's the Triton Plus Poker app:
It's time for the final table of one of the biggest poker events of the year. This elite lineup of the game's very best has locked up a minimum of $635,000, with an astonishing $7,250,000 up top for first.
| Rank | Player | Chips | BBs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao Simao | 11,725,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Yang Wang | 8,425,000 | 42 |
| 3 | Emilien Pitavy | 8,100,000 | 41 |
| 4 | Seth Davies | 6,850,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Thomas Boivin | 4,650,000 | 23 |
| 6 | Winfred Yu | 4,250,000 | 21 |
| 7 | Biao Ding | 3,425,000 | 17 |
| 8 | Eric Tsai | 2,325,000 | 12 |
| 9 | Hannes Jeschka | 2,150,000 | 11 |
You can follow all the action with the Triton Poker livestream, Triton Poker Plus app, or with live reporting from PokerNews:
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