The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series is a series of poker tournaments that is held between three to four times a year at various prestigious locations around the world. With buy-ins of at least USD 15,000, the Triton Poker Series are among the most exclusive poker tournaments in the world.
History
Triton Poker was founded by Malaysian businessmen and amateur poker players Paul Phua and Richard Yong.[1] The most commonly played variants in tournaments are No-Limit Hold'em and Short Deck. Occasionally, Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments are also included in the tournament schedule. Since 2019, each tournament series has featured a Main Event in both No-Limit Hold'em and Short Deck at every stop.[2]
At the end of January 2017, three events in Manila, Macau and Montenegro were announced for the year[3] and four more tournaments were held in Montenegro in May 2018.[2] There, further events in the South KoreanJeju Province were announced for the end of July 2018.[4] The first events of 2019 were also played in Jeju-do in March.[5] At the second event in 2019 the variant Pot-Limit Omaha was played for the first time at Triton Poker Series.[6] At the beginning of August 2019 the Triton Million for Charity took place in London which was the most expensive poker tournament to date with a buy-in of one million Pound sterling.[7] The tournament series planned for February 2020 in Jeju-do was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned holding in Montenegro in May 2020 was also canceled at the end of March 2020.[8] The return of the tournament series in Bali announced for February 2022 also had to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic[9] as well as four tournaments in Sochi due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[10] Ultimately the first tournament after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic took place in April 2022 in Northern Cyprus, known as the Triton Poker Cyprus – Special Edition and lasted for six days from April 2 to 7, 2022.[11]
After the success in Northern Cyprus, Triton Poker continued to strengthen its popularity in Europe with Triton High Roller Series Madrid in May 2022, and returned to Northern Cyprus in September the same year. The second Triton Super High Roller Series Cyprus included the special $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational,[12] and was slated to last from September 5 to 19, 2022 when one of Triton Poker’s co-founders, Ivan Leow, died of a heart attack on September 17, 2022. The tournament was immediately cancelled upon his death to allow family, friends, and the poker community who was present to pay tribute to his memories.[13]
The Triton Poker tournaments are broadcast via their YouTube channel and the live streaming platform Twitch featuring commentators with impressive poker background including Lex Veldhuis and Randy Lew.[14]
Invitational tournaments
Triton Million for Charity
The Triton Million for Charity was the first ever invitational tournament hosted by Triton Poker and was held from August 1 to 3, 2019 at London Hilton on Park Lane in London. With a total of 54 participants and a buy-in of £1,050,000, the Triton Million for Charity was the most expensive poker tournament to date. £50,000 was collected from each buy-in, which amounted to a massive £2,750,000, and distributed to 15 notable charity bodies around the world including the One Drop Foundation, Raising for Effective Giving (REG), and Malaysian Red Crescent. The prestigious tournament was on a strict invitation-only basis, attended by star-studded names in both the business and poker and fields, and commentated by poker legend Daniel Negreanu and television personality Ali Nejad. The 54 players generated an eye-watering total prize pool of £54,000,000.[15]
In the first six blind levels, each lasting an hour, the recreational and professional players were placed at separate tables. Ten blind levels were played on the first day of the tournament. As the tournament progressed, 36 of the 54 players were still in the competition with Bill Perkins as the chip leader. On the second day of the Triton Million for Charity, the prize money ranks were reached with the elimination of Igor Kurganov. The day ended with the eight-handed final table and Vivek Rajkumar leading the field. On the final day of the tournament, Bryn Kenney and Aaron Zang reached the final heads-up and agreed to an ICM deal, giving Zang a payout of £13,779,491 and Kenney £16,890,509, the largest payout in poker tournament history. Shortly after, Zang regained the lead after two big pots and won the title.[16]
The Coin Rivet Invitational was the second invitational tournament in the Triton Super High Roller Series. It was held from September 10 to 12, 2022 at the Merit Royal Hotel & Casino in Northern Cyprus. The inaugural tournament had a buy-in of $200,000, making it one of the most expensive poker tournaments in 2022. Not unlike the Triton Million for Charity, the Coin Rivet Invitational was by invitation-only, pitting world class poker professionals against high-rolling VIPs from various business backgrounds in the fight to win the biggest chunk from the massive prize pool of $23,000,000. The elite tournament had a total of 90 participations, which included 45 top players such as Phil Ivey and Jason Koon who were paired against 45 VIP recreationals including Paul Phua and Tony G. The players were split into two camps on the first day and later merged into one on the second day, which remained until the end of the tournament. One of the highlights of the tournament was the participation of the American professional poker player Ebony Kenney, who was invited by Phil Nagy. Kenney made history by being the first woman to participate as a professional in a major invitational tournament of this scale, and finished in fifth place, taking home $1,700,000. Two other women who attended the tournament were businesswomen Sosia Jiang and Melika Razavi.[17]
During the tournament, every player was allowed a single re-buy after being eliminated in one of the first 10 blind levels. On the first day of the tournament, 80 players were still in the event with Leon Tsoukernik as the chip leader. On the second day of the tournament, where the recreational and professional players were mixed for the first time, 16 players remained with Fedor Holz leading the field. The final table was reached on the third day with Karl Chappe-Gatien starting as the chip leader. After his elimination in third place, Sam Grafton went heads-up against Linus Loeliger with a clear lead and won the tournament. The British professional poker player received a payout of $5,500,000 for his win, along with the much coveted trophy.[18]