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Triton Cyprus a Success but Ends Series Early

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

The recent Triton Super High Roller Series in Cyprus was one of the largest Triton festivals to date. There were 14 tournaments on the calendar, with buy-ins ranging from $25K to $200K.

High rollers from around the world traveled to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel at the beginning of September for the series and all that went with it. Most notably, one of the events was a new one called the Coin Rivet Invitational. The $200K buy-in tournament was set up for invited players only, one half of the field businesspeople and the other half the poker pros that they invited to join them in the tournament.

Everything was well-attended and well-watched around the world via free livestreams. Sadly, however, it came to an abrupt end when one of the Triton founders passed away in a tragic turn of events.

Exciting Start in Cyprus

Poker fans knew right from the start of the 2022 Triton Super High Roller Series that it was going to be an action-packed series. Poker players were out in force, as evidenced by the 131 entries in Event 1, which required a $25K buy-in. And when Patrik Antonius took it down, even more poker fans tuned in.

Event 1 $25K buy-in NLHE 8-Handed
Total entries: 131
Total prize pool: $3,275,000
Players paid: 17
Winner: 1st place: Patrik Antonius (Finland) $825K
Event 2 $30K buy-in NLHE 6-Handed
Total entries: 123
Total prize pool: $3,698,100
Players paid: 17
Winner: 1st place: Benjamin Tollerene (USA) $807,927
Event 3 $50K buy-in NLHE 6-Handed
Total entries: 117
Total prize pool: $5,850,000
Players paid: 17
Winner: 1st place: Pieter Aerts (Belgium) $1,472,000
Event 5 $75K buy-in NLHE 8-Handed
Total entries: 88
Total prize pool: $6,600,000
Players paid: 13
Winner: 1st place: Kahle Burns (Australia) $1.73M

 

 

Notably, Americas Cardroom pro Ebony Kenney played in Event 1 and finished in fifth place for $240,500. This was significant for several reasons. First, she is a mid-stakes poker player, one who never plays buy-ins above $10K…and only does those occasionally. Second, she was invited to play the Coin Rivet Invitational by Winning Poker Network (ACR parent company) CEO Phil Nagy.

Many eyes were on Kenney as she played far above her normal stakes and cashed in Event 1 of the Triton series.

Coin Rivet Invitational

This was the tournament that most fans wanted to see. With a $200K buy-in and the chance for pros and non-pros to mix it up, the action was going to be interesting. The first day of the tournament kept poker pros and businesspeople separate, but they then combined into one field after the required number of levels.

Day 2 started with just 50 players, including Kenney. She played toward the money, doubled near the money, and made the third and final day. She then made the final table fourth in chips after busting Tony G in tenth place.

Kenney ultimately finished in fifth place for $1.7M. She got her chips in with pocket jacks, but pocket nines cracked the jacks with a nine on the turn. Even so, she was pleased with her play and happy with her score.

In the end, PokerStars Ambassador and longtime poker pro Sam Grafton prevailed and won the top prize, the largest score of his career and a defining moment.

Event 6 $200K buy-in NLHE Coin Rivet Invitational
Total entries: 115
Total prize pool: $23,000,000
Players paid: 17
Final table results: 1st place:  Sam Grafton (England) $5.5M
2nd place: Linus Loeliger (Switzerland) $3.9M
3rd place: Karl Chappe-Gatien (France) $2.6M
4th place: Fedor Holz (Germany) $2.1M
5th place: Ebony Kenney (USA) $1.7M
6th place: Aleksejs Ponakovs (Latvia) $1.35M
7th place: Elias Talvitie (Finland) $1.05M
8th place: Seth Davies (USA) $770K
9th place: Tom Vogelsang (Netherlands) $620K

 

Series Proceeds but Ends Suddenly

There were still eight other events on the schedule for Triton, two already underway. Phil Ivey was among the winners to come.

Event 7 $25K buy-in PLO
Total entries: 32
Total prize pool: $800,000
Players paid: 6
Winner: 1st place: Christopher Philippou (Cyprus) $270K
Event 8 $100K buy-in NLHE Main Event
Total entries: 99
Total prize pool: $9,900,000
Players paid: 13
Winner: 1st place: Punnat Punsri (Thailand) $2.6M
Event 9 $50K buy-in NLHE Turbo
Total entries: 32
Total prize pool: $1,600,000
Players paid: 6
Winner: 1st place: Matthias Eibinger (Austria) $545K
Event 10 $30K buy-in NL Short Deck – Ante Only
Total entries: 46
Total prize pool: $1,140,000
Players paid: 38
Winner: 1st place: Phil Ivey (USA) $387K
Event 11 $40K buy-in NL Short Deck – Ante Only
Total entries: 45
Total prize pool: $1,800,000
Players paid: 7
Winner: 1st place: Karl Chappe-Gatien (France) $565K
Event 12 $50K buy-in NL Short Deck – Ante Only
Total entries: 30
Total prize pool: $1,500,000
Players paid: 7
Winner: 1st place: Sam Greenwood (Canada) $341,275

 

On September 17, everything halted. Triton management suspended play “owing to a medical emergency.”

As it turned out, one of Triton’s founders, supporters, and partners, 41-year-old Ivan Leow, died suddenly that morning “of natural causes.” The poker player and businessman from Malaysia started Triton with Richard Yong and Paul Phua out of a deep passion for poker.

 

 

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