Opening Day Highlights of the Triton SHR HKD 200K Freezeout event

The Triton Super High Roller Series concluded Day 1 of its opening event, the HKD 200K No Limit Hold’em Freezeout Six Max, with only 14 out of the 30 players making it through the scheduled nine levels of regulation play. With the field starting out with a good mix of Asian businessmen and poker pros, what remained was just a downsizing of the same crowd at every table.

Chip leader: Sweden’s Mikael Thuritz

Earning the chip leader’s status at the end of the night was Sweden’s Mikael Thuritz with the largest stack of 186,000. Prior to Thuritz’s rise to the top of the chip count, it was Spain’s Sergio Aido who held a dominating lead and was well on his way to owning the night. However, during the last round of play, Aido went head to head against Thuritz that turned the tables when it awarded the Swede a big double up for his nut flush. A few hands after, Thuritz increased his stack further by eliminating USA’s Salman Behbehani with yet another dominating nut flush.

Joining Thuritz in the six digit mark were Germany’s Philipp Gruissem with 153,300 in chips, USA’s Daniel “Jungleman” Cates with 100,600 in chips, and France’s Cyril Andre with 100,000 in chips. Indonesian pro John Juanda also made the cut but with a middle of the road stack.

John Juanda “no one bluffs at my table”

In a funny moment, Juanda was overheard saying that no one bluffs at his table but moments later lost some chips to Germany’s Dominik Nitsche who caught him bluffing. Although that didn’t cost Juanda too much, one player whose bluff cost him not just his chips but his tournament life as well was Russian pro Timofey Kuznetsov who shoved on the river and was called out by Italy’s Luigi Curio with a winning full house. American pro Erik Seidel also made it through the day but has to make up some ground with his below average stack.

An exclusive vibe

With no re-entry nor rebuy allowed for the tournament, action all around the room was unlike most poker events where big hands tend to ignite loud celebrations. Instead, the event shed a more exclusive vibe with players taking it slow and casual at the felt. A few players fell early, one of them being USA’s David Peters, but it took some time before others began hitting the rail in succession with level eight seeming to be that deadly round. Sending some players out were Paul Phua who eliminated UK’s Stephen Chidwick with his pocket pair surviving a coin flip, and Malaysia’s Yong Wai Kin who eliminated Italian pro Mustapha Kanit with his dominating ace-queen.

Late registration still open

The final day will resume tomorrow at 2pm however with late registration still open before the cards start flying, more players are expected to participate. We will have the final tally with the prize pool and expected payouts as soon as it begins.

Below are the 14 players moving on to the final day.

– Mikael Thuritz 186,000
– Philipp Gruissem 153,300
– Daniel Cates 100,600
– Cyril Andre 100,000
– Luigi Curcio 96,400
– Sergio Aido 89,400
– Paul Phua 75,800
– Yong Wai Kin 71,800
– John Juanda 67,800
– Dominik Nitsche 66,400
-Peter Chen 56,200
– Cai Shi Tai 40,000
– Erik Seidel 28,500
– Cheok Leng Cheong 6,700

Article by Triccia David

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