Paul Phua
Miri,
Last Result
| Date | Country | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20 - 21, 2024 |
No Limit Short Deck Hold'em Ante Only (Event #18)Triton Poker, Jeju |
2 | $800,000 |
Profile
Wei Seng “Paul” Phua is a Malaysian-Chinese businessmen, poker player, and co-founder of the Triton High Roller Series.
POKER AS A PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Born in 1964, Phua took up poker quite late in his life. It was only in 2010 that he started playing recreationally in Macau, just at the crest of high-stakes poker’s movement from Las Vegas, USA to Macau. Leveraging his reputation and connections in the gambling industry, Phua managed to get seats at the high-roller tables of Macau.
It did not take long for the shrewd Phua to make a splash in the tournament scene. In 2012, he toppled the competition at the Aspers 100K High Rollers event in London, earning him a $1.6 million payday. This initial success signaled a lucrative career as a professional poker player as evidenced by his estimated total earnings of over $26 million to date.
Though not completely absent, tournament success for Phua proved sparse and far in between, arguably because of his other business preoccupations. His next big score did not come until October 2016 when he took down the Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza in Monte Carlo, Monaco for over $800k in prize winnings. This victory was sandwiched by a respectable 3rd and 5th finishes in two events of the Triton Super High Rollers series.
Another period of modest success for Phua ensued in the following years. However, the growing popularity of short-deck poker gave him a huge break. In March 2019, Phua bagged a $2 million purse for finishing 2nd in the No Limit-Hold’em – Short Deck Ante Only event of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju Island.
The win started a hot streak as Phua posted podium finish after podium finish for the rest of the year with the largest winning amounting to over a whopping $3 million for placing 2nd in the Main Event of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in London, UK on August 4, 2019.
In 2020, Phua managed to a couple of trophies to his shelf. Albeit for a smaller prize pool, he secured the top prizes for two No Limit-Hold’em events of the partypoker LIVE – partypoker MILLIONS Sochi Super High Roller series in Russia.
In April 2022, Phua racked another runner-up finish with a $2 million prize at the No Limit-Hold’em Super High Roller Bowl Europe series presented by Luxon Pay in Kyrenia, Cyprus. This was quickly followed by a 1st place finish in the Triton Poker Series in Madrid on May 14, 2022.
The year 2022 is a banner year for Phua but not because of those victories. In November of this year, Phua finally claimed his first of the coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelets. He beat out some of the best poker players to emerge triumphant in the Platinum High Roller event of the series held in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.
POKER AS A BUSINESS
Having proven himself capable of hanging on with the best on the felt, Phua set himself apart by actively growing the poker community.
His golden touch in fostering the betting scene should come as no surprise given his track record as alluded to earlier. Even before playing poker professionally, he worked with Steve Wynn to open the Wynn Macau in 2006. Phua was also known famously as being one of the top casino junket operators in Macau.
Most notably, in 2016, Phua created the Triton High Roller Series with long-time business partner Richard Yong. The series successfully attracted the biggest names in poker as it boasts tournaments with some of the highest buy-ins in the world.
In the same year, he also launched Paul Phua Poker, a coaching website for aspiring poker players.
For his efforts, Paul Phua won the GPA Industry Person of the Year Award in 2019.
Other articles:
Paul Phua’s Life: Biggest Profits, Losses, Private Life & Net Worth
Read more about Asian Poker Players
Data source: Global Poker Index