Ivan Leow: Malaysia’s Double Triton Conqueror
Ivan Leow wins Triton Sochi Super High Roller
In the latest chapter of what is turning into an exciting career, Ivan Leow triumphed over one of the toughest fields of 20 players you are likely to find at Triton Poker Super High Roller Sochi. This win, which is his second Triton victory in the space of a few months sees him take home a US$1,134,000 slice of the US$2,630,880 prize pool.
There were 9 re-entries in the tournament, with Phil Ivey among the biggest stacks at the end of the first day. Leow had to navigate a field full of High Roller regulars during the event, before pushing his countryman Wai Leong Chan into 3rd place on his way to winning the title. He overcame Abraham Passet heads up to secure the victory.
Final Hand
Final Result
| Place | Winner | Prize (~ in USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Leow | $1,134,000 |
| 2 | Abraham Passet | $740,880 |
| 3 | Wai Leong Chan | $472,500 |
| 4 | Manig Loeser | $283,500 |
Live career path
Like many eventual stars of poker, Ivan Leow began his career on a slightly smaller stage. One of the remarkable aspects of Leow’s rise is how quickly he has emerged from obscurity into banking huge scores. His first live recorded cash was in 2015 and he spent the next 2 years playing tournaments in Macau, picking up his first five-figure score in February 2017.
Despite this early boost, Leow’s scores remained mostly in the four-figure category right up until May 2018, when he took 6th place in the Triton Montenegro Short Deck Ante Only event for US$87,770. He followed this up immediately, at the same festival with a career-shaping US$362,424 prize for finishing 6th place in the Triton Main Event. Two more small six-figure cashes followed before Leow truly burst into the headlines in July.
Dream summer for Leow
Having established himself as a familiar face at the Triton series, Leow then kicked his career up a notch, winning the Triton Jeju Short Deck Ante Only event for US$1,079,367. If that wasn’t enough to make any player’s dreams come true, he attended the very next Triton Poker series in Sochi, Russia and triumphed in the Super High Roller event, adding another US$1,133,555 to his list of live scores.
18 months earlier, Ivan Leow’s biggest live career score was US$5,631. His meteoric rise since, has seen him hit global poker headlines by winning two Triton tournaments this summer and picking up back to back seven-figure prizes.
Climbing Malaysia’s all-time money list
With this latest victory, Leow moves himself up to 3rd on Malaysia’s all-time money list, with US$3,610,190 in live winnings. He still has work to do if he is to catch Wai Leong Chan in 2nd, who has just over US$5 million, but it doesn’t look like anyone will be catching the US$11,164,585 of Richard Yong in 1st place anytime soon.
Article by Craig Bradshaw
