Christner, Haxton and Leong Top the Counts in the Triton Super High Roller Six-Max Montenegro
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The second of four big buy-in events at the Triton Super High Roller Series saw 28 players ante-up and fight it out at the poker tables of the Maestral Resort and Casino in Budva, Montenegro.
While Phil Ivey and Dan Cates were too busy playing heads-up in the Short Deck Event to take part, there were still plenty of big names and familiar faces in the mix with 28 entries (including re-entries) taking part in the action over the nine 40-minute levels of Day 1.
It was Germany's Fedor Holz who emerged victorious in this very event close to ten months prior, but the reigning champion did not make an appearance to defend his title.
With the buy-in set at HKD250,000 (~US$31,850) and the format offering unlimited re-entry until the start of level 12 on Monday, 14 May the action started off surprisingly slowly with just four players in the mix.
The early birds were the USA's Steve O'Dwyer and Isaac Haxton, Turkey's Orpen Kisacikoglu and the UK's Stephen Chidwick who played close to two full levels before Belarusian Mikita Badziakouski arrived shortly before the start of the third level.
However, the field began to fill out shortly after the first break, growing to two tables, then three with Malaysia's Beh Kok Weng the man to take the early chip lead after flopping a full house in a hand against Stephen Chidwick to decimate the UK pro's stack.
The field had swelled to 18 by this point, but it was not Chidwick who became the first casualty, but Malaysia's Ivan Leow, who ran his queen-jack offsuit into Christian Christner's pocket aces on a nine-high flop to hit the rail early.
Chidwick followed shortly afterwards departing at the hands of Winfred Yu, but the second bullet worked out extremely well for the Brit, who came back to the same seat to return the favour and send Yu to the rail. Yu got his first buy-in good with a turned straight to Chidwick's turned set of Queens, but a pair up on the river saw the Brit climb into the top three and Yu bust his first bullet.
Other early casualties included Triton co-founder Richard Yong, falling at the hands of Isaac Haxton, and Steffen Sontheimer who ran two pair into the straight of O'Dwyer to bust his first bullet.
While it was Weng who held the lead coming into the last three levels of the day, that all changed as the action played out and the tempo increased dramatically.
Sontheimer, Leow and Yu all re-entered, but only the latter two would make it though to Day 2 on their second bullet, with the Sontheimer busting close to the end of play.
Another German player who re-entered and endured a torrid time of it was 2017 Triton Super High Roller Six-Max Macau champion Stefan Schillhabel, who got the last chips of his first bullet in with ace-queen but was outflopped by the ace-ten of Chidwick, who powered up the chip ladder to finish play with a stack of 106,800, putting him fifth in the overall pecking order.
Schillhabel re-entered and immediately wished he hadn't after he ran his flopped nut straight into the middle set of Winfred Yu, who rivered quads. Both players managed to lock up a Day 2 berth however, with Schillhabel bagging up 43,000 and Yu 98,400.
Malaysia's Chan Wai Leong, who final tabled this event last year for a 5th place finish and US$407,101 payday, edged into a late lead, but a last-gasp burst of action saw Germany's Christian Christner bust Steve O'Dwyer to edge in front as the last three hands were announced.
Christner bagged up 193,900 after his elimination of O'Dwyer, just edging in front of Leong, who finished Day 1 second in the counts with a stack of 189,300.
Isaac Haxton dominated a great deal of the action as play wound down, sending Triton co-founder Paul Phua to the rail just before the last three hands were announced and clashing in two pots against a re-entered Ivan Leow to conclude play with a stack of 171,600. Malaysia's Beh Kok Weng rounded out the top four with a stack of 147,900.
A total of 15 players successfully circumnavigated the tournament minefield to return for Day 2, with the redraw as follows:
Six-Max Day 2 Redraw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 171,600 | 107 |
| 1 | 2 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 83,000 | 52 |
| 1 | 3 | Julian Thomas | Germany | 23,300 | 15 |
| 1 | 4 | Dietrich Fast | Germany | 15,400 | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | 74,100 | 46 |
| 2 | 2 | Beh Kok Weng | Malaysia | 147,900 | 92 |
| 2 | 3 | Mikita Badziakouski | Malaysia | 82,400 | 52 |
| 2 | 4 | Chan Wai Leong | Malaysia | 189,300 | 118 |
| 3 | 1 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | 61,400 | 38 |
| 3 | 2 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 25,400 | 16 |
| 3 | 3 | Christian Christner | Germany | 193,900 | 121 |
| 3 | 4 | Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 43,000 | 27 |
| 4 | 1 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 84,800 | 53 |
| 4 | 2 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 106,800 | 67 |
| 4 | 3 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | 98,400 | 62 |
Day 2 resumes on Monday, 14 May at 1pm local time and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the action as it happens so join us then.