Hand Reviews Triton Poker Series 2024

Triton Poker Series Montenegro – $100k 8 Handed – Linde v Xu

Event 8 of the Montenegro Triton Series saw 102 entries put down $100k each to form a massive $10 million prize pool and at the final table we find Chinese pro Liang Xu tangle with Dylan Linde from the States.  At the start of the hand, Xu is in the high jack with 3.5 million in chips, while Linde has 680k in the big blind.  Blinds are currently 40k / 80k / 80k and there are 7 left at the final table, with the next out taking home $400k.

• Pre-flop Xu raises to 200k while Linde defends his big blind, bringing the pot up to 520k.
• The flop sees Linde checks and Xu fires a 160k continuation bet and Linde calls.
• The turn sees Linde again check and Xu shoves his 3.15 million stack into the middle with the pot at 840k.  Linde with 400k behind goes into the tank, but eventually calls.

Xu wins the 1.64 million chip pot with top pair, and Linde exits in seventh place.

It’s worth noting that Linde lost over half of his stack shortly before this hand took place after he knocked out Ponakovs, so there is a chance that Linde was steaming from that loss before this hand took place and could have affected Linde’s thought process on the turn.  Now this hand plays straight forward from Xu’s perspective, so let’s dive into this from Linde’s point of view.

First off, we need to look at Linde’s situation – he just lost half of his stack; he’s out of position against a late position raiser and he only has 8.5 big blinds at the start of this hand, but he must invest 160k between the ante and the BB.  He was the short stack at the table at that moment and if he was going to get involved with so little runway in his stack, just get it in.  By calling he creates a situation where he was going to be priced in on any flop – 520k in the middle and Linde only had 560k back, and with a stack-to-pot ratio of just over 1, Linde would have no ability to bluff his way to winning the hand.

The flop couldn’t have been more of a disaster for Linde – he hits his kicker on a ten high board and with suited connectors which polarized Xu’s range – Linde was either way ahead or way behind Xu and after Xu shoved, Linde may have felt that the over-bet was more of a sign of aggression than a value bet – again, keep in mind that Linde could be on tilt through this decision thought process.  However, it didn’t matter with Linde only having 400k and getting 4 to 1 on a call, he could have concluded that he was priced in at this point.

It’s worth noting that had Linde shoved pre-flop, Xu was almost certainly going to call, but this hand felt like Linde went out with a whimper, rather than a roar.

Triton Poker Series Monte Carlo – $150k NLH – Event #12

We turn our attention now to the most recent Triton Series stop – the Super High Roller Series Monte-Carlo.  World renown for luxury and some of the best poker televised outside of Las Vegas, this year’s series was the coming out party for “Gambledore” – Vladimir Korzinin who went on to win this event.  In this hand, we see the first elimination at the final table as Korzinin goes to war with Thomas Boivin. At the start of this hand, Korzinin has 3 million in chips and is in middle position; Boivin has 2.1 million and will be in the big blinds. 

At this point blinds are 40k / 80k / 80k and the next elimination will take home $400k

• Pre-flop, Korzinin opens to 160k and it’s folded around to Boivin who defends to build a pot of 440kč
• The flop goes check-check. 
• The turn sees Boivin leads for 300k. Korzinin ponders for a moment before shoving and Boivin calls.  The pot ballons to 4.46 million and the players await the river card.

Defending your big blind is an important part of not being run over in tournament poker but there are a few things to note that should have influenced Boivin’s decision to defend here; first, Boivin is 6^th of 9 players at this point and ICM is a factor in the decision-making process considering the hefty pay jumps – 9^th to 8^th would make an additional $127k.  Now talk to some poker coaches and they are OK defending your big blind against middle position with a hand like J5o but if you aren’t considering the other shorter stacks at the table and how close they are to busting, you may be setting yourself up to hand money over to them if this hand goes south.  Boivin’s defend is not the worst play ever but in that spot however, many would fold this and look for a better hand to get involved with.  One wonders if Korzinin’s inexperience played a factor in the call but if that did, so should have been Boivin’s position among the other players.

The flop is an interesting line for Korzinin by checking in position; on one hand, sure, he has ace queen high with only runner for a draw but being in a 3:2 chip position over Boivin, not putting pressure on him on this flop that clearly favors him certainly brought doubt into Boivin’s mind that Korzinin missed – keep in mind, Korzinin had only been playing poker a few months before his debut to the poker world in this series.

The turn is as interesting of a card as a spectator could have hoped for – Boivin hits trips and Korzinin hits his flush draw and somehow all the chips go into the middle. 

What was a tame pot at this point turns into a monster 4 million plus chip pot so let’s go back to how this escalated.  Boivin hits his trips and leads out 300k into a 440k pot at that point – a large bet considering the board.  His reasoning seems clear – he feels like he is way ahead and wants Korzinin to pay off his aces and discourage him from chasing a flush draw to the river.  What makes this hand wild is Korzinin’s shove – he is telling Boivin that I have a hand I don’t want you to call with.  Being a newcomer to poker it’s not clear if Korzinin thought through the ICM implications of Boivin calling but the shove screams draw and there was no way Boivin was folding.  It’s very unlucky that the river came a spade – Boivin was a 84% favorite at this point to double up to over 4 million in chips, but the legend that is Gambledore summoned a spade to send Boivin back to Belgium.

Triton Poker Series Jeju 2024 – Event #11 – $100k NLH Main Event – Eibinger v Hrabec

Our next stop on this world tour takes us to the Triton Poker 2024 in South Korea and the resort island of Jeju.  A tropical paradise, Triton has brought a lot of attention to this tiny island south of the mainland in the poker world, including holding a massive $100k main event this year that saw 216 entries create the biggest prize pool for a $100k buy-in tournament.  Eventually won by Czech player Roman Hrabec for $4.33 million, we look at one of the hands that Hrabec played on the road to victory against Austrian Matthias Eibinger.

To set the stage, 6 are left with the next payout earning a cool $1.008 million and blinds are 150k / 300k / 300k.  Eibinger is UTG+1 and has a stack of 2.4 million which is the shortest at the table at this moment, while Hrabec is in the cut-off with a stack of 18.9 million.

• Pre-flop Eibinger opens for 1.8 million and it fold to Hrabec who flats, building a 4.2 million chip pot.
• The flop sees Eibinger bet 500k and Hrabec raises to put him all in, to which Eibinger calls quickly.

This hand is just strange from several aspects; Eibinger’s raise amount is puzzling from several angles: first, his stack to bet ratio. 75% of his stack goes into the middle, effectively committing him to the hand – with a suited jack from UTG+1.  On the broadcast they wondered if this was the right time to take a stand, but if you are going to take a stand with any hand with less than 10 big blinds in your possession, you must go for it all if you are going to commit.

Secondly, you can argue that this might be the best hand Eibinger is going to get to make a move, so you must take the opportunity.  Others are going to suggest that a better spot awaits, but the impending blind + ante coming in two hands certainly influenced his decision to go with the J8 and he could have found worse spots to make his move.

On the other side is Hrabec’s call – on the surface this looks suspect pre-flop however Patrick Antonius was behind Hrabec and while Hrabec could have shoved to get Antonius to fold several good hands, he also probably didn’t want Patrick to wake up to a monster and have most of his 18 million chips in the middle and behind.  Nonetheless, one can easily make an argument to shove to isolate the short stack at the table, especially considering that laddering was worth $320k and Hrabec’s hand was strong enough to move in and get all the chips in pre-flop.

The flop bet almost makes no sense that the chips didn’t go immediately into the middle – Eibinger’s stack to pot ratio was 0.15 – he only had 2 big blinds behind on the flop, and betting 1.67BB may have been more of a confusing bet to Hrabec than anything else – mind you, with his hand there was zero chance he was folding top two pairs.  Realistically though, the likelihood that Eibinger could get Hrabec to fold regardless of what the flop was is somewhere around zero percent.

This hand was yet another example of how the top stakes in the world does not always produce the best played hands – Eibinger is Austria’s all time tournament earner and yet this hand feels like it was not his best performance. Hindsight is always 20/20 and at the end it worked out for Eibinger as he ended up laddering to fifth while this was just a small speed bump on the road to victory for Hrabec.

Triton Poker Series – Cash Game Invitational I – Cates v Phua v Xuan

We switch gears with Triton and turn to their Cash Game Invitationals that ran twice in 2024.  We look for our final hand review to the first invite game back in September where we find Jungleman Dan Cates tangle with Chinese pro Tan Xuan.

At the start of the hand, Cates has $732k and is UTG; Xuan has a $1.7 million stack and is in the high jack position with blinds at $1k / $2k / $5k. Paul Phua is UTG+2 with a $459k stack but as you’ll see, he doesn’t last long, folding 77 on the flop.

• Pre-flop, Cates straddles to $5k and Phua bumps it up to $10k.  Jungleman calls building a $38k pot.
• The flop action sees Jungleman and Phua check to Xuan who fires $17k into the middle.  Jungleman calls and Phua gives up his hand.
• The turn sees Jungleman snap check and Xuan fires again with a $35k bet. Cates pulls a timecard and check-raises Xuan up to $125k. Xuan thinks for a long time before three-betting to $320k. Jungleman calls, building a $712k pot.
• The river sees Cates check immediately before Xuan shoves and Cates can’t call fast enough.

The flat from Cates on the turn on the three-bet seemed to remove the nuts from his range and give hope that Xuan can bluff his way out of this, but the biggest factor in this hand clearly was Cates’ stack. 

Going to the river, the pot was $712k and the effective stack was only $389k – Jungleman had a half pot behind.  Had he been deeper, a bluff may have gotten through – well, that and if Jungleman didn’t have the absolute nuts.  Xuan attempted to play big bet poker against Jungleman and was very unlucky to have a straddle hit the nuts, gifting Dan Cates a massive $1.4 million dollar pot.