Ivan Leow

Ivan Leow was one of Malaysia’s most successful poker players ever, winning over $13 million and making his name playing in some of the world’s biggest and toughest poker tournaments. He helped co-found the Triton Poker Series with Richard Yong and Paul Phua, leading it to become the world’s most illustrious, extravagant, and produced tournament series on the planet.

Making Money in Macau

Ivan began recording cashes by playing tournaments in Macau during 2016, cashing in tournaments like the Macau Poker Cup and the 2017 PokerStars Championship Macau. His first major cash came at the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series when he finished 6th in the No-Limit Hold’em Short Deck Ante Only event for $31,849. He would go on to better this cash when he came 6th again, but this time in the Main Event of the same series for $369,850. 

2018 – Breaking the Million Barrier

The scores only increased from this point onward, as Leow broke the $1 million barrier at the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju, when he won the same Short Deck tournaments that he was so proficient in. He won $1,101,000 at that event and proved he could also do it on other poker operator turf when he went to play in the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS in Russia when he won the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $1,080,000. After some more scores at EPT Barcelona in 2018, Leow capped off an incredible poker year by winning money at the WPT DeepStacks in Korea, the WSOP Europe stop, and the 2018 Jeju Red Dragon series. In 2019 he showed he could mix it up with four cards too, coming 3rd in the $5,200 Pot-Limit Omaha event at EPT Monte Carlo, before coming third again in the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, adding $659,100 to his booming cash record.

The Crowning Moment of Ivan Leow

Ivan’s crowning poker moment came at the Super High Roller Bowl in Cyprus when he finished second to the legendary Wiktor “limitless” Malinowski, scoring himself $2.5 million. Ivan Leow was on his way to having an incredible 2022, finishing 7th and 2nd in the Short Deck events at the Triton Poker Cyprus series before he came third in the Short Deck Turbo event in the Madrid Triton Series. Leow finished 12th in the No-Limit Hold’em event at the Triton Mediterranean Poker Party series before his sudden and tragic passing, which put a stop to the poker series. 

Suddenly Passed Away

On September 17, Ivan Leow passed from a sudden heart attack. Huge figures in the poker industry came to pay their condolences and tributes to the larger-than-life poker player, who left a lot of great memories with everyone he encountered. In a statement from Paul Phua and Richard Yong, they paid tribute to the “warm, generous and fun” individual. “Ivan was a hugely popular member of the Triton family. He was a very special person, who lived life to the full, was always smiling, and loved the game of poker. He will be sincerely missed by his family, friends, and everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him.”

PokerListings pays its respects and condolences to Ivan’s family, friends, and everyone that got to meet him during his remarkable poker journey. 

Image credit: triton-series.com