With roots running deep in American soil, poker is a game that will forever be closely associated with the United States; as the actor Walter Matthau once said, ‘The game exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great’.
But it’s a global village these days, folks, and that’s certainly the case for the big guns in The Bahamas. Triton events take place across the globe and attract an international clientele, and the same was true in the $100K Triton Main Event at WSOP Paradise, which returned yesterday for a Day 2 in which the cast of high rollers played past the bubble.
When the day’s end came just 15 players remained, between them representing 10 different nationalities. Three Americans are still in with a shot at the huge $3.85M first prize, but so are three Austrians and two Germans, while a Finn sits atop the field with a chunky chip lead. Ossi Ketola (pictured above) ended play with 8.4M chips - a full 3M more than Germany’s Fedor Holz in second place - on a day that saw a host of huge names take their shot at Triton gold.
Bryn Kenney, Justin Bonomo, Patrik Antonius, Daniel Negreanu, Scott Seiver and PokerStars co-founder Isai Scheinberg were among the 107 players who came and went, with Jason Koon the last to depart before play was suspended for the night.
Ketola's seemingly fearless high-wire act is a new one on the Triton circuit, with the Finn's first recorded tournament results coming just last month at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Monte Carlo. The amateur player, who apparently made his money trading Counter Strike skins, cashed in four events on the riviera, including a runner-up finish for close to $3M. How will the established crushers in the Triton Main Event adapt to this unpredictable Finnish force? We'll have a good chance to see when play resumes.
Head over to our Instant Live feed for the latest chip counts among the survivors, who will be back today to finish up. Here’s wishing onnea, viel glück and good luck to all of them.
Wasserman tops the DC universe
Yesterday’s $26K Dealers Choice Championship final table played out to a rail featuring some of the best in the biz. Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, Jason Mercier and more watched on - and Matt Glantz even pulled up a chair in the 1 seat for a close-up view - as four played down to a winner. Eric Wasserson eventually triumphed, winning his first WSOP bracelet and $353,340. Close behind was Josh Arieh, winner of six WSOP bracelets, but lucky 7 will have to wait for now. Arieh banked $262,090 for his runner-up finish.
Tiffany Michelle caught up with Wasserman following his victory.
Elsewhere, the biggest field of the series so far - 2,031 - boiled all the way down to a winner as Jeffrey Hakim won the $2,750 Mini Main Event for $575,050 and his first WSOP bracelet. American Hakim beat out two players from Belarus in the final three, with Andrei Piatrushchanka finishing third and Alina Paliahoshka in second spot, proving once more that poker is a truly international game, and not just at the high roller level.
Coming up
Nine players will return today to finish up proceedings in the $5,300 NLH Deepstack event, with Romania’s Vlad Darie holding the chip lead. Darie recently won a bracelet online, along with $623K, during the WSOP Online International festival, and will be hoping to add the top prize of $293,050 to his 2024 winnings when play resumes at 2pm local time.
The $52K PLO Championship will return for Day 2, packed with high-rolling refugees from the Triton. Chance Kornuth, Nacho Barbero, Jesse Lonis, Daniel Negreanu and plenty more bagged up after yesterday’s Day 1, and registration is still open if you fancy your luck against these guys.
But the big news for Thursday is the start of the $26K Super Main Event. Flight 1a begins at noon, as the adventure begins to see who will claim the biggest slice of the $50M GTD prize pool. As always, fire up the PokerOrg Instant Live feed to stay on top of all the ups and downs in this eagerly awaited event.
Does he ever stop?
We noted yesterday that Alejandro Lococo bounced straight from his Triton Million win into the Triton Main, and wouldn’t you know it he then turned up in a satellite to the Super Main. As Joseph Cheong asks, who loves it more?
Finally, give it up for our new intern, Jeff, who’s helping to keep track of everything going on out here in The Bahamas (in between coffee runs).
PokerOrg is out in The Bahamas for the full WSOP Paradise festival, so make sure to check back regularly for all the developments, news and behind-the-scenes action on our Instant Live page.
In the meantime, you can watch the action from Day 2 of the $100K Triton Main Event below.
Images courtesy of Triton Poker
