Orpen Kisacikoglu wins 75K NLH 8-Handed event and second Triton title
After two full days of play, Orpen Kisacikoglu claimed the title of champion of Event 7 here in Triton Vietnam.
Short of the 100k Main Event, the 75k NLH 8-Handed event is the biggest buy-in NLH event on the Triton schedule here at the Hoiana Resort in Vietnam. The event attracted 85 entries for an impressive 6,375,000 prize pool.
Kisacikoglu, a Turkish professional, had not had a great series thus far before this event, failing to cash prior to today. Well, all that is forgotten with his massive first-place score of 1,753,000. His path to victory was anything but easy, but it was filled with highlights.
Final table action
Stephen Chidwick dished out a cooler to start the final table eliminations with a bang. Michael Soyza got all the chips into the middle with pocket aces against the pocket jacks of Chidwick, but the American found a jack on the flop to send Soyza out in ninth for 182,500.
Sometimes it takes coolers and cold decks to get any of these players out the door. Both Punnat Punsri (306,000) and Rob Yong (239,000) were eliminated in one such hand shortly after Soyza's demise. Punnat Punsri moved his last ten bigs in with pocket fives, and Rob Yong moved his last five bigs in with ace-king. Unfortunately for them both, Santhosh Suvarna woke up with pocket aces to send them both out the door with one clean runout.
The eventual champ would be the one to end Jason Koon's deep run. Kisacikoglu and Koon got all the chips in the middle with Koon holding a dominated ace. He couldn't outrun Kisacikoglu, so he'd take home 389,000, his first cash of the Vietnam series.
Henrik Hecklen fell to another suckout by Stephen Chidwick. Chidwick held ace-eight against the Dane's ace-jack. Chidwick flopped a flush draw on a monotone board that immediately came in on the turn to send Hecklen home in fifth for 497,500.
Santhosh Suvarna fell to Chidwick as well after getting his last few bigs in with ace-seven versus Chidwick's queen-jack suited. The flop gave Chidwick a straight draw, and based on how he was running in big spots it was no surprise when it came in on the turn to send Suvarna out the door with 628,000 in his pocket.
Playing three-handed now, it was again Chidwick who tangled with Steve O'Dwyer, the man who came into the final table with the chip lead. Chidwick put the pressure on O'Dwyer with a jam from the small blind, but O'Dwyer woke up with pocket queens and looked poised to double. The flop brought a gutshot for Chidwick, and once more that draw got there on the turn to eliminate the Irishman in third place for 816,000.
Heads-up play
Chidwick came into heads-up play with a 1.3:1 chip lead over Kisacikoglu; notable but not big enough to be comfortable.
Heads-up play begins
In a limped pot, Kisacikoglu flopped a pair of deuces holding six-two. Action checked through on the king-high board. Chidwick barreled both the turn and river to put pressure on Kisacikoglu, but Kisacikoglu found the call to even out the stacks. Those even stacks would matter as a cooler was in the making to all but decide the tournament.
Kisacikoglu limped with ace-deuce in the small blind before Chidwick raised the nine-deuce from the big. Kisacikoglu called and flopped two pair on the A-3-2 flop. He called a bet from Chidwick. The turn brought a 9, also giving Chidwick two pair. Kisacikoglu raised a bet from Chidwick, and Chidwick couldn't get away. That pot left Chidwick with only a few bigs, and the tournament was over shortly after.
Orpen Kisacikoglu's results
A big congratulations to Kisacikoglu for his impressive navigation of a tough field and stacked final table.
Kisacikoglu already had over 11 million in live tournament earnings according to Hendon Mob, and he's safely in the top-100 on the all-time money list. This win will push him higher in both categories. Additionally, in the third month of the year, Kisacikoglu has already cashed in four different countries, adding Vietnam to the list of the United States, The Bahamas, and France.
Next up here is the sure-to-be exciting 100k Main Event, a three-day tournament that will feature the best of the best. Stay with us here for all of the coverage and inside looks. The Main Event starts at 2pm local time (2am EST), so coverage will begin on a delay one hour later.
