HK$ 2,000,000 No Limit Hold'em - Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Main Event Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju, Jeju 1st HK$ 41,250,000 $ 5,257,027 28.37: 28-Jul-2018: South Korea HK$ 1,000,000 No Limit Hold'em - Short Deck Ante-Only 1M HKD Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju, Jeju 5th. Triton Million London: 15+ Charities to Share $2.7m as The Distribution Plan is Released. When Triton’s co-founders, Paul Phua and Richard Yong, considered hosting a £1m buy-in event, “CHARITY” was the first sticky note to land on the brainstorming whiteboard. The Triton Series was founded by Malaysian businessman and amateur poker player, Richard Yong. It is a Series of Super High Roller tournaments where the No Limit Hold’em variant is played. The first event – the Cali Cup – started in January 2016, and was part of WPT National Philippines. That event broke records for WPT as its highest buy-in event.
- Triton Poker Series JEJU 2018 - Main Event No Limit Hold'em ...
- Straight Flush
- Triton Hold Em
- Royal Flush
Short Deck Hold’em is also known as 6+ (Six Plus) Hold’em. This No-Limit Poker game is played with a stripped-down deck.
The game is a fast, fun variation of the world-recognised Texas Hold’em format. Short Deck Hold’em originated in Asia a few years back and is gaining increased recognition in Europe. Due to some recent star-studded High Roller events, the game is attracting growing interest in the USA and is now being played in Las Vegas.
Increasing in popularity
The game is a fast, fun variation of the world-recognised Texas Hold’em format. Short Deck Hold’em originated in Asia a few years back and is gaining increased recognition in Europe.
Due to some recent star-studded High Roller events, the game is attracting growing interest in the USA and is now being played in Las Vegas.
Difference in pack size
All of the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s and 5’s are removed from the standard 52-card pack leaving a game where only 36 cards are used. This means the 6 is the lowest card…. Unless you use an Ace as low.
An Ace has added value
As in traditional Hold’em the Ace can be used as either a High or Low, but in the Short Deck version of the game it can also make up the low and high ends of a straight. As in:
• A 6 7 8 9 is classed as a straight (In this example the Ace is classed as a ‘5’)
Hand ranking differences – Let the significance sink in!
While there are only a few differences in the value of a hand between the 2 formats of Hold’em these are very significant and will prove expensive if forgotten.
In Short Deck Hold’em
• A Flush beats a Full House – This is because mathematically it is harder to make a flush than a full house from the reduced deck.
Note: This is the general rule. However, some houses may still have it the other way around – As ever; check the house rules before taking your seat.
Flush possibilities
In regular Hold’em, players with suited hole cards have 9 cards in the deck from which to make a flush. Playing the Short Deck game reduces this to 5 cards. This means a Flush is far harder to hit.
Easier to hit a set
Playing short deck Hold’em makes it easier to hit a set than when playing the regular game. Short deck players holding a pocket pair have 2 cards remaining from the 34 to give them a set as opposed to 2 cards out of 50 in the regular game.
Short Deck Hold’em strategy
Players who are used to the regular version of Hold’em should be aware of strategy considerations during a traditional game.
Triton Poker Series JEJU 2018 - Main Event No Limit Hold'em ...
Playing the Short Deck game brings a number of changes. Here are just 5 you need to bear in mind:
• The rule of 4 and 2 turns into the rule of 3 and 6
• Stronger Post-Flop hands are needed
• The chance of being dealt pocket Aces are twice as high
• Hands such as top pair and top kicker have a much lower value
• Single pair hands rarely win a pot
Fast, fun & exciting
There is no doubting that Short Deck Hold’em (6+ Hold’em) is making waves in Poker communities across the globe so why not taste the action by giving it a go?
A final word of caution though: While you are sure to hit far bigger hands than in the regular game this means your opponents will too!
Kenneth Kee might not be a tournament player, but the strategy he utilized in the Triton Hold’em events in Jeju was astonishingly precise. Kee has been by far the most impressive player in the newly emerging game of short deck poker, and the results reflect it. Kee conquered the HK$1 million event, topping a field of 60 entries for a mammoth payday of HK$22,500,000, more than $2.86 million.
“IT’S A SUPER NEW GAME. PEOPLE HAVEN’T FIGURED EVERYTHING OUT YET.”
What made Kee’s run through the tournament special was his ability to maneuver his stack without suffering huge chip swings. With the high variance the game brings, some may think that the straight-forward approach should be paying off. Kee, however, offered a different way to perceive the dynamics.
“Maybe you should not gamble in some spots where you would normally gamble in cash games. It’s similar to no-limit hold’em tournaments,” Kee said. But he also added that the general tournament strategy isn’t too different from cash games. “It’s a super new game. People haven’t figured everything out yet.”
Final results:
| Position | Player | Country | Prize (HKD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenneth Kee | Singapore | HKD 22,500,000 | $2,866,838 |
| 2 | Cary Katz | United States | HKD 13,920,000 | $1,773,617 |
| 3 | Richard Yong | Malaysia | HKD 9,120,000 | $1,162,025 |
| 4 | Peter Jetten | Canada | HKD 6,300,000 | $802,715 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | HKD 4,620,000 | $588,657 |
| 6 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | HKD 3,540,000 | $451,049 |
Kee seems to be naturally talented for the game, but he also puts in a lot of hard work to prepare himself for the battles on the big stage. “I watched a lot of tapes and then every time they made a move, I tried to think ‘why did they limp here?’ or ‘why did they shove here?’ Then I picked a few things which I liked and added them into my game.”
He also said that he discusses strategy with some of his friends whom he considers to belong to the top-shelf short deck players in the world. “We still have a bit of differences,” Kee revealed and expanded on his statement. “I believe that some people have figured out what’s slightly more GTO in short deck. But it might not necessarily mean that it’s the best move in the long run. Every situation is different; every player is different.”
“KNOWING GTO IS ONE THING, BUT APPLYING IT TO SPECIFIC SITUATIONS; THAT’S THE KEY IN POKER I THINK.”
Straight Flush
Kee is trying to balance between GTO and an exploitative approach. “Knowing GTO is one thing, but applying it to specific situations; that’s the key in poker I think,” he said. “You have to have good fundamentals. If you don’t, you’re going to lose in a long run if you’re only going to make exploits. You’re mathematically bound to lose. So I suggest doing a mix.”
That was something he showcased in the HK$1 million tournament here, mainly in the short-handed play on the final table. He came back holding the chip lead with Richard Yong not far behind. Cary Katz was the shortest stack with 25 button-antes when play resumed. “I was doing a mix of limping and raising. I was raising more when Cary was getting really short.”
Katz would make it to the heads-up as Yong quickly lost half of his stack with two pair against Kee’s superior two pair. Only a paired board saved Yong from losing all the money in the hand, but Kee got the rest of the chips anyway, getting to the final duel not only with more experience than his final opponent but also with a giant chip-advantage.
“Cary Katz just started playing short deck, so I feel that I have an edge post-flop,” Kee said. That proved to be the case when Kee pulled off a big bluff, forcing Katz to bet-fold aces on the river of a paired board which saw a club flush draw and a straight fill up on the final street.
Kee turned his top pair of kings into a bluff, blocking flushes and straight with a ten of clubs. “That was the key blocker. He check-called the flop, and then he decides to bet pretty hugely on the turn. I don’t really like this spot, but I don’t think I can fold this. Plus I have a couple of cards I could use to bluff,” Kee explained his thought process.
“I’M NOT EVEN SURE IF WHAT I’M DOING IS PERFECTLY RIGHT.”
Triton Hold Em
When Katz led out again, and Kee knew it was the right time to go for the bluff. “He bets this river, and this doesn’t make any sense at all. If he has ten-jack, why would he bluff the nine on the turn. It’s so weird. He almost has no flushes. And I don’t think he has a straight, given the line he took,” Kee said.
So Kee raised, Katz, folded, and Kee claimed the rest of the chips within the next hour or so. Katz couldn’t turn over the advantage and had to settle for second place, but it’s still a fantastic effort considering he just debuted in Triton Hold’em. Earning HK$13,920,000 ($1.8 million) the first time he explored the game, that’s an achievement Katz can be proud of.
Katz seemed to be picking up the mechanics of the game as the tournament progressed. And as the champion Kee noted, anybody can still come with a more advanced strategy to dominate the world of short deck poker.
Royal Flush
“I’m not even sure if what I’m doing is perfectly right,” Kee said. For now, he’s the Triton Hold’em champion, having made it to the throne in Jeju. Kee confirmed that he’ll be back for some more Triton Hold’em tournament action in future.