Wai Kin Yong Wins Triton Poker London £100K Main Event for £3.08M
When Richard Yong and Paul Phua co-founded the Triton Super High Roller Series, they had visions of battling some of the best high roller players in the world on a regular basis. They probably never envisioned a day where one of them would battle with the other’s offspring for £1 million. That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday in London though.
Wai Kin Yong, the son of Richard Yong, defeated Paul Phua heads-up after each outlasted 128 other entries in the £100,000 Triton Super High Roller Series London No Limit Hold’em Main Event for £3,080,000 ($3,752,394 US).
The final table began with Phua holding the chip lead and Yong sitting third in chips. It took 5.5 hours of play for Yong to take down the crown as he eliminated four of the eight other players at the final table.
It took just 10 minutes for things to get started in earnest. From the hijack, Wai Leong Chan moved all in for 1,650,000 with 
. Action folded to Wai Kin Yong in the big blind and he called instantly with 
. The 
flop gave Yong a set of sixes and Chan was unable to get any help on the 
turn. The meaningless river was the 
and Chan was out in ninth place for $371,584.
Nearly an hour passed before a three-way pot ended with two players heading to the cashier to collect a payout. Action folded to Daniel Cates in the cutoff and he moved all-in for 1,650,000 with 
. Stephen Chidwick re-shoved for 2,300,000 with 
from the small blind only to have Michael Soyza call from the big blind with 
. The board ran out 
to send Cates home in eighth for $499,507 and Chidwick out in seventh for $662,760.
Phua found his first victim ten minutes later. Phua raised to 425,000 with 
from the hijack. Michael Zhi Chang moved all-in for 5,010,000 with 
from the small blind. Phua called and then celebrated when the 
flop left Chang in dire straits. The turn gave Phua quads and eliminated Zhang in sixth place, earning $866,218 for the second-best score of his career.
Five-handed play lasted nearly 90 minutes before a blind vs. blind altercation sent one player home. Action folded to Sam Greenwood in the small blind and he moved all-in for1,675,000 with 
and Wai King Yong called with 
from the big blind. The 
flop gave Yong two pair. The turn and 
river failed to save Greenwood from a fifth-place finish.
The $1,098,915 score is the fourth time in 2019 that Greenwood has won at least $1 million in a poker tournament. He started the year off by winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100K Super High Roller for $1,775,460 and then finished runner-up to Soyza in the Triton HK$500K Super High Roller Six-Handed Event in Jeju for $1,019,251. In May he finished runner-up to Nikita Bodyakovskiy in the Triton HK$750K Short Deck event in Montenegro for $1,095,625.
Soyza managed to outlast Greenwood yet again, but this time it didn’t result in a trophy. Soyza moved all-in for 2,850,000 with 
in the small blind and Wong called from the big blind with 
. There was no drama left after the 
flop gave Wong the flush. The 
turn and river were nothing but a formality and Soyza was out in fourth place with a $1,354,507 score.
Just ten minutes later, the action went from three-handed to heads-up thanks to a bit of a setup that went badly for the favorite. Yong folded his button before Ben Heath called from the small blind with 
. Phua raised to 925,000 from the big blind with and Heath responded by re-raising to 2,500,000. Phua announced all in and Heath called instantly with his tournament life at risk. The flop gave Phua Broadway and left Heath drawing to a chop or runner-runner full house. The turn was no help and the 
river finished off Heath’s run in third place for $1,644,718.
That win left Phua with 56% of the chips in play heading into heads-up play. Just over 45 minutes into heads-up play, Yong made a call for his tournament life with on a 
board after Phua moved all-in on the river. That hand gave Yong the lead for the first time heads-up and he never looked back. Just over 30 minutes over the two clashed for the final time.
Phua shoved for his last 4,250,000 with and Yong called with 
. The flop gave Phua a flush draw and he took the lead on the turn. The 
river, however, eliminated Phua and gave Yong his third career Triton title and $3,752,394.
Final Table Payouts
- Wai Kin Yong – $3,752,394
- Paul Phua – $2,521,901
- Ben Heath – $1,644,718
- Michael Soyza – $1,364,507
- Sam Greenwood – $1,098,915
- Michael Chi Zhang – $866,218
- Stephen Chidwick – $662,760
- Daniel Cates – $499,507
- Wai Leong Chan – $371,584