The Triton Super High Roller Series Madrid festival kicked off over the weekend and two stellar names took down the opening pair of events. Michael Addamo won the €20,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed tournament, while Paul Phua triumphed in the €30,000 No-Limit Hold'em 7-Handed event.
The €20,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed event attracted 56 unique entrants who purchased 34 re-entires between them, this creating a €1,800,000 prize pool. Thirteen places were paid, with Ni Liangace, Jeremy Ausmus, Cristobal Hidalgo, Andrey Lyubovetskiy, and Norway's Morten Klein cashing but missing out on a seat at the final table.
Spain's Fernando Garcia was the first finalist to bow out; he collected €66,600 for his eighth-place finish. Then came the exits of Danny Tang (€85,600) and Dusk Till Dawn supremo Rob Yong (€108,000), the latter walking away with the tournament's first six-figure haul.
Paul Phua (€138,500), Wayne Heung (€172,200), and Tommy Kim (€219,500) were the next high-stakes specialists who fell by the wayside. Kim's elimination left Michael Addamo heads-up against Natural8 Ambassador Michael Soyza.
The final hand took place during the 150,000/300,000/300,000a level, and saw Soyza move all-in for 2,500,000 with queen-deuce of diamonds. Addamo performed a few calculations before calling with ace-four offsuit. A king-high flop kept Addamo ahead with ten on the turn changing nothing. A second seven on the river busted Soyza in second place (€332,000) leaving Addamo to bank a €478,000 first place prize, giving him plenty of ammunition for the remainder of the series.
Addamo revealed in an interview shortly after the event concluded that he is in Madrid for the entire two-week festival but will only play the regular No-Limit Hold'em events; there is no Short Deck for the Aussie superstar.
Triton Super High Roller Series Madrid €20K NLH 8-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Addamo | Australia | €478,000 |
| 2 | Michael Soyza | Malaysia | €332,000 |
| 3 | Tommy Kim | South Korea | €219,500 |
| 4 | Wayne Heung | Hong Kong | €172,000 |
| 5 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | €138,500 |
| 6 | Rob Yong | United Kingdom | €108,000 |
| 7 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | €85,600 |
| 8 | Fernando Garcia | Spain | €66,600 |
Phua Finally Gets His Hands on a Triton Super High Roller Series Title
Triton Poker founder Paul Phua managed to get rid of an unwanted title when he left 92 opponents (56 unique entrants plus 37 re-entries) in his wake in the €30,000 No-Limit Hold'em 7-Handed event. Phua had cashed 20 times in Triton events but had never managed to take one down. That record is now history because Phua came out on top for the first time and received €740,400 for his efforts.
The top 13 finishers walked away with some prize money to show for their grind. Fedor Holz was the first in-the-money player. Christopher Soyza, Kevin Paque, Danny Tang, Patrik Antonius, and the legendary Phil Ivey joined Holz as a spectator.
Ivey's untimely demise set the official seven-handed final table, and what a final table it was.
Canadian duo Michael Watson (€132,500) and Daniel Dvoress (€167,400) were the first casualties. Then came the elimination of British star Ben Heath (€214,800) before Thailand's Kannapong Thanarattrakul bowed out in fourth for a €266,500, which is by far his largest-ever live score. Thanarattrakul lost all but two big blinds with queens versus Erik Seidel's king-queen courtesy of the latter turning a straight. The Thai grinder busted shortly after.
Isaac Haxton fell in third for €340,300, leaving eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Seidel head-to-head with Phua.
The final hand saw Phua hold a 16,250,000 to 1,850,000 lead over Seidel with the big blind costing 500,000. Phua set Seidel all-in with ace-five, and Seidel called with ten-seven. A five-six-nine gave Seidel some hope but another nine on the turn was no help to him. A queen on the river sent Seidel to the rail and Phua finally won one of his events!
A delighted Phua said winning a Triton event was "indescribable" and "a dream come true." Congratulations!
Triton Super High Roller Series Madrid €30K NLH 7-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | €740,400 |
| 2 | Erik Seidel | United States | €514,800 |
| 3 | Isaac Haxton | United States | €340,300 |
| 4 | Kannapong Thanarattrakul | Thailand | €266,500 |
| 5 | Benjamin Heath | United Kingdom | €214,800 |
| 6 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | €167,400 |
| 7 | Michael Watson | Canada | €132,500 |
Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Madrid Remaining Schedule
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Mon 16 May | #3 - €20K Short Deck Ante-Only Day 2 |
| #5 - €25K Short Deck Ante-Only | |
| Tue 17 May | #6 - €50K NLH 7-Handed |
| Wed 18 May | #7 - €75K NLH 8-Handed |
| Thu 19 May | #8 - €50K Short Deck Ante-Only |
| Fri 20 May | #9 - €100K NLH Main Event |
| #10 - €50K NLH 8-Handed Turbo | |
| Sun 22 May | #11 - €25K Pot Limit Omaha |
| Mon 23 May | #12 - €100K Short Deck Ante-Only |
| Tue 24 May | #13 - €150K Short Deck Ante-Only |
| Wed 25 May | #14 - €30K Short Deck Ante-Only Turbo |
