The Biggest Poker Tournament of All Time
The highest buy-in event in the history of poker, the Triton Million, concluded last week at the London Hilton on Park Lane in London. As expected, more than one record was broken.
The historic £1,050,000 super high roller kicked off with 54 entries – 4 more than the originally anticipated 50.
That means that the prize pool was also higher than expected – a total of $65.742 million worth of British pounds was waiting to be awarded to the players.
Aaron Zang Finishes First in Triton Million, Bryn Kenney Takes Home Biggest Cash Ever
Out of those 54 players, Aaron Zang triumphed eventually. The Chinese man got down to heads-up against American poker pro Bryn Kenney. At the start of the dual, Kenney held a 5.5-1 chip lead.
That put him in a very advantageous position when the two started negotiating a deal. By the time they agreed, it was sure that Bryn Kenney would overtake Justin Bonomo on top of the live tournament earner’s all-time money list.
However, he still didn’t secure the Triton Million title. Aaron Zang ground down the difference and eventually took over the lead.
Then the final hand of the historic event came. Bryn Kenney re-raised all-in on the flop with the nut flush draw. Aaron Zang called with a pair of 8’s.
💥 Aaron Zang 🇨🇳 wins!!!! We present to you the #TritonMillion for Charity 🔱 champion, collecting an incredible £19,000,000 with an amazing comeback against now All-Time Money List #1 Bryn Kenney!
⬇ Here’s the winning hand folks#poker #TritonLondon2019 #Champion pic.twitter.com/8hj8vWr5uG— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 3, 2019
The top pair held – Aaron Zang wins the £1,050,000 Triton Million Helping Hand for Charity tournament.
Due to the heads-up deal the finalists made, Bryn Kenney was the one who walked away with the most amount of money.
He won £16.891 million ($20.563 million) with which he actually broke two records at the same time.
That is the most money anyone has ever won in a poker tournament. The former record-holder was Antonio Esfandiari, who got $18.347 million for winning the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop at the 2012 WSOP.
Bryn Kenney’s also the best live tournament earner in poker history now. He overtook Justin Bonomo, and currently sits on top the Hendon all-time money list with $55,505,630 in career earnings.
Who is Aaron Zang?
But let’s not steal Triton Million winner Aaron Zang’s moment.
Very little is known about the young man from China. He was tagged as a recreational player during the coverage.
He’s known to be a regular at the super high stakes cash games in the far East. He’s more of a cash player than a tournament player.
The new champion has appeared on Poker After Dark in October 2017, playing a $300/$600 NLHE session live on stream.
Commendably, he remained humble even after his magnificent victory.
In his “post-game” interview, Aaron Zang told Rob Yong that he’s “very happy to play against so many good players,” saying it was his honor.
He even went on to claim that others played better poker than him during the tournament.
Such a humble winner Aaron Zang £1M @tritonpoker London, announced extra charity donation & didn’t @BrynKenney play like a beast at the final table #TritonLondon2019 pic.twitter.com/yhC61II6vf
— Rob Yong (@rob_yong_) August 3, 2019
Memorable Hands from the Triton Million – Sam Trickett’s Crazy Bluff
Evidently, this event drew poker’s brightest stars from around the world.
The field featured such legends as Tom Dwan, Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, Fedor Holz or Dan Smith. Many interesting hands were played.
The most talked-about pot was played between Sam Trickett, Bryn Kenney, and Stephen Chidwick.
Trickett made a very ambitious bluff on the river. He 3-bet shoved all-in over a re-raise by Kenney and a cold call by Stephen Chidwick.
Multiple prominent poker personalities decided to analyze that hand, including Doug Polk and Jonathan Little.
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