Belarusian crusher Mikita Badziakouski added a fifth Triton Poker title to his belt today when he picked up the $100k Short Deck trophy, denying the Super High Roller series’ co-founder Paul Phua heads-up.
The two-week-long SHR series in Jeju, South Korea, had smashed all sorts of attendance records, but by the time event #18 came around, only 18 players fancied gambling $100k on a bout of Short Deck poker, although the 16 re-entries boosted the prize pool to $3.4million.
Short deck poker, where the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s all hit the muck before play begins, is a thrill-a-minute variant much-beloved in the far east.
Though never quite making the big time in the west, some leading European and US-based players have mastered it well enough to challenge their eastern rivals, Phil Ivey a recognized expert, for example.
Mikita Badziakouski beating Phua at the final table
This $100k buy-in beast, however, would see Jason Koon chasing his 11th title, but he almost didn’t make the money, his kings cracked by Wu Xiao’s big slick.
Thankfully for Koon, it was Canada’s Sam Greenwood who would pick up his second bubble finish in consecutive days.
Having just bubbled the Short Deck Main Event, Greenwood found himself in serious trouble against Badziakouski… and a sickening flop all but finished him off.
Greenwood: A♣ Q♥
Badziakouski: A♥ A♦
Flop: 7♠ A♠ 7♣
Turn: 8♥
River: 6♣
With $240k sewn up, the remaining six could breathe a little easier, although Koon’s efforts ended shortly afterward. Koon’s entrance was remarkable…
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the BEST final table entrance in history! 💪💥@JasonKoon may have not won the match, but he’s certainly won the best final table entrance award by a landslide! 🤩pic.twitter.com/MEOEzDgNbC
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) March 21, 2024
…but his exit less so as he ran his short stack into pocket aces – this time Phua the executioner.
Phua: A♣ A♦
Koon: 9♣ 7♠
Flop: J♠ Q♠ 6♣
Turn: 10♦
River: J♦
Phua found aces again to dispose of fellow Asian poker legend, Winfred Yu, while Badziakouski dealt with Qi, aces holding up for 4/4 at the final table.
Heads-up, it was the Belarusian number one against the Malaysian number one, Badziakouski looking for Triton title number five while Phua, despite 36 cashes, was looking for only his second victory.
The brutal nature of Short Deck means that nothing is ever a certainty, and a Phua double-up with queens was balanced by a loss to kings until the inevitable final hand saw Badziakouski looking to hold to win…
Badziakouski: A♣J♣
Phua: A♦ 7♦
Flop: 10♦ 8♦ 6♠
Turn: 8♠
River: Q♠
Triton Poker $100K Short Deck
- Mikita Badziakouski $1,153,000
- Paul Phua $800,000
- Sun Ya Qi $510,000
- Winfred Yu $391,000
- Jason Koon $306,000
- Wu Xiao $240,000
That means Mikita Badziakouski joins both Phil Ivey and Danny Tang on five wins apiece, still well behind Koon’s incredible 10 victories.
When asked “What took you so long?”, Badziakouski replied: “Back in Cyprus (in 2022), I got second twice and I wasn’t really caring about winning another one.”
He added, however, “But then I went to London and Monte Carlo and didn’t get close. And by that time I’ve really been wanting to win one. I’m really happy.”
