Rick Salomon and Tom Dwan the First Casualties of the Triton Million
Table Of Contents
The £1,050,000 buy-in Triton Million, the biggest buy-in poker tournament in history, may have a fantastic blind structure, yet two of its 54 entrants have already busted out and have nothing to show for their seven-figure investment other than memories and a receipt.
Salomon Busts During the Second Level
Rick Salomon was the first casualty of the day, dusting off his stack during the second level of the day.
With blinds at 1,500/3,000 and a big blind ante of 3,000, Salomon opened to 10,000 from middle position holding A♠K♠. Sosia Jiang called from the hijack, only to see Andrew Pantling three-bet to 30,000 from his seat on the button with Q♥Q♦. Salomon made it 110,000 to go, which folded out Jiang, but Pantling stuck around and called.
TheQ♠J♦8♠ flop was spread onto the felt, and Salomon continued his aggression by betting 50,000. Pantling set the price to continue at 150,000 before snap-calling Salomon’s all-in bet of 642,000.
It was the ace-king of spades for Salomon versus Pantling’s pocket queens that had flopped a set. According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Pantling was a 67.06% favorite to win the hand, odds that increased to 77.27% when the 4♥ landed on the turn. Salomon’s exit was confirmed when the 8♥ improved Pantling to a full house.
Salomon will be bitterly disappointed having cashed in three of the four one-million buy-in tournaments he has competed in. Salomon placed fourth in both $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop events in 2014 and 2018, with a third-place finish in the €1,000,000 Big One for One Drop in Monte Carlo in 2016 sandwiched between those impressive results.
Pantling, considered a recreational player in the Triton Million, also cashed in the 2016 Big One for One Drop in Monte Carlo, finishing sixth for a €1,500,000 ($1,653,603) score, the largest of his career. Before venturing off into the world of sports betting, Pantling was a gifted online player playing the highest stakes as "ClockWyze."
Dwan Gone Too
Better known for his cash game prowess, this was only the second time Tom “durrrrr” Dwan had battled it out in one of the one million-plus buy-in events and his experience was short-lived. Dwan busted from the Triton Million shortly after Salomon had claimed the wooden spoon.
Dwan raised three-times the big blind to 9,000 from early position with A♠J♠ and found callers in the shape of Timothy Adams on the button with Q♣J♦ and Igor Kurganov in the small blind with 2♦2♠. Timofey “trueteller” Kuznetsov was seated in the big blind, and he squeezed to 52,500 with A♣Q♥. Dwan called while both Adams and Kurganov ducked out of the way.
Similar to the flop that claimed the tournament life of Salomon only an hour previously, the dealer fanned a Q♠6♦3♠ flop with two spades. Kuznetsov bet 40,000, Dwan raised to 132,000 after using one of his time bank chips, and Kuznetsov responded with a three-bet shove. Dwan called off his remaining 382,000 chips needing a spade or runner-runner to stay alive.
The 3♦ turn and 10♦ provided no help to Dwan, and he headed to the rail as the second casualty of the day, doing so with a £1,050,000 hole in his wallet.
This is Kuznetsov’s first seven-figure buy-in event appearance, and he got an early boost to his chances of walking away with the £19 million ($23,019,609) top prize at the expense of Dwan.
£19 Million Awaits the Triton Million Champion
The top 11 finishers will win a slice of the £54 million prize pool, with a min-cash being worth £1,100,000, a runner-up finish securing £11,670,000, and the eventual champion going down in history with a £19 million prize, the largest first-place prize of any poker tournament ever to date. Here's a look at the full payouts that await the top 11.
| Place | Prize (GBP) | Prize (USD*) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | £19,000,000 | $23,019,609 |
| 2 | £11,670,000 | $14,138,780 |
| 3 | £7,200,000 | $8,723,155 |
| 4 | £4,410,000 | $5,342,923 |
| 5 | £3,000,000 | $3,634,737 |
| 6 | £2,200,000 | $2,665,474 |
| 7 | £1,720,000 | $2,083,916 |
| 8 | £1,400,000 | $1,696,211 |
| 9 | £1,200,000 | $1,453,945 |
| 10 | £1,100,000 | $1,332,783 |
| 11 | £1,100,000 | $1,332,783 |
* XE.com exchange rate – 8/1/2019
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The PokerNews Live Reporting team is on the ground bringing you exclusive coverage of this monster-sized event. Head to our live reporting pages to keep up-to-date with all the action, as it happens, in the Triton Million.
In this Series
- 1 Triton Poker Hosts Record-Setting $1.325 Million Buy-in Event in London
- 2 Facts and Stats: The Field for Triton Million, Poker's Richest Event
- 3 Rick Salomon and Tom Dwan the First Casualties of the Triton Million
- 4 Triton Million: Bill Perkins Leads Richest Tournament in Poker History
- 5 Vivek Rajkumar Leads the Triton Million - A Helping Hand For Charity Final Eight
