Barbero, Arends Win Triton Vietnam Titles As $100,000 Main Event Gets Underway

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Editor & Live Reporter U.S.
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Triton Vietnam

Many of the best high-stakes poker players in the world are in southeast Asia right now for the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam, a series consisting of more than a dozen events with buy-ins ranging from $15,000 to $100,000.

The series got underway on March 1 and has awarded a few seven-figure prizes. Vietnam native Dao Phu took down Event #6: $50,000 NLH 8-Handed for $1.7 million while Turkey's Orpen Kisacikoglu went on to win Event #7: $75,000 NLH 8-Handed for $1.8 million.

The two are the largest winners of the series so far, but other notable high rollers to home trophies include Argentina's Nacho Barbero (Event #2: $15,000 NLH 7-Handed - $600,000), Jans Arends of The Netherlands (Event #5: $30,000 NLH 7-Handed - $921,178) and Triton newcomer Andrew Leathem (Event #8: $25,000 Turbo NLH - $670,000)

Currently underway is the $100,000 buy-in Main Event, which kicked off on March 8 and will play for three days as players start off with 250 big blinds. Check out the live stream on the Triton Poker YouTube channel to follow along.

Early Series Highlights

Barbero's victory came early on in the series when he defeated Arends heads-up after getting through a field of 172 runners that included third-place finisher Brian Kim ($271,000) and fourth-place finisher Lee Wai Kiat ($222,000).

In January, Barbero finished fourth in the 2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship for a career-best $1.5 million. But it wasn't the result he was hoping for as he entered the final day of play as the chip leader before a colossal misclick that gave up the chip lead to Aliaksandr Shylko, who went on to win the tournament for $3.1 million.

There were no misclicks this time as Barbero locked up the $600,000 victory.

Event #2: $15,000 NLH 7-Handed Final Table Results

 PLACEPLAYERCOUNTRYPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Jose Ignacio BarberoArgentina$600,000
 2Jans ArendsNetherlands$406,000
 3Brian KimUnited States$271,000
 4Kiat LeeMalaysia$222,000
 5Aleksejs PonakovsLatvia$178,000
 6Alex KulevBulgaria$138,000
 7Seth DaviesUnited States$102,100

After finishing runner-up to Barbero for a career-best $406,000, Arends, an accomplished high-stakes online player and poker coach, quickly secured a new best when he took down the $30,000 7-handed event for $921,178 after a three-handed ICM chop with Lee and Jonathan Jaffe, who respectively earned $851,932 and ($766,890).

The event had a prize pool of $5.1 million and a field of 171 runners that included Americans Kim (4th - $441,000) and Seth Davies (5th - $353,700). Kayhan Mokri, a recent guest on the PokerNews Podcast, finished in ninth place for $119,000 and also finished in 21st in the $20,000 Mystery Bounty event for $19,700 as he finds success at his first Triton stop.

Listen to Kayhan Mokri on the PokerNews Podcast!

Event #5: $30,000 NLH 7-Handed Final Table Results

 PLACEPLAYERCOUNTRYPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Jans ArendsNetherlands$921,178
 2Kiat LeeMalaysia$851,932
 3Jonathan JaffeUnited States$766,890
 4Brian KimUnited States$441,000
 5Seth DaviesUnited States$353,700
 6Biao DingChina$275,000
 7Oscar BrodkinEngland$203,000

The biggest winner of Triton Vietnam so far is Kisacikoglu, who got through a field of 85 runners to win $1.8 million, nearly matching his biggest career cash that was earned from a runner-up finish in the 2022 €100,000 Triton Madrid Main Event for $2.1 million.

Orpen Kisacikoglu
Orpen Kisacikoglu

Recently named 2023 Players Choice for Toughest Opponent Stephen Chidwick finished second for $1.2 million just a few weeks after winning two European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris €25,000 events.

Steve O'Dwyer finished in third for $816,000 while familiar Triton faces Jason Koon (6th - $389,000) and Punnat Punsri (7th - $306,000) also made the final table.

Event #7: $75,000 NLH 8-Handed Final Table Results

 PLACEPLAYERCOUNTRYPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Orpen KisacikogluTurkey$1,753,000
 2Stephen ChidwickEngland$1,245,000
 3Steve O'DwyerIreland$816,000
 4Santhosh SuvarnaIndia$628,000
 5Henrik HecklenDenmark$497,500
 6Jason KoonUnited States$389,000
 7Punnat PunsriThailand$306,000
 8Rob YongEngland$239,000

There's still plenty of action to come at Triton Vietnam, including the currently underway $100,000 Main Event. Short Deck events make up the majority of the remaining schedule and the series will wrap up with Event #15: $20,000 Short Deck Ante-Only on March 13.

2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam Remaining Schedule

 DATEEVENT
 March 8Event #9: $100,000 NLH Main Event
 March 9Event #10: $50,000 NLH Turbo
 March 10Event #11: $25,000 Short Deck Ante-Only
 March 11Event #12: $50,000 Short Deck Ante-Only
 March 12Event #13: $100,000 Short Deck Main Event Ante-Only
 March 13Event #15: $20,000 Short Deck Ante-Only

A full list of winners so far at the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam is available in the table below.

2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam Winners So Far

 DATEEVENTENTRANTSPRIZE POOLWINNERHOMETOWNPRIZE (IN USD)
 March 1Event #1: $25,000 NLH GG Super Millions166$4,150,000Chin LimMalaysia$965,000
 March 2Event #2: $15,000 NLH 7-Handed172$2,580,000Nacho BarberoArgentina$600,000
 March 3Event #3: $20,000 NLH 8-Handed Mystery Bounty89$1,790,000Mark RubbathanEngland$396,000
 March 4Event #5: $30,000 NLH 7-Handed171$5,130,000Jans ArendsNetherlands$921,178
 March 5Event #6: $50,000 NLH 8-Handed139$6,950,000Dao PhuVietnam$1,670,000
 March 6Event #7: $75,000 NLH 8-Handed85$6,375,000Orpen KisacikogluTurkey$1,753,000
 March 7Event #8: $25,000 Turbo NLH104$2,600,000Andrew LeathemEngland$670,000

Photos courtesy of Triton

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Editor & Live Reporter U.S.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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