Former World Champ Espen Jorstad Beats Phil Ivey to Win Triton Poker London Event
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Espen Jorstad, last year's world champion, came out victorious in the $40,000 Mystery Bounty event at the Triton Poker London series, a 133-entrant tournament.
Along the way, the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner defeated some stiff competition, including his heads-up opponent, Phil Ivey. The Norwegian poker pro took home $639,000 plus the bounties he opens on Monday. It was his first live tournament victory since last year's WSOP Main Event.
World Series of Poker Champion Crushes it at Triton
The Mystery Bounty tournament came down to three poker legends — Jorstad, Ivey, and Stephen Chidwick. It would be difficult to find a more star-studded final three in any tournament. Following his victory, the 2022 world champion said, "the three-way was the craziest three-way I've ever played."
During that three-handed play, the action was back-and-forth with all three players going from short stack to big stack multiple times. Jorstad would eventually send the short-stacked Chidwick home in third place ($287,000), creating a heads-up match against arguably the best poker player of all-time.
Ivey held a fairly sizable heads-up advantage when play began, but neither player had above 28 big blinds. Jorstad quickly took over the lead and then on the final hand he was all in with K♦J♠ against K♥2♥ preflop. The best hand held up, giving Jorstad his first Triton title while denying Ivey his fifth.
“Playing heads up against Ivey, the biggest legend of the game in my opinion, just makes it even more special,” Jorstad said in his post-game interview, “I’m extremely grateful for all the run good I’ve had on the last three years. It’s insane.”
Despite being unable to claim first place, the Poker Hall of Famer received $434,000 as a consolation prize and now has over $39 million in lifetime live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob. Jorstad, on the other hand, surpassed $11.5 million in cashes, easily making him Norway's all-time leader (Felix Vincent Stephensen is second with $5.8 million).
Both players still have an opportunity to add on to their scores. On Monday, the mystery bounty envelopes will be drawn with the top prize of $400,000 to be awarded to one lucky player. Triton London also kicked off a $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed tournament on Sunday. There were 112 players registered on Day 1, 42 of which advanced to Day 2. Ignacio Moron Chavero bagged the chip lead but has less than one big blind more than Leon Sturm, a 2023 WSOP bracelet winner.
Triton Poker Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Espen Jorstad | $639,000 |
| 2 | Phil Ivey | $434,900 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | $287,000 |
| 4 | Johannes Straver | $236,500 |
| 5 | Eric Wasserson | $190,000 |
| 6 | Daniel Dvoress | $149,000 |
| 7 | Aliaksei Boika | $111,500 |
