Paul Phua

Wei Seng Phua, orPaul Phua as he is more commonly known, is a mega-rich Malaysian businessman and poker player, who is usually found playing high-stakes cash games and tournaments in Macau, although he does frequent Super High Roller events that are part of the Triton Poker Series.

Born in 1964, Phua, surprisingly, did not begin playing Texas Hold'em until he was in his 40s. Phua considers himself an amateur poker players despite amassing more than $25 million in live poker tournament winnings. He attributes his rapid rise in the game to the fact fellow high-stakes stars Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen, Chau Giang, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Ivey frequenting Macau casinos in the early 2010s.

Although Phua prefers cash games, and Short Deck Hold'em in particular, he has an impressive tournament resume. His first recorded live cash came in a £100,000 buy-in event at Aspers Casino, London, United Kingdom, in September 2012, which he won after defeating Richard Yong heads-up. Phua walked away with £1,000,000 ($1,621,297) for his victory.

That impressive haul remained Phua's biggest-ever score for almost seven years. He bested it when he finished second to Jason Koon in a Triton Poker Super High Roller Short Deck event in Jeju, South Korea, which earned him the equivalent of $2,025,607.

Phua has since reeled in a handful more seven-figure scores, including a career-best £2,558,305 ($3,113,429) in August 2019.

Founding the Triton Poker Series

Phua founded the Triton poker Series in 2015, a series that features mostly Super High Roller touraments. its events attract the biggest names in poker. Despite playing in almost all of his tour's events, a Triton Poker Series victory eluded Phua for some time. However, he won a €30,000 buy-in seven-handed No-Limit Hold'em event at the Triton Poker Series Madrid in May 2022 to finally enjoy a win.

Paul Phua's Five Biggest Live Poker Results