Robert Flink raised to 60,000 and saw Isaac Haxton move all in 1,800,000 from the hijack.
Timofey Kuznetsov looked down at his cards and paused for thirty seconds before he put his 300,000 stack into the middle, and Flink folded when the decision was back on him.
Isaac Haxton:
Timofey Kuznetsov:
Kuznetsov, who started Day 2 as one of the top ten chip counts was ahead, and the flop fell , keeping his lead but seeing Haxton pick up the straight draw.
The fell on the turn to completely switch the advantage in Haxton's favor, and the on the river sealed the Russian's exit.
David Benefield called for 12,000 from under the gun with , and Gabe Patgorski called from the hijack with . Elton Tsang looked down at on the button and raised to 58,000, which both Benefield and Patgorski called.
The flop fell , and Tsang hit a straight, betting 100,000.
Both Benefield and Patgorski called, and the hit on the turn.
Tsang moved all in for 797,000 after the action checked to him, and took down the pot uncontested.
Two players folded Michael Soyza moved all in for 284,000. Dwan thought on his decision for a minute then called and saw he was ahead but in a flip situation.
The on the turn and on the river, saw Soyza eliminated.
David Benefeld may not play as much poker as he once did, but he showed he still has what it takes to rub shoulders with the game’s elite by winning the £25,000 Short Deck Ante-Only event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London festival.
£25K Short Deck Ante-Only Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (£)
Prize($)
1
David Benefield
United States
£650,000
$789,707
2
Cheok Leng Cheong
Macao
£445,000
$540,645
3
Pang Feng
Hong Kong
£292,000
$354,760
4
Bjorn Li
Hong Kong
£236,500
$287,331
5
Chin Lim
Malaysia
£190,000
$230,837
6
Peter Jetten
Canada
£148,300
$180,174
7
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
£117,000
$142,147
8
Jordi Urlings
Netherlands
£89,000
$108,129
9
Michael Watson
Canada
£65,500
$79,578
Benefield, known as “Raptor” in online poker circles, was once a prolific grinder who often played as high as $100/$200 and $200/$400. He was no slouch in the live poker world either, amassing more than $2.5 million in winnings, thanks in part to a $944,650 haul from his eighth-place finish in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Until the start of the year, Benefield hadn’t recorded a live cash since reaching the money in the European Poker Tour Barcelona €10,300 High Roller in 2016. Benefield must have been keeping his skills sharp because he managed a cash in the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship at the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in a Short Deck Ante-Only event at the Triton poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju, South Korea in March that banked him $206,141.
Now Benefield has his first major live title after triumphing over a 106 entry field in the £25K Short Deck Ante-Only event in London.
Fifteen Players Reach The Money
Only 15 of the entrants received prize money for their efforts, John Gabe Patgorski of the United States being the first casualty inside the money place, a result worth £42,800 ($51,999).
Patgorski was joined on the rail by high stakes cash game specialist and Triton Poker regular Rui Cao, Jun Yap, Devan Tang, runner-up in the £50,000 Eight-Handed event earlier in the week Jason Koon, and recent WSOP bracelet winner Danny Tang; the latter bursting the final table bubble.
The nine-handed final table was a star-studded affair as you may have expected from a £25,000 buy-in specialized tournament.
Michael “SirWatts” Watson added £65,500 ($79,578) to his already impressive live earnings when he crashed out of the event in ninth-place. Jordi Urlings from the Netherlands then busted in eighth-place for £89,000 ($108,129).
Jetten Adds Yet Another Triton Cash
Talal Shakerchi ran out of steam and finished in seventh-place for £117,000 ($142,147) and now has more than $7.6 million in lifetime winnings.
Shakerchi, a regular in the high roller and super high roller events around the world, gained some company on the rail when Peter Jetten exited in sixth place for £148,300 ($180,174). Jetten is a big fan of the Triton Poker Series having competed regularly since May 2018, racking up more than $6.7 million in the process.
Peter Jetten
Chin Wei Lim, final table bubble boy in the Triton Million event, busted in fifth place and made his way to the cashier’s desk to collect £190,000 ($230,837) and was joined there by Bjorn Li whose £236,500 ($287,331) score was the largest of his career so far.
Li’s fellow Hong Kong countryman Pang Feng was the penultimate elimination and what a way to record your first Hendon Mob flag, by finishing third in a £25,000 buy-in event for £292,000 ($354,760).
Heads-up saw Benefield and Cheok Leng Cheong lock horns for the title and the lion’s share of the prize pool. It was Leng who fell by the wayside, but not before securing £445,000 ($540,645) for his runner-up finish, leaving Benefield to bank £690,000 ($789,707) and the winner’s trophy.
The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series is known for the best Short Deck tournaments in the world and obviously, all were enthused knowing that the first day of the £100,000 Short Deck Main Event was now finally here. A total of 91 entries were compiled after seven levels of play and just 41 survived to see the second day. Anyone looking to fork up the buy-in can do so until the end of level eight when the late registration period ends, in what is expected to be another huge event.
There were many players to bag a healthy stack and Russia's Furkat Rakhimov bagged the biggest, ending the first day with 2,180,000. Rakhimov is a relatively unknown player outside of the Triton events, with two million in live earnings all coming in them. The Russian is no stranger to Short Deck as his biggest cash came when he placed third during the Jeju series in HK$ 1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Short Deck Ante Only - for a staggering $ 1,330,021. He has proven that it was not just luck that took him that far last time and is running here again in London.
Four partypoker pros, Isaac Haxton (1,906,000), Timofey Kuznetsov (1,206,000), Jason Koon (1,051,000), and Mikita Badziakouski (535,000) all made Day 2. Haxton is the only one of the four to not take down a Triton Poker Super High Roller title yet. He will be starting the day second in chip and will be looking for his first Triton victory, along with another immense cash to add to his resume.
£100,000 Short Deck Main EventTop 10 Chip Counts
Position
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Furkat Rakhimov
Russia
2,180,000
436
2
Isaac Haxton
United States
1,906,000
381
3
Cary Katz
United States
1,660,000
332
4
David Benefield
United States
1,660,000
325
5
Tan Xuan
China
1,541,000
308
6
Wai Kin Yong
Malaysia
1,355,000
271
7
Elton Tsang
Hong Kong
1,350,000
270
8
Rui Cao
France
1,289,000
258
9
Danny Tang
Hong Kong
1,271,000
254
10
Wai Leong Chan
Malaysia
1,255,000
251
All players will have until the start of the eighth level to late register for the tournament before the late registration period ends. Anyone who joins today will automatically be using their three 100,000 bullets upon buying in. Once late registration closes, the prize pool and payouts will be announced in what is sure to be another hefty event.
Day 2 will start at 1 p.m. local time in the seventh level with a 6,000 ante and a 12,000 button ante. The tournament will continue with levels of 60 minutes in length and there will be a 15-minute break at the end of every two levels. No dinner break is scheduled as of yet but that is subject to change depending on the players. The plan for Day 2 is to play down until a final table before bagging up and headed into the third and final day of the Short Deck Main Event at Triton London.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you all the coverage throughout the event, so stay tuned as all of the action unfolds!
, keeping his lead but seeing Haxton pick up the straight draw. 
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on the river sealed the Russian's exit.
, and Gabe Patgorski called from the hijack with 
. Elton Tsang looked down at 
, and Tsang hit a straight, betting 100,000. 
, and Tom Dwan bet 37,000 with 
. 
on the turn and 
hit on the turn, and when the 
