Chan Bags the Lead After Day 1 of the Main Event in Montenegro
After a delayed start to Day 1 of the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro HKD1,000,000 (~$127,390) Main Event, the tables started to fill slowly but surely and a field of 39 entries emerged after seven full levels of one hour each in the flagship event of the festival at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Budva, Montenegro.
The 39 entries include seven re-entries and Koray Aldemir was the only player to enter three times after busting two times with ace-king against the pocket queens and pocket jacks of Wai Leong Chan. As a result, the Malaysian claimed the top spot with a stack of 778,500 ahead of Stefan Schillhabel (668,500) and Marius Torbergsen (611,500).
Only 27 players advanced and the list of survivors reads like the who's who of the international High Roller poker scene. Other big stacks and notables in the overnight top 10 include Patrik Antonius (576,000), Mikita Badziakouski (569,000), Stephen Chidwick ( 526,500), Julian Thomas (505,000), Dietrich Fast (451,500), Rui Cao (420,000) and Steffen Sontheimer (387,000).
Defending champion Manig Loeser busted in his first attempt and subsequently re-entered to advance with a stack of 264,000. Bryn Kenney arrived straight from the airport and jumped right into the action to bag up 247,000, while Phil Ivey made it through to Day 2 with 186,500. Among those to bust and not re-enter just yet were 6-Max champion Richard Yong, Romain Arnaud, Gabe Patgorski, Mikhail Smirnov and Dan "Jungleman" Cates.
Yong (pictured above) went from hero to zero in the span of half an hour over on the feature table when he first called a jam by Christian Christner with a double gutshot and failed to crack the trips fours of the German. The Triton founder then called off the shove by Julian Thomas with king-jack for top pair only to see Thomas turn over queen-ten for two pair. Cates' move with an open-ended straight draw came at the worst possible timing, as Orpen Kisacikoglu had turned the nut straight.
Both Yong and Cates are expected to re-enter the competition on Day 2. Since Day 1 was shortened by two levels, the registration period upon restart at 1 p.m. local time remains open for the first four levels and break. The penultimate tournament day is scheduled to play down to the final table and the action recommences in level eight with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a running ante of 500, giving all new additions to the field 50 big blinds when the cards get back in the air.
Make sure to tune back in, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action of the high stakes festival until the very end!
Main Event Day 2 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | 576,000 | 115 |
| 1 | 2 | Rui Cao | France | 420,000 | 84 |
| 1 | 3 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 263,000 | 53 |
| 1 | 4 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | 315,500 | 63 |
| 1 | 5 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 526,500 | 105 |
| 1 | 6 | Julian Thomas | Germany | 505,000 | 101 |
| 1 | 7 | Wai Leong Chan | Malaysia | 778,500 | 156 |
| 2 | 1 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | 302,000 | 60 |
| 2 | 2 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | 153,000 | 31 |
| 2 | 3 | Dietrich Fast | Germany | 451,500 | 90 |
| 2 | 4 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 336,000 | 67 |
| 2 | 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 569,000 | 114 |
| 2 | 7 | Christian Christner | Germany | 377,000 | 75 |
| 2 | 8 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | 387,000 | 77 |
| 3 | 1 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 264,000 | 53 |
| 3 | 2 | Bryn Kenney | United States | 247,000 | 49 |
| 3 | 3 | Jason Koon | United States | 341,000 | 68 |
| 3 | 5 | Jamie Kaplan | United States | 146,500 | 29 |
| 3 | 6 | Wai Kin Yong | Malaysia | 319,500 | 64 |
| 3 | 7 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 234,000 | 47 |
| 3 | 8 | Phil Ivey | United States | 186,500 | 37 |
| 4 | 1 | Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 668,500 | 134 |
| 4 | 3 | Devan Tang | Hong Kong | 94,500 | 19 |
| 4 | 5 | Peter Jetten | Canada | 227,000 | 45 |
| 4 | 6 | Marius Torbergsen | Norway | 611,500 | 122 |
| 4 | 7 | Alan Sass | United States | 129,000 | 26 |
| 4 | 8 | Xuan Tan | China | 335,000 | 67 |