Ivan Leow Wins Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju HK$500K For HK$8.47 Million

Outlasting a field of 44 entries, Malaysian player Ivan Leow (cover image) won the 2018 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju HK$500,000 Short Deck Ante Only Event. No challenge was too big for the amateur player who side-stepped overwhelming competition on the final table from the likes of Jason Koon and Tom Dwan to stake his claim in the event.

“It’s great. I’m very happy,” said Leow, who netted a whopping HK$8,470,000 ($1,101,100) for his victory.

“I’ve only been playing short deck for a few months. I started with Wai Kin Yong and all the crew. We learn the game, it’s still a new game” he added.

Leow has been fast coming up on the poker map off late. He first drew attention in May when he finished sixth in the inaugural event of Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro.

His current win is also his best score so far. Entering the tournament, Leow took over the chip lead on the last hand on Day 1 and never looked back. In fact he displayed a visibly aggressive streak maintaining a huge lead in chips through the final table while also resorting to caution when he needed to.

“You have to be aggressive. If you play for the win, you must be aggressive,” Leow said, when asked about his strategy.

Nine players reached Day 2 and after Chan Wai Leong and no-limit expert Mikita Badziakouski were eliminated, the final seven players converged to a single table. Only five of the finalists would make it to the money and the next hour saw intense action on the seven handed table.

After Alan Sass fell out, Tom Dwan who had collected several pots early into the final table to take the chip lead lost a huge pot against Rui Cao and though he survived the critical hand, he was left with a paltry stack. Gabe Patgorski’s elimination after Patgorski ran his king-jack into Leow’s aces left only five players in the field ensuring Dwan was in the money.

Final Table Recap

The action narrowed down to the final five and Leow vaulted into the lead, a position he maintained till the final hand. He forced Tom Dwan out in fifth place in a hand that saw him calling Dwan’s shove with that outran Dwan’s on a board. Leow maintained his momentum to soon command more than half of the total chips in play.

While Leow was busy chipping up, Koon was seen utilizing some epic short-stack strategy in the subsequent hands, including one where he chipped up on Leow and another where he sent Devan Tang to the rail in fourth place.

Soon thereafter, Jason Koon was knocked out when he went all in on the flop with . Leow had superior hand, with and both the turn or the river did not bring relief for Koon who was eliminated in third place.

Heads-up began with Leow holding the advantage of a 3-to-1 lead against Rui Cao and finally, Cao got the last of his chips in on a board with his for a straight. Leow had moved all in with and the turn and the river gave him a backdoor club flush to send Cao out in second place and win the title for Leow.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Ivan Leow – HK$8,470,000

2. Rui Cao – HK$5,280,000

3. Jason Koon – HK$3,630,000

4. Devan Tang – HK$2,640,000

5. Tom Dwan – HK$1,980,000

Keep following all the updates from Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju right here on PokerGuru!

Related Articles:

1. Nick Schulman Wins 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju HK$100,000 Short Deck Event For HK$2,135,000

2. Mikita Badziakouski Takes Down Triton Super High Roller Montenegro Main Event

3. Richard Yong Ships HK$250K 6-Max Event at Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro For HK$3,046,000