Triton Poker Super High Roller in Jeju Postponed in the Wake of Coronavirus Outbreak

Triton Poker SHR Jeju February 2020 edition ostponed
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  • Namita Ghosh February 1, 2020
  • 2 Minutes Read

The coronavirus outbreak that originated in China has sent ripples of fear and apprehension in the global poker community. Earlier this week, China confirmed an outbreak of coronavirus in its Hubei Province with the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the virus a global health emergency.

By Friday, there were more than 10,000 coronavirus cases confirmed in China with the death toll up to 213. While the U.K. has confirmed its first two cases of the virus, the U.S. and several other countries have issued strict travel restrictions for foreign nationals who traveled to China.

The first effect of the outbreak for the poker community saw Triton Poker announcing that it was postponing the scheduled Triton Poker Jeju indefinitely. The stop was scheduled to be hosted at the Jeju Shinhwa World for 12 days starting February 10.

“It’s with a heavy heart that we inform you of the postponement of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju after the WH) called the Coronavirus outbreak a ‘Public Health Emergency. The safety of our players and support staff remains our utmost priority,” an official statement from Triton Poker read.

It continued, “Coupled with our duty to do everything we can in our power to prevent the virus from spreading. We’ve taken the difficult but correct decision to postpone the event with immediate effect. The thoughts and prayers of the Triton Poker Team are with the families of those that have lost their lives and for the ones fighting the virus all over the world.”

Jeju is approximately 2,000 kilometer’s from China, and a majority of the tournament staff and players hail from China and nearby Asian locations. The High Roller format of the Triton Poker events attracts a lot of western participants, and exposing these players to the risk of contracting the virus would be foolhardy.

Triton Poker announced postponement of Triton Poker SHR Jeju due to Coronvirus

 

Triton Poker – A Growingly Popular Presence

The high profile series has to-date hosted stops in the Jeju Province of South Korea, Montenegro, and London. In Jeju, the series was first organized in 2018. The next year, the Triton held two editions in Jeju. Mikita Badziakouski, Timothy Adams, and Jason Koon are some of the big winners from these past outings.

Triton Poker has been spreading its reach, and last year it made quite the debut in London with the historic Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London. The ‘Triton Million – A Helping Hand For Charity’ entered the history books as the most expensive live poker tournament to-date. The event featured a £1.05 Million (~₹8.89 Crores) buy-in and saw the return of India’s Vivek Rajkumar to the tournament scene! While Rajkumar eventually finished fifth in the event for a career-best £3,000,000 (~₹25.41 Crores), it was China’s Aaron Zang, who catapulted to the top and struck a heads-up deal with Bryn Kenney to walk away with a revised payout of £13,779,491.

This year, the scheduled stop at Jeju had 11 events featuring NLHE, short deck, and mixed short deck formats on the platter. Highlights of the stop were the HKD 1 Million Triton Poker Super High Roller and the HKD 1 Million Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Short-Deck Main Event. Some of the big names who had confirmed their attendance at the poker festival were Triton Poker Ambassadors Tom Dwan and Jason Koon, alongside others like Aaron Zang, and Phil Ivey.

 

Coronavirus Outbreak- Affecting Live Stops

For most people, the novel coronavirus is not fatal and can be fought off like the common flu. That said, live poker involves a congregation of a large number of people in public, and to get so many under a confined roof at the time of such an outbreak would be a considerable risk.

With the governments issuing warnings on travel itineraries, the tournament turnouts are also likely to be adversely affected, especially those that comprise of a substantial no of players coming in from China.

While Triton Poker is the first of the poker brands to postpone its scheduled stop, other tournament stops could follow.

Will the outbreak affect the World Series of Poker (WSOP) readying for another annual summer run? As of now, there is no reported change in plans for the world’s richest sporting festival.

“We’ve been monitoring the situation and we continue to lean on the experts in this field for guidance…. At this time, all our events and schedules remain intact and are planned to go on without interruption,” Vice President of Corporate Communications, WSOP, Seth Palansky is reported to have told PokerNews.

While the Triton Series in Jeju is just the first live tournament stop to be postponed, it most likely won’t be the last provided the outbreak is contained.

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