Punnat Punsri only needed a min-cash in Jeju to break through the $10 million Triton Poker winnings milestone. Instead, he smashed it to smithereens by scooping $2,010,000 after defeating Sergio Aido heads-up in the $50k NLH event, where 190 players created a massive $9,500,000 prize pool.
The big talking point was on the money bubble, when the short stacks were delighted to see Punsri and Henrik Hecklen go to war, despite having 75bbs each.
You can see how the “massive punt,” as Punsri later described it, went down below. It was a lucky escape for Punsri, and one he would go on to exploit to the max.
Phil Ivey looking for sixth Triton title
By the time the final table was reached, most eyes were on Phil Ivey, who was looking to add to his five Triton titles.
Ivey doubled his short stack early with jacks against Punsri’s fours, but a little later he flopped a Broadway straight and lost to the Thai pro’s rivered flush. Ivey was unable to find the fold despite an almost 10-minute tank.
It wasn’t to be Ivey’s day, as he soon bust out, first losing with A7s to Soyza’s KQo before seeing his aces cracked for his final big blind. It was seventh place, $339,000, and a case of what might have been for the legend.
At a stacked final table, Michael Soyza was next to fall, followed by Ren Lin, and suddenly the last four were staring at $773,000 minimum, with the $2.01 million up top within reach.
Punsri had run very well so far, and that continued when he called Mike Watson’s shove with pocket sixes. His A♣J♣ spiked a jack on the flop, and that was all she wrote for Canada’s 'SirWatts'.
Three-handed was quickly reduced to heads-up when Punsri once again found a hand when facing a pre-flop shove. This time, Brian Kim found himself in deep trouble...
Kim: K♣6❤️
Punsri: A♠A♣
Flop: 8♦️️Q♦️️7♦️️
Turn:4♠
River: A❤️
That meant third place and $954,000 for the US pro, leaving Punsri to battle it out with Spain’s Sergio Aido for the title and trophy. Punsri had a 56-20 BB chip lead, and it didn't take long for him to get the rest of them. Aido, with pocket aces, was unable to escape when Punsri turned a straight and the last of the chips went in on the river.
“I honestly ran so good,” Punsri admitted afterwards, adding, “I’ve run good not just this event, but ever since I’ve played Triton.”
Event #8, $50k NLH 7-Max results
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Punnat Punsri | $2,010,000 |
| 2 | Sergio Aido | $1,353,000 |
| 3 | Brian Kim | $954,000 |
| 4 | Michael Watson | $773,000 |
| 5 | Ren Lin | $611,000 |
| 6 | Michael Soyza | $186,000 |
| 7 | Yulian Bogdanov | $465,000 |
| 8 | Phil Ivey | $339,000 |
Mystery bounties revealed
The dinner break in the $50k saw yesterday’s heroes, the $40k Mystery Bounty winners, appear for the drawing of envelopes to see just how much their bounty tickets were worth.
Event winner Dimitar Danchev had six of the precious tickets to cash in, and that proved to be worth an extra $540,000 on top of his $804k scoop.
However, it was Australia’s Vincent Huang who scooped the biggest share of the pot. Huang drew the $500,000 ‘golden ticket’, and then added another $150k from his second pass.
Images courtesy of Triton Poker/Joe Giron
