The atmosphere was typically relaxed in the playing area, as these small-field events usually are with the players knowing each other well, and treating each other like old friends rather than foes.
This was the second event of the main series, following on from the inaugural Triton One Main Event earlier this week.
Yesterday saw Triton co-founder Richard Yong victorious in the $50,000 Short Deck NL tournament and now Tsang has taken down the second of three Short Deck events with the $200K kicking off tomorrow.
The field consisted of 58 total entries with 23 re-entries to create a prize pool of $5,800,000.
After seizing the win from China’s Wang Ye, Tsang’s attention was immediately on the gallery of multiple champions adorning the walls.
“My photo goes on the wall now?” he asked Triton TD Luca Vivaldi.
He also expressed how he struggles to contain his emotions during such events, even when the cash game specialist regularly plays for pots larger than he won last night.
“It was very, very exciting. I was very nervous. In tournaments, I get nervous. I don’t know why, but the heart beat is really rising a lot. I feel very good. It’s very enjoyable when you win.”
Action Recap
While the $100,000 buy-in makes this event comparable to the main events coming later in the series, the field was made up of specialists for the most part.
The Asian sector of the player pool loves this dynamic Short Deck format, in both tournaments and high-stakes cash games for insane money.
A min-cash for the event was still a cool $168,000 with $1,697,000 up top.
Paul Phua was trying to emulate his fellow Triton co-founder Richard Yong’s success but sadly couldn’t even make the money after bubbling in ninth place.
Daniel Dvoress and Zhang Shao both bagged a min-cash of $168,000 and $220,000 respectively and then the final table of seven was set.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Antes |
| Elton Tsang | 7,270,000 | 145 |
| Wang Ye | 6,360,000 | 127 |
| Ferdinand Putra | 3,580,000 | 72 |
| Tan Xuan | 2,605,000 | 52 |
| Isaac Haxton | 2,565,000 | 51 |
| Winfred Yu | 2,210,000 | 44 |
| Michael Zhang | 1,515,000 | 30 |
Haxton had been a runaway leader prior to the bubbling breaking, but then he got involved in a series of skirmishes with Tan Xuan leading to him falling back into the pack.
The American’s situation even became perilous during the early rounds of the final table but when his Q♦ J♥ overcame Winfred Yu’s A♣ K♣ he was back in business.
This then put two-time Triton champion Yu in danger and he soon exited the stage with $284,000.
England’s Michael Zhang pushed Richard Yong all the way yesterday but there was to be no heroics in this event.
Opening a 15-ante stack with 10♥ 9♥ he was forced to call Tsang’s reraise and couldn’t beat A♦ 10♦, leaving him heading to the rail with $359,000 for his efforts.
Former Triton short Deck champion Tan Xuan was next to leave in an unremarkable hand where his K♦ J♥ couldn’t beat the A♥ 10♠ of Tsang.
Ferdinand Putra from Indonesia has only a few Triton trips behind him and has only been active for the last four years in live tournaments.
So when a top two finish would match or beat his total career earnings we could be forgiven for assuming that the pressure might get to him a little.
But it didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest and his great run ended with his A♥ 9♥ losing to Tsang’s K♥ Q♣ before he collected $598,000 for fifth place.
Wang Ye was now the man most at risk but a timely double through Haxton turned the tables as Tsang dominated them both with a monster stack.
Things can turn quickly in Short Deck NL, however, and Haxton was soon the man in charge when he clashed against Tsang.
Tsang opened Q♥ J♥ and the American three-bet A♥ 9♦.
The flop rolled out 10♣ A♠ 8♥ and Tsang jammed with Haxton quickly calling. The 8♠ J♦ followed and it looked like Tsang’s dream was over.
Promptly, though, the tide shifted again when Tsang’s pocket jacks came out on top of Haxton’s kings, reminding us why the American still hasn’t won a Triton event when he runs like that.
The torture was complete when Haxton’s turned straight rivered into a full house for Wang with three kings on the board and his loose queen making the difference. $792,000 for Haxton but still no title.
Tsang began heads-up with roughly a two-to-one lead but that switched quickly in the first major confrontation.
Tsang rebooted and doubled-up back as the pair of friends traded friendly jibes with each other.
Finally, the chips went in pre-flop and it was Tsang’s Q♦ J♣ against Wang’s K♦ 10♥.
The flop was 8♦ 9♥ J♥, giving Wang plenty of hope, but the turn of A♣ and 10♦ river ended the event in Tsang’s favour.
Event #19 $100K Short Deck Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Elton Tsang | Hong Kong | $1,697,000 |
| 2nd | Wang Ye | China | $1,218,000 |
| 3rd | Isaac Haxton | USA | $792,000 |
| 4th | Ferdinand Putra | Indonesia | $598,000 |
| 5th | Tan Xuan | China | $464,000 |
| 6th | Michael Zhang | England | $359,000 |
| 7th | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | $284,000 |
| 8th | Zhang Shao | China | $220,000 |
| 9th | Dan Dvoress | Canada | $168,000 |
