Justin Bonomo Wins the Triton Poker Series Jeju HKD 250K Short Deck Event ($586,114)
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Justin Bonomo notched his first live tournament cash in a short deck tournament by winning the HKD 250,000 Short Deck Ante-Only Event at the 2018 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju at the luxurious Landing Casino for HKD 4,600,000 ($586,114).
The tournament attracted 65 enties, including 28 reentries, to generate a HKD 15,275,000 ($1,946,281) prize pool.
Bonomo, who had a banner year in 2018 after winning a record of more than $25 million in live poker tournaments, extended his lead on The Hendon Mob All Time Money List, with now more than $44.6 million in earnings after notching his second big win this year. His lead is nearly $5 million more than Daniel Negreanu, who resides in second place on the leaderboard with more than $39.8 million in cashes.
Bonomo shared with Triton Poker that he was thrilled to win, especially when considering his lack of experience in short deck poker.
"I’m super happy to have won this obviously," Bonomo said. "A lot of people at the table had a lot of experience of short deck. For me, a lot of the spots were new, and I had to figure them out as I went along. Some decisions I just ended up guessing."
While Bonomo shared he had fun, he also admitted he felt some stress with the tournament live-streamed across the world.
“It’s a lot of fun learning," said Bonomo. "I really like the dynamic puzzle aspect, just solving things on the fly. It’s stressful though. People are watching on the stream at home. My friends are watching. I just don’t want to make a huge mistake.”
2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju HKD 250,000 Short Deck Ante-Only Event
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (HKD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Bonomo | United States | HKD 4,600,000 | $586,114 |
| 2 | Yue Wei Hsiang | Malaysia | HKD 3,300,000 | $420,473 |
| 3 | Sergey Lebedev | Russia | HKD 2,140,000 | $272,671 |
| 4 | David Benefield | United States | HKD 1,620,000 | $206,414 |
| 5 | Choon Siow | Malaysia | HKD 1,250,000 | $159,270 |
| 6 | Ying Lin Chua | Malyasia | HKD 975,000 | $124,231 |
| 7 | Ben Lamb | United States | HKD 780,000 | $99,385 |
| 8 | John Juanda | Indonesia | HKD 610,000 | $77,724 |
Final Day Recap
The second and final day of the event began with Bonomo residing in thirteenth place with fifteen players remaining and eight players finishing in the money. Peter Jetten, Chan Leong, Robert Flink, Daniel Dvoress, Mikita Badziakouski, Luc Greenwood, and Paul Phua were the unfortunate seven to make the final day that fell short of a cash.
John Juanda was the first player to be eliminated in the money after finishing in eighth place for HKD 610,000 ($77,724). After Juanda hit the rail, the seven-max final table began with Yue Wei Hsiang in the lead and Bonomo on his tail in second place.
Hsiang eliminated the first two opponents at the final table. First to go was Ben Lamb in seventh place for HKD 780,000 ($99,385) after his ten-nine was no good against Hsiang's pocket aces.
Ying Lin Chua was sent packing in sixth place for HKD 975,000 ($124,231) after his big slick couldn't outgun Hsiang's pocket queens.
After the first two final table eliminations, it took nearly two hours for the next player to go during which time Sergey Lebedev overtook the chip lead from Hsiang. This was when Bonomo took over the tournament lead, taking out his final four opponents single-handedly.
Bonomo's first victim was Choon Siow, who began the final day in the lead. Siow was short on chips and got them in the middle with ace-six. He was ousted in fifth place for HKD 1,250,000 ($159,270) after Bonomo won the hand with pocket tens.
David Benefield, who was playing in his first-ever Triton Poker event, had his run for the title cut short in fourth place for HKD 1,620,000 ($206,414). He was low on chips and couldn't get a double up after jamming jack-ten against Bonomo's ace-eight suited.
Lebedev was the next to go in third place for HKD 2,140,000 ($272,671) after his pocket tens weren't good enough against Bonomo's ace-jack.
Bonomo entered heads-up play with a 2:1 chip advantage against Hsiang. The heads-up battle was short, and it seemed that Hsiang found a good spot to turn the tables but instead was out the door after his ace-queen didn't hold against Bonomo's ace-ten suited. Although Hsiang was unable to win the title, he did walk away with a healthy runner-up prize of HKD 3,300,000 ($420,473) for his efforts.
"It’s a fantastic start,” Bonomo said after the win. "My plan for short deck this week was to play the smallest buy-in and see how I’d feel to see if I’ll play the higher buy-ins. I couldn’t be happier right now."
* Images and hand information courtesy of Triton Poker.
