Justin Bonomo Takes Down Triton London ￡100,000 Short Deck Main Event for ￡2,670,000 ($3,242,154)
Justin Bonomo comes out on top of a 108 entry field that was loaded with some of the best in the world to take down the 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series London ￡100,000 Short Deck Main Event for an immense ￡2,670,000 ($3,240,886), just days after being knocked down to second on the all-time money list.
The American pro started the day second in chips and quickly started to exude confidence, limp-raising multiple pots during the first rounds of play. "Once you start raising in this game you make it really easy to get shoved on. The only way to prevent that is by limping, and so players are limping all their strong hands and that handcuffs players as they can't shove too much."
Bonomo is a regular to the No-Limit Hold'em scene and in the last year has been seen dabbling into the Short Deck events as they come at the price he is looking to pay. Bonomo now has two Triton Short Deck titles and talked with us about how he feels about this variation of poker. "This game is crazy, honestly I don't like crazy all-ins and getting it with 55%, but you have to in this game. Some people enjoy the all-ins, but I find them incredibly stressful, other than the fact I am winning these tournaments, I wouldn't say it's my favorite game." Said Bonomo while laughing.
When asked about Bryn Kenney moving up to first on the all-time money list Bonomo spoke of easing into retirement and slowing down on his poker playing. "My plan is to play a lot less poker, Bryn's plan is to play a lot more poker, so as far as I'm concerned I'll probably never get the number one spot again. It's not really a goal of mine, and I'm totally fine with that."
Bonomo moved into first on the all-time money list during his insane run of 2018 and sat on top for over a year before Kenney surpassed him. "My 2018 was incredible, and I'm kind of easing my way into retirement, I'm not going to completely retire, but i'll be playing a lot less. Because of 2018, I've got nothing but pride when I look back on my career, I have nothing left to prove to anyone."
￡100,000 Short Deck Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize (￡) | Prize ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Bonomo | United States | ￡2,670,000 | $3,242,154 |
| 2 | Wai Kin Yong | Malaysia | ￡1,835,000 | $2,228,222 |
| 3 | Liang Xu | China | ￡1,202,500 | $1,460,186 |
| 4 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | ￡974,500 | $1,183,257 |
| 5 | Rui Cao | France | ￡783,000 | $950,734 |
| 6 | Isaac Haxton | United States | ￡611,900 | $742,981 |
| 7 | Ming Zhong Liu | Hong Kong | ￡482,200 | $585,496 |
Final Table Action
The third day of the Short Deck main event started off just the way that the second day finished, with an abundant amount of action. Ming Zhong Liu started the days festivities off with a raise, holding ten-eight and continued to barrel on every street into the Isaac Haxton who made a full house on the river and shoved over the top. Liu quickly folded with just ten-high and found himself moving all in on the very next hand with nine-eight. Bonomo called with his big slick, flopping a king and Liu failed to catch up as he was the first player to take an on the final table.
French pro Rui Cao played at a quicker pace than any other at the table, playing as many hands as possible and always putting his opponent to the test when he felt he could take down a pot. Cao's heavy aggression faired well for him for a while but caught up to him quickly as his opponents started to catch some hands, leaving him short.
The first hand after the remaining six took their first break was one of the most exciting of the tournament. Cao moved all in from under the gun with jack-ten and Yong moved all in over the top with a pair of cowboys. Haxton was next to act, he looked down at pocket aces and quickly moved his stack into the middle, making it a three-way all-in before flop. The three cards that came down were huge for the Malaysian as the dealer spread out a king-high flop, giving Yong a set. Cao was open-ended, but both him and Haxton failed to catch up, being eliminated by Yong's cowboys. Cao had more chips between the two eliminations, taking fifth place while Haxton took an exit in sixth.
A battle between the two ￡100,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event took part once more at this final table. Paul Phua moved all in over the limp of Liang Xu and found a caller in Yong. Phua tabled king-queen and was dominated by the suited ace-queen of Yong. The flop gave little hope to Phua as Yong flopped broadway and Phua just a pair. He was drawing to just a chop on the turn but failed to hit it on the river, and for the second time in a few days, Phua was eliminated by Yong late in a main event, denying him of his first Triton title, sending him home in fourth place.
It took over six hours of back and forth play before someone headed out the door in third, and unfortunately for Liang Xu it was him who would be headed to the payout desk. Xu started three-handed as the shortest stack but after roughly five hours of play he saw himself sitting atop the leaderboard, with Yong at the bottom. Xu's aggressive style ran down his two opponents, but that could not save him from what happened next. Yong moved limped-raised all in with ace-queen of spades and Xu quickly called with his pair of kings. The first four cards were clean for Xu and he just needed to dodge an ace on the river to have over two-thirds of the chips going into heads-up play. Yong remarkably found that ace on the river to survive elimination, doubling through Xu, taking back the chip lead. Just a few hands after saw Bonomo shove ten-nine of hearts and Xu called with king-queen. Bonomo flopped trips and never looked back as he sent Xu out in third.
The heads-up play started off relatively even but Yong took the first few swings, taking a sizable lead after the first few hands. Bonomo was down to just under a quarter of the chips in play soon after starting their two-man battle but took down a pot with quad sixes to jump back in the thick of things. The American pro doubled on the very next hand where both moved their chips into the middle on a ten-high board. Yong had middle pair with a straight draw and Bonomo had an open ender with two overcards. Bonomo landed a higher pair on the river, securing the double and taking a commanding chip lead in the process. A few hands later Bonomo shoved king-jack off and Yong called with his ace-eight of clubs. Yong held the lead of the hand until the very last card came down on the board, giving Bonomo a rivered straight to take down the tournament and the title. Yong was eliminated in second place for a respectable ￡1,835,000.
That ends the PokerNews coverage of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in London. Make sure to tune in next week for coverage of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe where two more Triton events will be held.