Pedro Padilha Wins Latest High Roller for First Triton Title

Pedro Padilha moved second on the Brazilian All-time Money List as he beat Nick Petrangelo to a dramatic final table victory in the $50,000 NLHE Event #8 in Jeju, South Korea. With others such as Phil Ivey, Wai Kiat Lee and Eelis Parssinen cashing for six figures, it was a thriller of a conclusion to the latest big-money Triton tournament in the Far East.

Big Names Bust in the Money

The latest Triton Poker Series event in Jeju, South Korea was a big one. Costing $50,000 to play, the 8-max No Limit Hold’em event saw 129 unique players, with 41 re-entries building a prize pool of $6.45 million. That prize fund was shared out between only the top 20 players, with some legends of the game making it a profitable event.

Out in 20^th place for a min-cash of $84,000 was the Norwegian professional Kayhan Mokri, and he was joined in the books by Philip Sternheimer and Lin Meng-Ling, both of whom claimed the same amount. Justin Saliba (17^th for $96,666), Alejandro Lococo (10^th for $129,000) and Sasaki Yoko (9^th for $155,000) missed out on the eight-handed final table, where Aliaksei Boika led the field with 66 big blinds.

The first player to leave the final table was one of the most experienced remaining in the field. Finnish star Eelis Parssinen is a veteran of so many live arenas and online streets that he has earned universal respect from his peers, so no-one will have been distraught to see him bust in eighth place for $200,000. All-in with ace-seven, he lost to Yang Wang’s pocket queens to leave seven left chasing the title and the first seven-figure score of the series. As it turned out, two players were about to become millionaires.

Ivey On the Outside

With seven left, one of the most decorated players of all time departed. Phil Ivey has won 11 World Series of Poker bracelets and countless other trophies in a glittering career but it has been some time since he tasted the ultimate success on the Triton Poker Series and his run without a title extended here. All-in with pocket nines, Ivey lost to his fellow American Nick Petrangelo, as the latter found pocket jacks and ended the hand with a flush to send Ivey to the rail with $271,000.

Earlier this series, the Malaysian player Wai Kiat Lee claimed his fourth Triton title but his luck was out at his latest final table. All-in when down to just four big blinds with an offsuit king-eight, Lee couldn’t hit against the pocket sixes of Aliaksei Boika and bowed out for $361,000.

Soon, five became four, as the Chinese player Yang Wang joined the Belarussian on the outside looking in. Ace-six was good enough for the Chinese player to push his stack into the middle and he was called by the eventual champion Padilha. The Brazilian’s dominating hand of ace-eight won through the board and took out Wang for $461,000, confirming the final four in the process.

Deal for the Final Duo

“I always played live in Brazil but in the last years I’ve been trying to expand to other tournaments.”

With four players left, the two shorter stacks clashed. Aliaksei Boika moved all-in with king-four and the Armenian Aren Bezhanyan called off his stack of just four big blinds with jack-ten. Both players paired the flop but a king meant Boika stayed ahead and no further help came for Bezhanyan, who cashed for $574,000 in fourth place.

Three-handed play ended when Boika got it in on the wrong end of a domination. All-in with ace-nine, he lost to Padilha’s ace-king, as the Brazilian’s winning hand gave him a lead of 2:1 heads-up against Nick Petrangelo, with Boika out for a score of $697,000.  Before heads-up play began, both Padilha and Petrangelo discussed a deal and were happy to do an ICM chop.

The finale was moments away, as Petrangelo was all-in with king-four and couldn’t hold against Padilha’s queen-eight, a four on the flop followed by a decisive eight on the turn that gave the Brazilian the title and his first in Triton events.

“It’s the best feeling,” Padilha told Triton’s Alex Gray after the event’s conclusion. “It’s an amazing event, and I’m so happy. I always played live in Brazil but in the last years I’ve been trying to expand [to] other tournaments. I’m happy with my results.”

After the deal, Padilha’s win was worth $1,400,860, while Pterangelo claimed over $1.2m as runner-up, a superb result all the same.

“He [Petrangelo] is a legend,” Padilha said of his heads-up opponent. “He’s a tough player. I was running good, that’s it. People are so happy for me. I have so many friends watching. I want to give one kiss to all Brazilian people.”

That might take some time, but Pedro Padilha has all the time in the world after his latest Triton result put him just $5.3m behind leader Yuri Dzivielevski at the top of the All-Time Brazilian player list on The Hendon Mob.