Triton Poker Series London Main Event Won by Canadian Timothy Adams

The Canadian player Timothy Adams rose to 15^th place on the al-time money list last night as he reached a career peak on the chart. Overtaking poker legends such as fellow Canadian Sam Greenwood, Spanish crusher Adrian Mateos and American high roller Jake Schindler, Adams score of over $4.1 million confirms him as one of the year’s biggest winners after a stunning Triton Poker Series Main Event victory.

Record-Breaking Numbers Precede Nervy Bubble

The biggest Triton Poker Series London Main Event to date saw a tense money bubble as just 27 players reached the money. It was Daniel Dvoress who crashed out on the stone bubble as the Canadian, who won over a quarter of a million dollars in the previous PLO event made nothing this time round. Bryn Kenney, who recently took the overall lead on the all-time money list, won $207,500 in 21^st place as he made the money but not the business end of the event.

Players such as Nacho Barbero and Matthias Eibinger fell short of glory before the final table was reached, whereupon the last nine gathered. It was Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates who survived the first two days with the overall chip lead as he began the third and final day of action with 66 big blinds to his name. On the – literal – way to the table, Jungleman, dressed in a soccer kit, dropped his chips to much laughter from his watching peers.

A POKER PLAYER’S WORST NIGHTMARE 😫@junglemandan retrieved all his chips and is still in the $125K Main Event with 22 players left!#poker #tritonpoker pic.twitter.com/k3TXGqXjxU

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 6, 2023

Before the tournament itself, the Triton players headed out to Hyde Park and settled any pre-match nerves by taking each other on in a game of ‘Spike Ball’. What is Spike Ball, we hear you ask? This is Spike Ball.

From poker pros to… spike ball pros? 😲 🤾🏼‍♂️ With such innate talent at the sport, will we see Jonathan Jaffe and @Chris_D_Brewer switch careers to being spike ballers anytime soon? 😆 pic.twitter.com/jfVeagJdjM

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 7, 2023

Back to the action, and with the final table kicking off, it was YouTube loudmouth and actually-very-good three-time poker player Doug Polk who busted first. Polk moved all-in with king-queen but the move was ill-timed, enigmatic pharmacist and French poker legend Jean-Noël Thorel having an easy call and win with pocket kings. Polk departed for $422,500, still a very solid return on his $125,000 buy-in, but short of the seven-figure sums on offer for anyone finishing in the top five places.

Chidwick Chased Down by Thorel

A fast track to the final four saw half the field eliminated in fairly rapid fashion. Lun Loon from Malaysia busted with pocket deuces against Stephen Chidwick when the British player caught pocket fives and held, sending the former home for $510,000. James Chen was next to leave, busting with pocket kings to Thorel’s pocket aces as deck turned cold on the Taiwanese player, sending him to the rail with $705,000.

Those aces were the start of an incredible run for the French player, as Thorel found the pocket rockets again to double-up through Chidwick, then, incredibly, got them a third time to bust Juan Pardo of Spain who looked incredulous to have run into the best pre-flop hand in poker with king-queen, heading out with $970,000.

Stephen Chidwick’s stack had taken a major hit to Thorel earlier and never recovered, with the remnants swept towards the Frenchman soon after Pardo’s departure. Pocket sevens were nowhere near Thorel’s pocket queens and that was the way it stayed through the board, seeing off Chidwick for $1,260,000.

Jungle and Action Miss Out on Glory

Four-handed, Isaac Haxton failed to improve on his position, although he earned yet another seven-figure score in what has become his year so far in 2023. The American moved all-in with a straight draw from the flop but couldn’t hit and Thorel’s high card of an ace ended up kicking Haxton to the rail with $1,582,000.

Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates busted in third place for $1,940,000 despite leading overnight, and while he later said he wasn’t disappointed, the final moment stung a little. Pocket jacks for Tim Adams held against ‘Jungleman’ when queen-jack wasn’t good enough and that was crucial, giving Adams a stack of 43 big blinds to take on Thorel’s 80 bigs.

Doubling up quickly when heads-up began, Adams was in the lead when he was all-in with pocket eights well behind Thorel’s pocket nines. Almost all the money was in the middle and Adams needed a lot of luck, but it duly arrived when the flop of K-Q-7 was followed by a six turn… before a devastating two-outer of an eight on the river ended the event. Thorel, who won $2.83 million as runner-up, was shocked. Adams was emotional at the huge slice of fortune as the men embraced at the end of another spectacular Triton event.

You can re-watch all the action of the Triton Poker Series Main Event right here.

Here’s how that final hand went down and the reactions of both players.

Introducing 🇨🇦 Timothy Adams and winner of Event #11 $125k NLH Main Event. Classy and composed, his strategic gameplay won him an impressive $4,185,000 payout and added his 2nd Triton Main Event title to his collection. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/4sJKyksaX8

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 7, 2023

“I’m just lost for words because that was insane that I won this one,” Adams – who also won a Jacob & Co timepiece and a two-night stay on the Bombay Superyacht to go with the title – said moments after victory. “It was a battle heads-up. Jean-Noel, hats off to him. He is an insane competitor, super tough to play against. When we got it in it was a bit of a cooler. I thought that would be it for me. I couldn’t believe it when I smashed the eight on the river.”