WSOP Main Event Winner Espen Jorstad Beats Phil Ivey for First Triton Title in London

The 2022 WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad beat Pooker Hall of Famer Phil Ivey to the six-figure top prize in Event #3, the $40,000-entry Mystery Bounty event. With other greats such as Stephen Chidwick, Daniel Dvoress and Aliaksei Boika all present at the seven-handed final table, the Norwegian’s victory looks even more impressive.

Early Action Sees Boika Busted

The third event on the Triton Poker Series London schedule was $40,000 to play, but with $20,000 of that amount reserved for bounty prizes, an added element of danger was attached to every all-in and call. The Belarussian player Aliaksei Boika is known for excelling in both live and online tournaments and is no stranger to risking big money in a bid to win even more. Sadly for him and his followers, he was unable to get to the business end of the event this time round… albeit after waking up with the perect hand.

The final table began with Dutch player Johannes Straver in charge on 69 big blinds, with Phil Ivey (59 BB), Daniel Dvoress (39 BB), Espen Jorstad (37 BB) and Stephen Chidwick (28 BB) the chasing pack. With Eric Wasserson (18 BB) and Keat Liu Chun (15 BB) both well clear of Boika (3 BB) despite being short, Boika’s push with pocket aces earned him a double-up.

Boika was all-in with the best of it, holding ace-four in hearts, the same suit as his caller Phil Ivey with queen-eight. An eight on the river scooped the 10-time WSOP winner another scalp, while Boika went to the rail for a collection worth $111,500.

Dvoress Falls to Phil Ivey Too

With six players remaining, it was the turn of Canadian poker legend Daniel Dvoress to make his way from the felt as Ivey continued to dominate. All-in with ace-deuce when short-stacked, Dvoress lost to Ivey’s pocket fives and cashed for $149,000 in sixth place, unable to replicate his heroics in Northern Cyprus last time out when he won his first-ever Triton title.

It didn’t take long before there was another bust-out, as Eric Wasserson got desperately unlucky to lose his tournament life. All-in for his final chips with pocket kings, he could hardly have thought he’d wander into the only stronger pre-flop hand, but that’s what happened, as Johannes Straver crushed the American’s hopes with pocket aces, leaving Wasserson to collect $190,000 in fifth place.

Dinner break came and went with Straver in front and by some way too, as the Dutchman sat with 69 big blinds, well ahead of Ivey (35 BB), Espen Jorstad (19 BB) and Stephen Chidwick (10 BB). Jorstad needed a double when committed with ace-four against Straver’s dominating ace-nine, but duly got it as a four landed on the turn. He doubled up against through Straver when pocket fours held against king-queen and Straver’s journey from hero to zero concluded when he busted in fourth place for $236,500 as his pair of nines lost to Ivey’s jacks.

Ivey Falls at the Last Fence, Straver Crushes Bounty Pull

“Playing heads up against Ivey just makes it even more special.” ~ Espen Jorstad, Triton Poker Series champion.

Three greats of the game survived to battle it out in the podium places, with all three men leading at different points. Stephen Chidwick’s early three-handed dominance faded, however, as he lost with ace-king to Jorstad’s pocket aces, then eventually had to defend his big blind with ten-five, which lost to the queen-three of Jorstad, meaning the Brit missed out on the heads-up by cashing for $287,000 in third place.

Heads-up, Ivey had 28 big blinds to Jorstad’s 17, but the stacks wouldn’t stay so imbalanced in the American’s favor. Jorstad won several hands without showdown to lead, before his king-jack beat Ivey’s king-deuce to take the title and top prize of $639,000.

Here’s how Triton Poker announced the news.

Wet💧board keeps getting better! Featuring flopped flush draw vs flopped set, DEEP in the Event #5 London Triton Poker Series🔱 $50k! pic.twitter.com/cPvwlc4zr9

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) July 31, 2023

“Playing heads up against Ivey, the biggest legend of the game in my opinion, just makes it even more special,” Jorstad said after the event. “I’m extremely grateful for all the run good I’ve had over the last three years. It’s insane!”

The mystery bounty element of proceedings followed the next day, and it was Johannes Straver who crushed it, taking nine eliminations into the bounty pull section of the tournament, winning $900,000, boosting his winnings to the largest over the course of the two-and-bounty-pull-day event.

Here’s how it all went down on the Triton Poker Series London Event #3 live stream.