Yong Leads Final Seven in Bid for Second London Triton Title, Cao Looks to Defend His Crown
Wai Kin Yong has put himself in position to become a double 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series London champion after he bagged the £100,000 Short Deck Main Event final table chip lead.
Having taken down the £100,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event just over 24 hours ago, Yong immediately jumped into the Short Deck and continued his momentum to take the advantage into Day 3 with 7,595,000 chips.
Yong will still face a tough challenge to take the title and could be set for another battle against Triton co-founder Paul Phua (3,905,000), who was unable to get the better of Yong, son of fellow Triton co-founder Richard Yong, in the Main Event when they faced-off heads-up.
Phua will also have another chance at securing a first Triton title after three second-place finishes, which included the 2019 HK$1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em Montenegro Short Deck Main Event. On that occasion, it was Rui Cao (4,375,000) who took the title and the Frenchman can defend his crown in London having again showed off his Short Deck prowess.
All-time money list No. 2 Justin Bonomo (5,910,000) can secure a second Triton Short Deck title, and will be Yong's closest challenger, with the line-up completed by Liang Xu (3,585,000), Ming Zhong Liu (3,530,000), and partypoker pro Isaac Haxton (3,510,000).
£100,000 Short Deck Main Event Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ming Zhong Liu | Hong Kong | 3,530,000 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 5,910,000 |
| 3 | Liang Xu | China | 3,585,000 |
| 5 | Rui Cao | France | 4,375,000 |
| 6 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | 3,905,000 |
| 7 | Wai Kin Yong | Malaysia | 7,595,000 |
| 8 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 3,510,000 |
Day 2 Action
With late registration on Day 2 open until the end of the first level, several players used to option to rebuy including partypoker pro Timofey Kuznetsov.
Among the big names to exit during the course of the day were Ben Lamb, Michael Soyza, Sam Greenwood, Luc Greenwood, Vivek Rajkumar, Daniel Dvoress, Seth Davies, Danny Tang, Mikita Badziakouski, Mike Watson, and Andrew Robl.
Gabe Patgorski has three previous Triton Short Deck final table appearances to his name but missed on a fourth after Ming Zhong Liu cracked his pocket kings with ace-king.
Richard Yong (15th-£177,000) was the first player post-bubble to depart with money in his pocket and was quickly followed to the payout desk by Elton Tsang (14th-£177,000), Cary Katz (13th-£191,000), Triton ambassador Tom Dwan (12th-£191,900), and Furkat Rakhimov (11th-£217,700).
partypoker pro Jason Koon (10th-£217,700) hit the rail at the hands of compatriot and teammate Haxton after king-jack got the better of ace-nine, before Stephen Chidwick (9th-£269,600) secured his third cash of the series but failed to reach another final table.
Triton London £25,000 Short Deck champion David Benefield (8th-£368,100) narrowly missed out on reaching back-to-back final tables after his pocket aces were cracked by Yong, who found a flush on the turn.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back in action from 1 p.m. local time on Thursday, August 8 as the Triton £100,000 Short Deck Main Event Final Table wraps up the London Super High Roller Series.
, Ming Zhong Liu called with 
, and Rui Cao called with 
. 
on the button and raised to 350,000. 
, and Benefield bet all in for 2,920,000 after the action had checked to him. 
appeared on the turn, he locked up the pot with a flush. The insignificant 
on the river fell as Benefield stood from his chair, and said his goodbyes, collecting £368,100 in eighth place.
. Cao shoved over the top, Benefield folded and the remaining two tabled their hands.
and Cao was in an optimal spot to take down Chidwick. A 
turn card had Chidwick in need of a bullet. 
and Cao took down the pot with his dimes, eliminating Chidwick from the tournament in ninth place.
. 
and the 
. 
on the flop, hitting Haxton harder than Dwan as he now made two pair. A 
completed the board, failing to improve Dwan's hand and he was eliminated from the tournament.
. Both players checked to the 
flop and Benefield bet 35,000 with 
