BRILLIANT RUI CAO AND STEADY ANDY NI WIN BIG ON DAY 2 IN JEJU

The second day of the Triton Cash Game Invitational from Jeju welcomed some brand new players alongside some very familiar faces, and once again served up the kind of high stakes action that is unmatched in the world of poker.

There was no time for Wiktor “Iimitless” Malinowski to lick his wounds from yesterday. He took a seat once more. Meanwhile, yesterday’s conquering heroes Elton Tsang and Tan Xuan brought their hard-earned winnings back to the table, where they were joined once again by ST Wang, Andy Ni, Rui Cao and Danny Tang.

But there was also a first glimpse at this invitational of Wai Kin Yong, one of the Triton Super High Roller Series’ most successful tournament players. And Aaron Zang, the winner of Triton’s richest ever tournament took a cash-game chair as well. With fellow newcomers Wai Leong and Taiwan’s Howard also sitting down, this was already certain to be intriguing. And when you add to the mix the player known only as Happy, there was another spectacular line-up, another feast for viewers of the stream.

Could Tsang and Xuan do it again? Would Malinowski bounce back, or would the only thing limitless turn out to be his losses? More importantly, would Happy end the day still happy?

As ever, this was an unforgiving session. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

CAO COMES ROARING OUT THE BLOCKS

No stopping Rui Cao

The players made an early decision to switch the blind structure slightly. They reduced yesterday’s $5K big blind ante to $2K. It wasn’t clear what effect, if any, it would have on the action, and certainly neither Elton Tsang nor Rui Cao seemed to alter much, if this first major hand was anything to go by.

Tsang was sitting with red pocket deuces on the button and Cao, one seat to his left in the small blind, received the first Mystery Hand of the night. He three-bet to $45,000. Andy Ni let A 4 go in the big blind, and even Tan Xuan, in the straddle, tossed away , allowing these two titans to slug it out.

Tsang called with his deuces and the dealer put the 6 6 5 out for them. Cao insta-bet $35,000. Tsang took a few beats longer before calling.

The turn brought the 10 and Cao did not slow down. He now bet $80,000. Tsang called again. The 4 completed the board.

Tsang obviously still only had the smallest pair, but remembering that Cao had three-bet pre-flop, he was in a super difficult spot when Cao moved all-in for $260,000 with the haste of someone on a bullying bluff. Tsang took a while, munched on some salad, bought himself some more time with a time-bank chip, but then tossed in the call.

Cao casually tabled Q 6 having taken a speculative pre-flop line with a suited face card and flopped trips. This $848,000 pot head in the flying Frenchman’s direction. After a chastening opening session yesterday, it was the moment Rui Cao arrived today.

TANG TAKES ON TWO

Try to read Danny Tang

ST Wang looked down at black pocket kings in the hijack and raised to $11,000. Danny Tang was on the button, and he looked down on something intriguing. It was the Mystery Hand, but he liked it well enough to make a call. Andy Ni was in the big blind and he came along as well with his J 9.

This quickly became even more fascinating. After a flop of J J 5, Ni had trips and Wang had an over-pair. But remember it was Tang who had the Mystery Hand. Both Ni and Wang checked, prompting Tang to bet $14,000.

Ni called, setting a trap perhaps? And Wang was going nowhere. He called too. Then the Q landed on the turn. Ni checked again, but Wang now bet. He put $27,000 in the middle. Tang called and Ni also only called. The A river was one more terrible card for ST Wang’s pocket kings.

Ni checked for a third time. Wang correctly determined that his kings were no longer good (if they ever were) and checked too. But Tang pondered long and hard before firing out $90,000. It built the pot beyond $250,000 and left Ni now with a tough decision.

Ni managed to find a fold. And Wang quickly folded behind him. We now learned Tang’s hand: pocket fives. His flopped boat earned him a quarter of a million in this one.

TANG CAN’T HALT THE CAO MACHINE

Impossible to play against: Rui Cao

The TV director gave Rui Cao the Mystery Hand once again, a sure indication that fireworks were about to fly once more, and Cao did not disappoint. This time his adversary was the Triton tournament crusher Danny Tang, and viewers got a sample here of just how formidable an opponent Cao really is.

Tang found A Q on the button and raised to $12,000. Acting, as always, in the blink of an eye, Cao three-bet to $50,000 from the big blind putting a tough decision back with Tang. He opted to call, buying him a look at the 2 flop. Cao immediately bet another $50,000.

Tang was slightly more measured in opting to slowly call, which took them to the 3 turn. It was still an incredibly dry board, but Cao kept his foot on the gas with another polarising bet of $135,000. Tang still wasn’t convinced and made another call, a quizzical look etched on his face.

The K landed on the river and Cao now reached for his remaining tower of white, $25K chips. He bet $400,000. Tang still only had ace high (and only had $377K left in his stack) but this was Rui Cao. Had he hit again, or was he just at it? Tang took a while. Was this worth risking his entire stack? Could he find the most heroic of hero calls?

Ultimately Tang decided to preserve his chips. He let his hand go. He wouldn’t be a hero this time. Only then did viewers get to see the A 5 in Cao’s hand. Tang had better, but Cao had blasted him out of it for a pot of $877,000 this time.

CAO PROFITS THROUGH WANG

ST Wang was the latest to feel the Cao blast

ST Wang took a near $600K hit in yesterday’s session and Day 2 didn’t quite go according to plan for Wang either. He became the latest player to run into a rampant Rui Cao, with the Frenchman hitting his draw as Wang missed his.

Action folded all the way round to Cao in the small blind and he called with 6 5. Andy Ni called from the big blind with 10 and Wang checked his straddle, sitting with . So far, so sedate, and things didn’t seem to change all that much after the flop. After two checks, Wang bet $6,000 with his top pair.

Cao now unveiled his plan. He raised it to $25,000. Ni folded immediately, but Wang ha every reason to think he was good still and made the call. But the 4 turn was gross. Not only did it fill Cao’s inside straight, it gave Wang a flush draw and an inside straight draw of his own. It meant that when Cao bet $40,000, Wang could make a call.

The Q river missed Wang. And Cao wasn’t going to make things easy on him. He bet $150,000. Wang wasn’t able to find the fold, which meant the pot ballooned to $444,000 before it headed to Cao.

NI COOLERS XUAN FOR $1.4M

A huge pot for Andy Ni

Neither Andy Ni nor Tan Xuan is ever shy of getting their chips in a pot, but when they both flopped monsters, the biggest hand of the night was all but sure to ensue. This one was gross — and worth close to $1.4 million.

Wiktor Malinowski got things started with a raise to $10K with K J from the hijack. Xuan tossed in a casual call from the cutoff with 8 and, after action folded to the big blind, Ni fancied a squeeze with . He made it $45,000.

Malinowski folded, but Xuan stuck around with his pocket pair. And he was rewarded immediately, with the absolute perfect flop for this particular set of hands. Ni flopped two pair and Xuan a set when the dealer put the 8 A 9 on the table.

Ni bet $40,000. “Andy has no idea he has just stepped on a landmine,” said Ali Nejad in the commentary booth. Xuan opted to detonate it immediately. He raised to $130,000. Ni still had every reason to think his hand was good and he three-bet to $250,000. Xuan chose just to call. It swelled the pot to $607,000 and, with Ni having only $378,000 behind, there was every chance it was all going in on the turn.

But what a turn it was for Ni. The dealer put the 9 on the table, with Ni now hitting a bigger boat than Xuan. Ni carefully counted out a bet of $200,000 — more than half his stack — and Xuan now found reason to pause. However, he soon emerged from his brief contemplation by shoving.

Ni called instantly and showed Xuan the bad news. Xuan responded with a sober nod of the head and an agreement to run it twice. But Ni had a lock on it. This $1.363 million pot headed in his direction.

—–

At the halfway point in the night, the line-up on the feature table changed, with only Wiktor Malinowski and Andy Ni keeping their seats. They were joined by Wai Kin Yong, Aaron Zang and a player known only by their first name Howard, who was representing Taiwan. After a couple of orbits, a seventh seat was filled by Happy, the first woman to sit down at this second cash-game invitational, and then Wai Leong Chan, of Malaysia arrived too.

Blinds were now $500/$1,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante. Everyone had $100,000 at the start, or 100 big blinds. It was, necessarily, a smaller game now. But the action didn’t stop.

MALINOWSKI’S ROUGH RIDE CONTINUES

Things didn’t improve on day 2 for Wiktor Malinowski

Wiktor Malinowski is one of the most respected cash-game poker players on the planet, with huge results both online and in brick and mortar settings. (He’s not a bad tournament player either.) But this week in Jeju has been very difficult for him so far: his big hands keep getting beaten, he can’t get value when he’s ahead, and every now and then he keeps running into it.

That sorry run continued after the resumption today, with Malinowski picking up the powerful A 5 on the button, but at precisely the wrong time.

Andy Ni was in the cutoff and he found pocket aces. That was good enough for a raise to $5,000. Malinowski found that A 5 — a hand beloved of poker players these days — and three bet to $14,000. Ni saw no reason to slow down. He four bet to $40,000. Malinowski jammed for just shy of $200K (this is the solver-approved play), and Ni snapped.

The players negotiated to run it twice, but there was not enough on either board for Malinowski. He flopped a pair and turned a flush draw on the first, but missed, and saw nothing of any use on the second. This $375,000 pot headed to Ni as Malinowski reloaded once more.

CHAN’S TURN TO BEST MALINOWSKI

Wai Leong Chan arrived late, but made quick progress

When things aren’t going well, they aren’t going well. And Wiktor Malinowski lost another big pot to Wai Leong Chan soon after. In this one, Malinowski had A Q and opened to $2,500 from the cutoff, only to see Chan three-bet to $10,000 from the small blind. Chan had pocket nines.

Malinowski decided to fight fire with fire. He four bet to $24,000. Chan called to see a flop, which came 4 K 6. Neither player improved, and the over-card might have frightened Chan. He checked. But after Malinowski bet $13,000, Chan refused to be deterred and made the call. The turn was the perfect .

Chan checked again, now laying a trap. Malinowski had the Q so had outdraw possibilities, fuelling a bet of $41,000. Chan didn’t wait to allow Malinowski to possibly realise his equity and moved all in for $98,000.

Malinowski was now priced into a pot of $272,000. He called and they agreed to run it twice. But the dealer has been no friend to Malinowski this week. Neither of two river cards helped him out and Chan scooped the lot.

HOWARD DOESN’T BELIEVE ZANG (IS RIGHT NOT TO)

Howard wasn’t scared of Aaron Zang’s aggression

Aaron Zang will always be remembered for his incredible victory at the Triton Million in London in 2019, but he has subsequently proved that was no fluke. He’s won another title on the Triton Super High Roller Series, and is a mean cash-game player too.

However tonight’s newcomer, Howard, showed he wasn’t scared to mix it with Zang in a big pot in this second session, catching Zang trying to muscle him out of a pot. Howard had A Q and raised to $5,000 in the hijack. Zang called on the button (he had the Mystery Hand), Happy called in the small blind with and Wiktor Malinowski called too in the straddle/UTG with .

The flop brought the K 2 3. Happy and Malinowski checked, but Howard put out a $9,000 continuation bet. Only Zang called. The turn was the and Howard bet again. This time it was $22,000. The river was the , which now hit Howard. He had the nut blocker with his along with his second pair.

Howard decided to put out a small bet. It was $23,000. But Zang snap raised, putting $105,000 out there, which was all Howard had left. We don’t know much about this man from Taiwan, but Zang quickly found out he wasn’t to be pushed around. Howard correctly deduced that Zang had bluffs in his range, and he turned over pocket fours to prove Howard right.

Howard won a pot of $292,000 to get his Triton career off to a terrific start.

*****

With that, coverage of this second day drew to a close. The newcomers endured/enjoyed mixed fortunes, while some of the old guard — chiefly Wiktor Malinowski — had nights to forget. Happy’s stack dwindled in small increments, leaving her down $140,000 by the end of the night.

But there were big wins for Andy Ni and Howard, plus the star of the show, Rui Cao. They will all be back for more…