Champion Elizabeth Chen

China's Elizabeth Chen was one of the standout performers when the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series went to Montenegro last May, making the final table on no lesser stage than the $125K Main Event. Chen's ninth place finish against one of the toughest fields in the game earned her $478,000 and marked her as a player to watch.

Very late on Sunday night in Jeju, at the second ever Triton ONE festival, Chen made good on that promise. A measured performance in what turned out to be a gruelling event made Chen the first winner of the $3,000 One-W Championship — a new women's only tournament on the Triton ONE schedule.

It was a brilliant way to mark International Women's Day.

Chen has already proved she can mix it with anybody, and this display further underlined the case. She beat a 67-entry field, and managed to overhaul a seemingly insurmountable chip lead in the hands of Lili Tang to do so.

Lili Tang was on the wrong end of a tournament-ending cooler

Tang seized the lead before the final table, and was all but unbeatable as many other challengers fell short. But she began to wobble when the tournament got three handed, allowing Chen to firstly knock out Methavee Taveekitvatee in third, then land on the right side of a massive cooler to defeat Tang.

Chen earned $49,000 for the win. Tang had to settle for $35,100.

Elizabeth Chen faces the cameras as a champion

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The One-W Championship, coinciding with International Women's Day, was the first time the Triton Poker Series has placed any restriction on entry to one of its tournaments. But with so many women keen to play poker, but perhaps reluctant to dive in at the deep end, it was a very welcome sight on the Triton ONE schedule.

Sure enough, there were 67 entries of $3,000 apiece, putting $179,493 in the prize pool. That meant a long day at the tables, with chips swinging back and forth throughout.

The first important milestone was the money bubble. And after Liao Wenyan went out in 12th place, bursting the bubble, the next priority was the final table. They got there when Chien-Yu Lin followed Bixi Yao to the rail for a min-cash, leaving nine still in the hunt for the top prizes.

This was as imbalanced a line-up as it gets at this stage, with only two players — Lili Tang and Elizabeth Chen — with big stacks. Then there was a huge bunch of players in the middle, with Zhang Congya's five blinds landing her at the foot of the counts.

The full line-up was as follows:

Lili Tang - 4,065,000 (68 BBs)

Elizabeth Chen - 3,275,000 (55 BBs)

Allie Tang - 1,760,000 (29 BBs)

Moeka Sato - 1,635,000 (27 BBs)

Wang Qian - 1,575,000 (26 BBs)

Methavee Taveekitvatee - 1,555,000 (26 BBs)

Ruiko Mamiya - 1,380,000 (23 BBs)

Jia Lin Luo - 1,190,000 (20 BBs)

Zhang Congya - 320,000 (5 BBs)

Triton ONE Event 6 - $3,000 NLH - One-W Championship final table players (clockwise from back left): Luo Jia Lin, Wang Qian, Allie Tang, Methavee Taveekitvatee, Moeka Sato, Zhang Congya, Ruiko Mamiya, Lili Tang, Elizabeth Chen.

Though she was the significant favourite to be knocked out first, Zhang in fact managed to pick her spots for a couple of profitable shoves to stay alive. But the best move she made during this period was let go of a nothing hand during what turned out to be a nasty pot featuring Allie Tang, Tuiko Mamiya and Lili Tang.

Tang was UTG+1 and found pocket queens. That's a pretty good hand at any time, and during a women's tournament on International Women's Day, it probably looks even better. She open-shoved for 12 big blinds.

But this was horrible. Tang had pocket aces in the small blind and put in a calm call. Mamiya then found pocket 10s in the big blind, and she committed her last chips too, holding marginally more than Allie Tang.

Allie Tang lost in a gross spot at the final

The chip-leader had both hands dominated and the run-out brought nothing to help anyone. Lili Tang bust two players simultaneously, and the tournament was down to its last seven. Allie Tang was ninth for $5,100; Mamiya was eighth for $6,700. Lili Tang consolidated her lead.

The same pot also accounted for Ruiko Mamiya

Methavee Taveekitvatee was now one of the shorter stacks, but she doubled with KQ beating Wang Qian's KJ. It was only a relatively small hit to Wang's stack, and she earned most of it back a little while later when Moeka Sato jammed her JJ and Wang woke up with aces.

Sato, the final Japanese in the field, won $8,700 for seventh.

Moeka Sato jammed jacks into aces

The aces found their way out there again soon after, back in the hand of Tang. Wang had AQ but didn't connect with the flop or turn and was able to fold without too much damage.

Zhang had watched all the carnage in front of her, but was still clinging on. However, her run came to its conclusion in sixth, when she open-jammed her last nine blinds with A8 and Jia Lin Luo called with AK and stayed best.

Zhang got another couple of hours out of her tournament despite a tiny stack heading into the final. She banked $11,000.

Some tremendous survival skills from Zhang Congya

The last five got to another break, and the stacks were shallowing dramatically. Lili Tang still led the way, but now had only 47 blinds. Elizabeth Chen was propping up the field with 11, but the average was only 22.

It was getting exceptionally late, but there was still poker to be played. But Jia Lin Luo possibly wished they'd have called it a day already. Finding AK in the small blind, the Taiwanese player three-bet shoved over Taveekitvatee's button open. Taveekitvatee called, but Luo was in great shape. Taveekitvatee tabled KQ.

The 4107 flop was, on the face of it, benign. But the J turn brought a host of additional outs. The 9 river completed a flush for Taveekitvatee, which spelled doom for Luo.

She perished in fifth place for $14,093.

A disappointing end for Luo Jia Lin

The reaper now knocked for Wang Quan. She got her last blinds in holding pocket deuces. There's never been a less true poker maxim than "deuces never loses", and here was further proof. Elizabeth Chen gave her a spin holidng AJ and an ace on the river span things in Chen's favour.

Wang departed in fourth for $17,800.

Wang Quan: Deuces often loses

It was now a three-handed battle, with two players — Chen and Taveekitvatee — holding around 4.5 million, or 22 blinds, and Tang having them both covered with 7.12 million (or 36 blinds). There was still plenty of interest on the rail despite the punishing hour of the night/morning, with the expectation that things would have to end soon.

Chen slipped a bit, but then all but doubled, with AQ flopping two pair to beat Tang's AJ. Taveekitvatee also doubled, with her A2 staying best against 108. Taveekitvatee doubled once more, this time beating pocket jacks when her pocket sixes flopped a set and rivered a boat.

Punnat Punsri was leading the cheering section for his countrywoman Methavee Taveekitvatee

Tang's dominance was creaking a little, and Chen edged into the lead when she flopped a pair of queens holding Q8. It wouldn't have been such a huge pot had Tang not flopped a seven holding 73 and then made two pair on the 3 turn. But Chen hit another queen on the river, to seize the lead.

Chen then dispatched Taveekitvatee in third, succeeding where Tang had previously failed. Chen's AQ was better than Taveekitvatee's QJ and that was that. Cheered all the way by five-time Super High Roller Series champion Punnat Punsri, Taveekitvatee had to $23,000 for third.

A fine tournament ended in third for Methavee Taveekitvatee

After such a prolonged contest, there would have been no surprises had the heads-up lasted for an age. But it wasn't to be. There was quickly an old-fashioned cooler, tens going up against kings very quickly. The twist was that the tens won.

They were in the hand of Elizabeth Chen, and a board of 610274 meant Tang's kings were cracked to end it at the last.

Winner and runner-up celebrate together

Tang had to settle for a second-place prize of $35,100, but Chen was the champion, and $49,000 richer.

For a player of such enormous potential, the only way is up.