Champion Tuck Wai Foo!

Malaysian poker has a new star.

Already arguably the strongest Asian poker nation, thanks in no small part to the Triton Poker Series co-founders Paul Phua and Richard Yong, tonight in Jeju, South Korea, another Malaysian named Tuck Wai Foo emerged from nowhere to get his hands on the famous Triton trophy.

Foo had never played on the Triton Series before coming to Jeju this week, and his documented poker results tend to be from smaller events in his native Kuala Lumpur.

But Foo, an admitted amateur, took on a field of 348 entries in a $20,000 buy-in event on the Triton Series and beat them all, earning a top prize of $1.35 million.

The rail was packed with Asian poker’s finest, with Yong among the eager and passionate spectators watching Foo do battle with the elite. His shallow-stacked heads-up duel with two-time Triton champion Mario Mosböck was one for the ages, with each player doubling up multiple times, and each coming back from seeming certain doom.

Triton co-founder Richard Yong rushes to congratulate Tuck Wai Foo’s win

Every blind steal was cheered with great enthusiasm, and when the final card of the tournament was a nine, pairing the nine in Foo’s hand, the room erupted in jubilation. Mosböck, who had battled back from only one big blind at one point at the final, could do nothing but congratulate the fantastic Foo, before looking for a runner-up payout of $856,000.

His third title will have to wait, but he can hardly begrudge Foo his incredible moment. It’s a victory that will mean huge amounts to the whole Triton family, which has its heart in Malaysia still.

Mario Mosbock congratulates Tuck Wai Foo

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The second event of this stop in Jeju all but matched the first for incredible turnout. By the time registration was closed, there were 348 entries, more than every other Triton event in the tour’s history, with the exception of the first this week.

The bigger buy-in for this one meant even more in the prize-pool, however. The final 55 players would be carving up close to $7 million, with $1.35 million reserved for the winner.

Despite the numbers, this one moved at a brisk pace. The bubble burst late on Day 1, with Australian pro Daniel Neilson busting to Ren Lin with A10to Lin’s 98.

That allowed Dan Smith and Justin Saliba, among others, to inch into the money, but they were not among the 50 players who came back for Day 2, led by Austria’s Daniel Rezaei.

With 30-minute levels, the pace was fast as the field shrank rapidly toward the final. Rezaei was among those swept away, following two of poker’s best known content creators out the door. Both Alexander “Wolfgang Poker” Seibt and Ethan “Rampage” Yau made the money, but fell short of the final. Seibt took $62,000 for 22nd and Yau earned $84,500 for 14th.

The man on the hottest heater, however, was Belgium’s Michael Gathy, who was making his Triton debut in Jeju. The four-time WSOP bracelet winner was a big chip leader as the last nine posed for their final table photo. The stacks were as follows:

Michael Gathy — 24,450,000 (75 BBs)

Ren Lin — 10,250,000 (34 BBs)

Andrei Kotelnikov — 10,000,000 (33 BBs)

Mario Mosböck — 6,750,000 (23 BBs)

Calvin Lee — 5,700,000 (19 BBs)

Shimizu Nozomu — 5,275,000 (18 BBs)

Igor Yaroshevskyy — 4,425,000 (15 BBs)

Tuck Wai Foo — 4,325,000 (14 BBs)

Jon Ander Vallinas — 450,000 (1 BB)

Event 2 final table players (clockwise from back left): Jon Ander Vallinas, Tuck Wai Foo, Shimizu Nozumu, Igor Yaroshevskyy, Calvin Lee, Mario Mosböck, Michael Gathy, Ren Lin, Andrei Kotelnikov

Although the early stages of this event in Jeju has been all about the newcomers, this final table featured two two-time Triton champions in Mosböck and Yaroshevskyy, alongside the very well known Lin and Gathy. Would experience win the day, or would we be crowning yet another first-time winner?

Obviously, it was going to be a tall order for Jon Ander Vallinas to make much of an impact at the final. One big blind is rarely enough to do much damage, but the Spaniard had other ideas. He started off well with a triple up, and then saw Yaroshevskyy take a bit of a tumble to land at the bottom of the counts. When Vallinas then found queens and doubled again, he sat with what must have seemed a lofty 18 blinds, ahead of two others on the counts.

Shimizu Nozomu wasn’t even one of those, but it was the popular Japanese player who ended on the rail first from the final. He fell after three-betting virtually all-in with A10 and seeing Gathy call him off with pocket kings. Although technically the final chips didn’t go in until Nozomu had flopped top pair, they were always likely heading to Gathy. Nozomu landed $133,000 for eighth.

Shimizu Nozomu was first out from the final

The remaining eight went on a dinner break and returned to terribly short stacks. The leader now was Tuck Wai Foo, but he had only 25 blinds. Calvin Lee now had a solitary blind, and all the others had between 10 and 20. When Mosböck doubled through Andrei Kotelnikov, the Russian joined Lee with one blind while Mosböck vaulted to the top.

But true to form, the short stacks clung on. Kotelnikov more than doubled, Lee survived when he was in the big blind. But then finally there was a knockout, two in fact, on the same hand. One was Lee, who took eighth place money ($164,000) and Vallinas was the other, who had laddered up to seventh.

A lonely Calvin Lee sees his last blind disappear

Jon Ander Vallinas’ short-stack survival clinic ended in seventh

Yaroshevskyy was the assassin, whose pocket sevens flopped a set and rivered quads, rendering his opponents’ hands kind of irrelevant. For the record, they both had off-suit aces but they came up short against four-of-a-kind.

Kotelnikov was next to fall, again at the hands of Yaroshevskyy. With levels escalating rapidly, Kotelnikov had only three blinds when he made a stand with J10, but lost to the 86 of his opponent. Kotelnikov’s first ever Triton cash was worth $305,000.

Andrei Kotelnikov picked up a cash from only his second Triton tournament

The final table had been played at a swift pace and with plenty of chat, but the volume dialled down a notch with the next elimination. Ren Lin, always the loudest in the room, was the latest to be silenced by Yaroshevskyy.

Lin can count himself unlucky: he got his chips in good, with AQ against Yaroshevskyy’s A4 but not for the first time, Yaroshevskyy flopped well. By the time all five community cards were out, he had trip fours. Lin won $396,000 for fifth.

A born superstar: Ren Lin

The waters were getting even choppier now, and it was Mosböck’s turn to take a major hit. He too ran into the new monster: ace-four, this time in Gathy’s hand. Mosböck’s A8 was no good after Gathy flopped a four. Mosböck was left with one big blind.

Naturally, he soon got it in. And he managed three consecutive doubles, to get back to 10 bigs. When Tuck Wai Foo then also managed to double (with ace-four, of course), Gathy was back in the danger zone of 11 blinds. Mosböck’s subsequent umpteenth double, back through Yaroshevskyy, put him near the top of the counts once more.

And then it was time up for Gathy. The Belgian pro, with his infamous final table shirt shimmering under the studio lights, took his final stand with J9. But the resurgent Mosböck had A7 and it held. Gathy was out in fourth for $501,000.

Michael Gathy made a final at his second Triton tournament

Less than an hour since he had one blind, Mosböck was chip leader with close to double his two opponents combined.

He was now in the mood, and Yaroshevskyy was next to feel the pain. The Ukrainian, himself a two-time Triton champion, raised from the button with J10 and called off when Mosböck shoed the big blind. Mosböck had pocket kings and the big pair stayed best. Yaroshevskyy hugged Mosböck on his way to collect $619,000.

Igor Yaroshevskyy: A hard-fought third place

And then there were two: a relative veteran and two-time champion against a Triton newcomer. Mosböck versus Foo, with the small matter of $500K between first and second place payouts. Mosböck had a big lead, with 40 big blinds to 18.

They traded blows for the opening exchanges, but then a big double for Foo, with Q7 hitting a seven to beat Mosböck’s AK. It brought the stacks even at 22 blinds apiece. Foo extended his lead, the levels went up, and Mosböck was now in danger.

Heads up between Mario Mosbock and Tuck Wai Foo

They each then doubled again when under threat, and Mosböck ended the exchange only five blinds to his name. Could he pull off another Lazarus act? This time, he could not.

Mosböck got his last blinds in with K5 and was in good shape against Foo’s 95. Flop and turn were blanks, but the river was the 9 and the place went nuts.

“I am a champion!” he said.

A jubilant cheering section for Tuck Wai Foo