The $100K PLO Main Event at Triton Paradise played through a marathon session on Saturday in the Bahamas, but the destination of the title still hangs in the balance.
More than 14 hours' play proved insufficient to reduce a field of 103 entries to its champion, with two players still involved at 3.30am, when the venue imposed a hard stop on proceedings. Even the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series can't defeat local gaming regulations.
It means that Sam Soverel and Andras Nemeth will need to return at a later date — likely later on Sunday, December 7 — to play to a winner, when the big haul of treasure will find its owner.
That includes a $2.594 million winner's purse, a spectacular Triton Poker Series Main Event trophy and a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.
Sam Soverel signed for the biggest stack
Andras Nemeth bagged 20 bigs
Soverel is in the box seat. He has 83 blinds to Nemeth's 20, largely the result of a blockbuster final hand of the day that sent Dan Dvoress out in third. It was a spectacular way to finish a long day's superlative PLO entertainment, although there may yet be further twists to come.
TOURNAMENT ACTION SO FAR
The full constellation of poker superstars turned out to play this one, many cramming in at the last moment as registration closed at the start of Day 2. In all, 61 unique players added a further 42 re-entries to bring the field to 103. That put $10.3 million in the prize pool and offered more than $2.5 million to the winner.
The main with the biggest stack overnight was one of the four-card game's very best: Ben Tollerene. But as the field contracted close to the 17 who would get paid, Tollerene had become one of those under threat of missing out. He, along with the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Martin Kabrhel and even Phil Ivey, were sweating during this crucial phase.
Kabrhel had bubbled the first event of this Triton stop, falling short in the $75K PLO that finished yesterday. But he avoided an agonising repeat by doubling dramatically through Richard Gryko. Soon after, both Tollerene and Negreanu were all-in an at risk on neighbouring tables, knowing that one the $161,000 min-cash was potentially slipping through their fingers.
Martin Kabrhel made it to the money this time
Negreanu, filming himself for his vlog, and with fans tuning in to watch across the world, was up against Phil Ivey. He had Q1097 and the last few blinds went in with the flop of 9K5 on the table. That was crucial, because Negreanu had out-flopped Ivey's QJ73. After the usual tension and excitement, the dealer put the 3 turn and 2 river on the table to secure Negreanu's survival.
Daniel Negreanu earned his first Triton
Tollerene, however, was not so fortunate. He squared off against Nacho Barbero, with Tollerene's KKJ8 slamming into Barbero's AAJ10. There was no help for Tollerene from the dealer. The overnight leader tumbled out following a run-out of 107355.
Stone bubble for overnight leader Ben Tollerene
That put everyone remaining into the money, and focus shifted to reaching the final table.
Kabrhel couldn't make it. The room grew quieter when he went out in 16th. Neither Negreanu nor Ivey could either. They perished in 10th and ninth, respectively, denying viewers to see their ultimate favourites gunning for the title.
Even Barbero, whose bubble-bursting skills had put him to the top of the leader board, was unable to progress to the final table. Massive skirmishes against, first, the Hungarian Andras Nemeth and then Richard Gryko on the ropes, before Gryko mopped up the last of Barbero's chips.
The always emotional Argentinian finished eighth in the $75K PLO to narrowly miss the final. Here, he repeated the finish, earning $345,000 but not making it to the very end.
Another final table bubble for Nacho Barbero
Instead, it was closing in on midnight when the following seven players sat down to play it out, with mostly very even stacks:
Sam Soverel - 4,575,000 (46 BBs)
Dan Dvoress - 4,450,000 (45 BBs)
Richard Gryko - 4,425,000 (44 BBs)
Philip Sternheimer - 4,400,000 (44 BBs)
Andras Nemeth - 4,200,000 (42 BBs)
Ben Lamb - 2,625,000 (26 BBs)
Joni Jouhkimainen - 1,075,000 (11 BBs)
$100K PLO Main Event final table players (l-r): Philip Sternheimer, Dan Dvoress, Richard Gryko (sitting), Andras Nemeth, (standing) Joni Joukimainen, Ben Lamb, Sam Soverel.
The $250K Triton Invitational was due to start in around 12 hours, with many of these players booked to play. It meant there wasn't a great deal of wriggle room in the schedule, and a very late night was now certain if this one was going to conclude.
It had only been a matter of months since Joni Joukimainen was bludgeoning his way to a title in the last PLO event hosted at Triton's previous stop in Jeju, and here he was once again at a major final. But this time the Finnish champ wasn't able to do anything to add to his trophy haul.
Two small early pots earned pre-flop proved to be his only positive progress, before his last 11 blinds went to Philip Sternheimer. In a hand that essentially played itself, Jouhkimainen, with KJ76 defended his big blind to a Sternheimer early-position raise. He then flopped top two when the dealer delivered the 9KJ flop.
Both players checked, with Sternheimer dodging Joukimainen's trap. That brought the 5 on the turn. Joukimainen now jammed, with Sternheimer calling and showing that his aces had apparently been cracked. He held AA105.
Joukimainen was in good shape for a double until the 5 river proved to be a killer blow. Jouhkimainen was out in seventh for $457,500.
Joni Jouhkimainen still looking for title No 2
Ben Lamb finished seventh in the PLO curtain raiser to this Triton stop, and he had continued to show the Triton Poker Series what it had been missing with a back-to-back deep run. Although Joukimainen's elimination had left Lamb with the smallest stack, he still had nearly 30 blinds when he got involved in a monster pot with Nemeth, which would decide the chip lead.
Lamb, on the button, found aces and opened. His precise hand was AAQ2. Nemeth, in the big blind, had the attractive double-suited 10972, which had all kinds of ace-cracking potential.
The dealer helped Nemeth. The flop came 762, giving the Hungarian two-pair and a straight draw. Lamb blocked the deuce and still had his aces, of course, and neither man was in the mood to back away from a confrontation. Nemeth led, Lamb raised and then Nemeth three-bet jammed, covering Lamb. Lamb refused to buckle.
Lamb was drawing to an ace, a queen, a six, or running hearts. But the 8 turn snuffed out all of his hopes. Lamb took sixth for $599,000, but seemed sick with how these two PLO events turned out for him. He had a big stack in the late stages in both, but had to settle for seventh and sixth, respectively.
Nemeth, meanwhile, soared into a big lead.
Ben Lamb made back-to-back finals
Aces may have accounted for Lamb, but Dan Dvoress fared better with them in a pot against Sternheimer soon after. Dvoress had AA66 and was up against Sternheimer's KKQ4, but the 1029 flop made it even better for Dvoress. Dvoress bet every street with his nut flush, setting up a 15-blind jam on the river, with 2 turn and Q river now also out there.
Sternheimer couldn't find the fold button and paid off Dvoress in full. It elevated the Canadian to sit alongside Nemeth at the top of the leader board, with Sternheimer now cut down to fifth place.
Sternheimer doubled his eight-blind stack through Nemeth soon after, but Dvoress proved not to be done with him just yet. Only a couple of orbits since their last massive pot against one another, Sternheimer again found kings and again they cost him dearly.
In this pot, Sternheimer raised from under the gun holding KK76. Dvoress called from the big blind with the pretty-looking A774. The flop made that hand even more beautiful when it fell 253, giving Dvoress the wheel. He bet it, and then must have been overjoyed when Sternheimer moved in for his remaining 17 blinds. Dvoress snapped it off and dodged any potential outdraws with the 9 turn and 9 river.
Sternheimer, a former private equity investor, who already has a WSOP bracelet in PLO, finished fifth here for $760,000. It gives him time to prepare for the Invitational tomorrow, where he'll pair with British pro Ben Heath.
Philip Sternheimer has time to prepare for the Invitational
Dvoress and Nemeth were now the table captains, with Richard Gryko and former leader Sam Soverel holding 21 and 39 blinds, respectively, as they moved into Level 22 with a big blind of 150,000.
Gryko, a PLO specialist, had certainly made the most of his trip to the Bahamas, making the final table in both four-card events. He had no interest in extending his stay into the hold'em phase of the festival, and had a flight booked back to the UK for Sunday. He was therefore keen to play this one out, even as Saturday night became the early (and not-so-early) hours of Sunday.
But then Gryko bust. And he did so with one of those PLO set-ups that he must have seen a million times, but doesn't get any easier to swallow.
Gryko open-raised AKK5 from the button. Double suited kings. Sam Soverel, in the small blind, three-bet holding AK64. Gryko committed the rest of his 25-blind stack and Soverel called, holding AK64.
Soverel had only 25 percent equity at this stage, but the flop turned everything on its head. It came 442. Now it was Gryko drawing thin, and the Q turn followed by the 10 river sealed his fate. He would make it to the airport in time, with another $941,000 to his name. He finished fourth in both PLO events in this series, but four was now hardly a lucky number.
Richard Gryko won't want to think about the number four again
The last three, all of whom were sticking around for the remainder of the series in the Bahamas, now had some scheduling options. Nemeth had 51 blinds, Dvoress 41 and Soverel 37. There was, apparently, still plenty of play, but they needed to decide when to see it through.
At a tournament break, they decided to play on for one more hour, maximum. It seemed unlikely to be enough to get the tournament finished, but they gave it a try. It proved to be a very profitable phase of play for Sam Soverel, but not so much for Dan Dvoress.
A few small pots put Soverel into the lead, principally at the expense of Nemeth. Nemeth slipped to the bottom of the counts. But then an enormous pot brewed between the two players with the most, and ended with Dvoress on the rail in third.
Yet again, kings in the hole proved disastrous.
Dvoress had KK107 and saw Soverel raise the button. Dvoress, in the big blind, three bet those double-suited kings and Soverel called. That brought them to the 3102 flop.
Dvoress checked his over-pair. The diamonds were doing nothing for him, even if he had now paired his ten as well. Soverel put in a pot-sized bet, leaving himself only a third of that behind. Dvoress jammed for the rest of it, but received some bad news when Soverel called.
The American rolled over 3344 for a flopped set. After the 9 turn and 3 river, Soverel had quads. Dvoress was on the rail. He took $1.135 million -- although sleep was now a priority with the $250K Triton Invitational beginning in less than nine hours.
Dan Dvoress became the latest player to bust with kings
The huge pot put Soverel into a massive lead. He had 20.75 million (83 blinds) to Nemeth's 5 million (20 BBs). But tournament officials now called a halt to it, pushing this intriguing tournament into a third day.
In other words: To be continued...
