It’s not very often that we see a poker event that has a million dollar buy-in, but it sure is exciting when it happens. The Triton Million had 54 entrants ranging from recreational players to more seasoned professionals. The event was the most expensive tournament in the history of poker with a £1,050,000 buy-in, from which £50,000 per person was put towards humanitarian efforts, making the total prize pool a whopping £54 million.
Out of those 54 players, Chinese financier and recreational player, Aaron Zang came first place. But it was American professional poker player and runner-up, Bryn Kenney who made history when he broke the record for the most prize money ever to be awarded at a poker tournament, winning a £16.8 million payout at the Triton Million.
Aaron Zang wins Triton Million
The action of the tournament was great from start to finish and the final table had an interesting mix of professional players, rich businessmen and amateur players alike. Aaron Zang was the only asian player to make the final table, as the rest of the players were mainly from the United States, Canada and the UK.
The action of the final table culminated when the Chinese businessman came to a heads-up against Bryn Kenney. The original payout for first place in the tournament was an astonishing £19 million, but Zang and Kenney arranged a deal to split the remaining prize money. At the time when the deal was arranged, Bryn Kenney had a 4-1 chip lead on Zang, which helped him land the bigger payout in the end despite the fact that he didn’t come first place.
During the final moments of the tournament, Zang was able to beat Kenney despite his lack of chips and experience. The amateur player won two crucial hands against his opponent and ended up winning the tournament, taking home £13.7 million in prize money and making him the first ever Chinese player to win the Triton title. Despite only coming second in the tournament, there’s no way Kenney can be disappointed in the result since – in the most bizarre turn of events – the 32 year old poker player from Long Island, New York took home the biggest prize of any Poker tournament.
CAPTION: Kinney is the new all-time money winner, solidifying his place as one of poker’s all time greats
Bryn Kenney takes the top spot on All-time Money List
Aaron Zang may have won the title, but Kenney made history by winning the biggest prize in poker, taking the top spot on the All-time Money List. Kenney finished second place at the Triton Million securing a £16,890,509 prize, which happens to be the most money that anyone has ever won in a poker tournament. This win has officially made him the biggest live poker tournament winner of all time – a title that was previously held by Antonio Esfandiari for more than 7 seven years before the Triton Million tournament.
Coming in to the Triton Million, it seems as though Kenney was confident that he would win the title and take the top spot on the All-time Money List. He made his intentions very clear as far back as May 2018, when he made this statement during an interview with Joey Ingram on his podcast:
“The one thing that’s for sure is that I’ll be the all-time winner in the game of cards. No one really has a chance to hold me back.”
It turns out that Kenney broke not one, but two records at the Triton Million when he ascended to the top of Poker’s All-time money list, overtaking Justin Bonomo as the highest earning poker player in history with a total live career earning of over £44 million.
To sum up
The Triton Million was a fascinating event that saw several records being broken. Hopefully, we will see more tournaments like this in the future that will set new records, and that more players will find inspiration in Zang and Kenney’s victory. If you’re interested in Poker then be sure to check our other posts here on Jamma for the latest news and updates on everything to do with the game.
