On July 25th Kenneth Kee finished as the runner-up in the first event of the 2018 Triton Poker High Roller Series Jeju, losing heads-up to Nick Schulman in the $100,000 HKD shot-deck no-limit hold’em event. Less than a week later Kee found himself heads-up again, this time facing Cary Katz for the $1,000,000 HKD no-limit hold’em short-deck title. The second time was the charm for Kee, who emerged victorious to win the massive first-place prize of $22,500,000 HKD ($2,925,000 USD).
Kee overcame a field of 60 entries in this event, which cost around $127,000 USD to enter. Kee knocked out Ivan Leow, who won the $500,000 HKD short deck event just days earlier, sending the Malaysian home in sixth place with $460,200 USD. He then scored a double knockout, picking up the AA and getting involved in a three-way all-in, with Mikita Badziakouski holding the KK and Peter Jetten the QQ. Kee’s hand held up and he sent Badziakouski (5th – $600,600) and Jetten (4th – $819,000)to the rail.
Kee kept his streak alive by busting Richard Yong in third place ($1,185,600) to take more than a 3-to-1 lead into heads-up play with Katz. The American ultimately moved the last of his chips in from the button with the J10 and found himself quickly called by Kee’s QQ. The board ran out K976K, eliminating Katz in second place ($1,809,600 USD).
Check out a replay of the hand below:
Here's the play that won Kenneth Kee the HKD 1m #TritonHoldem Ante Only title #TritonPoker #Poker #TritonSHR pic.twitter.com/HaWmg9VpLF
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) July 30, 2018
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
1 | Kenneth Kee | $2,925,000 | 720 |
2 | Cary Katz | $1,809,600 | 600 |
3 | Richard Yong | $1,185,600 | 480 |
4 | Peter Jetten | $819,000 | 360 |
5 | Mikita Badziakouski | $600,600 | 300 |
6 | Ivan Leow | $460,200 | 240 |
Photo credit: Triton Poker Twitter account / Danny Maxwell.