Phil Ivey Wins Triton Poker Cyprus $75,000 Short Deck Event For $1.2 Million

Phil Ivey is back.

The 10-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame member had not recorded a live tournament cash since August of 2021, but has managed to make the final table in three of the first four events at the Triton Poker Cyprus high-stakes tournament festival, cashing for more than $1.7 million so far along the way.

The 45-year-old came away with the title at his third final-table appearance of the series, defeating field of 51 entries in the $75,000 buy-in short deck event to secure the top prize of $1,170,000. The score increased Ivey’s lifetime tournament earnings to $33,513,693, which is good for 12th place on poker’s all-time money list. He now sits within striking distance of the top ten, less than $860,000 behind 10th-ranked Fedor Holz ($34,373,043).

Ivey has played far fewer tournaments in recent years than he had prior to becoming involved in a protracted legal battle with both The Borgata and London’s Crockfords Casino. The lawsuits stemmed from Ivey winning millions from the casinos thanks in part to ‘edge sorting’ while playing baccarat.

This was the seventh-largest payday of Ivey’s career. This win also marked the ninth time that he cashed for seven figures in a poker tournament. The win came just two days removed from his fifth-place finish in a $50,000 buy-in turbo no-limit hold’em event for $179,000. The day before he made that deep run, he placed fourth in the $50,000 buy-in six-max no-limit hold’em kickoff event at the series for $387,100.

In addition to the title and the money, Ivey also scored plenty of rankings points for the win. The 510 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned were enough to move him into 60th place in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.

With three qualifying cashes and one title under his belt, Ivey moved into eighth place in the PokerGO Tour standings. He has earned the fifth-most of any player on the PGT thanks to his spree in Cyprus this week.

The 51-entry turnout for the short deck event in Cyprus resulted in a prize pool worth more than $3.7 million. The top seven finishers made the money, with Wai Kin Yong being eliminated on the six-figure money bubble by Ivey. Ivan Leow (7th – $194,500) was the first to fall inside the money, with his pocket queens running into the aces of Ivey. Leow flopped top set to take the lead, but Ivey caught running cards for a straight to narrow the field to six. Leow now has more than $12 million in career earnings.

Richard Yong’s run in this event concluded when his A-K failed to win an all-in against the J-10 of a surging Ivey. Yong earned $241,000 as the sixth-place finisher, growing his lifetime total to more than $14.5 million in the process.

The knockouts just kept coming, as a few minutes later Jason Koon’s A-K lost an all-in against the A-6 that was shoved by Ivey. Koon was ahead to start, but a six on the flop turned the tables and Ivey held from there. Koon took home $315,000 for his second fifth-place finish of the series. With more than $35.8 million, he is currently the eighth-highest earning poker player in tournament history.

Like Ivey, Elton Tsang was also making his third cash of the Triton Poker Cyprus series in this event. The 2016 Big One for One Drop Invitational champion earned $408,000 as the fourth-place finisher when his pocket nines lost an all-in to the A-J of Wai Kiat Lee.

Fresh off of a fourth-place showing in the $100,000 buy-in event at this series, Michael Watson survived to the top three in this event to lock up another massive score. Watson ultimately was knocked out in third place, with his pocket tens failing to outdraw the pocket kings of a red-hot Ivey. The Canadian poker pro secured $538,000 to increase his career earnings to just shy of $13.9 million.

Ivey took nearly a 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Lee. It didn’t take him long at all to convert that advantage into the title. On the first hand of the showdown for the trophy, Lee limped in for 120,000 with A10 and Ivey raised to 500,000 with AK. Lee moved all-in and Ivey called. The board ran out Q76A9 and Ivey’s top pair, top kicker was enough to lock up the pot and the title. Lee earned $840,000 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: Joe Giron / Triton Poker.

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