David Yan Wins Triton London $200,000 Buy-In High Roller

It took 14 hours of day 2 action, but finally, David Yan emerged victorious in the 2023 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London $200,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em eight max event. The New Zealander earned $3,052,002 and his first Triton title for the win.

This was Yan’s second seven-figure score of the year, having also finished third in the $250,000 buy-in at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for nearly $1.5 million. He also took down a $50,000 buy-in event at that series. Yan now sits inside the top 50 in the 2023 Card Player Player of the Year race presented by Global Poker, with two titles, six final tables, and more than $5.7 million in to-date POY earnings.

This event drew 81 entries to the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London, creating a prize pool of $16,200,000 that was ultimately split among the top 13 finishers. Four-time Triton event winner Mikita Badziakouksi was knocked out on the $325,000 money bubble, ensuring a six-figure score for the remaining baker’s dozen. Several big names made the money but fell short of the final table, including Christoph Vogelsanf (13th), Daniel Dvoress 912th), Sam Grafton (11th), and Seth Davies (9th).

Spain’s Juan Pardo (8th – $600,000) was the first to fall at the eight-handed final table. He was soon followed by Chris Brewer, who lost all but a couple of blinds in a preflop coin flip with pocket tens facing the A-Q suited of bracelet winner Timothy Adams. Brewer was unable to spin it up, earning $770,000 as the seventh-place finisher. This was his 17th final-table finish of the year, with five titles won and more than $10.3 million in POY earnings accrued. As a result, he now occupies the fourth-place spot in the POY rankings.

A pair of quick eliminations saw the field shrink from six to four in a matter of minutes. Two-time bracelet winner Aleksejs Ponakovs’ A-2 suited was outrun by the K-8 of Yan, who had open-shoved from the button with the two short stacks in the blinds. Ponakovs cashed for $970,000 as the sixth-place finisher. Hot on his heels was bracelet winner and three-time Triton champion Danny Tang (5th – $1,247,000), whose A-8 was unable to come from behind against the A-K suited of Jose ‘Nacho’ Barbero.

There were extensive talks about a deal that would redistribute the remaining prize money, but negotiations broke off without an agreement. Adams was eventually knocked out in fourth place, with his pocket nines unable to dodge the draws of Barbero, who turned a flush after the chips went in. The Canadian cashed for $1,550,000, bringing his career earnings to more than $33.8 million.

The final three went on to hash out a deal that left $100,000 and the trophy to play for, while guaranteeing the following payouts:

Nacho Barbero: $3,445,807
David Yan: $2,952,002
Espen Jorstad: $2,766,191

Barbero locked up the largest payout, regardless of what happened from that point on, thanks to his chip lead at the time. Yan closed the gap when his pocket nines cracked the pocket queens of Espen Jorstad, with four hearts hitting the board and one in Yan’s hand. Jorstad exited the tournament area with the massive seven-figure payday he had negotiated for. The 2022 World Series of Poker main event champion and recent $40,000 mystery bounty winner at this series now has nearly $15.2 million in career tournament earnings.

Yan took the lead going into heads-up play. There were some swings along the way, but eventually, the chips got in with Yan holding A4 while covering Barbero, who had K6. Yan’s hand held up and Barbero was knocked out in second place.

This was his 13th final-table finish of the year, with three titles won and nearly $7.6 million in POY earnings accumulated along the way. The bracelet winner from Argentina now sits in second place on the 2023 POY leaderboard as a result, with his 7,790 points just 448 behind leader Bin Weng.

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

Photo credits: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.

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