Webster Lim Wins Third Career Triton Poker TitleMalaysian Player Bests Field of 187 Entries In $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em GGMillion$ Live Event To Earn $899,893 |
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The final no-limit hold’em event of the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo was the $25,000 buy-in GG MILLION$ Live eight-max event. The tournament drew a field of 187 total entries to create a final prize pool of $4,675,000. After two days of action inside the Salle des Etoiles at Monte-Carlo Sporting, it was none other than Webster Lim who emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $899,893.
This was the third time that Lim has come away with the trophy in a Triton Poker event, having previously won the Triton Vietman version of this same event for $965,000 earlier this year and a €50,000 short deck event at Triton Madrid back in 2022 for another $897,750.
Lim, who also took down a World Series of Poker bracelet back in 2019, now has more than $12.8 million in career tournament earnings, with over $6 million of that coming from his 18 cashes in Triton tournaments.
By the time the unofficial final table of nine was set, Malaysia’s Hing Yang Chow was in the lead, with Triton co-founder Paul Phua in second chip position and Lim not far behind.
After Ferdinand Putra hit the rail in ninth place, Yulian Bogdanov was the first to fall at the official eight-handed final table. Ren Lin knocked out both Putra and Bogdanov and had overtaken the lead heading into seven-handed play. He extended his advantage even further when his top pair with a king kicker bested the top pair and lower kicker of Ding Biao, with the chips going in on the flop. Lin held through the river to send Ding home with $166,600 for his 17th final-table finish of the year. With 5,007 Card Player Player of the Year points earned across those scores, Ding is now ranked 16th in the 2023 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.
At this point Lim began his surge up the chip counts. He opened from under the gun with pocket aces and called a three-bet shove from Phua, who had A-J in the big blind. Phua could not come from behind and was sent the rail in sixth place ($228,000), bringing his career earnigns to nearly $28.9 million with this latest deep run.
The hand that followed Phua’s elimination saw Igor Yaroshevskyy move all-in from under the gun with K-9. Lim called again, this time with A-7 suited from the big blind. Lim flopped an ace and held from there to narrow the field to four. Yaroshevskyy was awarded $301,000 for his fifth-place finish.
Bracelet winner Ben Heath was the next to fall. The British poker pro got the last of his very short stack in with 9-6 facing the A-Q of Chow, which made trip queens by the river to secure the pot. Heath’s $380,000 payday as the fourth-place finisher was enough to grow his lifetime earnigns to just shy of $19.5 million.
The next big clash pitted Lim against Lin. Lim min-raised to 1,000,000 from the button with A8 and Lin called with K10 in the big blind. The flop came down AJ8 and Lin check-called a continuation bet of 600,000 from Lim, who had flopped two pair. The Q on the turn completed Lin’s gutshot straight draw. He checked again and Lim bet 2,800,000 into the pot of 3,950,000. Lin raised to 5,600,000 with broadway. Lim called to grow the pot to 15,150,000, while Lim had just 6,300,000 remaining. The A on the end improved Lim to a full house. Lin moved all-in and Lim quickly called to double into a massive lead.
Lin was soon all-in with 109 preflop facing the KQ of Chow. The QJ3 flop improved Chow to top pair while giving Lin a flush draw and open-ended straight draw. The 5 turn and 2 river were both blanks for Lin, though, and he was eliminated in third place ($468,000).
This was the 23rd final-table finish of the year for Lin, with two titles won. His 8,205 total POY points are good for 6th on the 2023 leaderboard heading into the final stretch.
Lim held a 2:1 chip lead over Chow when heads-up play began. The two hashed out a deal that locked up $760,107 for Chow and $859,893 for Lim. That left the title and $40,000 to play for. By the time the final hand arose, Lim had pulled even further ahead. He limped from the button for 800,000 total with K7 and Chow raised to 3,000,000 with 77. Lim called and the flop came down K98. Chow check-called a bet of 2,000,000 and the 8 paired the board on the turn. He checked again and Lim bet 3,300,000 into the pot of 10,800,000. Chow called, leaving himself with just 7,000,000 while the pot ballooned to 17,400,000. The A on the end drew another check from Chow. Lim thought it over before he moved all-in. Chow made the call with his pocket pair and was eliminated in second place, earning $760,107 as the runner-up. He now has nearly $1.7 million in recorded cashes to his name.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Webster Lim | $899,893 | 1176 |
2 | Hing Yang Chow | $760,107 | 980 |
3 | Ren Lin | $468,000 | 784 |
4 | Ben Heath | $380,000 | 588 |
5 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | $301,000 | 490 |
6 | Paul Phua | $228,000 | 392 |
7 | Ding Biao | $166,600 | 294 |
8 | Yulian Bogdanov | $122,000 | 196 |
Photo credits: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.