Bryn Kenney Wins $6.8 million in Triton Success, Overtakes Justin Bonomo on All-Time Money List

The Long-Islander Bryn Kenney won Event #9 on the Triton Poker Series schedule in London, the $250,000-entry Luxon Invitational. A field made of business individuals and their invitees saw 118 total entries, 27 re-entries and a prizepool of $29.5 million, a juicy top prize of over $6.8 million dangling in front of some of the best players in the business.

Koon Gets Paid, Seidel Given the Rocket

Play up the money bubble never really slowed down, despite the huge amounts of money at stake. Only 23 players would get paid, the minimum cash being a lofty $342,000. That meant whoever busted in 24^th place would earn nothing at all, but as it happened, two players busted at almost the exact same time, meaning there was no hand-for-hand action. Erik Seidel was all-in not only with the best hand but the best two-card pre-flop holding. His pocket aces lost to Paul Phua’s jacks when the latter four-flushed, sending Seidel home.

The bubble burst with an elimination on the next table, as Wiktor Malinowski lost with ace-three of spades to Robert Flink’s pocket nines meaning everyone else was in the money. One of those players was the fortunate Event #3 winner Jason Koon, whose two big blinds sneaked him into the money in 23^rd place for $342,000.

By the time the final table was reached, the end of Day 2 had arrived and a businessman was in the lead, British hedge fund manager Talal Shakerchi sat on 7.2 million chips, the neat equivalent of 72 big blinds. It was the Taiwanese player James Chen who busted first, his stack of 25 big blinds at the beginning of the final table disappearing when his four-bet shove with marched head-on into Kenney’s . There was no luck for Chen and he cashed in ninth place for $680,000.

Moneymaker Misses Final Four

Eight players were left, and after starting the final with eight big blinds, Norwegian player Kayhan Mokri had nothing to lose having laddered a place and therefore was happy to get his stack in with pocket eights. Sadly for him, he lost a flip against Latvian Aleks Ponakovs with after the Latvian Ponakovs turned a straight.

There was an all-American clash next, as Nick Petrangelo got his chips in with and was in a race against Bryn Kenney. The latter held pocket nines and this time, the pocket pair held to reduce the field to six and sent a crestfallen Petrangelo home with $1,170,000. Minutes later, only five remained. Shakerchi turned dream-wrecker, his starting and finishing ahead of Flink’s . The Swedish pro Flink cashed for $1,582,000 in sixth, easily the biggest cash of his poker career, and around 40% of his lifetime winnings at the live felt.

In fifth place, the 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker took $2,030,000 when he called the four-bet on Thai player Punnat Punsri. It was a coinflip, with Moneymaker holding pocket jacks to Punsri’s , but the luck was not with the former world champion, and king coming on the flop to reduce the field to four players.

Kenney Wins, Gets Hands on Triton Trophy

Aleks Ponakovs is a regular in the $10,000-entry GG MILLION$ but even he couldn’t have believed the rate at which players were busting. Sadly for him and his supporters, that meant he was next and he turned trip eights only to be behind Talal Shakerchi’s full house which was fulfilled by the same card. No more drama occurred and the Latvian cashed for $2,540,000.

Three-handed, Punsri paid the price for running out of luck in the wrong hand as the British player got extremely fortunate to send the Thai player to the rail. All-in with , Punsri was well ahead of Shakerchi’s , but the board of sent him home, giving him a result worth $3,107,000.

Heads-up, the stacks were almost level, but Kenney pulled ahead. Recovery was almost immediate from Shakerchi, making a straight to leapfrog Kenney’s kings. Then came an incredible fold as the British player tossed away trip kings… correctly. Kenney didn’t get maximum value on his full house in that hand, but soon, he used his chip lead to get it in with to Shakerchi’s . An eight on the flop sent Kenney into the lead and he managed to hold to win the title:

The first EVER $6.8 MILLION deuce. ? pic.twitter.com/iOghJkYo0j

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 5, 2023

After the victory, the American gave an interview to describe his emotions upon that winning moment.

A word from the now 3-time Triton Champion ?@BrynKenney wins Event #9 $250K – Luxon Pay Invitational title and takes home a whopping $6,860,000?. Impressive feat, Kenney! ?#poker #tritonpoker pic.twitter.com/jfVOwifvHz

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 5, 2023

“It’s so surreal,” Kenney told reporters. “It’s crazy. I’m in a good place, standing here at the end of the tournament. I didn’t get to hold up the trophy [at the Triton Millions] but now I can hold up the trophy. I’m so blessed and thankful for this and everything.”

After this latest win, Kenney’s cash of $6.86 million sent him from second place behind Justin Bonomo on the al-time money list to ahead by just under three million dollars. Over to you, Justin.