No matter what your opinion is about Bryn Kenney, few could ever argue about his dominance of live poker. At the Triton Poker $125K Monte Carlo Main Event, he showcased his incredible poker talent once again.
Kenney topped a field of 159 entries, defeating Wai Leong Chan heads-up, to win the $4,410,000 top prize. Kenney now takes his record career live tournament earnings to $71,425,920, becoming the first player to break $70M and further separating himself from Justin Bonomo at the very top.
“Never give up, that’s the secret,” Kenney said, speaking to Triton media after the victory. “Everyone has their roller coaster, their wave that they’re on… You just got to hang on for the ride. Give it your best, don’t let things get you down, and never stop fighting.”
Naturally, just like at any Triton event, Kenney needed to work past a stacked final table, which included the likes of Punnat Punsri, Jonathan Jaffe, Mario Mosbock, Danny Tang, and Jesse Lonis.
| Place | Player | Prize | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryn Kenney | $4,410,000 | United States |
| 2 | Wai Leong Chan | $2,970,000 | Malaysia |
| 3 | Punnat Punsri | $2,045,000 | Thailand |
| 4 | Haralabos Voulgaris | $1,665,000 | Canada |
| 5 | Jonathan Jaffe | $1,330,000 | United States |
| 6 | Mario Mosbock | $1,020,000 | Austria |
| 7 | Danny Tang | $743,000 | Hong Kong |
| 8 | Thomas Muehloecker | $538,000 | Austria |
| 9 | Jesse Lonis | $445,000 | United States |
Kenney’s first trick came in the form of a double-up with seven left, surviving with king-queen against the ace-nine of Jonathan Jaffe, much to the dismay of Danny Tang, who really wanted to secure a seven-figure score. Unfortunately, it would be Tang to bubble millionaire’s row, though he would collect a handsome figure of $743,000 after running his ace-queen into Jaffe’s ace-king. During the same hand, Mario Mosbock found a fold with pocket jacks that secured his payjump to sixth place.
Though Mosbock was short, he would chip up until running pocket kings into the pocket aces of the outspoken Haralabos Voulgaris, owner of Spanish football club CD Castellón, to go down to four big blinds. Kenney finished off Mosbock off a short time later.
With five left, Wai Leong Chan would put himself far out in front, doubling up through the then-chip leader Jaffe. Jaffe flopped top pair and a flush draw with king-queen suited but Chan’s ace-king held the lead. Chan would triple barrel as diamonds bricked out and he improved to top-two with an ace on the river. Jaffe was a non-believer and paid the price.
Despite this, Kenney would then get a big chunk of Chan’s chips and take most of Jaffe’s to put himself in the lead. Chan would finish Jaffe off before winning a huge flip against Voulgaris with tens against ace-queen to set up three-handed play. Punnat Punsri was short and Chan would take the Thailand native out to set up a heads-up showdown with Kenney, winning with king-four against the queen-ten of Punsri.
Though Chan entered heads-up play with a 57-43 big blind advantage, the two would trade the lead over the first nine hands. Almost all the money would get in on hand number 10, with Kenney four-bet jamming ace-jack into the pocket kings of Chan, who was three blinds in front.
The flop came J-7-2, giving Chan an 80% chance to close out the title. A blank three on the turn meant Kenney was drawing to just five outs (11%) going to the river. But somehow, in Bryn Kenney fashion, the jack of hearts smashed the river to leave Chan with crumbs.
Though Chan would double the next hand with ace-king against eight-three, it was just a mere consolation as Kenney would win two hands later, with his pocket sixes prevailing over ace-nine for his fourth Triton title and second Triton Main Event crown.