Justin Bonomo takes down Triton Poker Series Jeju HKD 250K Short Deck Event

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Bonomo booked his first-ever cash in a short deck event in form of a $586,114 payday.

The high-roller regular is no stranger to huge stakes and whopping prizes but despite winning over $44 million in live tournaments, he never cashed in a short deck event prior to the HKD 250,000 Short Deck Ante-Only Event at the 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju at the luxurious Landing Casino.

The tournament attracted 65 entries, including 28 reentries to generate a prize pool of HKD 15,275,000 ($1,946,281).

"I’m super happy to have won this obviously," Bonomo said. "A lot of people at the table had a lot of experience of short deck. For me, a lot of the spots were new, and I had to figure them out as I went along. Some decisions I just ended up guessing."

“It’s a lot of fun learning," he continued. "I really like the dynamic puzzle aspect, just solving things on the fly. It’s stressful though. People are watching on the stream at home. My friends are watching. I just don’t want to make a huge mistake.”

2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju HKD 250,000 Short Deck Ante-Only Event

Place Player Country Prize (HKD) Prize (USD)
1 Justin Bonomo United States HKD 4,600,000 $586,114
2 Yue Wei Hsiang Malaysia HKD 3,300,000 $420,473
3 Sergey Lebedev Russia HKD 2,140,000 $272,671
4 David Benefield United States HKD 1,620,000 $206,414
5 Choon Siow Malaysia HKD 1,250,000 $159,270
6 Ying Lin Chua Malyasia HKD 975,000 $124,231
7 Ben Lamb United States HKD 780,000 $99,385
8 John Juanda Indonesia HKD 610,000 $77,724

The final day started with 15 players but only eight of them could walk away with a prize. Peter Jetten, Chan Leong, Robert Flink, Daniel Dvoress, Mikita Badziakouski, Luc Greenwood, and Paul Phua were the unlucky participants, who had to leave the tournament empty-handed.


The final table

The first player to bust in the money was John Juanda, who got 8th for HKD 610,000 ($77,724). Juanda was followed by US pro, Ben Lamb who busted with ten-nine against the aces of Yue Wei Hsiang. Lamb added HKD 780,000 ($99,385) to his bankroll.

Malaysia's Ying Lin Chua departed in sixth place after losing a flip with ace-king against the queens of Hsiang's. Chua booked a nice score of HKD 975,000 ($124,231).

He was followed by fellow Malaysian Choon Siow, who became the victim of Bonomo's. The fifth-place finish worthed HKD 1,250,000 ($159,270) for Siow this time.

Long-time US pro, David Benefield became fourth, which is certainly a great result considering this was his first-ever Triton Poker experience. The American received a paycheck of HKD 1,620,000 ($206,414).

Russian Sergey Lebedev was next to go when his pocket tens couldn't manage to hold against the ace-jack of Justin's. Sergey hit the rail in third place and picked up HKD 2,140,000 ($272,671) for his efforts.

Justin started the heads-up with a 2:1 lead over Yue Wei Hsiang but Yue was in a good spot to turn the tables, until his ace-queen was beaten by ace-ten and he suddenly found himself out of the tournament.

Hsiang walked away with a HKD 3,300,000 ($420,473) prize, while Bonomo added HKD 4,600,000 ($586,114) to his winnings which now stand at $44,626,823.

"It’s a fantastic start,” Bonomo said after the tournament. "My plan for short deck this week was to play the smallest buy-in and see how I’d feel to see if I’ll play the higher buy-ins. I couldn’t be happier right now."