British banker and poker pro Talal Shakerchi outlasted a stacked final table to win the $100,000 buy-in Main Event at the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam at the Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam. Shakerchi defeated Michael Soyza heads-up to secure his largest score to date with a first-place prize worth $3,250,000.
The coast of Vietnam was the latest international locale that attracted some of the elite poker players in the world with high rollers from all over the planet converged on the Hoiana Resort and Golf for the latest Triton Poker high roller series. The folks running Triton always pick some the coolest and swankiest spots on the planet to host baller events. The latest series -- 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam -- was located in Quang Nam, Vietnam just south of Da Nang.
The Hoiana Resort will host 15 high roller events that began on the first of March and runs for nearly two weeks of nonstop action that includes both tournaments and nose-bleed cash games.
Early event winners at the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam included Webster Lim, Nacho Barbero, Mark Rubbathan, Jans Arends, Dao Minh Phu, Orpen Kisacikoglu, and Jason Koon.
The Triton Vietnam Main Event had a $100,000 buy in and attracted 135 runners, who generated a prize pool worth $13.5 million. The top 20 players were paid out with most of the cheesecake set aside to the final four players -- all of each would earn seven-figure payouts.
Notable players who cashed in the Main Event, but missed the final table included Lun Loon, Seth Gottlieb, David Yan, Wiktor Malinowski, Brian Kim, Johannes Straver, Sam Grafton, Bryn Kenney, Erik Seidel, Sam Greenwood, and Michael Watson.
The final table at the 2023 Triton Vietnam Main Event included Talal Shakerchi, Michael Soyza, Dan Smiljkovic, Adrian Mateos, Fedor Holz, Tim Adams, Nick Petrangelo, Winfred Yu, and Roman Hrabec.
With nine players to go, Hrabec was the short stack with 535K and Petrangelo was the other shorty with 1.8M. Shakerchi began the final table with the big stack and 7.4M, and Mateos was not far behind with 7M. Smiljkovic had the third-most chips with 5.25M. Holz was lurking in the middle of the pack with 3.9M and the other mid-stacks included Yu,Adams, and Soyza.
Despite being seventh overall in chips with a modest stack worth 2.2M, Soyza rode a wave of run good at the final table and found himself among the final two players with big-stacked Shakerchi.
As expected, short-stack Hrabec was the first player to exit the final table, followed by Yu in eighth place.
Petrangelo, the lone American at the final table, hit the road in seventh place but he banked over a half-mill with a $566K score. Adams was the last Canadian standing and he was picked off in sixth place for a $756K score.
Holz could not get anything going at the final table, and the German wunderkind bowed out in fifth place, which paid out a shad under a million bucks for $965,000.
Mateos, the all-time money winner from Spain with over $30 million in tournament earnings, padded his Hendon Mob stats with a $1.2 million score for fourth place.
Dan Smiljkovic won a bracelet when he shipped the 2021 WSOP Online Main Event at GG Poker, and he missed out on winning a Triton event when he was eliminated in third place by Shakerchi. The young German flopped two pair but was flushed out by Shakerchi. Smiljkovic banked nearly $1.5 million for his deep run.
When heads up began, Shakerchi held a 2-to-1 chip lead over Soyza. It would be a battle of the United Kingdom versus Malaysia for the Triton Vietnam Main Event title.
Soyza made a final stand with 
but could not come from behind to defeat Shakerchi's 
. Shakerchi flopped a nut lush draw, but turned a pair of sevens to win the pot. Soyza headed to the rail in second place. Soyza earned a runner-up payday worth $2.2 million. Not too shabby, eh?
Shakerchi was the last player standing, and he banked $3.25 million for first place. His biggest cash to date and his only other seven-figure score prior to Vietnam was $1.1 million at the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas when he finished in fourth place. He nearly tripled his previous best score with a $3.25 million payout in Vietnam.
2023 Triton Vietnam Main Event
Buy-in: $100,000
Entrants: 135
Prize Pool: $13,500,000
Payouts: 20
Final Table Results:
1. Talal Shakerchi (UK) $3,250,000
2. Michael Soyza (Malaysia) $2,207,000
3. Dan Smiljkovic (Germany) $1,450,000
4. Adrian Mateos (Spain) $1,201,000
5. Fedor Holz (Germany) $965,000
6. Tim Adams (Canada) $756,000
7. Nick Petrangelo (USA) $566,800
8. Winfred Yu (Hong Kong) $418,400
9. Roman Hrabec (Czech) $324,000
