For the second series in a row, the final table of the main tournament of the Triton series was commentated by Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov. This time he and Dmitry Shakhov were joined by Mikhail Semin, replacing his former partner Ilya Gorodetsky.
Timofey Kuznetsov spent the final day of the main tournament in the company of Dmitry Shakhov and Ilya Gorodetsky. For almost 7 hours, Trueteller talked with the presenters, answered questions from the chat, and recalled stories from his youth.
Timofey Kuznetsov: Today we only have the final or will they show hands from $200k?
Dmitry Shakhov: I plan to comment on $200k when this tournament ends.
Mikhail Semin: What, Timofey, is $125k not so interesting to you? Too cheap?
TK: No, I just have shares there from Arthur Martirosyan and Viktor Malinovsky. Moreover, I haven't taken from Arthur for a long time before this series. He put too high odds, and I only buy very cheaply.
MS: Why didn't you go to the series yourself?
TK: It didn't work out in time. Soon I will go to France with friends to watch the semi-finals and finals of Roland Garros. But I heard that there was a very cool cache at the series, Tony G brought some VIP.
DS: Some British financier lost 17 million in an evening, but said that he really enjoyed the game.
TK: Yes, and they played $1k/$2k, that is, he lost 80 buy-ins in an evening.
MS: Phil Ivey was written off by many about five years ago, but he continues to show excellent results. How can you be at the top for so many years or is he still not so good?
TK: He's very strong live. It is clear that in tournaments he is technically inferior to the strongest, but he does not give out any tells, he always plays with concentration, and these factors are very important in a live game. Also, he's suitable for mixes.
MS: If you were offered shares from two players from this final right now, who would you take from?
TK: Igor and Ivey.
MS: Are you familiar with Ponakovs' play?
TK: No, his injury started when I stopped playing a lot. I heard that he plays cool, but I haven't seen it myself.
MS: I'm sure that he knows ICM in this lineup better than anyone else. In your opinion, is this not so important?
TK: Of course it is important. I just take shares only from those whose play I myself had the opportunity to evaluate.
DS: Aleksejs and I commented on one of the latest GG Millions, he said that he has one of the highest odds on these series.
TK: That's why I didn't follow him; on principle, I don't buy with a high markup.
MS: What are the maximum odds you are willing to consider for such a tournament from the top players?
TK: 1.05. There is also a rake of 6%.
MS: But the players are given free accommodation and food.
TK: It doesn't matter to me how anyone lives. In general, a lot depends on the lineups, I have seen cash games where they collected $1 million in rake in a day, and it was still profitable to play.
DS: What can you say about Wai Kin Yong? Surely you played a lot?
TK: He plays quite tightly, his style is closer to Paul Phua than to Richard Yong. In the expensive games in which he participates, he is always a plus player, in tournaments he is a fairly average player, technically not bad, but worse than the strongest regulars.
DS: In previous episodes, he used to clearly move away, is it from a lack of motivation?
TK: There is a style of play – BTO (Bankroll Theory Optimal) – when there is too much money, you can deviate from GTO.
The first to leave the final table in 8th place was Elizabeth Chen ($478,000).
TK: By the way, of those with whom I spoke, Slava Buldygin knows ICM best of all.
MS: Have you seen his hand with a full house?
TK: Just the end.
JS: In a 3-way pot on the flop, after betting and calling, Buldygin check-raised and Chidwick paid. Turn, the bet was a call, and on the blank river Vyacheslav bet 2/3 of the pot, Chidwick decided that his trips were good and shoved, but in fact it turned out to be a great bluff.
TK: Of course, you had to push yourself with Fives, so as not to think about it later.
DS: Igor won a $50k tournament in this series, which was held in a new format – $60k bounties began to be played only in the top 25% of the field. Interestingly, some professionals missed it. Ben Heath, Nick Petrangelo and Nikita Bodyakovsky did not play on principle because they did not have such tournaments. Would you be interested in playing this format?
TK: Naturally, I am ready to play any new formats, where you can get the maximum advantage.
MS: In the chat, they ask if Timofey even plays poker now?
TK: Very little. The last time I played was a year ago, when there was an expensive closed Short Deck game online. Now I'm more interested in investing, and there are fewer expensive games. Even mixes in Vegas have become cheaper to play, and they are collected less often.
MS: Has anyone challenged you lately in poker?
TK: No, but I won't accept much from anyone.
MS: Because only those who play better can call?
TK: Yes, and they will be more motivated. I've been playing high stakes for many years now, I've proven everything to myself. We need to objectively evaluate our strengths; any professional would need a victory over me more than I would need a victory over him. In NL and Omaha, preparation greatly influences how accurately you play the flop and turn. No one will definitely want to play with me in the mix that I choose myself. It is unlikely that there will be anyone willing to play Short Deck plus Pot-Limit Triple Draw.
Bryn Kenney was eliminated in 8th place ($580,000).
A couple more hands later, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau made two outs in a row. First, he outbid Wai Kin Yong ($800,000) on the river.
And then he knocked out Samuel Ju ($1,098,000).
Stacks at First Break:
DS: I wonder what the composition of 3-max should be for the players to discuss the division?
TK: It's hard to think of, except maybe Igor and Aleksejs in heads-up. I myself have never shared, so there are such harmful people who make it impossible to come to an agreement. More precisely, I might agree, but for others the conditions would be disgusting.
DS: Attentive viewers have noticed that Ivey alternates glasses in this episode. He started without them at all, then played with yellow lenses, yesterday changed them to red ones, and today, returned to yellow ones.
TK: For the last few years he has been simply a champion of healthy lifestyle. It's even surprising, because before that he spent 10 years in endless parties. And now he doesn't drink coffee in the first 45 minutes after sleep, wears glasses that block the blue spectrum in order to sleep better, and stuff like that.
DS: He had a famous bet against Dwan, when Phil was supposed to become a vegetarian for a year, but he lasted, it seems, 9 days and paid off. And the funniest poker bet I thought was John Hennigan's. He bet that he could live in a small town in Iowa for 6 weeks. Without any additional conditions, there were simply no gambling opportunities there. And he gave up two days later.
TK: John is a legendary player in terms of how highly he rates his abilities. He and I played heads-up Stud High, he apparently thought he was playing better and paid me 1 big bet per hour. If we play 40-50 hands, it turns out that he paid me 2-2.5 big bets/100 on top. This is a very large handicap; a strong player has about this much advantage over an average one. And I already played better without any additional compensation.
By the way, I also once paid my opponent from above – it was Haralabos Vulgaris, with whom we played Hold'em and Omaha for 24 hours without a break. By amateur standards, he played well, but in heads-up, especially live, you can get a huge advantage.
DS: In the chat, they ask if there is a hypothetical chance of seeing you heads-up with Feruell?
TK: Yes, if he wants to play something. I would probably even play Limit Hold'em with him, and if he agrees to add some other game, then it's generally easy.
Igor Yaroshevskyy took 5th place ($1,430,000) and updated the best cash for the third time in a year (and the second in five days).
The last two Triton series have been very successful for him.
In one of the next hands, Phil Ivey and Mikalai Vaskaboinikau were dealt a flush to a flush.
Phil completed on the SB, Mikalai checked on the BB. On the flop, Ivey bet 400,000 into a pot of 900,000, on the turn he bet 1,200,000 into a pot of 1,700,000, and check-push on the river. Mikalai quickly called and became the chip leader.
MS: Timofey, now there is more and more talk that online backing should be open. It is known that almost all regulars play expensive offline tournaments from sponsors. Does Paul Phua have an unspoken wish for players to reveal this information?
TK: No one insists on this on Triton, except that in cash it is not welcomed when players have large swaps for obvious reasons. It seems to me that in tournaments there is no need to set rules that cannot be controlled. The most decent participants will suffer first from this. People can sell shares and won't tell anyone about it, how can you check this? And if everyone honestly admits how many shares they are selling, this may even ruin the image of the tournaments. Almost no one plays for $100k-200k on their own.
Phil Ivey took 4th place ($1,795,000).
Stacks in 3-max
MS: Timofey, are you currently working on the game? Do you open the signs to remember the starters? Or you play so rarely that it makes no sense.
TK: I already remember the starters, but I don't study theory at all. A friend and I recently recalled how in Vegas we chose games for the mix by general vote. And at some point, they started voting for games that were as inconvenient as possible for me and a couple of other online regs. I haven't been there in a while, I wonder how many more years it will be before they agree to a mix of my choice. A friend says not earlier than 5 years.
MS: What did you play, all sorts of razz and badugi?
TK: No, no one plays this expensive. Cleaner games are Pot-Limit Badugi, Triple Draw, Stud Hi-Low, Single Draw. And no one really likes these weird split-pot draw games. Doyle didn't like them, Lyle and Marcus didn't like them either. And these are the people around whom big games gather.
MS: Everyone knows Doyle, but who are the other two?
TK: Lyle Berman is the creator of the WPT and has been playing for a very long time. And Marcus is the most dangerous amateur in the history of poker. He calls himself the "Killer Whale". A game was planned for him in Vegas, at some point he was invited to Jean-Robert Bellande's game in Aria, he took out $15 million from there, he was banned. I also made a lot of money in other big games. He was the CEO of a large software company with several thousand employees.
MS: Can anyone get into expensive mixes?
TK: Of course, a newbie might even be allowed to miss a couple of games.
MS: So even our Adrenaline and any online reg will be allowed in without any problems?
TK: Yes, only he will play in the red there.
MS: Seriously? Strange.
TK: Nothing strange. Ben Sulsky and Ike tried to make money, ended up losing a lot and ended up finishing. It's a very tough game and some of the regulars play really hard. Half of the games there are big bet games without a cap, that is, you won't be able to sit out any No-Limit. Omaha and Pot-Limit Triple Draw are also very expensive. I myself lost for a year and a half, but in the end I ended up with a profit. There will almost always be two players at the table who are stronger than Adrenaline in all games, and this is a big problem. There will also be an amateur, for whom the game is geared, he will be stronger in a third of the games.
MS: Which of the well-known top players is playing there, Matthew Ashton?
TK: Yes, and it's good. In general, it is probably the strongest in HORSE; it also plays other games quite well. Charles Hook is playing hard right now and so is Jungle.
MS: Have you played with Ashton online? Who is stronger?
TK: I didn't have time, but we played a lot in Vegas. I'm stronger in the hybrid mix, and almost all of it in limit.
In 3-max the stacks gradually became even.
Then Dejan dropped to a stack of less than 10 blinds and received Aces against Aleksejs Ponakovs' Kings. Surprisingly, the players managed not to get all-in preflop.
Dejan called on the SB, Aleksejs checked and called two small bets on the flop and turn. The river was checked through.
The showdown surprised Mikalai very much.
Then Vaskaboinikau eliminated Ponakovs from the tournament in two hands.
First, he doubled with A8s against K5o, and a few hands later Aleksejs shoved for 12 blinds and got called.
For 3rd place he received $2,200,000.
MS: Well, Timofey, if Aleksejs offers you shares at 1.06 for the next Triton, will you take it?
TK: It's too expensive, and I'm an old nit, I even bought it from Holtz for 1.02. It also depends on the upstreak or downstreak. I am ready to wait until a person starts losing, comes to me and agrees to my 1.01-1.03. It happens that the main backers refuse at the last moment, and right before the tournament I take everything. I am a last-reserve buyer and always say that others can sell for more if you can find them. I don't want to buy at a loss. There was a huge German fund that went into negative territory. They did everything according to science – they determined the coefficient after seating, used mathematical models, but none of this saved them.
MS: Are you in the black in terms of shares?
TK: Very big, although no, just big. There was one tournament in which I won a lot on shares.
MS: In the chat they ask, does Ivey pay you back?
TK: I don't really want to discuss this topic, but yes, it's gradually giving away.
Mikalai started heads-up with a stack of 44 blinds to 9, and in the second hand the tournament ended.
Dejan shoved, and Mikalai quickly called.
