Facts and Stats: The Field for Triton Million, Poker's Richest Event

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Jul 31, 2019 7 min read Last updated Aug 01, 2019

Cards will shortly be in the air in London for Triton Super High Roller Series, but the opening turbo is a mere appetizer compared to the titanic tournament on tap for Thursday. For the fifth time in the history of poker, a tournament with a 1 million buy-in will run, and this one will be bigger than all the rest.

After editions in 2012, 2014, and 2018 with a $1,000,000 buy-in in Las Vegas, and an edition costing �1,000,000 ($1,097,140) in 2016, it's now time for the most expensive poker tournament in the history of the game. The Triton Million costs ��1,050,000 to enter, the equivalent of $1,283,324 at the current exchange rate. The event runs Aug. 1-3 at London Hilton on Park Lane. Triton Million Live Reporting updates can be found in the PokerNews Live Reporting section once action gets underway.

The Triton Million website has released a list of players who have signed up for this unique event. While it's not set in stone that all of them will actually take their seat, the list is impressive already. Some of the richest recreational players and the best professional poker players have made their deposit for a chance of what's likely to be the biggest first-place prize in poker history.

What's more, they'll be entering play in a format different than any used before in poker. The field is evenly split between invited players �� typically businessmen and recreational players �� and their professional-playing guests. Not only that, each side of the field will be segregated for the first six levels of play, with no late registration allowed. After that tournament staff will still do their best to keep the tables relatively balanced between invited players and guests. Finally, an invited player and his or her guests will be kept separate until the final table.

In advance of the start of play �� Thursday at 1 p.m. local time, 8 a.m. EDT �� we've taken a close-up look at all the players, with attention to their lifetime results, biggest cashes, ranking on the all-time money list and Global Poker Index. We've also checked which previous 1 million buy-in events they've played before.

Read on to get all the key facts and figures in advance of what promises to be the biggest 1 million event yet, with more than 50 players registered. In addition, PokerNews will post a seat draw when it's made available after 9 p.m. in London. UPDATE: Check out the seat draw here.

Highlights of the Triton Million Players

• With 54 registered players, the Triton Poker Million is the biggest of all one million buy-in poker tournaments. The Big One for One Drop in 2012 attracted a field of 48, the 2014 edition saw 42 players sign up, 28 players bought in for the 2016 version, and last year's Big One for One Drop event in Las Vegas had 27 registrants.
• Cary Katz, Rick Salomon, and Talal Shakerchi are the only three players who have played all four 1 million buy-in events so far. All three of them are registered for the Triton Million event.
• None of the players participated in three of the 1 million buy-in events, but Dan Smith, Sam Trickett, Christoph Vogelsang, Paul Phua, Haralabos Voulgaris and Bobby Baldwin participated in two of them.
• Rick Salomon cashed in 3 of the 4 one million buy-in events he played (4th in 2014 for $2,800,000, 3rd in 2016 for �3,000,000, and 4th in 2018 for $2,840,000.)
• In the 2016 event in Monaco, Bobby Baldwin was the first player to bust. The WSOP Main Event champ and former casino executive, is participating in his third 1 million buy-in event after also playing the inaugural Big One for One Drop event in 2012.
• 10 players have lifetime earnings lower than the buy-in of this event. Sosia Jiang, Liang Yu, Zang Shu Nu, Chin Wei Lim, Chow Hing Yaung, Qiang Wang, Pat Madden, Rob Yong, Alfred DeCarolis, and Ferdinand Putra will wager more entering this event than they've won in their lives playing live poker tournaments.
• Besides the aforementioned 10 players, the ��1,050,000 buy-in is bigger than they've ever earned in a single tournament for another seven players. Orpen Kisacikoglu, Tom Dwan, Winfred Yu, Andrew Robl, Antanas "Tony G" Guoga, Matthias Eibinger, Voulgaris and Talal Shakerchi have never cashed for $1,219,833 or more in a single tournament.
• Several players have a GPI ranking in the thousands or lack a position on the list at all. This is an indication they're not as active in the live poker tournament scene (anymore) since the Global Poker Index only takes into account results from the last three years. Fedor Holz, Trickett, Richard Yong, Stanley Choi, Dan Cates, Tony G, Robl, Timofey Kuznetsov, Bill Perkins, and Tom Dwan are familiar names for any poker fan, but they haven't cashed a ton in recent years.
• Elton Tsang's last cash is from 2016, when he won the �1,000,000 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza for �11,111,111.
• Trickett, Baldwin, Richard Yong, Vogelsang, Salomon, Katz, Tsang, Andrew Pantling, Justin Bonomo, Smith, and Holz have all cashed a 1 million buy-in event before. Salomon cashed three times, Katz twice.
• Four of the five players that cashed in 2018's $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop event have signed up for the Triton Million. Byron Kaverman is the sole player who hasn't secured a spot in this week's ��1,050,000 event.

All Triton Million Players Data

<sup>* PRO = professional poker player, REC = recreational poker player - status defined by Triton Poker
* The buy-in of the One Drop events in Las Vegas in 2012, 2014, and 2018 was $1,000,000
* The buy-in of the One Drop event in Monaco in 2016 was �1,000,000
* All earning stats via TheHendonMob.com. GPI status via GlobalPokerIndex.com.
* We're unsure of the accuracy of the stats for the latest addition to the list of players, Ben Wu from the United States.
* ATML = All-Time Money List</sup>

Previous One Million Reporting on PokerNews

PokerNews has been present for all four previous 1 million buy-in events:

• 2012 World Series of Poker Event 55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop (Las Vegas)
• 2014 World Series of Poker Event 57: The $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop (Las Vegas)
• 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza �1,000,000 Big One For One Drop (Monaco)
• 2018 World Series of Poker Event 78: The Big One for One Drop - $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em (Las Vegas)

Everyone Who Ever Cashed in a 1 Million Buy-In Event

Seat Draw Day 1 Triton Million - A Helping Hand for Charity

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