Swiss bliss: Linus Loeliger leads field in $200K Triton Invitational

Thursday in Monte Carlo saw action kick off in one of the most highly-anticipated tournaments on the Triton Super High Roller Series schedule. Event #8: $200,000 NLH Triton Invitational drew a field of 102 entries (80 unique players) to generate a prize pool of well over $20,000,000. Players were allowed one re-entry and as the day wore on, several of those re-entries were utilized. 

The $200,000 NLH Triton Invitational features a unique format wherein professional players are only allowed entry into the event on the basis of an invitation from one of the non-professional entrants. Triton Poker approaches these VIPs with an invitation to play the tournament and, once accepted, each VIP must find a professional to partner with. On Day 1 of the event, the two-player groups battle amongst one another, with no crossover between the professionals and the VIPs. On Day 2, the pools combine and a favorable seat draw for pros and VIPs alike becomes of the utmost importance. 

Loeliger and Sturm play a big one

Linus Loeliger finished the day as chip leader after battling it out against his fellow pros. The Swiss online phenom bagged up well over one million chips from a starting stack of 300,000, thanks in part to a massive hand he played against Germany's Leon Sturm. At the time, he and Sturm were first and second respectively in the chip counts. On the Triton Poker YouTube stream, the production team utilized the Mystery Hand feature to keep viewers in suspense as they withheld Loeliger's hole cards – though the action throughout the hand narrowed his range considerably. 

Linus Loeliger puts Leon Sturm all in on the river with a Mystery Hand.

Sturm began the hand with a raise from under the gun holding . When the action folded to him on the button, Loeliger three-bet. Sturm, still loving his hand, responded with a four-bet before his opponent quickly came over the top with a five-bet. While he may not have loved his holding as much at this point, Sturm was up against an opponent capable of finding a five-bet bluff and, thus, made the call. The dealer spread the flop and Loeliger continued with a quarter-pot bet sizing. Sturm wasn't ready to part ways with his cards just yet and matched the wager. The turn presented the potential for one of Loeliger's most likely bluff combinations to have improved in a major way, but the action went check-check. 

On the river , the German checked to his opponent and Loeliger slid a stack of chips across the betting line – enough to put Sturm all-in. After expending several time banks, Sturm found the fold button – correctly so, as the on-stream graphics revealed Loeliger's . 

Korzinin sets the tone

Despite a trip to the rebuy desk in the early goings, Triton first-timer Vladimir Korzinin topped the VIP side of the field, bagging up a stack good enough for third in the chip counts. In another Mystery Hand, Korzinin made a crazy move to force a fold from his opponent. 

While Sturm was deliberating his decision in the hand against Loeliger, the Triton production team took viewers to the action in another spot. The preflop action saw Korzinin raise with the Mystery Hand before calling Winfred Yu's three-bet with . On the flop, Yu continued for a small sizing and Korzinin responded with an all-in. After considering his options for a moment, Yu mucked his cards. When the graphics revealed Korzinin's hand as both Henry Kilbane and Randy Lew expressed their astonishment and admiration from the commentary desk. 

Vladimir Korzinin puts his opponent to the test with a Mystery Hand.

" offsuit?! This man is sick," said Lew. 

"What?" Kilbane asked. "I want Korzinin to run deep in this because good luck running ICM counts with someone like Korzinin in the mix." 

The Estonian finished the day with just two big blinds less than Anson Ewe, who fills out the Day 1 podium in second place. 

Tomorrow, players will return to the tournament area for a brief period of play with a 50/50 ratio of professionals to VIPs at each table. As play continues across Day 2, a random seat draw will take place and, from there, play will continue in standard MTT fashion. 

Event #8: $200,000 NLH Triton Invitational Day 1 Top 10 

^{Images Courtesy of Triton Poker}