‘Nice to be lucky’ – Bryn Kenney reaches $70M with Triton win

The start of a new week in Monte Carlo brought together the final nine remaining players in Event #10: $125,000 NLH Main Event. The event drew a field of 159 entries (99 unique) to generate a prize pool of $19,875,000, with 27 players paid and $4,410,000 for the eventual winner. 

After starting the day third in the chip counts, Bryn Kenney navigated his way through the final table to add a fourth title to his Triton resume – his second Triton Main Event win. In the process, Kenney widened his first-place lead on the all-time Triton earnings list, bringing his total cashes over the $40M mark. The victory also pushes Kenney over $71M in lifetime total earnings, according to The Hendon Mob. 

The final nine

After playing down to a final table on Sunday, Jonathan Jaffe took an overwhelming chip lead into the final frame of play. Wai Leong Chan started second in the counts, but, with less than half of Jaffe’s stack, he still had his work cut out for him. Kenney, rounded out the third spot on the chip count podium with a slight edge over fourth-place Mario Mosbock. 

Danny Tang, Haralabos Voulgaris, and Punnat Punsri started with roughly the same amount of chips, each of them clustered in the middle of the counts. Jesse Lonis and Thomas Muhlocker began the final table in the danger zone and in need of a serious spin up. 

Short stacks bow out

Lonis was the first man eliminated after moving all-in from the cutoff with for a little more than ten big blinds. Punsri made the call from the small blind with and Lonis found himself dominated – with just three immediate outs to the winner. The flop offered up some outs to a chop, but the turn and rivered improved Punsri to a ten-high straight and Lonis’ run ended in a ninth-place finish. 

Muhlocker followed suit shortly after. As the blinds whittled his stack down, he found a good spot to double when Kenney moved all-in from under the gun and he looked down at . Unfortunately for Muhlocker, Kenney’s smashed the runout to send his opponent to the payout desk in eighth place. 

Thomas Muhlocker got his chips in good, but couldn’t hold across the runout.

Jaffe added to his chip lead when he eliminated Tang. It all started with an under-the-gun open from Mosbock with . Tang moved all in over the top with before Jaffe called behind with . Mosbock had a tough decision but swiftly slid his jacks into the muck. Tang was in need of assistance, with only three immediate outs to the winner, but the runout kept his hand second-best. 

Mosbock, Jaffe, and Voulgaris exit

After running into Voulgaris’ – and failing to find the two-outer – Mosbock found himself in the danger zone, running on fumes. The next hand, Mosbock defended his big blind with against an open from Kenney and called off the rest of his stack on the flop. Kenney’s held the lead, but Mosbock had outs to make the winner – any or . The turn offered no assistance, however, and the river kept Kenney’s hand best to send Mosbock to the rail in sixth place. 

With just about nine big blinds remaining, Jaffe committed the majority of his stack with from the cutoff. When the action folded around to Chan in the big blind, it looked like Jaffe might take down the blinds uncontested. Chan, however, looked down at and made the call. On the flop, Jaffe put in his final chip and Chan matched it. The turn left Jaffe drawing thin and the river sent the start-of-day chip leader to the payout desk in fifth place. 

Jonathan Jaffe taps the table after his elimination in fifth place.

Voulgaris then squared off against Chan in a blind versus blind confrontation that saw both players pick up premium holdings. Voulgaris started the action by completing from the small blind with . Chan, with wasted no time in raising. With just over ten big blinds in his stack, Voulgaris moved all-in over the top and Chan quickly checked his cards before making the call. The flop kept Chan best, but offered up backdoor draws for Voulgaris. The turn, however, left him drawing at just six outs. Chan improved to a set on the river and Voulgaris’ day ended in a fourth-place finish.  

Kenney vs. Chan for the title

Three-handed play saw Chan and Kenney sitting on similarly-large stacks in comparison to Punsri’s remaining chips. It didn’t take long for Punsri’s tournament life to fall on the line. 

Once Kenney exited from the button, Chan moved all-in with and Punsri called it off with . The dealer spread the flop to give Punsri the lion’s share of the equity, but he needed to connect with the turn or river to stay alive. On the turn, Punsri’s equity share diminished and the river confirmed his elimination in third place. 

After taking out Punsri, Chan took a slim chip lead into the heads-up frame of play, but Kenney clawed the advantage away from his opponent after just four hands. Chan wasn’t going down without a fight, however, as just a few hands later he took an aggressive line to haul in a sizable pot. Facing a raise from Kenney on the button, Chan opted to three-bet his . Kenney, in position, made the call with . On the flop, Chan continued for a roughly half-pot sizing and Kenney was forced to relinquish his holding. 

Just a couple of hands later, the same action played out as Kenney raised from the button with and Chan three-bet from the big blind. This time, however, Chan had a real hand – . With the action back on him, Kenney opted to four-bet jam and Chan called instantly. With nearly even stacks at the time, the winner of this pot would take a near-insurmountable chip lead. On the flop, Kenney added outs, but the turn left him drawing slim. The river was gin for Kenney as he improved to trips and delivered a brutal bad beat to Chan. 

Punnat Punsri and the others on Wai Leong Chan’s rail react to the brutal beat.

After doubling once through Kenney to give himself the slightest amount of breathing room, Chan moved all in from the button with . Kenney found in the big blind and quickly called. With the title on the line, the improved Kenney to a full house but left Chan drawing still-live to his six outs (seven, technically, as the would leave him with the nuts). The turn and river kept it clean for Kenney and, with that, he laid claim to the Triton Monte Carlo Main Event title and the $4,410,000 top prize. 

As he sat patiently waiting for tournament director Luca Vivaldi to present him with the trophy, Kenney could be heard saying to someone on the rail, “Jack on the river for all the chips, got it in bad. Nice to be lucky.” 

In his winner’s interview, Kenney was asked about his secret for consistently showing up in big tournaments. “Never give up,” Kenney responded. “That’s the secret for sure, never give up. Everyone has their rollercoaster, their wave that they’re on. It goes up, it goes down. I decided to have a crazier rollercoaster and a more intense one than most others. You just gotta hang on for the ride and give it your best, not let things bring you down. Never stop fighting.” 

Triton Monte Carlo $125,000 NLH Main Event final table results