Triton Poker recently hosted a unique poker tournament that caught my attention as a poker fan. Although it’s not the first time we’ve seen this type of tournament, it’s one that doesn’t happen often and has some fascinating dynamics.
The Triton Invitational is a $200,000 invite-only poker tournament with a $20 million prize pool that awards more than $5 million to first place. The only two ways to participate are to be one of the business tycoons who receive an invite from Triton themselves, or be a professional poker player accepting an invite from one of those tycoons, each of whom must invite one pro player to join them.
This year’s star-studded roster included heavyweights such as Daniel Negreanu, Fedor Holz, Phil Ivey, and Danny Tang, the latter of whom was invited by ACR Poker CEO Phil Nagy. (As an aside, it would be amazing to see this event done as a live draft, with the tycoons getting to select from a pool of professionals and competing for a last-longer prize for the final surviving pair.) But it’s not just the selection process that makes the Triton Invitational unique, but the structure as well.
On Day 1 of the event, the pros and business tycoons are completely segregated, competing only against one another. Those who survive the day are then reshuffled, and the tournament completes as normal. This structure creates some interesting dynamics that make it a fascinating watch.
For one, with amateurs playing amateurs and pros playing pros on day one, each set of players has completely different incentives and therefore a different strategic approach.
Without the dangers of shark-infested waters, the tycoons are incentivized to get in the action early on Day 1 and splash around while their tables will, respectfully, be at their weakest.
Conversely, the pros are putting up $200,000 of their own money knowing full well they won’t face a single soft spot unless they survive to Day 2. Thus, the pros are incentivized to play much more cautiously on the first day, avoiding spots with comparatively thin edges. Of course, any time everyone is following a similar strategy, opportunities open up for those brave enough to buck the trend, adding riveting dynamics to both Day 1s.
But it’s at the Final Table where the real intrigue is. Unlike regular final tables where professionals can put a lot of financial pressure on their amateur opponents, at the Triton Invitational it is likely that every amateur is wealthier than most, if not all, of their professional counterparts. Add these dynamics to the big egos and competitive nature of a large group of highly successful people and it seems Triton has found a perfect recipe for a fascinating poker watch!
As ACR Poker boss Phil Nagy said: “Triton is the ninth wonder of the world… It’s Disneyland for poker adults.”
Watch Nagy navigate the Triton Invitational and try to take down the five-million dollar first-place prize:
