Daniel Dvoress Closes Triton Cyprus Festival With $20,000 Short Deck Event Victory

Daniel Dvoress had 17 in-the-money finishes in Triton Poker events without coming away with the title. Finally, the 18th time was the charm for the World Series of Poker bracelet winner from Canada. He emerged victorious in the final event of the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series North Cyprus festival, topping a field of 29 entries to secure the title and the prize of $214,000 in the $20,000 short deck event.

Dvoress now has more than $26.5 million in career tournament earnings, with more than $7 million coming in Triton events.

This win also conveyed 216 Card Player Player of the Year points to Dvoress, who has made eight final tables so far this year. With more than $1.6 million in to-date POY earnings and 2,305 points, Dvoress is now the 35th-ranked player in the 2023 POY race presented by Global Poker.

Only the top five finishers cashes in this event. Paul Phua was knocked out on the money bubble when his A-Q lost to the J-9 suited of two-time Triton winner Tom Dwan.

Stephen Chidwick soon followed when his A-9 suited ran into the pocket tens of Dvoress, which improved to a set on the flop. Chidwick found no help and was knocked out in fifth place, earning $55,100 for his fifth cash of the series. Chidwick has now made ten final tables in 2023, winning three titles along the way. The defending POY champion now sits in 12th place in the POY standings with nearly $3.5 million in to-date POY earnings and 3,256 total points.

First-time Triton casher Denys Chufarin was the next to hit the rail, running A-10 suited into the pocket jacks of Dvoress. Chufarin secured $68,100 for his efforts.

Ace-high battled against a big pocket pair again in the next key hand at the final table. Recent pot-limit Omaha event winner Michael Watson held A-Q suited facing the pocket queens of Dwan. The pair held in this instance as well, and Watson settled for $94,800 as the third-place finisher. This was Watson’s ninth final-table finish of the year, with four titles won and more than $3.3 million in POY earnings accrued so far. With this latest deep run, Watson has strengthened his hold on the fifth-place spot on the POY leaderboard.

Heads-up play began with Dwan holding more than a 2:1 chip advantage on Dvoress. Things even up as play continued, with Dvoress pulling ahead in time for the final hand.

All of the chips went in on the KKJ flop with Dwan holding QJ for kigns and queens. Dvoress had Q7 for a flush draw. The 7 turn gave Dwan a flush draw also, while Dvoress added a pair of his own. The 7 on the end gave Dvoress a backdoor full house, sevens full of kings, to lock up the pot and the title. Dwan was eliminated in second place, earning $148,000 to bring his career total to more than $5.9 million.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:

Photo credits: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.