Triton Cyprus High Roller Series canceled

Ivan Leow, one of the most adored and regarded poker players in Malaysia, passed away on Saturday, September 17, according to Triton Poker's early evening announcement. The article claims that Leow passed away at the young age of 41 from natural causes - apparently, a heart attack. Leow has been active on the Triton circuit ever since it began, repeatedly taking home several trophies from all around the world.

After Ivan Leow's passing, Triton Cyprus comes to an early end.

Three days into the tournament, the Triton Poker Series in Cyprus was over due to the terrible and unexpected passing of Malaysian poker professional Ivan Leow.

One of the friendliest and most entertaining players on the Triton tour, Leow was also one of the tour's co-founders. He played in 12 Triton final tables and won two championships in Jeju and Sochi.

“Ivan was a hugely popular member of the Triton family. He was warm, generous, and enormous fun both at the tables and off – a loyal friend to us all. He was also a fantastic poker player, with a lifelong passion for the game,” Phua and Yong said in a statement through Triton Poker.

“Ivan was a very special person, who lived life to the full, was always smiling, and loved the game of poker. He will be sincerely missed by his family, friends, and everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him," the statement continued.

“From Paul & Richard, It is with great sadness we announce that our dear friend, partner, supporter and founding Triton member, Ivan Leow, 41, passed away this morning of natural causes.”, posted Triton on Twitter.

Leow helped the Triton high roller series make its debut back in 2015 and is credited as a partner and founding member along with Paul Phua and Richard Yong. After learning of Leow’s passing, the tournament series was postponed for the planned $50,000 Short Deck final table. The final two events on the schedule, the $25,000 Short Deck and the $100,000 Main Event, were canceled.

Leow is third on Malaysia's all-time money list, behind only Phua and Yong, with more than $13 million in live event victories.

In 2018, he had a particularly good year, taking home the Triton Jeju Short Deck event for $1.1 million, the partypoker MILLIONS Russia main event for $1.1 million, and the €100,000 buy-in WSOP Europe high roller for $1.4 million.

Just over a year prior, he lost to Wiktor Malinowski in the Super High Roller Bowl Europe competition and received a career-high payout of $2.46 million. In the opening round of the Cyprus series, he won the $25,000 high roller for a minimum of $59,000.

Author: Charles F Jr is a poker and crypto enthusiast who writes about online poker since 2020, also a translator for Portuguese & Spanish.