Author: Howard Swains

After multiple high six-figure swings during the first two days of the Triton Cash Game Invitational at the Maestral Resort in Montenegro, there was only one thing for it: it was time to raise the stakes.

For Day 3, players on the televised table needed to pull up at least $500,000 to play and they’re going to be posting blinds of $1,000/$2,000 with a $5,000 big blind ante. To the surprise of no one, every seat could have been filled several times over.

As it was, Phil Ivey returned for another few hours in the coveted Hot Seat, reserved for a poker pro, with Danny Tang subbing in halfway through the day. Meanwhile, the conquering hero from Day 1, Elton Tsang, returned to the scene of his enormous early plunder. Could he do it again?

If you scroll to the bottom of this post and look straight at the profit/loss section, you’ll quickly learn the answer to that. But if you can deny yourself that instant gratification, let’s take a look at how some of the major hands played out first.

Alongside Ivey, Tang and Tsang, the following all took a seat: Rob Yong, Tan Xuan, Handz, Paul Phua, ST Wang and Andy Ni. If you’ve been following closely over the past two nights, you’ll know that’s a combustible line-up. And there were indeed plenty of fireworks.

Strap in.

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PRE-FLOP AGGRESSION WINS IT FOR XUAN

It didn’t take long for Elton Tsang to get involved in the action, but despite what we saw earlier in the week, it doesn’t always go his way. He played a small part in a hand that showed just how powerful it can be to get your chips in no matter what the action ahead of you.

Handz got things going with a limp from under the gun with . Tsang then raised to $10,000 from the hijack, sitting with . Paul Phua, in the cutoff, looked down at and felt the time was right for a three-bet. He made it $35,000.

Tan Xuan was on the button and the uber-aggressive Chinese player looked at pocket jacks. Even with all the action ahead of him, he put in a four-bet, making it $85,000 to go. Handz, whose limp had made the ensuing action so weird, quickly folded. And Tsang took a while, but also decided to get out of the way. Phua was similarly tempted, but eventually binned his hand as well. Xuan therefore took down about $100,000 without having to see a flop.

IVEY ISN’T AFRAID

Action folded all the way around to Handz in the small blind and he called the $4,000 straddle amount with his . Phil Ivey, in the big blind, had and he decided to raise it up to $16,000.

Tsang, in the straddle with seven-deuce, chucked it away. But Handz stuck around.

The flop was absolutely beautiful for Ivey. It fell , giving him a straight and a straight-flush draw. Handz, meanwhile, had middle pair, top kicker. Handz checked and Ivey checked too. The completed Ivey’s flush, but both players just checked it. That brought them to the on the river.

Handz now thought he might as well take a stab. He bet $10,000. Ivey bumped it up to $40,000, even though he was sitting with only the third nuts. Handz folded.

XUAN AND WANG GO AT IT

Tan Xuan was the real source of most of yesterday’s action, even if things didn’t quite work out for him. But he only knows one way to play, which is why he opened to $7,000 from UTG+1 sitting with . ST Wang has had a great couple of days in Montenegro, and was enough for him to put in a three-bet, making it $25,000 to go.

These two had plenty of skirmishes yesterday, and Xuan wasn’t backing down today. He bumped it up to $100,000. And Wang was convinced. He let it go. Xuan therefore won pre-flop with five high.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Shortly after, Xuan found and raised to $7,000 again from under the gun. Wang this time had and three-bet to $23,000. Everyone else left these two to it again.

Xuan again found the four-bet. Again it was to $100,000. Wang again decided to get out of the way. Was this the long game?

WANG PICKS OFF NI TO LAND BIGGEST POT YET

This time, Tan Xuan was in the straddle, which left Andy Ni, UTG+1, to open things with a raise of $11,000. He was in the Mystery Hand, so we didn’t know initially what he was sitting with. ST Wang, in the hijack, had a real hand. He raised it to $35,000 with and that persuaded everyone else out of the way.

Ni, however, called and saw a flop of . They both checked, but then the turn gave even more potential to Wang’s hand. Both players checked, however.

The river was very interesting. It gave Wang the nut flush. But it was Ni who led out, putting $52,000 into the middle. Wang bumped it up. He wasn’t scared. He made it $135,000 to play. But there might have been an element of regret as Ni now jammed for $447,000. Could Wang really think about folding this top flush?

He certainly thought about it. He took his time to ponder his options. Eventually, however, he found the call and learned at the same time as the rest of us that he had made a very good decision. Ni was at it with and the flush was indeed good.

This $976,000 pot, the biggest of the week so far, headed to ST Wang.

XUAN HAS IT FOR ONCE; IT’S WORTH $1M+

When you play as many hands as Tan Xuan, you have a right to expect action when you find a monster. And it was good news for Xuan when he saw Elton Tsang open to $8,000 from the hijack with and then looked down at pocket aces in the cutoff. Xuan three-bet to $25,000 and Tsang called.

Tsang got a piece on the flop and check-raised against Xuan’s $28,000 c-bet. Tsang made it $75,000. Xuan three-bet to $182,000, putting the pressure back on Tsang. Did he believe the ultimate bluffer this time?

Tsang did not believe Xuan. He called. The pair then saw the turn. Tsang checked and Xuan now barrelled $230,000. Tsang responded with a shove, putting his whole $309,000 in the middle, which Xuan covered. Xuan’s call gave us the first seven-figure pot of the week: $1,040,000 to be precise.

They agreed to run it only once and the river was a blank. The aces held and this huge pot went to Xuan, eroding Tsang’s profit from Day 1 in one fell swoop.

YONG FALLS INTO TSANG’S TRAP

Rob Yong showed up slightly late to Tuesday night’s session, but hands like this one probably left him wishing he’d never shown up at all. Elton Tsang was the beneficiary, giving him a brief upturn in fortune.

Tsang picked up pocket fives and raised to $12,000 from the button. Yong looked down at in the small blind and three-bet to $40,000. Phil Ivey let his straddle go, but Tsang went set-mining.

His mining shoved clanked immediately on the ore he was looking for. The flop was . Yong flopped top pair, but Tsang found his set.

Long checked. Tsang bet $40,000 and Yong called. The turn must have seemed like a blank to Yong. He checked again, Tsang sized up to $135,000, and Yong called again.

The pot was now $441,000 and the dealer put the on the river. Yong maybe thought that was a bad card. But it turned out to be good for him. Yong checked and Tsang bet $320,000. The ace allowed Yong to find the correct fold.

TENSE, SLOW-MOVING FLIP BETWEEN HANDZ AND TSANG

As so often is the case, Tan Xuan got things started with a raise to $12,000 from the hijack. The straddle was on, and an opening raise was usually five figures. Xuan had , but it didn’t really matter. That’s because Handz, on the button, found pocket 10s and three-bet to $35,000. Elton Tsang, in the big blind, found and made it $100,000 to go. We were in six-figures pre-flop once again.

Xuan folded, but Handz counted out his stack and looked at what was potentially at risk. He had $503,000 behind, about half of what Tsang had in his stack. Handz called.

The flop was and Tsang led out. He bet $55,000. Handz called for the turn. Tsang sized up to $125,000, but it still didn’t shift Handz, who called once again.

The river was the , meaning the most obvious flush draw got there. Tsang now slowed down to a check allowing Handz to check behind. A relieved crypto investor took the $587,000 pot as Tsang pondered whether a river shove would have got it done.

TANG GETS TSANG TO FOLD BETTER

Things hadn’t been going well for Elton Tsang, and Danny Tang continued to apply the pressure on his friend. The pair played a pot in which Tsang opened to $12,000 with black pocket nines in the hijack, and Tang picked up one of the favourite hands of the solver generation: . Tang three-bet to $50,000. Tsang called.

The flop brought the and a c-bet of $40,000 from Tang. Tsang called to take them to the turn. Tsang’s hand was now relegated to third pair, while Tang now had a bigger draw. Tang fired out $85,000, which got it done, and added another $200K to Tang’s stack.

PHUA’S DEUCES FIND A WAY TO CRACK ACES

Triton co-founder Paul Phua hasn’t been involved in many of the big pots from the opening few days of this invitational and has resultantly recorded a small loss each night. But he’d have enjoyed this one against Tan Xuan, where the smallest pocket pair prevailed against the biggest.

Tan Xuan picked up pocket aces again. He raised to $12,000 from the cutoff. Phua had the Mystery Hand for viewers on the stream, but we eventually found out it was pocket twos. That meant the flop, which appeared after Phua called, brought something for both of them.

Phua checked, Xuan bet $15,000 and Phua called. The turn was the , i.e., the get-there card for Phua. He checked again and Xuan bet $34,000. Phua found the check-raise to $85,000. Xuan called.

The river made it even more hazardous for Xuan’s set of aces, but it also wasn’t great for Phua’s bottom straight. He checked. Xuan tossed out a tiny bet of $30,000 and Phua made the mandatory call.

A chuckling Phua learned he was good and finally picked up a pot of around $294,000.

YONG’S TURN TO CRACK ACES; GREAT FOLD FROM NI

One of the highlights of Monday night’s play came when Andy Ni had pocket aces, but was persuaded to lay them down on the river by a gutsy bluff from Rob Yong. Tonight they played a near repeat, but with one crucial difference.

Ni had the aces UTG+2 and he opened the pot to $11,000. Yong was in the hijack and he three-bet to $50,000 with what we eventually discovered was pocket kings. This had the potential to get very ugly. Ni four bet to $170,000 and Yong called.

Thus the two biggest pairs went up against one another, with more than $350K in the pot pre-flop. Neither player put any more in the middle after the flop. However, the turn vaulted Yong into the lead and, after Ni checked, Yong bet $175,000. Ni called. The river changed nothing.

Ni checked again and Yong stuck $400,000 over the line. Ni took a long time to think it through, but let this one go. This time he was right.

MORE FOR XUAN AS TSANG’S SLUMP CONTINUES

The night was drawing to its conclusion when Andy Ni put on the mandatory $4,000 straddle. One seat along, Elton Tsang put on the double straddle. And then Tan Xuan, one seat further, put on the triple. That meant there was $1,000 from the small blind, $2,000 from the big blind, plus the $5,000 ante, and then an additional $28,000 in straddles. When Paul Phua wanted to open the pot from the small blind with red pocket 10s, his opening raise was $65,000.

Ni folded his , but Tsang came along with pocket sixes and Xuan called with pocket fours. And there was a four in the window on the flop. After two checks, Xuan bet $88,000 with his bottom set. The jack allowed Phua to fold his tens, but Tsang called. The turn was the . Tsang checked and Xuan bet $200,000 into $382,000. Tsang now got away. At least for a moment.

On the very next hand, Tsang found himself in the $4,000 straddle and encouraged Xuan, to his immediate left, put on the $8,000 double straddle. That meant $20,000 was in the middle on this hand before a card was dealt.

After all players received their hands, Handz picked up pocket threes and opened to $20,000 from the cutoff. Tsang looked down at and called, but then Xuan saw pocket jacks in the bigger straddle and bumped it up even more. It was now $110,000 to play. He must have liked the encouragement from Tsang to put on that straddle.

Handz folded, but Tsang played on. The pair saw the flop. Tsang checked, Xuan bet $65,000, but Tsang now tried some strong-arm tactics. He raised to $175,000. With air.

Xuan did not seem bothered. He made the call as the pot ballooned to $600K. The on the turn was another over-card to Xuan’s jacks. Tsang checked once more, and Xuan checked behind. That took them to the on the river. Tsang checked again. Xuan checked again. The jacks stayed good as Xuan won another, leaving Tsang licking his wounds once more.

*****

Despite winning those last two significant hands, as well as the $1m+ pot earlier in the day, this was still a night that ended in the red for Tan Xuan. The way he plays, everybody knows that it could easily turn around for him very sharply.

Instead, the big winner from this session was ST Wang, who combined quiet accumulation with winning most of the major pots he entered. It gave him the first seven-figure profit of any player in any session so far.

Handz also bounced back from some early setbacks to record a tidy sum, with Danny Tang and Andy Ni (who folded those aces quite excellently) in the black.

At the other end of the spectrum, this was a difficult one for Elton Tsang. He finished more than $1.3 million down for the day. But, knowing Elton, he will be back.

DAY 3 PROFIT/LOSS

UP

ST Wang: +$1,389,000
Handz: +$647,000
Danny Tang: +$346,000
Andy Ni: +$34,000

DOWN

Phil Ivey: -$184,000
Paul Phua: -$227,000
Tan Xuan: -$246,000
Rob Yong: -$436,000
Elton Tsang: -$1,323,000

Photography by Drew Amato

While the Triton Super High Roller Series has become the go-to tour for the most prestigious and highest-stakes tournaments in the world, it’s no secret that Triton’s elite players enjoy the odd cash game on the side. Some of these games take place on the TV set for broadcast after the tournament sessions are over. Some others take place in private rooms, where the pots can get even more tasty.

Over the past week at the Maestral Resort in Montenegro, this passion for cash-game action has been indulged even more lavishly than normal. Some of Triton’s most esteemed figures, as well as a handful of newcomers, have been playing the exclusive Triton Series Cash Game Invitational. And tonight, the first stream of the action went out, allowing us all to find out what they’ve been up to.

If you predicted numerous six-figure pots, million-dollar swings, enormous bluffs, and sensational strong-arm poker for hours on end, consider your bingo card complete. It was all there as the likes of high-rolling businessmen Paul Phua, Elton Tsang and Aaron Zang took to the felt alongside just one professional at a time, occupying the so-called hot seat. In this first session, that hot seat was occupied by one of the absolute best: Switzerland’s Linus Loeliger.

There was also a very welcome surprise among the recreational players: a first appearance around the Triton tables of the American high stakes cash-game enigma Handz, whose own Twitter bio describes himself as “Two time loser of the biggest pot on HCL”. That’s a reference to two enormous set-ups on Hustler Casino Live, which cost him more than $1 million each.

Handz found a natural home at the Triton Series, where he was also joined by Elizabeth Chen, Joe Zhou, ST Wang and Andy Ni for this first of seven sessions. There was a minimum buy-in of $200,000 and they played blinds of $1,000/$2,000 with a $2,000 big blind ante.

Here’s the highlights from the opening day’s play.

NI COMES RACING OUT THE BLOCKS

If you thought things might start in a cautious manner, you haven’t watched Triton cash games before. Within a matter of about five minutes, Andy Ni was up more than $100K. That profit came from two pots, the second of which was a good one, and went like this.

Linus Loeliger opened to $5,000 from the cutoff with and Ni called with on the button. Joe Zou called too in the big blind with and the brought plenty of interest.

After two checks, Ni bet $8,000 and only Zou called. The latter liked the turn. The filled his straight. Both players checked, but the river swung things back in Ni’s favour. After Zou’s check, Ni bet $24,000. Zou called and the $82,000 pot went to Ni.

ZOU NEEDS A REBUY

The TV broadcast of the cash game action brought with it a neat “Mystery Hand” element. This is where even the viewers were denied knowledge of what a player was sitting with, keeping everyone guessing throughout. Linus Loeliger was the first player to have a Mystery Hand, in a big pot against Joe Zou, who had red pocket kings. But they turned out to be not good enough.

Loeliger opened to $5,000 from the hijack. Zou three-bet to $16,000 from the small blind. Loeliger called.

Zou didn’t connect with the flop and checked it. Loeliger bet $12,000. But then Zou check-raised to $24,000. Loeliger’s call bought him the turn. Zou now bet $35,000 and Loeliger called again.

The river was the and Zou checked. He had only $86,000 with the pot sitting at $154,000. Loeliger jammed everything in, which meant Zou had to decide if he wanted to go with it all. He did. He put his last chips in, forcing Loeliger to show down his . The rivered straight felted Zou.

Not long after, Zou had pocket aces and ended up chopping with Aaron Zang’s when the rest of the wheel cards came on the flop. Tough going for him in the opening stages.

‘THIS GAME IS LOOSENING UP’

Randy Lew, in the commentary booth alongside Ali Nejad, was pretty much bang-on when he said, “It’s safe to say this game is loosening up”, having watched Andy Ni and Handz get nearly a quarter of a million in pre-flop.

Ni opened the pot to 5,000 from UTG+1 and then saw Handz three-bet to $15,000 from the button. Ni had to Handz’ . ST Wang, in the big blind, actually had better cards than both of them, but he binned his pocket nines. Ni wasn’t so reticent. He four-bet to $65,000.

Handz wasn’t going anywhere with his big slick and jammed for $136K. Ni figured out that he wasn’t quite priced in and let it go.

MYSTERY HAND LANDS CHEN A CHUNK

Elizabeth Chen took over the seat and stack of Joe Zou after the first session (an arrangement they had made before getting started) and she did not waste any time in getting embroiled in a monster.

With Chen posting a $4,000 straddle and Elton Tsang posting a double straddle of $8,000 there was plenty in the middle before anyone volunteered anything else. It actually folded all the way around to Chen, who raised it up to $24,000. The contents of Chen’s hand was known only to her at this point. She was playing the “Mystery Hand”, which meant it was hidden even to viewers of the stream.

We knew Tsang’s cards though. He had pocket threes and called. That took them to a flop of . Chen bet $15,000 and Tsang called with his under pair.

The turn improved Tsang’s hand considerably. Chen checked and Tsang bet $65,000 with his turned set. Chen called, taking them to the river and giving Tsang a boat.

Chen checked again, and Tsang sized his river bet at $215,000, almost full pot. The fact that Chen didn’t snap-call likely gave Tsang some hope that he was good. But then after a quick second check of her cards, Chen shoved for $379,000. Tsang called immediately, but Chen tabled pocket tens for a flopped set, rivered quads. Tsang had never been ahead.

This pot worth $753,000 all went to Chen. A disgusting cooler for the two players in the straddles, but Chen went some way to digging her team out the hole it was left in after Zou’s tough luck in the early stages.

HANDZ PUT TO THE TEST WITH ACES

Linus Loeliger was in the $4K straddle and the TV director opted to give him the mystery hand. He saw something he liked, however, because after Handz opened to $10,000 and Tsang called, Loeliger put in the three-bet to $50,000. Little did Loeliger know that Handz had pocket aces. Tsang had a pocket pair too, but they were only sixes.

Handz laid the trap, however, and only called Loeliger’s raise. That persuaded Tsang in too, and the trio saw a flop of .

Tsang checked but Loeliger fired $40,000. Handz continued to play it cute with a call. Tsang now got out of the way. The turn made the board even more dicey, but Loeliger kept telling his story. He bet another $75,000. Handz called once more.

The river seemed brick-like, but Loeliger now emptied the clip. He moved in for his last $202,000, bloating the pot to $585,000. Handz asked for a count (he had $343K behind) and burned through a decent number of time bank chips as he made his decision. It was a fold.

That turned out to be very shrewd indeed. Loeliger’s had made a straight.

CHEN VS TSANG: THE SUB-PLOT

For a short while, this full ring table became more like a heads-up duel between Elizabeth Chen and Elton Tsang, with the pair battling repeatedly in several significant pots. After losing to quads earlier on, Tsang ended up the better in almost all of the subsequent skirmishes, boosting his stack comfortably into big green figures and leaving Chen in the red.

In one of them, Chen opened the button to $12,000 with and Tsang three-bet to $50,000 from the small blind with . Chen called.

Tsang bet $50,000 after the flop, which Chen called, but then the river was brutal for Chen. Tsang now had the nuts; Chen had top pair. Tsang bet $75,000 and Chen shoved for $230K. Tsang snapped her off.

The river was blank and Tsang took down this $670,000 pot. Chen was forced to reload.

CHEN FLOPS THE WORLD, TSANG CATCHES UP

Elton Tsang has pretty much never seen two cards he didn’t like, especially on the button, and the he started off with here was plenty good enough for a raise to $12,000. Elizabeth Chen, his old nemesis, was in the $4,000 straddle and called with her .

Chen absolutely adored the flop, and checked the nuts to Tsang. Tsang obliged with a bet of $12,000, which Chen quickly raised to $35,000. Tsang had top pair, so was happy to call, and the turn was a scare card to both of them. Chen checked again, Tsang continued with his line and bet another $27,000. Chen couldn’t fold to such a small size. She called.

The was another horrible card for Chen’s hand. She checked for a third time. This time, Tsang fired out $111,000 with what was now the top flush, losing only to full house or quad combos.

It was grim for Chen, whose straight was now also a flush. She found a very disciplined fold, sending the pot over to Tsang, but refusing to pay him off the extra.

It was a rough few orbits for Chen, who picked up pocket queens a little while later. The problem was that ST Wang had pocket kings and they went to battle on the turn, with the board showing (Handz, sitting with had come to the flop as well). Wang got his whole stack in at this point, leaving Chen to decide whether to risk her $261,000 with the overpair.

She did. They ran the river twice. But Wang’s kings held both times. Chen was forced to reload.

CHEN CLAWS SOME BACK FROM HANDZ

Elizabeth Chen got things started with a raise to $6,000 from the hijack, sitting with . Andy Ni, one seat along, called with his and everything seemed standard so far.

Handz looked down at the button in front of him, and in his hand, and felt that this was a decent spot for a squeeze. He bumped it up to $25,000, and it might have been over there and then.

However, Chen was going nowhere. She called. That persuaded Ni to the flop as well, with $80,000 in the pot.

The flop gave both Handz and Chen top pair, and after two checks, Handz bet $30,000. Chen was going nowhere once again. She called, but Ni had now seen enough. He backed out.

The turn was something of a scare card for both, and it brought a couple of checks. But then the river turned Chen’s hand into the nuts. She didn’t conceal the strength of her hand either, shoving $185,000 into the middle, which was more than the size of the pot to that point.

Handz was suspicious. Very suspicious. He burned through several time-bank chips and then made the call, acknowledging, “Good” when Chen turned over the nuts. The $470K pot headed Chen’s way.

ZANG’S MYSTERY HAND TOO MUCH FOR PHUA’S FLUSH

Aaron Zang is best known in world poker for winning the inaugural Triton invitational tournament, which just happened to have a £1 million buy-in. Although he agreed a heads-up deal with Bryn Kenney in that one, with Kenney taking slightly more money, Zang took the trophy alongside his £13.8 million ($16.8 million). That wasn’t too bad.

Zang subsequently won another $1.5 million when he took down a second Triton title in Vietnam in March 2023, so his skills have never been in doubt. And one of the best cash-game hands in this session featured Zang putting Triton co-founder Paul Phua in all manner of difficulty.

Blinds were $1,000/$2,000, with a $2,000 big-blind ante, and Linus Loeliger in a $4,000 straddle. Phua was UTG+1, i.e., first to act, and he put in a raise to $10,000 with . Action folded round to Zang on the button, and he raised to $31,000. Phua deemed his suited connectors good enough to continue.

The contents of Zang’s hand was known only to him at this point. He was playing the “Mystery Hand”. But he seemed to like it. After a flop of , Phua checked and Zang bet $40,000. Phua, with his flush draw, called the bet.

The turn was the and Phua didn’t improve. He checked again. This time Zang also checked. The river completed Phua’s flush, and he decided to lead out for $75,000, leaving $154K behind.

Zang wasn’t ready to give this one up though. He had a near-$500K stack and raised to $250,000, asking Phua to gamble the rest of what he had. Phua agonised. He had hit his flush, but it was far from the nuts. After much anguish he gave up, allowing Zang to take the $476,000 pot.

What did he have? Eventually the TV director let us know. He had for two pair. Was it a value bet, or had he turned his hand into a bluff? Either way, he raked in the pot.

One important element to this hand that perhaps wasn’t immediately obvious was that earlier in the day, Phua had similarly folded a pretty big hand — pocket nines — to a Zang river bet, on a board of . In that instance, Zang had , which was way ahead. So Phua’s fold was good. However, Zang leveraged that history to make Phua fold the best hand later on.

DAY 1 PROFIT/LOSS

After nine hours, they called this a day. It was a pretty exhilarating scene-setting start, with Elton Tsang the biggest winner. Here’s how they all ended up:

PROFIT
Elton Tsang: +$760,000
ST Wang: $436,000
Andy Ni: + $389,000
Aaron Zang: +$135,000

LOSS
Linus Loeliger: -$268,000
Handz: -$375,000
Paul Phua: -$391,000
Elizabeth Chen/Joe Zou: -$689,000

Photography by Drew Amato

For the second time in three days, a report from the Triton Series in Montenegro begins with the following line: Samuli Sipila is one of the best pot limit Omaha players in the world.

It first appeared after the 31-year-old Finn won the first event he had ever played under the Triton banner, the $25K PLO tournament that finished on Thursday. And now, remarkably, we’re adding Sipila’s name to the list of multiple Triton champions after he completed victory in the $50K buy-in PLO event and upped his all-time best tournament cash to $839,000.

“Wait, he’s going on the board already!?!” Jason Koon observed from across the room, naming a couple of players who hadn’t won a Triton event despite coming to every stop for years. Sipila is visiting for the first time and is leaving with his picture in the Hall of Fame.

Not only that, but for the second time, Sipila also had to overcome a significant chip deficit entering heads up play, and completed this victory by overhauling the formidable Nacho Barbero. The Argentinian, already a two-time Triton champion, had been the dominant force for the longest period of the final day, but ended up second best to this superlative PLO talent.

“I had hopes, obviously,” Sipila dead-panned after Ali Nejad asked him if he could possibly have imagined winning two events here in Montenegro. “Obviously there’s a lot of skill. It’s not just going all-in…But, to be fair, I have run really well.”

Three of the last four players in this event were from Finland (they teach PLO in kindergarten in Helsinki) but even in this kingdom of poker giants, Sipila stands tallest. He was keen to pay tribute to the player they all look up to, the long-time PLO legend Patrik Antonius, but Antonius was one of Sipila’s victims as he sailed to this incredible win.

“It’s easier to get better when you have a great group of people around you,” Sipila said, referencing the tight network of Nordic players who have made Montenegro their playground this week. Registration was still open on the PLO Turbo when the this tournament was finished. What price a hat-trick?

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The opening stages of the tournament played out in the same room as the PLO Main Event was reaching its dramatic conclusion. The player numbers gradually increased as busted players from the other event strolled across the room to reinvest, while others continued to fire bullets to make sure they were still around when all the short-stacked new entries came blasting at them.

Naturally, action slowed up somewhat once registration had closed, sealing the entry numbers at 61, with $3.05 million in the prize pool. But few could have predicted just how tortuous the tournament would then become, with play stretching hour after hour in the hope of bursting the bubble before bagging for the end of the night.

It was around 4.30 a.m. when things eventually finished. Laszlo Bujtas tried to knock out Alex Komaromi, but lost with kings against aces. It doubled up Komaromi and left Bujtas with not even one blind. Nacho Barbero snaffled that on the next hand, ending Bujtas’s incredibly long day with only his payout from the Main Event much earlier to keep him company.

Eleven players reached for bags, with the toll of this extended bubble evident in the size of some of the stacks.

Day two line-up:

Ding Biao – 2,740,000 (69 BBs)
Patrik Antonius – 2,365,000 (59 BBs)
Nacho Barbero – 2,095,000 (52 BBs)
Samuli Sipila – 1,750,000 (44 BBs)
Danny Tang – 1,635,000 (41 BBs)
Alex Komaromi – 490,000 (12 BBs)
Chris Parker – 275,000 (7 BBs)
Eelis Parssinen – 270,000 (7 BBs)
Aku Joentausta – 220,000 (6 BBs)
Lautaro Guerra – 215,000 (5 BBs)
Jason Koon – 145,000 (4 BBs)

The most interesting subplot involved the seven big blinds belonging to Chris Parker. During earlier Day 1 conversation, Parker had told his tablemates that he had a flight booked for early on Sunday that would preclude his involvement in Day 2. The gist of the advice from Nacho Barbero and Jason Koon, among others, was that he should change it, but Parker revealed how difficult that might be. He was jetting in to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix early on Sunday, and landing slots were all booked up. Understanding that this was no ordinary flight for no ordinary purpose, Parker’s table-mates kept quiet and tucked the information away.

On Sunday, Parker’s stack was indeed unattended as play got started. By that point, its owner was probably sipping champagne in a paddock somewhere. The shepherds of three other short stacks wondered if they’d be able to outlast the rudderless ship. And, as it turned out, they couldn’t.

Lautaro Guerra, Koon and Aku Joentausta all lost the last of their chips in early exchanges, which meant Parker laddered up to eighth. The $115K he won will be wired to him, no doubt.

For what it’s worth, none of the three others could really do much about it. Guerra ran tens into queens. Koon came out the wrong side in two unraised pots without any cards of note to give him hope. And then Joentausta had an ace, flopped another one, but lost to Eelis Parssinen’s two pair.

Guerra and Koon min-cashed for $76,300 each. Joentausta took $87,000. Then when the dead stack was exhausted, they settled around a final table of seven. Biao still led, but most of the others at least now had workable stacks.

Ding Biao – 3,300,000 (83 BBs)
Patrik Antonius – 2,965,000 (74 BBs)
Nacho Barbero – 2,235,000 (56 BBs)
Samuli Sipila – 1,340,000 (34 BBs)
Danny Tang – 1,295,000 (32 BBs)
Eelis Parssinen – 855,000 (21 BBs)
Alex Komaromi – 210,000 (5 BBs)

After making the final table of the PLO Main Event to keep his lead in the Player of the Year race, Danny Tang had kept the momentum going and landed back at another FT with another stab at a sixth career win.

But as quickly as he is learning the subtleties of PLO, he is understanding its viciousness too. Tang was the first out from the final, losing with aces. Not just pocket aces, but a turned set in fact. It’s just that Nacho Barbero had already flopped a straight.

Tang picked up another $146,000 for seventh place, and a handful more Player of the Year points. There’s only one event left, it’s getting very close now for Tang.

Alex Komaromi had squeezed through the bubble thanks to the big hand against Bujtas last night/this morning, and had now laddered another spot at the final despite having only five big blinds. He became Barbero’s latest victim when the Argentinian filled a boat with the king of hand you’ll play against a micro-stack, but would probably otherwise toss away.

Komaromi’s maiden Triton cash was worth $186,000.

Three of the last five players were from Finland, but the next elimination came about when the last South American took on the final Asian representative. Barbero was in one of those grooves where he could do no wrong, and was providing an unceasing monologue as he was also hoovering up Biao’s chips.

Biao had held on to the chip lead for a long time, before Barbero’s surge, but his pre-flop three-bet holding secured a call from Barbero’s .

Biao flopped top pair and jammed, but Barbero had flopped two pair. His hand then straightened out through turn and river. “Nice to play with you,” Barbero said and Biao hit the rail. Biao won this event in Jeju earlier this year, but had to settle for fifth in his defence. It came with $238,000.

With four players left, the Finnish wall lost its first brick. Eelis Parssinen has cashed four times on the Triton Series and made three final tables, all of them in PLO tournaments. He had to make do with fourth this time, though, with his countryman Samuli Sipila applying the finishing touches.

Parssinen’s flopped a straight when the dealer put the out there. But Sipila had queen blockers (two of them) and a flush draw and was happy to get chips in to cover Parssinen on the flop.

The on the river gave Sipila the flush to send Parssinen out in fourth. He won $300,100.

Two Finns were left, but Barbero had them covered by an enormous amount. And not even a player of Patrik Antonius’ calibre could mount a comeback. Barbero made a flush in a big pot against Antonius to leave the Antonius very short. And then Sipila took the last three blinds of his countryman, leaving Antonius heading home in third for $390,000.

As they prepared for heads-up play, Barbero talked to a video team and explained, “I am running very hot. I made the nuts many times and eliminated many players.” It really was that easy for him at this stage. Barbero had 9,100,000 (91 BBs) to Sipila’s 3,100,000 (31 BBs). We had seen Sipila overhaul a bigger heads-up deficit in the $25K PLO earlier this week, but could he do it again?

Let’s put it this way. He is a very good pot limit Omaha player. The blinds went up a couple of times and Sipila remained within one double up of levelling the stacks. And then in the first really grim cooler of the heads-up phase of play, he did just that.

Barbero picked up and limped. Sipila looked at and raised. Barbero called.

The flop was destined to see action. It came . Sipila had the jack but Barbero’s pocket fours meant he already had a boat.

It went bet (Sipila), raise (Barbero), call, with the turn now giving Sipila the better hand. Sipila slowed to a check, but Barbero saw no reason to slow down. He bet and Sipila called. The river was inconsequential, but Sipila checked again.

Barbero jammed, Sipila called, and he scored the full double thanks to the bigger boat. They suddenly had 40 blinds apiece.

Barbero is made of stern stuff, and although Sipila nosed ahead, he bounced back to regain a sizeable lead. But then came another major coup that gave Sipila a double: the Finn’s made a flush and earned Sipila the maximum.

They went on a tournament break and returned to stacks of 36 blinds (Sipila) to 13 (Barbero). And it was now Barbero’s turn to hit a river to double. They got to a flop of for one raise, then got everything else in at that point.

Sipila led with but was vulnerable to Barbero’s . The turn was another four, but the river hit Barbero’s flish and doubled him back into the lead.

But not for long. With everything now incredibly tight indeed, they took two premiums to a flop in a three-bet pot. Barbero had and Sipila had .

The rest of the money went in on the flop and Sipila’s flopped set did not come unstuck. That left Barbero with only a handful of blinds and they went in the next hand. Sipila made this one stick.

Sipila’s finished with a straight on the board of , cracking Barbero’s kings.

Sipila had done it once again. He is a very good pot limit Omaha player. You heard it here last.

RESULTS

Event 15 – $50,000 PLO
Dates: May 25-26, 2024
Entries: 61 (inc. 26 re-entries)
Prize pool: $3,050,000

1 – Samuli Sipila, Finland – $839,000
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $596,300
3 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $390,000
4 – Eelis Parssinen, Finland – $300,100
5 – Ding Biao, China – $238,000
6 – Alex Komaromi, Uruguay – $186,000
7 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $146,000
8 – Chris Parker, UK – $115,000
9 – Aku Joentausta, Finland – $87,000
10 – Jason Koon, USA – $76,300
11 – Lautaro Guerra, Spain – $76,300

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

As he filled in a questionnaire sent to players before they arrive on the Triton Series, Christopher Frank described his poker dream. “To win a big tournament, obviously,” he wrote.

Tonight, Frank can consider that achievement unlocked.

The 29-year-old German, based in Vienna, came to Triton Montenegro to play just the pot-limit Omaha phase of this festival, and today took down the $100K buy-in PLO Main Event for a career-best score of a little more than $2 million. It was the first time Triton had hosted a PLO Main Event and the first time Frank had made it to a final.

He achieved his victory in the style of a man who could grow accustomed to this.

Frank agreed an ICM chop with American PLO specialist Dylan Weisman when Frank was a big chip leader entering heads-up play. Weisman banked $1,666,090, with the rest of the 83-entry field having departed. They still had enormous stacks going into heads-up and opted to take the variance out of it a bit by agreeing the deal, leaving $70,000 to play for.

But Frank completed the job for which he had laid the foundation during a long first day, a tense pre-bubble period, and then a high octane final table. He was obviously and visibly delighted, racing to friends on the outer tables when they agreed the chop and he guaranteed himself that enormous score. And then as he talked to reporters at the end, he expressed that joy some more.

“I’m feeling very good, it’s a very nice feeling,” he said, adding that he was slightly numbed and was expecting things to sink in tomorrow. He said he came to Triton for the PLO because he thought: “People are worse at it, so I thought I’d have a shot.”

This field was stacked with some of the very best PLO players in the world, and Frank can count himself among them. As he wandered away from the table, he received congratulatory fist-bumps from Danny Tang and Phil Ivey, and a hug from Sami Sipila, yesterday’s PLO winner.

This is the company you keep when you’re a Triton champion.

“I really like these events. I really want to be back,” he said.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Day 2 began with 25 left and Michael Duek leading the charge. The American was another drawn to the Triton Series for the very first time this week, specifically for the PLO portion of the schedule. After whiffing the $25K, he was perfectly placed to make the trip worthwhile in the Main Event.

The opening stages of the second day were as one might expect: plenty of players headed to the rail, with others building for the final. The Triton regs Jason Koon, Isaac Haxton and Phil Ivey couldn’t survive, and we pushed on to a very tense bubble period.

Dylan Weisman got to a queen-high flop with Zhou Quan. Then all the money went in, with Weisman the effective stack. Weisman’s aces had been outdrawn by Quan’s queens, which filled up on the turn. Staring at elimination, an ace fell on the river to give Weisman a bigger boat. Quan joined the short stacks.

Mads Amot lost a massive pot to Laszlo Bujtas to bust. Then Manuel Stojanovic followed him to the door. They were playing soft hand-for-hand, which allowed for plenty of downtime and plenty of chatter. Weisman, Jonas Kronwitter and Eelis Parssinen pondered aloud what the difference was betwen a regular Triton event and a Main Event.

“You get a bigger trophy,” they observed, before learning that they were also playing for the beautiful Jacob & Co watch. They headed over to the display plinth to check it out. “Chris, do you only get a ‘Champion’ hat from the Main Event?” they asked Mr Brewer. He told them hats came with every tournament win, just about the time that Samuli Sapila came into the room wearing the one he won in the $25K PLO yesterday.

“I figure this is one of the only places I can get away with wearing it,” Sipila said.

Seth Davies and Masahi Oya played a huge pot on the feature table, with almost precisely equal stacks. Both players had a straight, but Davies had the bottom end and Oya had the higher. It left Davies with only 10,000 in chips, or one third of a big blind.

With Davies now all but certain to be the bubble boy, everyone but the big stacks folded immediately. Martin Dam folded his hand without even picking it up, and Brewer said, “I’m only looking for the fun of it.”

But Davies then won the next pot he entered and emerged with 70,000 chips, having won the ante plus three other blinds. When he more than doubled his stack again on the next hand, he had seven big blinds and could adjust his expectations again.

He had a ringside seat for what actually transpired to be the bubble hand. And he didn’t have any chips over the line. Instead, Davies watched Tomas Ribeiro raise his small blind and Oya peel in the big.

The flop fell . Oya checked. Ribeiro bet. Oya check-raised. Ribeirio jammed. Oya put his last chips over the line, knowing he had a three and two hearts in his hand. The problem was, Ribeiro also had a three, with a bigger kicker. And when the hearts missed, Oya was out.

Having been so close to bursting the bubble from the winner’s side, Oya was now taking the walk himself as the last player without a cash. The rest of them had a minimum $152,000 coming their way.

The final table had seven seats, although Davies wasn’t able to stick around long enough to claim one. Neither was Brewer, Quan, Dam or even Duek, with the overnight leader busting in 10th. When Kronwitter and Sean Winter hit the rail in ninth and eighth, respectively, the last seven were sent to dinner.

They came back to the following stacks:

Laszlo Bujtas – 4,555,000 (91 BBs)
Chris Frank – 4,310,000 (86 BBs)
Dylan Weisman – 3,815,000 (76 BBs)
Danny Tang – 2,980,000 (60 BBs)
Eelis Parssinen – 2,930,000 (59 BBs)
Tomas Ribeiro – 1,665,000 (33 BBs)
Benjamin Tollerene – 495,000 (10 BBs)

Not many of Triton’s no limit hold’em specialists stayed in Montenegro to play PLO, but those that did made their presence felt in both four-card tournaments held so far. In this event, Ben Tollerene and Danny Tang had made it all the way to the final table, despite clearly preferring hold’em.

The PLO wizards didn’t let them get much further, however, with Tollerene busting to Tang early on, and then Tang losing a huge pot to Bujtas soon after. Ribeiro then finished Tang off.

With only 10 blinds after dinner, Tollerene knew he would be up against it. His last seven blinds went in with against Tang’s . Tang raise pre-flop, Tollerene called and then Tang jammed the flop.

Tang hit another spade to end with a flush, while Tollerene ended with $391,000 for seventh.

Even making the money in this event had given Tang’s hopes of landing the coveted Ivan Leow Player of the Year award a huge boost, but he obviously had designs on a sixth Triton title too. The hand against Tollerene gave him hope, but a massive collision with Bujtas all but snuffed it out.

Tang flopped top two pair with his , but he was always behind Bujtas, whose flopped top set and ended with a flush.

They bet all the way, before Bujtas jammed the river. It left Tang on fumes. He perished with queens against aces, all-in pre-flop. He turned a straight draw, but missed. Tang took $495,000 for sixth and now just needs Phil Ivey and Jason Koon *not* to win either of the last two PLO tournaments to lock up the PoY. (There are various combinations, but that’s the gist of it.)

Bujtas held the chip lead for long periods heading to the bubble, and though Chris Frank managed to nudge in front of him, the hand against Tang put him in command once more. But only until Frank got going again.

The German won two sizeable pots, back to back, knocking out Ribeiro first of all and then taking a big one from Bujtas. In Ribeiro’s last hand, Frank had to Ribeiro’s . Ribeiro limp/three-bet pre-flop and got the rest in on the flop. But Frank managed to find the on the river to fill a straight and crack the aces.

He then won nearly as much from Bujtas when he got involved in a pot with double suited pocket queens, and ended up with three fours after two came on flop and river. It was enough.

Frank quickly extended his lead: he had 159 blinds ahead of Bujtas’ 50, Weisman’s 37 and Parssinen’s 14. And very soon those chips of Parssinen landed in Frank’s stack too.

Parssinen flopped a set with on a flop of . Frank had but the turn gave Frank the straight.

That gave Parssinen his third Triton PLO cash, worth $795,000 this time.

This was now very lopsided. Frank was sitting with 16.25 million chips, or 130 big blinds. Bujtas had 2.95 million (24 BBs) and Weisman had 1.55 million (12 BBs). Frank therefore had nearly 80 percent of the chips in play. Even the exceptional PLO talents that are Weisman and Bujtas were staring at a precipitously uphill battle.

The only way Frank could likely come under pressure seemed to be if Weisman and Bujtas went at one another, doubling one of them up at the other’s expense. And that’s essentially what happened, with Weisman seizing the chance to first take some chips from Frank and then cannibalise the fellow short stack Bujtas.

Weisman got a double with against Frank’s . Frank flopped a king for top pair, but Weisman’s aces were better.

That put Weisman ahead of Bujtas and meant that when Weisman’s flopped a straight and faded Bujtas’ flush draw, Bujtas was out. Bujtas, known as OMAHA4ROLLZ, won $982,000 for third place. He is hunting a second title, of course, but will need to come again another day for that.

With Bujtas out the way, Frank and Weisman quickly agreed to look at the numbers, and barely took any time to agree a deal, the first in any tournament during this trip to Montenegro.

Frank had a lead of 119 BBs to Weisman’s 47, but the ICM calculation locked up $1,938,910 for the former and $1,666,090 for the latter. There was $70,000 to play for, plus the trophy and the watch. It was already both players’ biggest live tournament score.

This was now a winner-takes-all heads-up battle for $70K and a very, very nice timepiece. And both parties gave it the respect it deserved.

Unfortunately for Weisman, Frank’s momentum continued. He steadily grew his lead even further, with Weisman then losing all but one big blind of his stack in a particularly gross cooler. Frank had . Weisman had and both players checked flop and turn as the dealer put the out there.

The river gave Frank a full house and filled Weisman’s straight. It almost all went in, and almost all went to Frank.

That solitary blind vanished on the next hand, with Frank filling a tournament-winning flush. It was over, with Chris Frank beginning life as a new Triton champion.

RESULTS

Event 13 – $100,000 PLO MAIN EVENT
Dates: May 24-25, 2024
Entries: 83 (inc. 36 re-entries)
Prize pool: $8,300,000

1 – Chris Frank, Germany – $2,008,910*
2 – Dylan Weisman, USA – $1,666,090*
3 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – $982,000
4 – Eelis Parssinen, Finland – $795,000
5 – Tomas Ribeiro, Portugal – $635,000
6 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $495,000
7 – Ben Tollerene, USA – $391,000

8 – Sean Winter, USA – $298,000
9 – Jonas Kronwitter, Germany – $221,000
10 – Michael Duek, USA – $176,000
11 – Martin Dam, Denmark – $176,000
12 – Zhou Quan, China – $152,000
13 – Chris Brewer, USA – $152,000
14 – Seth Davies, USA – $152,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

The biggest buy-in tournament on Triton’s latest trip to Montenegro went tonight to one of the biggest stars in poker who hadn’t yet got a title to his name.

Wiktor Malinowski, 29, might not be familiar to everyone, but his online alias “Iimitless” is one of the most feared at the virtual tables, where he is a match for absolutely anyone. He is a relentlessly aggressive player, applying ceaseless pressure on each and every opponent. It sometimes means he flames and dies; other times he burns to the title.

Renowned mostly as a nosebleed cash-game player, he also has a fine tournament resume, and he once had a massive chip lead coming into a Triton Main Event final in Cyprus. That one ended in a third place, but this time he went the distance. And what a time to do it.

The buy-in was $200,000, there was $18.6 million in the prize pool and a first prize of $4,789,000. Malinowski, who was chip leader coming into the final, closed out the tournament by downing Adrian Mateos heads-up. Not many people do that. He even had the confidence to reject a heads up deal.

When we flesh it out even further, and add the detail that the final table also included Jason Koon, Mikita Badziakouski, Steve O’Dwyer, Mike Watson, Jonathan Jaffe and Nick Petrangelo, you get an idea of how good this victory is.

“The table was very tough,” Malinowski admitted. “Many great players.” But he added that his online schooling gives him the confidence to take on anybody, and to prevail.

“I knew when I was coming to the final the job was not done,” he said. “I had had this chip lead before, so I had to stay focused.

“It’s the best feeling. There are so many moments in poker when it’s not so good, so when you win it feels very special.”

This is his biggest single tournament score, and pushes career earnings past $11 million. It is overdue. His potential is truly limitless.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

At the planning stage of the schedule for this trip to Montenegro, organisers weren’t sure whether to schedule two or three days for the $200K event. A buy-in like that may not appeal to the faint hearted. However, it quickly became apparent that the third day was very much the right call as 61 players sat down and put up 93 entries between them. It meant $18.6 million in the prize pool and another almighty event.

Every single seat was filled with a superstar, and even as plenty hit the rail after registration closed, the quality never dipped at all. Only 15 places were due to be paid, however, and so there was serious money quickly on the line.

For Danny Tang, there was even more than that. He is chasing the Player of the Year title, and currently sits at the top of the leader board. But he has players of the calibre of Phil Ivey, Dan Dvoress and Jason Koon breathing down his neck, all of whom will also take to the PLO tables. So it’s not yet a lock for Tang.

His elimination just short of the money in the $200K clearly hurt. And it brought them down to the most nervy stages with 16 players over two tables.

In comparison with previous boisterous bubbles, this one took place in an icy silence for the most part. It wasn’t the buy-in. nor even the €300K+ min-cash, it was more that this was the last no limit hold’em event of the trip and a last chance to make a big score (or get unstuck).

The first player to face the threat of elimination was Bryn Kenney. But he and Steve O’Dwyer had the same hand and chopped. They both ended with a Broadway straight. “Nuts, nuts!” Paul Phua observed, pointing at each player’s hand in turn.

On the outer table, Christoph Vogelsang and Adrian Mateos played a monster. These were the players ranked second and third in the chip counts, so this was serious. Mateos shoved the river, covering Vogelsang, and the German took a while before folding, vaulting Mateos to the top of the counts.

O’Dwyer was next with his head on the chopping block. But his pocket queens doubled through Mikita Badziakouski’s and it left Badziakouski with four big blinds. No fear: he called a min-raise from Jason Koon in the big blind, flopped two pair to double. Then he took up against Phua’s and hit two sixes on the board. That was another double.

The long period of hand-for-hand extended all the way to the scheduled dinner break. So the tournament director sent the last 16 for a 45-minute break as they pondered the bubble.

On their return, it didn’t take too long until Santhosh Suvarna put everyone out of their misery at the expense of his own tournament well-being.

Suvarna got his chips in as a three-bet shove with pocket nines over Badziakouski’s open. But Badziakouski called with to set up a flip, which he then won thanks to two kings appearing on flop and river. Suvarna was the 16th-place finisher. Everyone else could now focus on the final.

Phua bust next. Followed by Patrik Antonius, Ding Biao, Kenney, Vogelsang and finally Stephen Chidwick, which set up the final table. Just look at the quality in the six players who narrowly *missed* the final. This tournament was ridiculously good.

But there was only room on the final day for the following:

Wiktor Malinowski – 5,025,000 (63 BBs)
Mikita Badziakouski – 2,665,000 (33 BBs)
Jason Koon – 2,020,000 (25 BBs)
Jonathan Jaffe – 1,945,000 (24 BBs)
Steve O’Dwyer – 1,840,000 (23 BBs)
Mike Watson – 1,785,000 (22 BBs)
Adrian Mateos – 1,585,000 (20 BBs)
Nick Petrangelo – 1,000,000 (13 BBs)
Matas Cimbolas – 770,000 (10 BBs)

Although he is a familiar face on the tournament tables of Europe, Lithuania’s Matas Cimbolas is a relative newcomer to the Triton Series, making his debut in Jeju and returning for more in Montenegro. He made his way into the money of the Main Event, busting in 16th, and was then still involved during the tense bubble stages of the $200K.

Despite a short stack, Cimbolas mostly stayed out of dangerous situations, navigating his way into the final. And he found a very good hand with which to speculate his last 10 blinds as well: , against Mike Watson’s .

Although it was only a virtual all-in pre-flop, the last of Cimbolas’s chips went in on the turn, by which point the dealer had placed a queen on the flop. That marked a come-from-behind win for Watson, and sent Cimbolas away with $483,000, a new Triton best.

Having landed a first Triton title in the Turbo earlier this week, Nick Petrangelo was aiming to lay all his demons to rest with a potential double in the $200K. He had done what was necessary to put himself in with a chance, even if he was another of the short stacks coming into the final.

In the event, this one wasn’t to be for Petrangelo. True to the pattern so far established, Petrangelo got his chips in good — he had to Wiktor Malinowski’s — but a seven on the flop landed a crushing blow for the man known as “Iimitless”.

Petrangelo reached his limit in this one and took $661,000 for eighth.

With the first two players out from this final table getting their money in good, perhaps this was the time to be folding the big hands and getting it in with the worst of it. Certainly the unhappy pattern showed no sign of changing.

Jonathan Jaffe, who was among the players to have changed their original flights to compete in the final day of hold’em, became the next man out, and the next man to lose with the best hand. He got involved in a pre-flop raising battle with Adrian Mateos. After Jason Koon opened, Mateos three-bet, Jaffe cold four-bet fro the small blind and Mateos five-bet jammed.

Koon was long gone, but Jaffe called and learned he was in a dominant position with to Mateos’ . But the king fell on the flop to catapult Mateos ahead. There was no change through turn and river and Jaffe was done. He won $865,000.

The last six places all paid six figures, and all of the remaining players had played for this kind of money many times before. But the average stack was only 25 big blinds and so it was anyone’s game still.

Badziakouski managed to buck the trend of the best hand losing when he got pocket kings to stand up against Mateos’ when they got it in pre-flop. Badziakouski sweated it out in the company of his girlfriend on the rail, which means he maybe didn’t see the on the turn making it a little bit nervy.

Malinowski had the biggest stack by a long way and so was entering the most pots, knowing his opponents would need to battle for their stacks if they wanted to play. Koon found and opened, then called off when Malinowski jammed.

This time Malinowski had it — — and it held. Koon busted in sixth for $1,098,000.

There was a time when Koon and Badziakouski were neck and neck at the top of the Triton all-time champions leader board, before Koon went on a ridiculous run to pull five ahead. But Triton purists will have enjoyed seeing the two of them sitting side by side on another final, even if that particular subplot ended in a bang-bang double.

With Koon gone, Badziakouski became under threat, and he played another major pot against Mateos. This time Mateos had it. Pocket queens beat to send Badziakouski out in fifth. He won $1,405,000.

Mateos now had a stack to at least try to challenge Malinowski. It was still only half of the Polish player’s, but it was now considerably more than what both O’Dwyer and Mike Watson held. Mateos duly polished off the latter to give himself even more.

Watson has had a headline-grabbing week here in Montenegro, winning one title and bubbling another, before heading to the final of the biggest buy-in event. But Mateos has a knack of hitting card when he needs to (in addition to his immense skills) and Watson felt the truth of that at this final.

Watson shoved from the small blind and Mateos called with in the big. The jack on the turn was the crunch card and Watson was toast. He took $1,748,000 for fourth.

O’Dwyer had his work cut out with a tiny stack relative to his opponents, but having had comparatively few chips all the way since the bubble, this was already a fine, gritty showing from him. O’Dwyer had little choice but to take a stab, which he did as a three-bet jam after Malinowski had raised his big blind from the small.

O’Dwyer had and was behind Malinowski’s . He couldn’t catch up and picked up $2.157 million for third.

So here they were: Malinowski (94 BBs) against Mateos (30 BBs) for the title. It would be Malinowski’s first or Mateos’ third, and second of the trip.

Mateos, as is his wont, rarely backed down and drew stacks closer together. But this was really a case of irresistible force against immovable object. Neither player looked scared for even a second as they clashed with one another again and again.

The final hand came about when Mateos had . Malinowski had . This would not have been a relevant hand had the dealer not put the on the flop, followed by the turn and all the money went in.

The river was a blank. And that sent Mateos to the cage for a $3,292,000 second prize. Malinowski banks the biggest total of anyone here in Montenegro this week.

RESULTS

Event 11 – $200,000 NLH – 8-Handed
Dates: May 21-23, 2024
Entries: 93 (inc. 32 re-entries)
Prize pool: $18,600,000

1 – Wiktor Malinowski, Poland – $4,789,000
2 – Adrian Mateos, Spain – $3,292,000
3 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $2,157,000
4 – Mike Watson, Canada – $1,748,000
5 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $1,405,000
6 – Jason Koon, USA – $1,098,000
7 – Jonathan Jaffe, USA – $865,000
8 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $661,000
9 – Matas Cimbolas, Lithuania – $483,000

10 – Stephen Chidwick, UK – $390,000
11 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany – $390,000
12 – Bryn Kenney, USA – $344,000
13 – Ding Biao, China – $344,000
14 – Patrik Antonius, Finland – $317,000
15 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $317,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Samuli Sipila is one of the best pot limit Omaha players in the world, and it follows that the 31-year-old Finn would take the trip to Triton Montenegro where four high-stakes PLO events round out this spectacular festival.

Sipila took his seat in the first of those events. And when the tournament got done after five hours of play on its second day, Sipila was the only man still sitting.

His Triton record now reads: Played 1, Won 1 after he put on a PLO clinic to win $535,000.

“I’m feeling amazing, obviously,” Sipila said, admitting that he was on a real heater. He has won three of the last five tournaments he has entered, and sets a new career mark with this enormous cash.

“It’s a pretty run good year, Sipila said, explaining his decision to take a shot on the Triton Series for the first time. “It’s pretty unreal. When you’re running this hot, why not come?”

This was a really brilliant display. Sipila came to Montenegro among a huge cohort of Nordic PLO specialists drawn to Montenegro by the four-card focus at this stop. They helped swell the field of this $25K buy-in event to 82 entries, and were then instrumental as the first day of play slimmed it all the way down to the last four.

Sipila had the most PLO pedigree in the final quartet, but he was faced heads up with a man in great form, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, who opted to hang around in Montenegro and play some more poker after winning the hold’em Main Event just yesterday. Vaskaboinikau prefers hold’em but he had an enormous lead in the heads-up match against Sipila, which required the Tallinn-based Finn to dig especially deep.

In the end, Sipila managed to land the punches at precisely the right moments, chipping away at Vaskaboinikau’s lead, before knocking him out after about three hours of one-on-one play. Vaskaboinikau wore his “Champion” cap throughout the whole tournament, but now Sipila will get one of his own.

“I really enjoy the challenge,” Sipila said. “These are the toughest fields in the world.” He gave a shout out to all his Finnish friends, battling away in the $100K, before adding, “I think you’re going to see more of me!”

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The original tournament plan had been for Day 1 to play to a final table only, but the PLO lovers persuaded tournament officials to let them play to a final quartet. They did it quickly, leaving some big stack and some big names still involved at the close of play.

When they came back for the conclusion, they stacked up as follows:

Samuli Sipila – 7,150,000 (143 BBs)
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – 6,370,000 (127 BBs)
Anson Ewe – 2,015,000 (40 BBs)
Klemens Roiter – 830,000 (17 BBs)

Although only four players remained, the average stack was an enormous 81 big blinds. However, only two players had more than that, considerably more, and the other two were already up against it. The absolute shortest was Austria’s Klemens Roiter, and he couldn’t get anything going on the last day.

Roiter’s graph was a steady decline until a final hand in which Samuli Sipila’s made two pair against Roiter’s .

Roiter banked $195,000 for his fourth place.

Without question, most neutrals were supporting Anson Ewe at this final, mainly because of the way he had ended up even playing the event. Ewe had run deep in the $200K hold’em tournament, sitting among the last 21 players.

He originally had a flight booked home for today, but decided to make the commitment to stay longer and redouble his efforts in that event, aiming for the final table. He cancelled his existing flight and extended his hotel stay, as he was still sitting at the table.

And then, one hand after pressing “Confirm” on his new bookings, he bust. Bryn Kenney knocked him out, and Ewe was now at a loose end.

What does a poker player do when he has an unexpected extra day? He plays more poker, that’s what, even if PLO is far from his favoured game. Undeterred, Ewe bought in and suddenly found the four-card game to his liking. He built a huge stack and landed in the last four.

With Roiter now departed, Ewe was the shortest and he also really struggled to get a foothold on the last day. His stack dwindled slowly but surely, and he ended up forced all-in with . Both Vaskaboinikau and Sipila went to the flop with him, but Sipila’s managed to turn a straight.

Ewe couldn’t catch up and was out in third. He took $242,000 — hopefully enough to cover the flight change fee and hotel.

It was, therefore, the final two we would have predicted at the beginning of the day, but certainly not at the start of the tournament itself. PLO specialist Sipila versus newly-crowned Triton hold’em champ Vaskaboinikau. The stacks were all but even:

Vaskaboinikau: 8,475,000 – 106 BBs
Sipila: 7,900,000 – 99 BBs

Sipila would have definitely backed himself in this spot, but he hadn’t reckoned on Vaskaboinikau’s new-found swagger at any poker table. The first significant pot put the Belarusian ahead by a wide margin. In it, Sipila opened to 300K and Vaskaboinikau called for a flop of .

Vaskaboinikau check-raised and Sipila called, taking in the turn. Vaskaboinikau now continued with a bet of 1 million, which was 10 big blind. Sipila called and the came on the river.

Vaskaboinikau bombed it. All in. And Sipila folded to stay in the tournament. With no live stream, we’ll never know what they had.

There then followed a Vaskaboinikau steamroll. While Sipila had the PLO experience, his opponent was managing to find the hands to keep him pegged back — and Vaskaboinikau is never shy to inflate the pot and win the maximum.

“Straight.” “Flush,” he said. Sipila sigh-folded down to about 20 big blinds.

Sipila might still have fancied his chances of mounting a comeback, such are his PLO abilities. But whenever he landed a big blow, Vaskaboinikau hit back. On the last hand of Level 22, Vaskaboinikau bombed 1 million at a board of and Sipila called. They both checked the river and Vaskaboinikau’s were the pertinent cards to give him another win.

The small stack was now only 13 blinds, but Sipila more than doubled it without even getting to a river card. Three times in a row he raised Vaskaboinikau off hands post-flop, with Vaskaboinikau seemingly still keen to bet anything, but Sipila asking him to play for more. When Sipila check-raise-jammed a flop of , with Vaskaboinikau folding to surrender his 1.4 million flop bet, Sipila actually moved into the lead for the first time in the tournament.

This was the start of a very impressive comeback.

It was difficult to imagine Sipila putting a foot wrong during this phase of play. Whenever there was a showdown in a sizeable pot, he had Vaskaboinikau beat. And one can only assume when he was folding, he was losing the minimum.

A case in point came when Vaskaboinikau raised preflop, then fired at the flop of , getting a check-call. They both checked the turn, and then Sipila checked the river. Vaskaboinikau fired, Sipila called and Sipila showed . His two pair now gave him a lead.

As the momentum continued, they entered Level 25 with Sipila holding a chip lead of 28 blinds to 13. And then Sipila turned the screw some more. Vaskaboinikau said he flopped a straight when the hit the table, but by the time the turn and river was down, it was no longer close to the nuts.

Sipila bet big on both those cards, with Vaskaboinikau needing to call all in on the river to see what his opponent had. He didn’t. He folded. “Bluff? Or I bust on this hand?” Vaskaboinikau asked. He got no reply.

With 12 big blinds he was still in the event, but there wasn’t much left in this one. Vaskaboinikau opened a pot with a raise to 1.2 million. Sipila called and they saw a flop of . All the money was quickly in the middle.

Vaskaboinikau tabled . Sipila had .

The turn was the , which was very good for Sipila. The river ended the job.

With that, the Nordic invasion claims its first Triton scalp. It will not be its last.

RESULTS

Event 12 – $25,000 PLO 6-HANDED
Dates: May 23-24, 2024
Entries: 82 (inc. 36 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,050,000

1 – Samuli Sipila, Finland – $535,000
2 – Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus – $371,000
3 – Anson Ewe, Malaysia – $242,000
4 – Klemens Roiter, Austria – $195,000
5 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $156,000
6 – Ronald Keijzer, Netherlands – $122,000
7 – Chris Parker, UK – $97,000
8 – Martin Dam, Denmark – $75,000
9 – Zhou Quan, China – $55,000
10 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $44,000
11 – Masashi Oya, Japan – $44,000
12 – Gergo Nagy, Hungary – $38,000
13 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $38,000
14 – Aku Joentausta, Finland – $38,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive and Spenser Sembrat