Category: 2024

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

The curtain came down on the Triton Series’ third trip to Montenegro with a fast-paced, PLO Bounty Quattro tournament, where each knockout at the tournament’s business end paid an additional $40,000.

As we have come to expect, the man lifting the trophy was born in one of the Nordic countries, but this time it wasn’t Finland.

Denmark’s Martin Dam is another player who has had a quietly sensational trip to Montenegro, cashing in eighth and then 11th of the two tournaments he had played before now. But Dam made the absolute most of his last chance here at the Maestral Resort, winning $250,000 from the regular prize pool and another $280,000 in bounties for a delightful $530,000 total score.

“In bounty tournaments, you have to be quite loose,” Dam said, explaining how he managed to pick up seven of the 11 bounties in play. “It’s in your interests to be so. When there are some six or seven big-blind stacks all-ion, you have to be in it. Luckily I won most of them.”

The 27-year-old, originally from Copenhagen, decided to make his Triton Series debut after completing a move to Vienna, Austria, which has a more favourable tax arrangement for poker players than Denmark. It was a smart move. Dam was only out of the chip lead for the briefest of moments in the tournament’s late stages tonight, and took a big lead into the heads-up phase against Stephen Chidwick.

Then a little after midnight local time, he sent Chidwick packing too, denying the Brit a third title. Chidwick took $179,000, plus $40,000 in bounties, but this was Dam’s tournament all the way.

“Honestly, the experience has been amazing,” Dam said of his first trip to the Triton Series. “You really get a better experience here. Everything is just amazing. I feel great.”

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With levels shortened to 15 minutes, this one was fast and chaotic from the very first deal. Through 10 levels, the cashiers welcomed 41 entries, which meant $1.23 million in the prize pool and a first prize of $250,000. That’s not including the bounties, which weighed in at $40,000 apiece and came into play with 11 players remaining.

The first of those went to Dylan Linde, who cracked Richard Gryko’s kings to take the field down to 10. The next target was to make the money, which would kick in when only seven players were left.

No one had a big stack, but some were less pressured than others. Jason Koon gave himself a bit of breathing room by knocking out Sean Winter in ninth. That left them on the final table bubble, which also happened to be the “other” bubble, so they were split four and four to play hand for hand on two tables.

Although the tournament room was quiet, this was still a dramatic bubble because two players were all in at the same time, one on each table.

Brian Rast was one of them, squaring off against Koon, and in need of some help. The board read and Rast’s needed some kind of miracle against Koon’s .

The came on the turn and Koon said, “You gonna go backdoor fours on me again?” Rast did not reply, but the dealer did. The river was . That runner-runner kept Rast in the tournament.

On the outer table, the short stack was Jonas Kronwitter, but he was looking strong with on a flop of . His opponent Martin Dam had .

The didn’t help Dam. But the river did, and the unlikely turn of events sent Kronwitter to the rail in eighth and the others into the money and to the final. (Koon was 80/20 to win the hand on the first table, by the way, while Kronwitter had 70 percent equity on the other. He was pretty long odds to be walking away with nothing.)

They now lined up as follows:

Martin Dam – 2,530,000 (42 BBs)
Brian Rast – 2,010,000 (34 BBs)
Ding Biao – 1,270,000 (21 BBs)
Dylan Linde – 1,255,000 (21 BBs)
Stephen Chidwick – 480,000 (8 BBs)
Ronald Keijzer – 330,000 (6 BBs)
Jason Koon – 330,000 (6 BBs)

On the very first hand of the final table, there was a massive three-way all-in, which sent Stephen Chidwick climbing up counts, sent Ding Biao tumbling the other way, and left Ronald Keijzer looking for the payouts cage.

Everything went in pre-flop, with Keijzer opening with , Chidwick then jamming with and Biao calling with . Keijzer called too.

The dealer ran through the full board: and Chidwick’s kings and deuces were best. Keijzer’s brief stay at the final earned him $42,000 as Chidwick picked up a bounty.

Koon was stranded at the bottom of the counts, but doubled through the chip-leader Martin Dam to stay alive. But it was only a temporary reprieve as his chips found their way in the middle again soon after, and this time got stuck with Rast. (Koon’s tens couldn’t beat Rast’s kings. They both hit three of a kind.)

“GG Triton,” Koon said, making his way out with $51,000 waiting for him in his account, plus a bounty prize.

Rast now found himself in the chip lead, but an almighty collision with Dam, temporarily relegated to second place, put the Dane back at the top of the pile. Rast raised his button with double-suited jacks and Dam three-bet with kings, an ace and a four, single suited. Rast called.

The last of the money went in on a queen-high flop, and the kings held through turn and river. It was a big, big double for Dam, and when Ding Biao doubled soon after, Rast was the short stack all by himself.

Rast then lost with queens to Dam’s and his tournament was done. It was a nice break for him from commentary duties, and it earned him an extra $67,000.

Biao was now the shortest stack again and he also ran headlong into Dam to finish his tournament. Biao hit his ace after getting to a flop with . Dam’s flopped a straight draw and hit it on the river.

It was Biao’s second final table of the day, and this one earned him $87,000.

After nearly trebling his stack in the early stages, Chidwick had sat out most of the subsequent skirmishes but was now sitting with only about five big blinds. His double up through Dam not long after Biao’s elimination was most significant not for the number of chips he won, but for the fact it gave him survival for another orbit — time for Dylan Linde to bust.

Linde picked up aces single suited — — and when Dam three-bet his open pre-flop, they could get their whole stacks in at that point.

Dam had a lovely hand of his own — — and the hearts proved crucial as three fell on the board. That was Linde’s last involvement. He tossed his bounty chip to Dam and picked up prize money of $114,000.

For the second Triton stop in succession, Chidwick now found himself playing the final heads-up battle of the festival. But this time he really had his work cut out, staring over a six big blind stack at the 49 big blinds with Dam.

The comeback attempt started well. Chidwick cracked aces with his double suited , flopping three spades. But that was about all he could muster. The next time they got it in, Chidwick had to Dam’s .

The flop had an ace on it, but also a ten. Dam faded Chidwick’s full house outs and became our latest champion. Chidwick took $179,000 as runner up.

Dam played three events at his Triton debut and cashed all of them. This turbo win was the icing on the cake. He complemented his $250,000 winner’s prize with seven of 11 bounties available and so disappears back to Austria $530,000 to the good.

RESULTS

Event 16 – $30,000 PLO BOUNTY QUATTRO
Dates: May 26, 2024
Entries: 41 (inc. 14 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,230,000 (inc. $440,000 in bounties)

1 – Martin Dam, Denmark – $250,000 (plus $280,000 in bounties)
2 – Stephen Chidwick – $179,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $114,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
4 – Ding Biao, China – $87,000
5 – Brian Rast, USA – $67,000 (plus $10,000 in bounties)
6 – Jason Koon, USA – $51,000 (plus $10,000 in bounties)
7 – Ronald Keijzer, Netherlands – $42,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Full details of everything that happened at the Triton Super High Roller Poker Series at the Maestral Resort, Montenegro, which ran from May 12-26, 2024.

EVENT #16 – $30,000 PLO BOUNTY QUATTRO TURBO

DAM BLASTS THROUGH BOUNTY TO GO THREE-FROM-THREE ON DEBUT
The Vienna-based Dane Martin Dam cashed all three PLO events he played in Montenegro and brought the curtain down on the festival with a dominant win in the Bounty Quattro turbo, for a total $530K score.

Top five finishers:
1 – Martin Dam, Denmark – $250,000 (plus $280,000 in bounties)
2 – Stephen Chidwick – $179,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $114,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)
4 – Ding Biao, China – $87,000
5 – Brian Rast, USA – $67,000 (plus $40,000 in bounties)

41 entries | Prize pool: $1,230,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #15 – $50,000 PLO

SIPILA COMPLETES SENSATIONAL PLO DOUBLE
Samuli Sipila has only ever played three Triton tournaments, all in Montenegro. He has now won two of them. The 31-year-old survived a final table featuring four players from Finland, and downed Nacho Barbero heads up.

Top five finishers:
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

61 entries | Prize pool: $3,050,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #13 – $100,000 PLO MAIN EVENT

FRANK HITS OMAHA JACKPOT TO LAND PLO MAIN EVENT
Vienna-based German Chris Frank said he began focusing on PLO because he figured it gave him his best chance of success. With a barnstorming victory in the biggest PLO event ever held at the Triton Series, he made good on the claim.

Top five finishers:
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

*denotes heads-up deal

83 entries | Prize pool: $8,300,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #12 – $25,000 PLO 6-HANDED

SIPILA GETS NORDIC PLO CHARGE OFF TO WINNING START
A whole new cohort of players arrived to Montenegro for the PLO portion of the schedule, and one of their leading lights, Finland’s Samuli Sipila, led the way with a heads-up clinic to deny Mikalai Vaskaboinikau a back-to-back triumph.

Top five finishers:
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

82 entries | Prize pool: $2,050,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #11 – $200,000 NLHE 8-HANDED

MALINOWSKI FULFILS ‘IMITLESS’ POTENTIAL WITH $200K WIN
It was the biggest buy-in event on the Triton schedule in Montenegro, and one of the online game’s most fearless stars, Wiktor Malinowski, landed his biggest ever tournament score, denying Adrian Mateos a second of the trip.

Top five finishers:
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

93 entries | Prize pool: $18,600,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #10 – $50,000 NLH TURBO

PETRANGELO’S TRITON TROPHY HUNT GETS STARTED IN TURBO
American pro Nick Petrangelo finally managed to get over the line in the first single-day turbo event of the trip to Montenegro. Petrangelo beat Lewis Spencer heads up but immediately targeted even bigger wins on the tour.

Top five finishers:
1 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $775,000
2 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $556,000
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $362,000
4 – David Yan, New Zealand – $273,000
5 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $212,000

53 entries | Prize pool: $2,650,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #9 – $125,000 NLH MAIN EVENT

VASKABOINIKAU VANQUISHES ALL EN ROUTE TO MAIN EVENT WIN
The elite of world poker was no match for occasional Triton visitor Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, who dreamt of one day winning the Triton Main Event title, and then turning that dream into reality–and a $4.7 million payday.

Top five finishers:
1 – Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus – $4,737,000
2 – Dejan Kaladjurdjevic, Montenegro – $3,196,000
3 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $2,200,000
4 – Phil Ivey, USA – $1,795,000
5 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $1,430,000

171 entries | Prize pool: $21,375,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #8 – $100,000 NLH 8-HANDED

PARENTS SPUR KULEV TO $100K TRITON TRIUMPH
In a tense heads-up battle with Thomas Santerne, Alex Kulev’s parents completed a long journey to watch their son play poker–and their presence gave the young Bulgarian the impetus to go on to claim the title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Alex Kulev, Bulgaria – $2,566,000
2 – Thomas Santerne, France – $1,735,000
3 – Xu Liang, China – $1,127,000
4 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $933,000
5 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $752,000

102 entries | $10,200,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #7 – $50,000 NLH 8-HANDED

MATEOS WINS MARATHON TO LAND SECOND TITLE
A monster turnout pushed the $50K event into an unscheduled third day, but Spain’s Adrian Mateos had all the skill to last the distance and wrap up a $1.8m payday and another trophy for his parents’ mantle.

Top five finishers:
1 – Adrian Mateos, Spain – $1,761,000
2 – Justin Saliba, USA – $1,188,000
3 – Joe Zou, China – $818,000
4 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $667,000
5 – Ben Tollerene, USA – $532,000

159 entries | $7,950,000
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #6 – $50,000 NLH 7-HANDED BOUNTY QUATTRO

YAROSHEVSKYY’S SHORT-STACK COMEBACK EXTENDS HAXTON’S WAIT
Ukraine’s Igor Yaroshevskyy has made at least one final table at each of his previous trips to the Triton Series and emerged from the Montenegro Bounty Quattro with a maiden title, denying Isaac Haxton once again.

Top five finishers:
1 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $1,172,000 (inc. $120K in bounties)
2 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $896,000 (inc. $180K in bounties)
3 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $773,000 (inc. $300K in bounties)
4 – Dimitar Danchev, Bulgaria – $690,000 (inc. $300K in bounties)
5 – Shyngis Satubayev, Kazakhstan – $463,000 (inc. $150K in bounties)

126 entries | $6,300,000 (inc. $1,920,000 in bounties)
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #5 – $40,000 NLH 7-HANDED MYSTERY BOUNTY

FIRST CASH, FIRST TITLE FOR DEBUTANT LASOUSKI
Many Triton regulars have played this tour for many years and are yet to land a title. But Artsiom Lasouski is already a champion, winning only the third tournament he’s ever played and from his first in-the-money finish.

Top five finishers:
1 – Artsiom Lasouski, Belarus – $669,000
2 – Samuel Ju, Germany – $452,000
3 – Chris Moneymaker, USA – $311,000
4 – Nikita Kuznetsov, Russia – $253,000
5 – Samuel Ju, Germany – $202,000

151 entries | $6,040,000 (inc. $3,020,000 in bounties)
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #3 – $30,000 NLH 8-HANDED

WATSON LANDS HOLD’EM WIN TO COMPLETE TRITON SET
With titles already in short deck (two) and PLO, Canada’s Mike Watson only needed a hold’em title to complete his Triton set. And he managed it in the third Montenegro tournament, earning the first seven-figure payday of the trip.

Top five finishers:
1 – Mike Watson, Canada – $1,023,000
2 – Kiat Lee, Malaysia – $691,000
3 – Ding Biao, China – $475,000
4 – David Yan, New Zealand – $387,400
5 – Morten Klein, Norway – $309,000

154 entries | $4,620,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #2 – $25,000 NLH 8-HANDED

DOUBLE KNOCKOUT SECURES WIRE-TO-WIRE TRIUMPH FOR NI
The $25K NLHE event ended in a spectacular collision when Andy Ni knocked out both of his last two opponents on the same hand and earned his first ever victory on the Triton Series.

Top five finishers:
1 – Andy Ni, China – $785,000
2 – Nicolas Chouity, Lebanon – $531,000
3 – Chris Brewer, USA – $354,000
4 – Aram Sargsyan, Armenia – $290,000
5 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $233,000

135 entries | $3,375,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #1 – $25,000 GG MILLION$ LIVE – NLH 8-HANDED

BOOM TIME AGAIN AS MONEYMAKER SECURES TRITON TRIUMPH
One of modern poker’s most recognisable figures came of age as a high roller when Chris Moneymaker, the man responsible for the poker boom of the early 2000s, scored a maiden Triton Series title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Chris Moneymaker, USA – $903,000
2 – Brian Kim, USA – $609,000
3 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $419,000
4 – Ding Biao, China – $341,000
5 – Danilo Velasevic, Serbia – $272,000

163 entries | $4,075,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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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

There are a handful of players on the Triton Series who for some reason can’t quite get over the line. They’re spectacular talents, who might easily have five or more titles, but for the villainous variance.

Nick Petrangelo has been near to the top of that list for quite a while, with 14 cashes and five final table appearances. And finally tonight, the 37-year-old American can call himself a Triton champion after taking down the $50K NLHE Turbo at Triton Montenegro.

“This one doesn’t count,” the laconic Petrangelo joked as the winner’s cheque moved into view and the trophy edge nearer his hands. He admitted soon after that that was a joke, but said, “Obviously I want to in one of the Mains or the Invitational or the $200Ks.”

He continued: “Obviously this is great and I’m happy. I’d like to win one of the big ones before I’m done.”

Nonetheless, this was a thrilling tournament with tons of top players taking their place in the first one-day event of the stop. Petrangelo held the chip lead for long periods as the turbo nature meant players came and went quickly, and the blinds became the most dominant factor.

“It’s a different skill set,” Petrangelo said, noting that the nature of the game means more all-in pre-flop confrontations. But Petrangelo’s timing was excellent, and he was there to get his hands of some silverware at last, beating the UK’s Lewis Spencer heads-up.

Has the dam now broken for Petrangelo? It would surprise nobody if this was the first of many. They all count, Nick.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Played against the slow structure of the Main Event taking place in the neighbouring room, the turbos are always especially frantic affairs. None of the players would deny that they would prefer to be still engaged in the bigger buy-in event next door, but they tend to relax into these ones despite the $50K buy-in.

The eight levels of registration brought 53 entries, including 15 re-entries, and put more than $2.6 million in the prize pool. That meant a $775,000 first prize, proof that there’s no such thing as a small event on the Triton Series.

After a few hands of hand-for-hand play across two tables, Nick Petrangelo and Lewis Spencer got involved in a major pot. Spencer opened under the gun, Petrangelo called on the button and it went check-bet-call on both the flop of and the turn of .

They both checked the river and Spencer’s beat Petrangelo’s . It was a pot that could have been much bigger.

It possibly had an impact on what happened next, however. Petrangelo — steaming? — raised again, this time from the cutoff, and Artur Martirosian jammed for 16 big blinds. That was far from the shortest stack in the room. The blinds got out the way but Petrangelo called and tabled his pocket eights.

Martirosian was looking at a flip for his tournament. His needed to hit.

It did not. Martirosian was bounced in 10th setting the final and locking up a minimum $77,000 payday for everyone else. Petrangelo now assumed the lead as they settled down with the following stacks:

Nick Petrangelo – 2,705,000 (54 BBs)
Isaac Haxton – 2,135,000 (43 BBs)
Lewis Spencer – 1,890,000 (38 BBs)
Maher Nouira – 1,070,000 (21 BBs)
Steve O’Dwyer – 920,000 (18 BBs)
David Yan – 630,000 (13 BBs)
Dylan Linde – 475,000 (10 BBs)
Leon Sturm – 405,000 (8 BBs)
Dan Dvoress – 385,000 (8 BBs)

The turbo format means action right from the off regardless of the cards, but when short-stacked Leon Sturm picked up aces immediately at the final, he found a willing customer in Isaac Haxton, who found pocket kings. The biggest pre-flop collision poker offers gave Sturm an immediate double.

That hand was bad new for Dan Dvoress for two reasons. Firstly it made him the shortest stack at the table. Secondly, it gave Sturm the chips to call his shove a few hands later, knocking Dvoress out.

To be honest, the money was going in here regardless. Dvoress open jammed with . Sturm reshoved with pocket tens. The dealer offered nothing for the all-in player and Dvoress was out in ninth. He took that $77,000 min cash.

Dylan Linde doubled through Haxton. Then David Yan doubled through Sturm. Both had tiny stacks, but no one really had enough chips to survive too much buffeting.

Steve O’Dwyer was now the short stack and he found pocket queens. Spencer gave him a spin with and it looked good for O’Dwyer until the ace on the river ended his participation. O’Dwyer moved silently to the exit looking for $101,000.

O’Dwyer’s elimination was pretty cruel, but Sturm’s, on the next hand, was even more against the odds. Sturm got his chips in with pocket jacks against Maher Nouira’s pocket sixes. The flop, all clubs, missed both of them, and with the in his hand, Sturm was in a very strong position.

However the river was an offsuit six, spiking a set for Nouira and sending Sturm out in seventh for $130,000.

With the blinds getting remorselessly higher, chips were moving around the table with abandon. Linde doubled through Yan when queens stayed best against nines. But then Yan doubled back through Spencer with a dominant ace. Both these were all-in pre-flop.

More than ever, you need the rub of the green to win a turbo, and Haxton seems cursed to run worse than most at Triton finals. Despite landing his 40th cash on this series, his long hunt for a win continues as his fell to Petrangelo’s .

The money here went in pre-flop too, and Haxton’s last handful of blinds gave Petrangelo hope that his own trophy drought might end. Haxton’s sixth place was worth $164,000.

At this stage, Yan seemed to be getting his chips in most frequently, which was securing him vital blinds when opponents folded. However, the now short-stacked Spencer called all in with pocket kings and beat Yan’s . That bunched all five players up between 10 and 16 big blinds apiece.

Remarkably, they managed to play another two levels without an elimination, which sliced everyone’s stack down even further in comparison with the blinds. The average stack was now 11 big blinds.

Spencer now doubled through Nouira, with beating . There was a king on flop and river. And he hadn’t finished delivering the punishment on his Tunisian opponent. Spencer found aces in the small blind a moment later, jammed his bigger stack in, and got a call from Nouira’s .

Nouira shook his head in disbelief, but was sent packing in fifth. He picked up $212,000 for that.

Spencer now had around 50 percent of the chips in play, but it was still only 25 blinds. When Petrangelo doubled through him, with beating (Spencer had shoved blind-on-blind), Petrangelo was into the lead.

Yan doubled his two blinds through Linde. Petrangelo now did the shoving as chip leader. And then Petrangelo shoved into Yan’s big blind again and this time Petrangelo’s hit a five to beat Yan’s . Yan was out in fourth for $273,000.

Everything was happening at quite a pace now, with Linde next to hit the rail. Petrangelo shoved with this time and Linde was all in with pocket deuces. There was a nine and a jack on the flop and Petrangelo claimed another scalp.

Linde won $362,000 for third.

Petrangelo had 38 blinds to Spencer’s 15 as heads-up began. But the pace this was moving, it wouldn’t take long. One hand, to be precise.

Spencer limped with . Petrangelo checked for the flop of . Some more money went in here, but then Spencer shoved the turn. Unfortunately for him, Petrangelo’s was now huge. The tournament was his.

Spencer’s deepest finish gave him a $556,000 second place prize, his biggest so far on the series. Petrangelo, though, was a worthy champion. He is overdue no more.

“You try to be objective about your play,” Petrangelo said, in answer to a question about how he deals with barren spells. “I’m doing nothing different. The preparation is the same every trip.” He added: “It doesn’t mean you’re playing better when you’re winning.”

But it certainly feels better, that much is sure.

RESULTS

Event 10 – $50,000 NLH Turbo
Dates: May 21, 2024
Entries: 53 (inc. 15 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,650,000

1 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $775,000
2 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $556,000
3 – Dylan Linde, USA – $362,000
4 – David Yan, New Zealand – $273,000
5 – Maher Nouira, Tunisia – $212,000
6 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $164,000
7 – Leon Sturm, Germany – $130,000
8 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $101,000
9 – Dan Dvoress, Canada – $77,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive