Category: Poker

Asked before he set foot on the Triton Series for the first time, back in his home city of London this summer, Gavin Andreanoff said that his poker ambition was “to win a Triton poker tournament!”

Flash forward a few months and that’s “Achievement Unlocked”.

Andreanoff may not be a very familiar name in tournament poker, but he’s been playing professionally for 16 years, mainly PLO cash games live and online, and here he showed just what he can do in the tournament format as well.

Andreanoff took down the $30K PLO Bounty tournament in Monte Carlo, picking up the $387,000 first prize, plus another $160,000 in bounties for knocking out four opponents en route. The last of those was Quan Zhou, the Chinese PLO expert, who also made a final table in the hold’em Main Event this week.

“Basically getting good cards in the right spots,” Andreanoff, 35, said when asked what was the secret to his success. He went on to detail three key pots where his decision-making was remarkably straightforward and earned him all the chips.

With bounties in play, and stacks rapidly shallowing, Andreanoff admitted that it was quite the roller coaster. “In that format, with the ante, it can go either way,” he said. “It was all over the place.”

He added: “It’s sick. It’s super hard. You obviously want the bounties but you want to get yourself in the spot to get in the top places too.”

Andreanoff managed both, and finished with a $547,000 haul.

That’s going to please his family, particularly his uncle, who Andreanoff says claims half of all his poker winnings, remembering a family Christmas game where he supposedly “taught him all he knows”. One assumes Christmas will be lavish this year.

TOURNAMENT RECAP

The first day of competition in this tournament was as lively as you would expect and it ended with a final table of eight players already assembled. Bounties kicked in when 19 players remained, so a hefty chunk of the prize pool had already been awarded.

All that mattered today was who took the very biggest bucks.

All the PLO experts seemed to have made it deep — Dylan Weisman and Laszlo Bujtas barely played a hand of hold’em at this festival — while Danny Tang and Dan Dvoress carried over their good form from the earlier two-card phase.

The mercurial Tom Dwan, however, was sitting at the very top. He too had flown into Monte Carlo simply for the PLO events and was standing tall as the man to catch.

Tom Dwan – 130 BBs
Dan Dvoress – 87 BBs
Danny Tang – 76 BBs
Quan Zhou – 70 BBs
Gavin Andreanoff – 46 BBs
Laszlo Bujtas – 37 BBs
Dylan Weisman – 25 BBs
Iakov Onuchin – 23 BBs

There were fireworks right from the off, with a huge three-way pre-flop all-in shaking up the leader board immediately. Dwan opened with and Tang called on the button, sitting with .

If Tang was setting a trap with the aces, it worked perfectly because Weisman three bet from the small blind, holding .

Dwan four-bet, essentially asking the others if they wanted to play for stacks, and both opponents said that they did. Tang shoved, Weisman under called all-in and Dwan called the extra.

The flop hit both the smaller stacks: . Weisman tripled with his flush, Tang won the side pot with his straight and Dwan tumbled down the counts.

Unfortunately for Weisman, it proved to be a false dawn. Not lot afterwards, he ran kings into the aces of Bujtas — it was five-bet all-in pre-flop — and saw the rest go in the Hungarian’s direction too when beat .

Weisman hit the rail in eighth, for $54,000. That will certainly be reinvested in the $50K PLO starting later today.

As is always the case with Omaha tournaments, players were seeing enormous swings. Dvoress lost a huge pot, doubling up Andreanoff, in a hand where Zhou was also considering calling both of their shoves with the potential to knock them both out.

As it was, all the chip went in on a flop of and, after Zhou folded, Dvoress showed to Andreanoff’s .

The turn and river improved both of their hands, but Andreanoff’s flush scored a triple up, leaving Dvoress on fumes.

Dwan, who embraces the volatility of poker more than most, landed on the wrong side of a severe buffeting in this one. After the skirmish with Tang earlier, he managed to build his stack back, but lost a ton back to Zhou. He then doubled up Dvoress before becoming the second player out from the final, completing a journey from leader to the rail, when he lost another big pot to Andreanoff.

Dwan called Andreanoff’s pre-flop bet with and had top pair after the flop. Andreanoff bet, Dwan shoved and Andreanoff called.

Andreanoff was already ahead of Dwan with his and ended with a flush after the turn and river. Dwan was done, taking $69,500.

With the two Americans now out of the way, the Europeans turned on themselves. Bujtas and Iakov Onuchin got involved in a pre-flop battle that ended with Bujtas four-bet jamming and Onuchin calling.

Onuchin was the effective stack but he had the advantage with against Bujtas’ .

With the full board eventually reading , Bujtas had a straight and Onuchin was out. He won $87,000 for sixth.

Dvoress had done incredibly well to bounce back from a near tournament-ending pot earlier, but his event eventually unravelled in fifth. Shortly after doubling through Zhou with aces, Dvoress found himself defeated for the last time by the same opponent.

They bet on every street through a board of , with Zhou shoving the river and Dvoress calling all in for his final five big blinds.

Dvoress had a flush draw on the flop and two pair by the end, but Zhou had a straight. Dvoress was free to head to the $50K PLO event with $112,400 in his pocket.

Bujtas, known as “omaha4rollz” online, was again fulfilling his role as one of the world’s leading four-card players. But even he was powerless to halt Zhou’s charge at this stage.

Zhou and Bujtas played an enormous pot, with the Chinese player’s ending up with a full house, which beat Bujtas’ .

That cost Bujtas almost all of his stack, but Tang ended up with his bounty. Bujtas got his remaining shrapnel in with a pair of sevens, single-suited, and Tang’s pair of eights remained better. Bujtas took $139,000 for fourth.

Tang has enjoyed an incredible week on the Triton Series, extending what has been a tremendous year. And here he was at a final table of a PLO event as well, having bossed it in NLHE.

Tang’s tournament ended in a third-place finish, however, as he was the latest player to be swept away by Zhou. In a three-bet pre-flop pot, Tang shoved the flop looking at on the board and holding .

Zhou called for what was only a couple more blinds and his ended up hitting two more spades for a flush. Tang grimaced, got up and left, taking $178,000 and $120,000 in bounties.

Zhou therefore squared off against Andreanoff, with a 70-20 BB advantage. It was barely 5pm local time and the final table had flown by.

Both players during the heads-up phase showed a willingness to get their chips in. There was the lesser-seen chopped pot at one point, then Zhou wore Andreanoff down to about 15 big blinds. But Andreanoff doubled back to level with making a straight on a board of . Zhou had two pair.

There was only 50 big blinds between them. And then, as the level went up, there was only 40 big blinds between them.

And then, all of a sudden, it was done.

Zhou had and raised pre-flop. Andreanoff had and called. It took them to the flop of .

Andreanoff check-called Zhou’s continuation bet.

The turn was the and the check-call pattern repeated, which then took them to the river. Andreanoff checked again and Zhou moved all in. Andreanoff now had a flush and made the call. He was good; Zhou’s straight was now beaten.

With that, Gavin Andreanoff comes out of the shadows to secure a first major title of his career.

RESULTS

Event #11 – $30,000 PLO Bounty
Dates:November 2-3, 2023
Entries: 74 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,220,000 (inc. $760,000 in bounty pool)

1 – Gavin Andreanoff, UK – $387,000 (+ $160,000 in bounties)
2 – Quan Zhou, China – $269,000 (+ $120,000 in bounties)
3 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $178,000 (+ $120,000 in bounties)
4 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – $139,000 (+ $160,000 in bounties)
5 – Dan Dvoress, Canada – $112,400 (+ $40,000 in bounties)
6 – Iakov Onuchin, Russia – $87,000
7 – Tom Dwan, USA – $69,500 (+ $120,000 in bounties)
8 – Dylan Weisman, USA – $54,000 (+ $40,000 in bounties)

9 – Fahredin Mustafov, Bulgaria – $41,500
10 – Li Tong, New Zealand – $31,300
11 – Dimitar Danchev, Bulgaria – $31,300
12 – Armin Ghojehvand, UK – $30,000
13 – Imad Derwich, France – $30,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Webster Lim is a three-time champion on the Triton Super High Roller Series after winning a fascinating all-Malaysian heads-up duel tonight in Monte Carlo and winning the latest GG Poker Million$ Live tournament.

This is actually Lim’s second GG Million$ Live victory having won the same $25,000 buy-in tournament in Vietnam earlier this year. It’s no mean feat because, at $25K, this is the lowest buy-in on the Triton Series and draws the biggest crowd.

This one was a Triton record, with 187 entries.

“Maybe I should play only this one,” Lim joked as he picked up his trophy.

Lim’s prize was $899,893, an adjusted total after he struck a heads-up deal with his countryman Hing Yong Chow. As ever, the seats around the final table were full with the great and the good of Asian poker, with this crew as tight as any in the world.

“It’s 1am and they’re here, I cannot ask for more,” Lim said.

He added that members of the crew — Danny Tang, Punnat Punsri, Kiat Lee, Lun Loon, Michael Soyza, among others — regularly share notes and tips and support. “You always learn every day,” Lim said.

He also said he enjoyed the fact that he took down the title with the most ever entries on the Triton Series. “It’s always good to see Triton growing,” he said.

TOURNAMENT ACTION RECAP

The tournament resumed overnight with 41 players left from that record-breaking field of 187 entries. As always, the only decisive thing that could happen in the early levels was that players could bust, and quickly the field reduced by nine to leave the tournament on its stone bubble.

Almost immediately, that particular milestone passed. Paul Phua opened a pot, Viacheslav Buldygin shipped with about 10 big blinds, and Phua made the call. It was a classic flip: pocket jacks versus , with Phua holding the jacks. And when another appeared on the flop, Buldygin was drawing to the straight only.

It never came.

The Russian left the field, Phua boosted his stack, and the race towards the final began.

For once in this Triton Series stop, the Asian contingent quickly rose to the top. Phua’s trajectory continued upward, and he was joined by fellow Malaysians Hing Yang Chow and Webster Lim, while China’s Biao Ding also found his stride.

The same couldn’t be said for Steve O’Dwyer, Tim Adams, Alex Kulev, Bruno Volkmann and Artur Martirosian, who were among the players knocked out ahead of the final. When Jean-Noel Thorel’s friend and traveling partner Frederic Delval went out in 10th, the final table was set, with the three Malaysians in the top spots.

Hing Yang Chow – 43 BBs
Paul Phua – 38 BBs
Webster Lim – 28 BBs
Yulian Bogdanov – 28 BBs
Ren Lin – 26 BBs
Biao Ding – 24 BBs
Igor Yaroshevskyy – 22 BBs
Ben Heath – 16 BBs
Ferdinand Putra – 9 BBs

Cash-game regular Ferdinand Putra had locked up a cash for the third time on the Monte Carlo trip, but his stay at this final table was brief. He became the first of three consecutive players to go broke at the hands of Ren Lin, unable to get to hold up against .

Putra picked up $100,200 for this one.

Lin wasted little time before despatching Yulian Bogdanov next. Bogdanov pushed all in from the small blind with and Lin woke up with pocket queens in the big. That was an easy call and Bogdanov took $122,000 — another good result for the Bulgarians.

This tournament, which carried the GG Poker name, employed the “seat swap” format heading into the final table, which is used on the online site. It means that players can select their position at the final, with choices made in order of chip stack.

Phua, who was second in the standings heading into the final, cursed his luck with having swapped seats with Lin. That was certainly the hot seat — and it stayed warm for the elimination of Biao Ding next.

Lin raised from the button with and Ding called in the big blind, sitting with . Ding probably hoped to see a queen, but that was actually the last thing he really wanted. However, the dealer maybe heard his silent plea.

The board came queen high and all the money went in. Lin’s kicker played as Ding was ousted. He won $166,600.

Lin took a back seat now as Webster Lim — one spot along the keyboard only — took over. He knocked out Phua and Igor Yaroshevskyy in back-to-back hands and took over at the top of the leader board.

Lim found aces and, obviously, called Phua’s three-bet jam. Phua did pick up a straight draw with his , but it never came. Phua busted in sixth for $228,000.

On the very next hand, Yaroshevskyy moved all in from under the gun with and Lim snapped him off with , which stayed good.

Yaroshevskyy cashed this very event back in Cyprus earlier this year, where his third place earned him $339,500. This time he had to settle for $301,000 for fourth.

Ben Heath now assumed the unfortunate role of the short stack and he wasn’t able to get it moving in the right direction. In fact, he could do little but sit and stare as others picked up all the pots, then finally getting his last chips in with and losing to Hing Yang Chow’s .

Heath won $380,000, but Chow’s stack was near even with his two opponents as they began three-handed play.

Having scaled the heights earlier, Lin was now the player on the ropes. Lim’s surge had coincided almost precisely with Lin’s decline and there was no surprise when the duo played the pot that sent Lin out in third.

This was a bit of a cooler. Lin had and watched the board come . There was betting on every street, with a shove on the river, and Lin had every reason to think his straight was good.

But Lim had and rivered a full house. He scored a huge double.

Chow took the last few blinds from Lin’s stack with beating . Lin’s tournament ended with a $468,000 payout.

The bleachers were now packed with supporters for this all-Malaysian showdown.

Lim had 62 big blinds; Chow had 31, but both players had been here before and closed it out.

Lim was already a two-time champion, having won this GG Super Million$ in Vietnam, after winning a €50K Short Deck in Madrid. Chow too had a Triton title. He won a PLO event in Montenegro in 2019.

The pair quickly decided on a deal, with Lim securing a minimum $859,893 and Chow locking up $760,107. That left $40K to play for on the side, plus the trophy. There was still life in this one yet.

Lim took the more aggressive lines heads up, but Chow actually managed to quickly pull into a chip lead in pots that went the distance. However, Lim managed to stay calm and continue to chip away at his opponent, opening up a lead of 41 BBs to 18 BBs when they entered Level 29.

Lim shoved on the first hand, but Chow tank-folded. However, Lim built an even bigger lead and Chow had only eight bigs when the chips all went in the middle for the first time. Chow was able to double, however, when his beat Lim’s .

Lim just set to work again and built his lead once more. But then a hand came up that was difficult for anyone to get away from, and it happened to favour Lim.

Chow had pocket sevens while Lim had . There was betting on every street as the board slowly ran .

Lim shoved on the end and Chow called, learning the bad news. Never mind: he dived into the crowd of supporters to show his appreciation too for Lim, who moves up the multiple champion standings and takes a third trophy home.

RESULTS

Event #10 – $25,000 NLH – 8 Handed – GGMillion$ Live
Dates:November 1-2, 2023
Entries: 187 (inc. 70 re-entries)
Prize pool: $4,675,000

1 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – $899,893*
2 – Hing Yang Chow, Malaysia – $760,107*
3 – Ren Lin, USA – $468,000
4 – Ben Heath, UK – $380,000
5 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $301,000
6 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $228,000
7 – Biao Ding, China – $166,600
8 – Yulian Bogdanov, Bulgaria – $122,000
9 – Ferdinand Putra, Indonesia – $100,200

10 – Frederic Delval, France – $85,000
11 – Yuri Dzivielevski, Brazil – $85,000
12 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $76,000
13 – Sirzat Hissou, Germany – $76,000
14 – Jans Arends, Netherlands – $69,000
15 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $69,000
16 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $62,000
17 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $62,000
18 – Francisco Benitez, Uruguay – $55,400
19 – Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – b$55,400
20 – Alex Kulev, Bulgaria – $55,400
21 – Timothy Adams, Canada – $50,600
22 – Mario Mobock, Austria – $50,600
23 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $50,600
24 – Jan Schwipperts, Germany – $45,800
25 – Robert Flink, Sweden – $45,800
26 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $45,800
27 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $45,800
28 – Phil Ivey, USA – $41,000
29 – Ian Bradley, UK – $41,000
30 – Justin Bonomo, USA – $41,000
31 – Shyngis Satubaev, Kazakhstan – $41,000

*denotes deal

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Full details of everything that happened at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Monte Carlo, which ran from October 24 through November 4, 2023

EVENT #13 – $25,000 POT LIMIT OMAHA TURBO

PERFECT 10 FOR KOON, CLOSES MONTE CARLO EVENT IN STYLE
It looked for a moment as though Jason Koon had forgotten to win a title at Triton Monte Carlo, but on the final night, in the final tournament, Koon came good to land his 10th career title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Jason Koon, USA – $365,000
2 – Eelis Parssinen, Finland – $262,000
3 – Joao Vieira, Portugal – $171,000
4 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $129,000
5 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – $100,000

50 entries | $1,250,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #12 – $50,000 POT LIMIT OMAHA

DVORESS BAGS TITLE NUMBER TWO AS $50K PLO CONCLUDES
On the last night of the Monte Carlo festival — just as he had done when he had a flight to catch out of Cyprus — Dan Dvoress stormed through a final day final table to win the second title of his Triton career.

Top five finishers:
1 – Dan Dvoress, Canada – $956,000
2 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $664,000
3 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $439,000
4 – Chris Parker, UK – $344,000
5 – Keith Lehr, USA – $277,000

72 entries | $3,600,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #11 – $30,000 POT LIMIT OMAHA – BOUNTY

ANDREANOFF COMES OUT OF THE SHADOWS TO CLAIM MAIDEN TRITON WIN
A PLO cash-game pro, Gavin Andreanoff cashed the first Triton title he played in London, then travelled to Monte Carlo to win the second. It’s his first live tournament victory and earned him more than $500K, including bounties

Top five finishers:
1 – Gavin Andreanoff, UK – $387,000 (+ $160,000 in bounties)
2 – Quan Zhou, China – $269,000 (+ $120,000 in bounties)
3 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $178,000 (+ $120,000 in bounties)
4 – Laszlo Bujtas, Hungary – $139,000 (+ $160,000 in bounties)
5 – Dan Dvoress, Canada – $112,400 (+ $40,000 in bounties)

74 entries | $2,220,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #10 – $25,000 NLH 8-HANDED GG MILLION$ LIVE

THREE UP FOR LIM AS MALAYSIA DOMINATES GG MILLION$
Webster Lim is the man to beat in the GG Poker Million$ tournaments on the Triton Series as the Malaysian followed up success in this event in Vietnam with another victory, over a record field, in Monte Carlo. He beat his countryman Hing Yang Chow heads up.

Top five finishers:
1 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – $899,893*
2 – Hing Yang Chow, Malaysia – $760,107*
3 – Ren Lin, USA – $468,000
4 – Ben Heath, UK – $380,000
5 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $301,000

187 entries | $4,675,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #9 – $50,000 NLH 7-HANDED

FAMOUS FIVE FOR TANG AS IN-FORM TITANS CLASH IN MONTE CARLO
There’s no stopping Danny Tang on the Triton Series as he completed an incredible fifth triumph in 2023, downing the Super High Roller scene’s other leading tournament winner, Ike Haxton, heads up.

Top five finishers:
1 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $1,580,000
2 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $1,070,000
3 – Fahredin Mustafov, Bulgaria – $715,000
4 – Chris Brewer, USA – $585,000
5 – Pedro Garagnani, Brazil – $469,000

136 entries | $6,800,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #8 – $40,000 NLH 7-HANDED – MYSTERY BOUNTY

SUPER MARIO IN MONTE CARLO AS MOSBÖCK BLITZES BOUNTY
After coming up agonisingly short in the $200K Invitational, Austrian former soccer player Mario Mosböck made it count in the $40K bounty, landing his first Triton title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Mario Mosböck, Austria – $718,000 (+$720K from 10 bounties)
2 – Imad Derwiche, France – $484,000 (+$80K from one bounty)
3 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia – $333,000 (+$280K from five bounties)
4 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $272,000 (+$240K and Bombay yacht stay from three bounties)
5 – Axel Hallay, France – $216,500

162 entries | $6,480,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #7 – $30,000 NLH 7-HANDED

DIMOV PUTS BULGARIA ON THE BOARD WITH FIRST-TIME SUCCESS
A strong Bulgarian contingent of players arrived to Monte Carlo for the Triton Series this week, and Ognyan Dimov landed the country’s first win in only his third tournament.

Top five finishers:
1 – Ognjan Dimov, Bulgaria – $1,010,000
2 – Juan Pardo, Spain – $685,000
3 – Ole Schemion, Germany – $457,000
4 – Luc Greenwood, Canada – $374,000
5 – Travis Endersby, Australia – $300,100

145 entries | $4,350,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #6 – $100,000 NLH 8-HANDED

VOGELSANG BATTLES BACK FROM ONE BLIND TO END TROPHY DROUGHT
He’s been playing on the Triton Series since the very start, and finally Christoph Vogelsang landed a debut title, coming back from near-elimination to land a $2.6m prize.

Top five finishers:
1 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany – $2,644,000*
2 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $2,190,000*
3 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $1,296,000
4 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $1,068,000
5 – Ben Heath, UK – $858,000

*denotes heads-up deal

120 entries | $12,000,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #5 – $25,000 NLH TURBO

O’DWYER AT THE DOUBLE AS LATEST TURBO HEADS TO AMERICAN
It might have looked like a short-stack shootout, but Steve O’Dwyer picked his spots the best to claim a second Triton title, four years after he earned his first.

Top five finishers:
1 – Steve O’Dwyer, USA – $416,000
2 – Dimitar Danchev, Bulgaria – $299,000
3 – Mike Watson, Canada – $195,000
4 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $147,000
5 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia – $114,000

57 entries | $1,425,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT #3 – $125,000 NLH MAIN EVENT

EIBINGER OUTLASTS MATEOS TO SNATCH MAIN EVENT TRIUMPH
The Austrian turbo specialist Matthias Eibinger managed to overhaul an enormous Adrian Mateos chip lead to claim the biggest cash of his career and a Triton Main Event title.

Top five finishers:
1 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $3,461,261*
2 – Adrian Mateos – $3,120,739*
3 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $1,772,000
4 – Chris Brewer, USA – $1,450,000
5 – Quan Zhou, China – $1,165,000

*denotes heads up deal

135 entries | $16,875,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 2 – $200,000 TRITON INVITATIONAL

SMITH HALTS MOSBÖCK TO LAND MONTE CARLO INVITATIONAL
The American pro Dan Smith overcame Mario Mosböck’s heads-up chip lead to bank a $3.8 million first prize and secure his first title on the Triton Series. The event featured a specially invited field of VIPs and elite pros.

Top five finishers:
1 – Dan Smith, USA – $3,870,000
2 – Mario Mosböck – Austria – $2,690,000
3 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – $1,780,000
4 – Jean Noel Thorel, France – $1,390,000
5 – Alexander Shelukhin, Russia – $1,125,000

73 entries | $14,600,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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EVENT 1 – $50,000 NLH TURBO

JAFFE BLASTS THROUGH BOUNTY EVENT TO CLAIM FIRST TITLE
Triton Monte Carlo got up and running with a swashbuckling performance from Jonathan Jaffe who tore through the $50K bounty tournament to claim his first title — and picking up nine scalps, worth $20K each, along the way.

Top five finishers:
1 – Jonathan Jaffe, USA – $501,000 (+ $180,000 in bounties)
2 – Brian Kim, USA – $359,000 (+ $80,000)
3 – Leonard Maue, Germany – $233,000 (+ $80,000)
4 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $176,000 (+$60,000)
5 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $136,000 (+$120,000)

57 entries | $1,710,000 prize pool
FULL REPORT AND RESULTS

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Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Final tables during the Triton Series’ first trip to Monte Carlo have fallen into a pattern. One player has had a dominant chip lead when the last players sit around a single table, but that person never quite closes the tournament out.

In the very first event to conclude here in Monaco, that player was the Austrian pro Mario Mosböck, who ended up finishing second in the $200K Invitational, despite leading the last nine.

Mosböck, 27, learnt his lesson. As they pushed towards the final table in today’s $40K Mystery Bounty event, he allowed Michael Soyza to rush into an enormous chip lead. But when final-table play began, this one was all about Mosböck.

At around midnight local time, Soyza was gone and Mosböck closed this one out by beating Imad Derwiche heads up. It landed Mosböck his first Triton title, a payout of $718,000 and the last of 10 bounty tokens, which he’ll convert into at least $40,000 apiece at the mystery bounty draw tomorrow.

Derwiche provided the entertainment and a measure of competition, but Mosböck was a player in a groove. He had a big heads-up lead, which was enough to turn him into a champion, the first time all the chips went in.

“I got engaged last month,” Mosböck told Ali Nejad, when asked what had happened to improve his game so dramatically since his last trip to the Triton Series. “I took a little break from poker. I feel great. I love it.”

The former soccer pro added that his comfort with high-level competition assists him at the poker table. “It helps quite a bit,” he said. “These situations are very high pressure. I am used to playing football at a high level, so I can get my head in the right place.”

He fiancee Amanda, supporting him throughout the final from the rail, also came on stage to pose for the winner’s photo. Fedor Holz popped his head in too, supporting his friend.

The Vienna crew have crushed this week in Monte Carlo, and we are not done yet.

TOURNAMENT RECAP

As always, the Mystery Bounty element of the tournament attracted a particular excitement as it got under way on Day 2. Although Day 1 was all about chip accumulation, the second day brought the extra bounty dynamic and you need look no further than the pre-bubble period to discern how play can change.

With 28 players left, one from the money, Henrik Hecklen pushed for his last 10 big blinds. Viacheslav Buldygin looked at his cards in the big blind and said, “I think I’m going to call.”

He got a count, double checked his stack, and then called. He had . Yes, three high. Hecklen’s held up, and Buldygin lost another chunk of his stack when he called Punnat Punsri’s shove on the next hand.

This time, Punsri had tens and Buldygin had sixes and the bigger pair stayed best.

Despite Buldygin’s best efforts, the bubble actually burst on a neighbouring table. That’s where action folded to Jans Arends in the small blind and he moved all in, covering Lun Loon’s smaller stack in the big.

Look, however, found and was flipping against Arends’ pocket fours. There was an ace in the window but a four just behind it. The set finished with a full house and Loon was toast.

The rest were all now guaranteed a payout from the main pool, but there were still bounties to be collected too.

None of Hecklen, Arends or Punsri made it to the final, but Buldygin did, despite those two lost pots ahead of the bubble. They were only a handful of the well known players who perished before the last eight, and it left us with what amounted to a largely unfamiliar last eight.

Michael Soyza – 118 BBs
Sammy Bolung – 55 BBs
Imad Derwiche – 38 BBs
Mario Mosböck – 34 BBs
Axel Hallay – 24 BBs
Steve O’Dwyer – 24 BBs
Fahredin Mustafov – 18 BBs
Viacheslav Buldygin – 14 BBs

Only a few days ago, we watched the former professional footballer Mosböck take a wrecking ball to the deep stages of the $200K Triton Invitational, before finishing in second place. Mosböck’s return to the final today started from lower down the counts, but progressed in similar fashion as he sent Fahredin Mustafov to the rail in eighth, before taking huge chunks too from Axel Hallay.

First things first: Mustafov hit the rail in a spot that would likely have accounted for anybody. He opened with , then called Mosböck’s three bet, taking them to a flop of . Mosböck bet, Mustafov jammed with his top pair, but quickly learnt that he was behind Mosböck’s pocket jacks.

After blank turn and river, Mustafov left with $88,000, plus whatever his two bounty tokens bring him tomorrow.

Sammy Bolung was only playing his second tournament on the Triton Series having made his debut on the VIP side of the draw in the London Invitational. He had looked very comfortable in this open-entry event, and held the chip lead for a while in the run up to the final.

Things didn’t go in his favour when there was only one table left, however, and he lost a major chunk of his chips to Axel Hallay’s rivered straight, before losing the very last few to Imad Derwiche, whose beat Bolung’s .

Bolung nonetheless cashed for $121,000, nearly three times as much as his previous combined poker tournament haul.

Six players were now left, but it rapidly became five when Buldygin’s rocky road reached its end. This one was another flip, which came about after Steve O’Dwyer pushed from the button with pocket sevens and Buldygin woke up with in the big blind.

Buldygin made an obvious call but hit nothing on the flop and O’Dwyer took this one down. Buldygin banked $166,300, plus one bounty.

Hallay made his debut on the Triton Series in Cyprus this year, and although he cashed once, he never made a final table. This tournament represented his deepest run by quite a distance — but it ended in a fifth-placed finish.

As noted, Hallay lost a lot of his stack to Mosböck, when the latter played flopped trips beautifully. Hallay had top pair and ended up calling Mosböck’s huge river bet, all but doubling up the Austrian. Hallay could only tread water for a few orbits, before losing another nasty pot to Mosböck.

This time they got it all in pre-flop, with Mosböck’s making a straight to defeat Hallay’s pocket jacks. Hallay won $216,500. (He didn’t capture any bounties.)

It’s time now for the line that makes it to all reports this week: the tournament was now pretty shallow. There wasn’t a whole lot of wiggle room out there, evidenced by the fact that O’Dwyer became the next man out.

O’Dwyer proved during his turbo event success that he can pick his spots precisely in this short-stacked environment. But, to be honest, who is ever going to get away from pockets kings in a battle like this? It’s just that Mosböck had pocket aces.

That spelled the end for O’Dwyer, and sent him looking for $272,000 at the payouts desk. Mosböck was a big chip leader three-handed, with Michael Soyza and Imad Derwiche with their work cut out.

Derwiche managed an early double, turning his pocket tens into a flush. But when Soyza was all in for the first time, his lost to Mosböck’s .

Soyza dragged in a few bounties before they got to the final table, so he’ll have those to complement his $333,000 third-place prize. But that chip-leader curse struck again, and he still hunts his third title. For Mosböck, however, he continued to grab yet more valuable bounty tokens, as well as the chips to give him a huge heads-up advantage.

Mosböck had 26 million (66 big blinds) to Derwiche’s 6.1 million (15 big blinds).

They went back and forth for a little while, and Derwiche initiated a fun game where the winner would show one card to the player he beat out of the pot. Mosböck obliged and the two saw at least half of each other’s bluffs (or value bets).

However, Derwiche didn’t have enough chips to do much damage and the final hand came about when Mosböck completed from the small blind, Derwiche shoved and Mosböck called. It was for Derwiche and for Mosböck. There were no dramas.

Derwiche won $484,000 plus one bounty token. However, Mosböck’s haul guarantees him at least $400,000 more tomorrow, and his second seven-figure score of the trip.

Those soccer fields seem a long way away…

RESULTS

Event #8 – $40,000 NLH – 7 Handed – Mystery Bounty
Dates: October 30-31, 2023
Entries: 162 (inc. 66 re-entries)
Prize pool: $6,480,000 (inc. $3,240,000 in bounty pool)

1 – Mario Mosböck, Austria – $718,000 (+$720K from 10 bounties)
2 – Imad Derwiche, France – $484,000 (+$80K from one bounty)
3 – Michael Soyza, Malaysia – $333,000 (+$280K from five bounties)
4 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland – $272,000 (+$240K and Bombay yacht stay from three bounties)
5 – Axel Hallay, France – $216,500
6 – Viacheslav Buldygin, Russia – $166,300 (+$100K from one bounty)
7 – Sammy Bolung, Indonesia – $121,000 (+$720K from four bounties)
8 – Fahredin Mustafov, Bulgaria – $88,000 (+$140K from two bounties)

9 – Jean Noel Thorel, France – $72,000 (+$200K from one bounty)
10 – Julien Sitbon, France – $61,500 (+$80K from two bounties)
11 – Leon Sturm, Germany – $61,500 (+$200K from one bounty)
12 – Jonathan Jaffe, USA – $53,500
13 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand – $53,500
14 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $48,500
15 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $48,500
16 – Johannes Straver, Netherlands – $43,500
17 – Luc Greenwood, Canada – $43,500
18 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $38,800 (+$80K from two bounties)
19 – Bryn Kenney, USA – $38,800
20 – Paul Phua, Malaysia – $38,800
21 – Jans Arends, Netherlands – $35,600 (+$200K from four bounties)
22 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $35,600 (+$40K from one bounty)
23 – Ragnar Toompere – $35,600
24 – Francisco Benitez, Uruguay – $33,000
25 – Morten Klein, Norway – $33,000
26 – Henrik Hecklen, USA – $33,000
27 – Timothy Adams, Canada – $33,000

PLUS
Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey – $80K from one bounty
Maher Nouria, Tunisia – $40K from one bounty

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Bulgaria has quietly become quite a hotbed for poker talent over the past few years, with a handful of the country’s top stars picking up accolades on various tours across the world.

After the country’s money-list leader Alex Kulev tested the water on the Triton Series, he was joined here in Monte Carlo by three more of the top four of his countrymen — and tonight Ognjan Dimov became the first Bulgarian to win a title on this tour.

Dimov is well known at the online tables, as well as across the card rooms of Europe and the United States. He has a WSOP bracelet and an EPT title. But now he also has a seven-figure live tournament score thanks to his maiden Triton success.

Dimov banked $1,010,000 after defeating Spain’s Juan Pardo heads-up.

“It’s amazing,” Dimov told Ali Nejad ahead of his trophy presentation. He explained that he had won a satellite to come to the Triton Series, which allowed him to find out exactly what Kulev had told him about. “They had told me how great the series was,” Dimov said. “I really like it.”

He added that he fully intends to continue testing his skills against the best players on this circuit. “It’s my first time, but I hope it’s not the last,” he said.

As for Pardo, he began his week in Monte Carlo with an unfortunate bubble in the $200K Invitational. Although no one likes being runner up, the prize of $685,000 for second place in this one is far better than that bubble.

TOURNAMENT RECAP

The first lower buy-in event of the festival duly attracted a large and enthusiastic crowd, many of whom were sampling the Triton Series for the first time. With 145 entries, the first prize still weighed in at more than $1 million, which offered the kind of ROI on a $30K buy-in that you more commonly see lower down in stakes.

Still, of the 34 players coming back overnight, 11 of them would depart again with troubling the cashiers, and as the feel whittled down, all eyes fell on Ukraine’s Renat Bohdnov. He had the misfortune of running into Dimov’s pocket aces and hitting the rail in 24th.

With the bubble burst, the remaining players were guaranteed at least $51,000 and could focus on hitting the final.

The Bulgarian contingent had four players still involved in the money, and although three of them perished before the final, it was a decent showing from Fahredin Mustafov, Alex Kulev and Dimitar Danchev, with Dimov taking his place in a multinational last eight.

There were representatives from eight countries and four continents. The line-up looked like this:

Juan Pardo, Spain – 68 BBs
Luc Greenwood, Canada – 37 BBs
Ole Schemion, Germany – 33 BBs
Travis Endersby, Australia – 28 BBs
Ognyan Dimov, Bulgaria – 25 BBs
Janissa Kan, Hong Kong – 20 BBs
Joao Vieira, Portugal – 14 BBs
Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – 6 BBs

The four-time Triton champion Mikita Badziakouski might have had only six big blinds, but he’d been sitting with that for a good few orbits and had watched at least two players be knocked out as he clung on.

With his achievement unlocked of getting to the final table, he found a good spot to potentially get the double he’d need to mount a challenge. But when it came to it, his lost the flip to Juan Pardo’s and Badziakouski hit the rail.

It’s a little while since Badziakouski took one of these events down, but the $126,500 he gets from this will be reinvested in search of title No 5.

Joao Vieira is a dominant presence at the online tables, with a string of fine live results to his name as well. When players have that kind of history, they inevitably arrive on the Triton Series eventually, and Vieira has been dipping his toes into the super high roller pool over the past year or so.

His previous best was a seventh-placed finish in a Mystery Bounty tournament in Vietnam, and seventh was once again his fate here in Monte Carlo. But his $172,000 will give him reason to keep coming back.

Vieira was another short stack coming into the final and he wasn’t able to alter than through the early stages of the final table. Close to half his stack went on blinds in the 100K/200K/200K level, and then after he moved all in from under the gun with , he couldn’t get Dimov to fold in the big blind. They both hit a seven, but Dimov’s kicker played.

The Triton Series has had a pretty good number of female players making decent runs in its tournaments, but the stop in Monte Carlo had been one of the more male-dominated affairs. However, buoyed by the success so far of her friends Elton Tsang and Ken Tong, Janissa Kan pulled up a seat in Event 7 and made her debut on the Triton Series.

Safe to say, this was a success. Kan survived everything thrown at her through the first day and a half and took her seat at this final too, eventually only succumbing when she three-bet shoved her and was picked off by Ole Schemion’s .

Kan’s record now reads: Played 1, Cashed 1, and her sixth place was worth $232,700.

To this point, the players who began the final table with the lowest stacks had been knocked out in order. But if that pattern was to continue, Dimov and Travis Endersby should consider themselves under threat.

Endersby ended up the next player out, but not before he had doubled up, slipped down and doubled up again. The five-handed phase went on for quite a while, with stacks shallowing so much that even the chip leader, Pardo, had less than 25 big blinds.

That proved to be enough for him to call Endersby’s button shove, however, and Pardo’s lost to Pardo’s .

Endersby, an Australian who was in Monte Carlo after winning a package from the online site ACR, won $300,100. It was about six times his previous best tournament score.

They were now four-handed and very, very short. Schemion doubled through Dimov; Dimov doubled through Pardo and then knocked out Greenwood in consecutive hands. Greenwood shoved with and slammed into Dimov’s .

Greenwood, who was a champion in London, finished fourth here for $374,000.

The three players left had likely sparred with each other plenty online where each is a titan. But Pardo emerged with his reputation further burnished by a tremendous call in a pot against Schemion, which cut the latter to shreds. Schemion took a big stab at a board of with . And after due deliberation, Pardo called with .

Pardo grabbed headlines after folding kings (correctly) in London. Here, he made a correct call with king high.

Dimov was now also on a roll, and it helped that he woke up with a dominant ace when Schemion shoved his short stack in soon after. Schemion’s never caught up against Dimov’s and that sent the German crusher to the rail in third, banking $457,000.

There were fewer than 50 big blinds between the heads-up players. Dimov’s 32 BBs was precisely double Pardo’s 16, but the past two days here in Monte Carlo have given us volatile heads-up battles with multiple double ups.

Only one thing was certain: the Triton Series would be crowning another new champion. Pardo was at his second stop but hadn’t previously got further than sixth. Dimov had played four events here in Monte Carlo, but was in the money for the first time.

As it turned out, this was one of those speedy heads-up battles, with the first all-in confrontation deciding it. Dimov never yielded his heads up lead and eventually took up against Pardo’s .

A ten on the turn was the killer card, and Dimov pumped his fist in celebration of a terrific win. Watch these Bulgarians. There’s more to come from them.

Event #7 – $30,000 NLH 7-Handed
Dates: October 29-30, 2023
Entries: 145 (inc. 49 re-entries)
Prize pool: $4,350,000

1 – Ognjan Dimov, Bulgaria – $1,010,000
2 – Juan Pardo, Spain – $685,000
3 – Ole Schemion, Germany – $457,000
4 – Luc Greenwood, Canada – $374,000
5 – Travis Endersby, Australia – $300,100
6 – Janessa Kan, Hong Kong – $232,700
7 – Joao Vieira, Portugal – $172,000
8 – Mikita Badziakouski, Belarus – $126,500

9 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, Ukraine – $100,700
10 – Espen Jorstad, Norway – $84,800
11 – Webster Lim, Malaysia – $84,800
12 – Ren Lin, USA – $74,000
13 – Dimitar Danchev, Bulgaria – $74,000
14 – Henrik Hecklen, Denmark – $67,500
15 – Kayhan Mokri, Norway – $67,500
16 – Alex Kulev, Bulgaria – $61,000
17 – Leon Sturm, Germany – $61,000
18 – Imad Derwiche, France – $54,800
19 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $54,800
20 – Tim Busso, France – $54,800
21 – Fahredin Mustafov, Bulgaria – $51,000
22 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $51,000
23 – Karl Chappe-Gatien, France – $51,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive

Monte Carlo is synonymous with the highest stakes, the richest talents and the most dramatic occasions. And tonight, on the Triton Series first visit to this unique principality, two of modern poker’s most formidable young talents went to battle in a contest that perfectly suited this most breathtaking location.

Barely anything could separate Matthias Eibinger from Adrian Mateos as the pair played heads-up for the Triton Main Event title in the stunning Salle des Etoiles, with close to $4 million originally reserved for the winner.

But after the buffeting of a cold deck took much of the skill out of their two exceptionally skilful games, they opted to arrange a heads up deal, leaving the trophy and the title (plus $100K) to play for. Soon after, there was one last cooler and Eibinger took the spoils.

Eibinger won $3,461,261, plus a Jacob & Co timepiece, offered only to winners of main events on the Triton Series. Luxury brand Bombay also gave a two-day stay for him and up to five friends on the exclusive Bombay yacht.

The good times roll when you’re a champion on the Triton Series.

This was a brilliant performance from the 30-year-old Austrian, who had to overhaul Mateos’ enormous chip lead coming into the day, as well as survive past seven other fearsome competitors. Eibinger probably had the rub of the green in the heads up portion, but he honed his game in hyper turbo sit n goes online, which presents players with precisely these kinds of situations.

And, once again, Eibinger passed every test with flying colours.

“The feeling is just amazing,” Eibinger told Marianela Pereyra, on the Triton live stream. “It’s by far the biggest cash I’ve ever had. I’ve won two turbos and now I’ve won a main event. I’m just so happy.”

When pressed on how he managed to keep his composure facing Mateos’ stack, plus the rapidly escalating blinds, Eibinger said he loved it.

“It was an awkward spot but I really liked it,” he said. “The shorter I go, the more I enjoyed it. I’ve played 40K hyper turbo sit n goes online, so I have a bit of experience.”

He added that he felt “a little bit of nervousness here and there” but, having hidden it successfully, it was time to party. “Now it is just happiness,” he said.

As for Mateos, he added another $3,120,739 to his coffers. It’s maybe one that got away, but there was no accounting for the cards coming out as they did.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The Main Event began on only the third day of the Monte Carlo festival, but true to form the room quickly filled. By the time registration was closed, there was $16.875 million in the prize pool, courtesy of 135 entries.

The bubble was due when 24 players were left, spread across three tables, and stars such as Artur Martirosian, Webster Lim and Stephen Chidwick perished shortly before the cash desk opened.

The unluckiest player of all was Ren Lin, who took up against Richard Yong’s , but lost when the Triton co-founder turned a straight.

Lin was knocked out with nothing, while everyone else was now guaranteed $198,000 at least.

The next target was the final table, but all of Christoph Vogelsang, Tim Adams, Jason Koon, Sam Greenwood and Daniel Dvoress were among those who couldn’t make it. They cashed, but their hopes of a win petered out on the penultimate day.

Through all the carnage, the player who had started the day in the chip lead only consolidated his position there. Spain’s Adrian Mateos absolutely crushed it all day and took an enormous stack to the final.

Adrian Mateos — 125 BBs
Chris Brewer — 32 BBs
Nick Petrangelo — 30 BBs
Matthias Eibinger — 28 BBs
Quan Zhou — 28 BBs
Aleks Ponakovs — 27 BBs
Justin Bonomo — 27 BBs
Santhosh Suvarna — 24 BBs
Ken Tong — 19 BBs

With such an overwhelming chip lead — nearly a third of the chips in play — it seemed like this was Mateos’ tournament to lose. He had the chance to steamroll through the field, but was also keenly aware that this wasn’t a done deal just yet.

So it was that the nine of them played mostly small pots for the first hour, with little significant chip moves. Aleks Ponakovs dipped to the lowest stack, then doubled back through Nick Petrangelo. And that then left Petrangelo short and at risk.

Petrangelo found pocket tens and, after opening the pot, faced a three-bet shove from Ken Tong’s covering stack. Petrangelo called it off and was flipping against Tong’s . An ace on the flop and river won the pot for Tong and ended Petrangelo’s tournament.

His ninth place was worth $391,000.

Everybody bar Mateos was still relatively short-stacked, but he found poker’s new powerhouse hand and, after raising, called Mateos’ three-bet jam. Mateos had a real hand too — — and it made broadway.

That sent Bonomo out in eighth, banking $491,000. It wasn’t quite enough for him to retake the top spot in poker’s all-time money list, but who is going to be upset at another half million.

The pattern continued. Chips were shared around the short stacks, while waiting for the dealer to put a set-up into their hands. It happened when action folded around to Ponakovs in the small blind, who also had the smallest stack. Ponakovs had and jammed. Unfortunately for him, Chris Brewer was in the big blind with and made the call.

The board was entirely blank and Brewer’s hand stayed best. Ponakovs was knocked out in seventh for $668,000.

The stack sizes still suggested that this could quite easily get done in a hurry. And not long after, Brewer claimed another scalp when Ken Tong open-jammed with and Brewer called with .

Tong couldn’t survive this coup, but departed with $902,000 as a very happy man. He only decided to come to Monte Carlo the day before the event started, following his friend Elton Tsang to the Mediterranean. A purely recreational player, he made a last-gasp decision to play this main event. And he picked up nearly a million.

Another first timer at the Triton Series, although not quite such a poker rookie per se, Quan Zhou was also enjoying his time in Monte Carlo. The Chinese player had landed at the final table and guaranteed a first seven-figure tournament score by sticking around until the last five.

But Zhou’s stack had dwindled until he was all-in in the big blind. Both Eibinger and Mateos saw a flop with him, but Eibinger got out of the way post-flop and allowed Mateos, with pocket tens, to beat Zhou’s on a dry board.

Zhou, who came to the final dressed in an immaculate white suit, shirt and tie, made a dignified exit and picked up $1,165,000.

Although Brewer had picked up a couple of knockouts from this final table, they had only been of fellow short stacks and he had never really managed to threaten Mateos. Santhosh Suvarna and Eibinger had also moved ahead of Brewer in the counts, which left the American vulnerable if either of those got involved with him too.

And it was Suvarna who ended up accounting for Brewer. Suvarna opened with pocket eights and Brewer three-bet with . Brewer jammed and Suvarna called, and this time the pocket pair held up.

Brewer has won two Triton titles over the past year or so, but this time he could go no further. Fourth place was worth $1,450,000, and this trip to Monte Carlo is far from over yet.

Mateos remained seemingly imperious, but he would have been keenly aware that any double up for either of his two opponents could put them into the lead. And Eibinger managed to find precisely that to leapfrog Mateos.

Eibinger had in the small blind and opted to call only, with Mateos behind in the big blind. Mateos fell into the trap and moved all-in, sitting with . Eibinger called and he faded the outs that could have punished him.

With that, the Austrian was in the chip lead and Mateos, for the first time in three days, was technically now under threat.

But Mateos has made a habit during his relatively short career of finding the right cards at precisely the right time. And his elimination of Suvarna in the next major coup was pretty spectacular.

This one is best to read about without knowing the cards. Suvarna opened his button with a standard min-plus raise. Mateos called from the big blind. They then saw the flop and Mateos check-called Suvarna’s continuation bet.

The came on the turn and Mateos checked again. Suvarna bet and then Mateos shoved with the covering stack.

Suvarna called and the hands were revealed. Suvarna had for top pair and the nut flush draw. Mateos, however, had for a pair of eights, a straight draw and a flush draw.

And, boom, the river was the .

Suvarna’s fist pump suggested he thought he had won this one. He had the ace high flush, so it’s entirely forgivable. But Mateos celebrated too because that particular card gave him the straight flush, and it was enough to oust Suvarna.

The Indian businessman’s love affair with Triton continued with a $1,772,000 payday — albeit with a pretty gross elimination story.

The two top pros now settled in for what could easily turn in to a long battle. Mateos had retaken the chip lead with 62 big blinds to Eibinger’s 51. But those were two sizeable stacks still, and these two players were never going to give it up without either a fight or a cooler.

This, as you’d hope for a tournament of this magnitude, was a heads-up battle for the ages. Eibinger won all the early pots, then Mateos battled back into the lead when he got paid the maximum with a king high flush.

Mateos added some more when pocket aces became a set, but Eibinger doubled back with against , the better jack holding, then doubled once more with beating , the inferior jack turning a straight.

When Eibinger doubled yet again, this time with pocket sevens against Mateos’s flopped flush draw (it missed), the Austrian took a narrow lead again.

Mateos had to get back to work, and he went on another surge into the lead. However, when they got their chips in pre-flop yet again, Eibinger found another double. This time, his defeated Mateos’ .

Once more, Eibinger was the leader.

There was now only 40 blinds between them, so they were scrapping. It played to Eibinger’s strengths, however. He’s a former hyper turbo online sit n go player, where short-stack, short-handed play is what it’s all about. He managed to extend his lead to the point that Mateos was all in for a sub 10-big blind stack. Lo and behold, Mateos doubled up too, winning with against .

This turned out to be the breaking point. They’d seen enough and decided to strike that deal.

Very soon after, Eibinger found and Mateos black pocket tens, the kind of hand that would have put the chips in the middle at any stage. The dealer put a king on the flop, but there were three clubs out there by the turn. However, Eibinger faded the outs on the river and was champion.

Mateos was the first to congratulate him, and he becomes a three-time Triton Series champion.

RESULTS

Event #3 – $125,000 NLH – Main Event
Dates: October 26-28, 2023
Entries: 135 (inc. 47 re-entries)
Prize pool: $16,875,000

1 – Matthias Eibinger, Austria – $3,461,261*
2 – Adrian Mateos – $3,120,739*
3 – Santhosh Suvarna, India – $1,772,000
4 – Chris Brewer, USA – $1,450,000
5 – Quan Zhou, China – $1,165,000
6 – Ken Tong, Hong Kong – $902,000
7 – Aleks Ponakovs, Latvia – $668,000
8 – Justin Bonomo, USA – $491,000
9 – Nick Petrangelo, USA – $391,000

10 – Daniel Dvoress, Canada – $329,000
11 – Lewis Spencer, UK – $329,000
12 – Richard Yong, Malaysia – $286,000
13 – Isaac Haxton, USA – $273,500
14 – Leon Sturm, Germany – $273,500
15 – Sam Greenwood, Canada – $261,000
16 – Leonard Maue, Germany – $236,000
17 – Jason Koon, USA – $236,000
18 – Orpen Kisacikoglu, Turkey – $212,000
19 – Nacho Barbero, Argentina – $212,000
20 – Tim Adams, Canada – $212,000
21 – Christoph Vogelsang, Germany – $198,000
22 – Jans Arends, Netherlands – $198,000
23 – Bruno Volkmann, Brazil – $198,000

Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive