The Triton Poker High Roller Series Montenegro is on its last legs and the penultimate event of the series – Event #10: HK$750K Short Deck NLHE Ante Only – culminated yesterday, crowing a winner in Belarusian superstar Mikita Badziakouski (cover image).
The event attracted 52 entries, including 23 re-entries, generating HK$38.12 Million in the prize pool. A tournament regular, Badziakouski had won his first Triton title in the HK$1M NLHE Triton Super High Roller Main Event at Montenegro in May last year and followed it up by taking down the HK$2M NLHE Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Main Event in Jeju in July 2018. He has already picked up two scores in the current series with a fourth-place finish in Event #5: HK$1M NLHE Main Event and a 10th place finish in Event #11: HK$1M Triton Montenegro Short Deck Main Event.
Badziakouski dominated the final table and eliminated four out of the seven finalists, namely Andrew Robl, Paul Phua, Wang Qiang and eventual runner-up Sam Greenwood. With this win Badziakouski not only clinched his third Triton title but also banked an impressive payday of HK$13.30 Million, taking his lifetime tournament winnings to US$24,440,643.
“This was the first time I went deep in a short deck tournament. I was losing for a long time in short deck. I’m happy to finally win,” Badziakouski said in the post-event interview. “It feels great, obviously.”
Final Table Recap
Danny Tang became the unfortunate tournament bubble after busting in seventh place when his pocket jacks were outdone by Andrew Robl’s pocket aces.
Next to go was Xuan Tan. Holding , Tan got entangled in a three-way with Paul Phua, who held c13], and Robl, who was dealt . The board bricked, and Phua won the pot with his ace-king kicker, while Robl lost a big chunk of his chips and Tan was eliminated in sixth place.
With only 22 antes left, Andrew Robl decided to move all-in with . Mikita Badziakouski called holding pocket nines, which bettered to a set, knocking Robl out in fifth place.
Triton co-founder Paul Phua has been in spectacular form throughout the series, with four final table scores under his belt. His valiant hunt for his maiden Triton title came to a premature end yet again as his pocket queens were cracked by Badziakouski’s which improved to a pair of aces, dismissing Phua in fourth place.
Badizakouski seemed to be in rampage mode as he took down his third elimination for the night in Wang Qiang. The latter pitted his against Badziakouski’s . Badziakouski found the on the turn which was good enough to end Qiang’s run in third place.
Mikita Badziakouski entered the heads-up confrontation against Sam Greenwood with a 4:1 chip lead, i.e., 316 antes to 81. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened and soon enough Badziakouski bagged his third Triton title, leaving Greenwood with a runner-up finish.
On the final hand, both players went all-in preflop.
Mikita Badziakouski
Sam Greenwood
The board revealed and Badziakouski’s ace kicker held on as he claimed the trophy and the top prize of HK$13,300,000.
Final Table Results (HKD)
1. Mikita Badziakouski – HK$13,300,000
2. Sam Greenwood – HK$8,600,000
3. Wang Qiang – HK$5,700,000
4. Paul Phua – HK$4,400,000
5. Andrew Robl – HK$3,422,500
6. Xuan Tan – HK$2,700,000
You can catch the final table action right here.
Day 1:
Day 2:
Content & Images Courtesy: Triton Poker
Photography by Joe Giron
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