The 63-entry strong HKD1,000,000 Main Event of the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Budva, Montenegro, will determine a champion today as just nine players remain. They are all guaranteed to take home a portion of the HKD59,270,400 (~$7,550,129) prize pool and some $2.5 million are up top for the champion.
In prime position to become the latest winner of the elusive high stakes festival that regularly features some of the biggest names in poker is High Roller regular Steffen Sontheimer with 3,980,000, who will return with as many chips as his nearest followers Peter Jetten (1,960,000) and Mikita Badziakouski (1,945,000) have combined.
It won't be an easy ride for the German, though, as the unofficial final table line-up is filled with further big names such as Ivan Leow (1,655,000), Rui Cao (1,610,000), Manig Loeser (1,590,000), Day 1 chip leader Wai Leong Chan (1,305,000), Steve O'Dwyer (1,155,000) and Dietrich Fast (350,000) round up the other hopefuls. Loeser may even make it back-to-back victories here in Montenegro after defeating Triton founder Richard Yong in heads-up in 2017 to claim his biggest payday on the live circuit thus far.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Ivan Leow
Malaysia
1,655,000
41
2
Peter Jetten
Canada
1,960,000
49
3
Steve O'Dwyer
Ireland
1,155,000
29
4
Manig Loeser
Germany
1,590,000
40
5
Mikita Badziakouski
Belarus
1,945,000
49
6
Steffen Sontheimer
Germany
3,980,000
100
7
Dietrich Fast
Germany
350,000
9
8
Rui Cao
France
1,610,000
40
9
Wai Leong Chan
Malaysia
1,305,000
33
Action will resume at approximately 1 p.m. local time with 20 minutes remaining at blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a running ante of 5,000. The live stream with hole cards displayed will run on a security delay of 30 minutes with English commentary by Kane Kalas and Randy Lew, and the PokerNews live updates will be published accordingly.
Manig Loeser opened to 85,000 with the in the hijjack and Dietrich Fast in the small blind moved all in for 230,000 with . Rui Cao clicked it back to 390,000 from the big blind with and Loeser went all in over the top for 1,550,000. Cao let go after using a time bank extension and Fast was in need or a miracle in the showdown against the defending champion.
On the flop, Fast picked up a gutshot, but the turn and river were both blanks to eliminate Fast in 9th place for HKD1,956,000 ($249,165).
On the button, Manig Loeser raised to 150,000 and Mikita Badziakouski in the small blind three-bet to 500,000. Steffen Sontheimer in the big blind asked for his stack size and folded, Loeser four-bet all in for 1,325,000 and Badziakouski called.
Manig Loeser:
Mikita Badziakouski:
The flop changed nothing much, while Loeser picked up a gutshot and flush draw with the turn. A blank on the river reduced the field to the last seven hopefuls, while Loeser headed to the rail to collect HKD2,015,000 ($256,681) for his efforts.
Mikita Badziakouski raised to 160,000 with the right after having raised and getting shoved on by Rui Cao. This time it was Peter Jetten in the big blind, who shoved for 1,200,000 with the . “Come on guys, why do you keep doing this to me?” Badziakouski sighed and folded.
Then, Rui Cao raised to 160,000 in the cutoff with the and Steve O'Dwyer defended the big blind with . On the flop, O'Dwyer checked and called a bet of 150,000 with his top pair.
After the turn, O'Dwyer checked once more and the river paired the board. O'Dwyer checked and Cao moved all in to receive a quick call by O'Dwyer. Cao doubled for 1,055,000 and O'Dwyer was left with 50,000 only and forced all in from the small blind.
The very next hand, Rui Cao opened to 170,000 with the and O'Dwyer was forced all in with the in the small blind, Badziakouski called in the big blind with the . On the flop, Badziakouski checked and Cao's bet isolated successfully.
The turn and the on the river reduced the field to the last six.
Peter Jetten raised to 200,000 with the and Mikita Badziakouski in the small blind three-bet to 650,000 from the small blind. Steffen Sontheimer jammed out of the big blind and Jetten instantly folded.
"I am not happy about it, but I am not getting away from it as it seems," Badziakouski said while asking for a count on the shove. "Wow, that's really annoying," he added when it was deemed to be for 3,030,000, but called it off by using two time bank extensions.
Steffen Sontheimer:
Mikita Badziakouski:
The flop failed to improve Sontheimer, not did the turn. The on the river was a blank as well and the German bumped fists with Badziakouski before heading to the rail. Sontheimer will take home HKD3,793,000 ($483,171) for his efforts.
Mikita Badziakouski opened to 200,000 first to act with the and Wai Leong Chan shoved from the small blind with the in the small blind. Badziakouski asked for a count and folded when it was deemed to be for 1,470,000. Badziakouski folded and Chan chipped up to 17 big blinds.
Chan then shoved for 1,815,000 on the button and Badziakouski called in the big blind.
Wai Leong Chan:
Mikita Badziakouski:
The flop gave Badziakouski a flush draw and he locked up the elimination with the turn, the meaningless river gave Chan a pointless set. Chan cashed the second event in a row and takes home HKD5,512,000 ($702,146) for his efforts.
Out of the small blind, Rui Cao raised it up to 2 million and Peter Jetten called all in from the big blind for 1,215,000 after using one time bank extension.
Peter Jetten:
Rui Cao:
Cao flopped top pair and the flush draw on , and the turn and river were blanks to send Jetten to the rail in 3rd place for HKD8,002,000 ($ 1,019,335). The remaining two players will now take a short break and Mikita Badziakouski has an almost 2-1 lead.
Rui Cao raised to 375,000 with the and Mikita Badziakouski called with the . Both players checked the flop to see the on the turn, which saw Badziakouski bet for 250,000 only. Cao raised to 750,000 and Badziakouski called.
On the river, Badziakouski checked and Cao had 3,050,000 behind to move all in. With two time bank extensions remaining, Badziakouski used one of them and carefully studied the board before making the call and sending Cao to the rail in 2nd place.
Cao went out with flying flags and a bluff, and he takes home HKD13,217,000 ($1,683,648) for his efforts. The Frenchman will likely jump into the Short Deck Ante-Only event soon and the same applies for Badziakouski.
The highlight of the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro festival at the Maestral Resort & Casino has determined a champion in it's HKD1,000,000 ($132,000) Main Event. Ultimately it was Mikita Badziakouski who came out on top of the 63-entry strong field to claim the lion's share of the HKD59,270,400 (~$7,550,129) prize pool after defeating Frenchman Rui Cao in heads-up.
Badziakouski started the day third in chips and soared to the top of the counts with five players remaining before holding onto the lead until a winner was crowned. The score of around $2.5 million vaults the Belorussian to more than $9 million in cashes on the live poker circuit and it is the fourth outright win and first major title away from the virtual realm.
When asked whether or not his secret to the victory was taking part in the record-breaking high stakes cash game until six in the morning the previous night after reaching the final table, Badziakouski replied with “No, it's just the way it worked today, I got lucky,” in the winner interview after all was wrapped up.
The online handle of the High Roller regular is “fish2013” and that has become somewhat of a running joke at the poker tables, even despite his victory that bumped Badziakouski's earnings on the live circuit to more than $9 million. "Actually, there will always be jokes about that,” he added with a smile and confirmed to soon jump into the final event of the festival, the HKD1,000,000 Short Deck Ante Only.
Peter Jetten claimed the final spot on the podium while tart-of-the-day chip leader Steffen Sontheimer had to settle for 5th place. Steve O'Dwyer was ousted in 7th place and defending champion Manig Loeser exited in 8th place.
“I would have loved to win again, it was a fun day still and happy to have made the final table anyways. I absolutely enjoyed myself, nice location." One year ago, Loeser defended Triton founder Richard Yong in heads-up to lift the trophy here in Montenegro, but it wasn't meant to be back-to-back victories for the High Roller regular.
"I always like the Triton series and I am pretty happy with how I played ... wasn't too lucky in the second last hand, but besides that ran pretty well so it is all good.”
Final Result HKD1,000,000 Main Event
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in HKD)
Prize in (USD)
1
Mikita Badtiakouski
Belarus
19,618,400
2,499,090
2
Rui Cao
France
13,217,000
1,683,648
3
Peter Jetten
Canada
8,002,000
1,019,335
4
Wai Leong Chan
Malaysia
5,512,000
702,146
5
Steffen Sontheimer
Germany
3,793,000
483,171
6
Ivan Leow
Malaysia
2,845,000
362,410
7
Steve O'Dwyer
Ireland
2,312,000
294,514
8
Manig Loeser
Germany
2,015,000
256,681
9
Dietrich Fast
Germany
1,956,000
249,165
Action of the Final Day
After a roller coaster bubble period the night before, Dietrich Fast returned with a mere nine big blinds and it was no surprise that the German bowed out first. Fast three-bet shoved with king-queen and, after a small reraise by Rui Cao with ace-queen, headed into the showdown against the isolation shove of Manig Loeser with pocket kings. An ace-high board changd nothing and Fast headed to the payout desk.
Despite chipping up early. Manig Loeser was the next to run out of chips. First Steve O'Dwyer doubled through the defending champion when his nine-high flush draw got there to crack the top pair of Loeser. Soon after, the German lost a flip with ace-king suited failed to get there against the pocket sevens of Mikita Badziakouski.
And the next big name of the international poker circuit would follow suit in Steve O'Dwyer. The American poker pro with Irish roots doubled once more before losing all but half a big blind with ace-six versus ace-queen. Rui Cao finished the job he had started in the very next hand. O'Dwyer was forced all in with pocket jacks and Cao's ace-flop got there on the flop.
Ivan Leow's run came to an end in 6th place when his dominated ace-deuce was no good versus ace-ten and Steffen Sontheimer soon after followed him to the rail. Having lost the top spot to Mikita Badziakouski, the German four-bet shoved with ace-queen suited and three-bettor Badziakouski called with pocket jacks and held up to cement his top spot further.
Badziakouski was also responsible for the next casualty after winning a flip with ace-king suited versus pocket sixes, Wai Leong Chan was already drawing dead on the turn and a meaningless six on the river was somewhat of a needle.
That left the remaining trip with Badziakouski in a commanding lead, while the two short stacks Peter Jetten and Rui Cao were fighting for the pay jump. Eventually, it was Jetten that had to settle for third place.
“It was just such a slow burn at the end, I didn't win a hand it felt like, three-handed, maybe that one pot against Mikita. Other than that, just didn't seem that I ever had the best hand and lost it until I had to call off with the worse hand.
The worse hand in that case was queen-seven suited in a battle of the blinds against the push of Cao, who turned over king-six suited. Cao flopped top pair and the hearts flush draw, and Jetten's runner-runner miracle never happened.
"An unbelievable tournament, I love Maestral, it is an amazing casino, and I am really happy with my result.” When asked whether or not he will join the Short Deck Event after, Jetten laughed. “Yeah, a little bit, and I will take some of the money and go blow it on the Short Deck tournament.”
Badziakouski had a 2-1 lead heading into the heads-up and never surrendered the top spot despite Cao pulling close. The old chip order was established soon after and Cao went out with flying flags after his queen-high bluff was called by Badziakouski with ace-deuce for top pair.
While the Main Event has wrapped up, the HKD1,000,000 ($132,000) Short Deck Ante-Only Event is in full swing with frantic action and Cao, as well as Badziakouski, are both expected to join the mix.