Home » News » Triton Poker SHRS Montenegro: Mikalai Vaskaboinikau Wins Triton Montenegro NLHE Main Event For $4.73 Million
The 2024 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro has blazed a trail of high-stakes excitement over the past 11 days. Fans have been treated to a dazzling display of nerves of steel, strategic risks, and the exceptional poker skill that separates the champions from the field.
Amid the seasoned champions, Belarusian breakout star Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (cover image) stole the spotlight, clinching the $125K NLHE Main Event title and securing a life-altering $4.73 Million payout. Montenegro’s Dejan Kaladjurdjevic took home $3.2 Million as the runner-up, marking his largest live tournament payout to date.
India’s poker royalty, Santhosh Suvarna, the only Indian to have clinched a Triton title, showcased his skills in the Main Event. Despite an impressive start, Suvarna finished in 21st place, earning $245,500 (~₹2.04 Crores). This was his second cash of the series, following a 27th place finish in Event #5, where he secured $30,000.
Four final tables later, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau came through and bagged his FIRST Triton title, and it’s the Event #9 $125k NLH 8-Handed MAIN EVENT no less! We caught up with him after his momentous win to talk about his 3-handed battle before winning a staggering $4,737,000 ???? pic.twitter.com/5lBJwpD8Ei
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) May 22, 2024
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau’s stellar performance unfolded over three intense days, navigating through a tough field of 171 competitors to claim the largest prize of his career. His victory not only exemplified his strategic acumen but also immortalized him in the annals of poker legends.
Reflecting on his monumental win during an interview with Triton Media, Vaskaboinikau shared, “It’s a truly amazing feeling. I had a good feeling about this a few months ago. I put this thought in my mind in a dream.” Despite downplaying the transformative impact of his earnings by remarking it was “not life-changing money,” he expressed profound joy over his achievement.
This latest victory represents Vaskaboinikau’s second cash of the series, following a $297,000 seventh-place finish in Event #7. Remarkably, this tournament was his sixth appearance at a Triton event, and he has impressively cashed in four of these, consistently securing a spot at the final table each time.
This triumph propelled Vaskaboinikau’s career earnings to an impressive $8.32 Million, elevating him to second place on Belarus’s all-time money list, according to his Hendon Mob profile. Prior to this, his highest score was a fourth place finish worth $492,041, secured at the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller event.
The $125K buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event drew a diverse array of poker elites, contributing to a massive $21.3 Million prize pool, which was shared among the top 27 finishers.
Notable players to score included Mikita Badziakouski (26th for $214,000), Dan Smith (25th for $214,000), Patrik Antonius (23rd for $235,000), 2019 World Series of Poker main event champion Hossein Ensan (22nd for $235,000), Mashashi Oya (23rd for $235,000), Chris Brewer (14th for $320,000) and Triton co-founder Paul Phua (12th for $353,000), each of whom made significant strides but fell short of the final table.
You can watch the replay of the final table’s action below.
Final Table Chip Counts
- Wai Kin Yong – 8,725,000 (70 BBs)
- Aleks Ponakovs – 7,850,000 (63 BBs)
- Phil Ivey – 7,100,000 (57 BBs)
- Dejan Kaladjurdjevic – 5,300,000 (42 BBs)
- Igor Yaroshevskyy – 4,725,000 (38 BBs)
- Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – 3,100,000 (25 BBs)
- Samuel Ju – 3,000,000 (24 BBs)
- Bryn Kenney – 1,650,000 (11 BBs)
- Elizabeth Chen – 1,250,000 (10 BBs)
Final Table Recap
The player introductions at the Triton event were as dazzling as ever, but the real excitement started quickly at the tables. In a heated three-bet pot, both Igor Yaroshevskyy and Wai Kin Yong hit top pair on the flop, with Yong holding the stronger ace-kicker. The game changed when Yaroshevskyy landed two pair on the river, and after a check to showdown, he claimed a massive 5.5 million pot, along with the early chip lead.
Triton newcomer Elizabeth Chen, who hadn’t made a mark in her first three Montenegro tournaments, finally broke through with a $478,000 payout in her fourth event. She finished ninth after Phil Ivey’s king-queen overtook her pocket eights, marking the day’s first elimination.
Bryn Kenney, another high-stakes regular, was next to go all-in, turning his pocket jacks into a set on the flop for a crucial double-up. However, his run was cut short when his pocket nines clashed with Yaroshevskyy’s pocket tens.
Pocket tens were pivotal in another dramatic hand. Vaskaboinikau’s pocket tens collided with Wai Kin Yong’s pocket queens. Yong held the lead through the flop and turn, but a ten on the river ousted him in seventh place, continuing the day’s streak of dramatic exits.
Samuel Ju faced a critical moment in an all-in with pocket queens, but he was at a disadvantage against Vaskaboinikau’s pocket kings. Vaskaboinikau’s hand improved to a full house of kings over aces by the turn, leaving Ju with no outs. Ju, fresh off a second-place finish in the $40,000 Mystery Bounty event, took home a career-best $1,098,000 for his sixth-place finish.
Phil Ivey then began his ascent, finding himself on the favorable end of the deck to surpass Ponakovs at the top of the leaderboard. However, Aleksejs Ponakovs narrowed the gap after winning a crucial hand against Igor Yaroshevskyy, who had been eliminated in fifth place. Yaroshevskyy, who won Event #6: $50,000 Bounty Quattro and had two other cashes in the series, left the Main Event with $1,430,000, boosting his total earnings for the series to $2,569,919 after ten days of play.
As Phil Ivey seemed to be steering smoothly, Vaskaboinikau managed a comeback with a backdoor nut-flush to double up. Then, Ponakovs took advantage of Ivey’s aggressive play, leaving Ivey short-stacked. Shortly after, Vaskaboinikau eliminated Phil Ivey with an ace-king, moving the game into three-handed play.
The three-handed play lasted over two hours before the next elimination occurred. Aleksejs Ponakovs went all-in from the small blind with king-jack for nearly 13 big blinds, and Vaskaboinikau called from the big blind, covering him. Ponakovs initially took the lead with a jack on the flop, but Vaskaboinikau regained the advantage when an ace appeared on the turn. A six on the river sealed Ponakovs’ fate, eliminating him in third place.
Heads-up play began with Mikalai Vaskaboinikau holding a substantial lead, possessing 44 BBs to Dejan Kaladjurdjevic’s nine BBs. It didn’t take long for Vaskaboinikau to leverage this advantage into a victory. On the second hand, Kaladjurdjevic moved all-in for just over five big blinds with a weak hand from the button. Vaskaboinikau called with a pair of sixes, and the board ran out , bringing the tournament to a decisive end.
Final Table Results (USD)
- Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – $4,737,000
- Dejan Kaladjurdjevic – $3,196,000
- Aleksejs Ponakovs – $2,200,000
- Phil Ivey – $1,795,000
- Igor Yaroshevskyy – 1,430,000
- Samuel Ju – $1,098,000
- Wai Kin Yong – $800,000
- Bryn Kenney – $580,000
- Elizabeth Chen – 478,000
Content & Images Courtesy: Triton Poker
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