Young Poker Star Wins First Triton Title & $2.5 Million With Parents on Rail
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The Triton Poker High Roller Series in Maestral Resort & Casino in Budva, Montenegro continued on with the biggest buy-in of the series so far in Event #8 – $100,000 – 8-Handed, an event that drew 102 runners for a prize pool of $10.2 million.
The lion's share of that went to high-stakes darling Alex Kulev, who earned his first Triton title and $2,566,000 as he defeated fellow young pro Thomas Santerne during heads-up play. Meanwhile, a second Triton trophy went to another dominant young poker player in Adrian Mateos, who shipped Event #7 – $50,000 – 8-Handed for $1,761,000.
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Kulev Gets Family Support
There were dramatic moments during the $100,000 buy-in tournaments, including when chip leader Santerne tangled with fellow big stack Mike Watson on the stone bubble.
Watson, who won an earlier event in the series, found himself all in with ace-king to be flipping against Santerne's pocket tens. An ace-high flop all but assured a double for Watson, but a rivered ten sucked the life out of the room as the Canadian crusher missed out on a six-figure payday.
Those who made the money but were eliminated ahead of the final table include Seth Davies (16th - $160,000), Nacho Barbero (14th - $168,000) and Sean Winter, who fell on the final table bubble for in tenth for $209,000.
Bryn Kenney was the first to go at the final table as he ran queens into the queen of Danny Tang shortly after doubling through the same opponent. Next out was Latvian star Aleksejs Poankovs, whose ace-eight couldn't beat out the jacks of American pro and poker author Dylan Linde.
Linde was next to go as his ace-five was pipped by Liang's ace-ten. The eliminations of Daniel Dvoress, Tang, Maher Nouira and Xu Liang followed before a heads-up showdown between young stars Kulev and Santerne.
The two players were even in chips, but Kulev had the advantage as his parents flew into Montenegro to witness their son battle for the Triton title.
“I’m a little bit overwhelmed, to be honest,” Kulev told Triton after the victory. “This means a lot to me. To accomplish this in front of my family is very special to me. I will cherish this for a long time.”
Triton Event #8 – $100,000 – 8-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 6 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $594,000 |
| 7 | Dylan Linde | United States | $454,000 |
| 8 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $342,000 |
| 9 | Bryn Kenney | United States | $255,000 |
Remaining Triton Montenegro Schedule
There's still more Triton Montenegro action to come, including the $132,500 buy-in NLHE Main Event that kicks off on Monday, May 20.
Watch the final table action of Events 7 and 8 on Triton's YouTube channel.
Remaining Triton Montenegro Schedule
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 20 May | 2:00 p.m. | #9 - $132,500 NLHE Triton Main Event Day 1 |
| Tue 21 May | 1:00 p.m. | $132,500 NLHE Triton Main Event Day 2 |
| 5:00 p.m. | #10 - $52,000 NLHE Turbo 8-Handed | |
| Wed 22 May | 1:00 p.m. | Triton Main Event Final Table |
| 2:00 p.m. | #11 - $212,000 NLHE 8-Handed Day 1 | |
| Thu 23 May | 1:00 p.m. | #11 – NLHE 8-Handed Day 2 |
| 4:00 p.m. | #12 - $26,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | |
| Fri 24 May | 1:00 p.m. | #12 – Pot-Limit Omaha Day 2 |
| 2:00 p.m. | #13 - $26,000 PLO Main Event Day 1 | |
| Sat 25 May | 1:00 p.m. | #13 – PLO Main Event Day 2 |
| 4:00 p.m. | #15 - $52,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 | |
| Sun 26 May | 1:00 p.m. | Pot-Limit Omaha Day 2 |
| 4:00 p.m. | #16 - $31,200 Pot-Limit Omaha Quatro Bounty |
*Photos courtesy Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive
In this Series
- 1 Poker's Superstars Set to Descend on Montenegro for the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series
- 2 Chris Moneymaker Kicks Off Triton Montenegro with Stunning High-Roller Win
- 3 Three Way All-In Hands Andy Ni First Triton Poker Victory as Chris Brewer Faces Huge ICM Spot
- 4 Mike Watson Claims First Seven-Figure Score of the Triton Poker Montenegro Series
- 5 Artisom Lasouski Takes Down a $40K Event on His Triton Poker Debut
- 6 Haxton Triton Drought Continues as Yaroshevskyy Wins First Title
- 7 Mateos' Incredible Legacy Continues at Triton Montenegro w/ $1.76M Score
- 8 Young Poker Star Wins First Triton Title & $2.5 Million With Parents on Rail
- 9 Petrangelo Shakes Off Triton Hoodoo; Ivey Makes the FT in $125K Main Event
- 10 Ivey Out in Fourth as Mikalai Vaskaboinikau Wins Triton Montenegro $125K Main Event for $4.7M
- 11 PLO Specialist Sipila Denies Vaskaboinikau Back-to-Back Triton Montenegro Victories
- 12 Wiktor Malinowski Proves His Skills are "Limitless" in $4.7 Million Triton Poker Win
- 13 Chris Frank Wins Triton Montenegro $100,000 PLO Main Event ($2,008,910*)
- 14 Koon Stunned as Sipila Wins Second Triton Title in Two Days
- 15 Triton Montenegro Wraps Up as Dam Denies Chidwick in PLO Bounty
