Four events, four maiden Triton titles in Jeju.
After Alex Theologis, Klemens Roiter, and Ngo Khoa Anh, step forward Alex Boika who defeated a field of 131 players to win Event #5: $25,000 NLHE 8-Handed at Triton SHRS Jeju.
“This means a lot to me,” Boika said in his winner’s interview. “This is one of the biggest achievements that a poker player can do, so I’m speechless. This tournament involved a lot of luck, obviously, with 30-minute levels. Sometimes being lucky is better than [being] skilled.”
“The fields are really tough here,” he continued. “But that’s what makes them the most interesting tournaments in the world. I’m very happy to be here. I hope that I’ll be able to continue grinding these tournaments.”
Boika takes home $761,000 after defeating Philip Sternheimer heads-up. Sternheimer, along with third-place finisher Yu Lei and fourth-place Nevan Chang, was also looking for a maiden Triton title, but would have to settle for six-figure payouts of their own.
Event #5: $25,000 NLHE 8-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Boika | Belarus | $ 761,000 |
| 2 | Philip Sternheimer | United Kingdom | $ 516,000 |
| 3 | Yu Lei | China | $ 343,000 |
| 4 | Nevan Chang | Taiwan | $ 282,000 |
| 5 | Seth Davies | United States | $ 226,000 |
| 6 | Chen Mingcong | China | $175,000 |
| 7 | Manuel Fritz | Austria | $ 130,000 |
| 8 | Vladas Tamasauskas | Lithuania | $ 95,000 |
Final Day Recap
The final 17 players returned for Day 2 in Event #5 having locked up $46,000. Brandon Wilson led the way after bursting the bubble late on Day 1, however he fell in 11th after his pocket kings were cracked by the ace-queen of Seth Davies.
Boika then eliminated Jesse Lonis and Artur Martirosian to confirm the final table of eight, and went one step further eliminating Lithuania’s Vladas Tamasauskas in eighth, cracking pocket queens with ace-queen to eliminate three players in a row.
That put him firmly in the driving seat as Manuel Fritz and Chen Mingcong both departed.
Davies had been hunting down Boika at the top of the field, at what was his 23rd Triton final table, but ran into Yu Lei’s pocket aces at the worst time, shoving with his pocket eights and doubling his opponent up. He then lost out with ace-deuce against the jack-ten of Nevan Chang to double up a second opponent. Left with crumbs, his last chips went in against Lei who sent Davies to the rail.
By this stage, Sternheimer had taken control at the head of proceedings, but Boika moved back ahead after sending both Chang and Yu to the rail, holding an almost 2:1 lead heading into a heads-up showdown.
On the very last hand, Philip Sternheimer opened with 9♥7♥ and Boika defended his big blind with J♠6♦ Both players checked the 8♦5♥3♣ flop and Boika checked the J♥ turn. Sternheimer bet, Boika raised and Sternheimer shoved.
“”I thought I had two pair and wanted to snap call, but I realized it was one pair. So it was crazy.””
Boika called putting his opponent at risk. Having turned top pair, he needed to dodge both straight and flush outs to secure victory.
However, Boika revealed in his winner’s interview that he’d made a mistake in the final hand.
“I thought I had two pair and wanted to snap call, but I realized it was one pair. So it was crazy.”
The river was the A♠ and Boika was confirmed champion.
“If you’re lucky then even when you do some bad stuff it can work out for you,” said Boika afterwards, as he takes home $761,000 and a much-coveted Triton trophy.
Will Shillibier
Managing Editor