At a final table full of big hitters, it was the new guy who shone through.
Alex Anton defeated a field of 70 entrants in Triton Jeju Event #9: $30,000 NLHE Turbo in quickfire fashion, taking home $577,000 after defeating Artur Martirosian heads-up.
This is Anton’s fourth-ever Triton cash, and comes hot on the heels of a cash in Event #5 and a third-place finish in Event #7 just this week. Now, he adds the second-largest cash of his career and a maiden Triton title to the WSOP bracelet he won just three months ago.
Meanwhile, Martirosian’s dreams of a fifth Triton title were dashed, but his $411,000 payday was enough for him to move above $16 million in Triton earnings.
Event #9: $30,000 NLH Turbo Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Anton | United States | $577,000 |
| 2 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $411,000 |
| 3 | Alisson Piekazewicz | Brazil | $269,000 |
| 4 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $207,000 |
| 5 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $164,000 |
| 6 | Byron Kaverman | United States | $128,000 |
| 7 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $101,000 |
| 8 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | $79,000 |
Final Table Recap
Despite confirming the final table of nine, Winfred Yu was the first casualty at the hands of Adrian Mateos, who took over from Stephen Chidwick at th e head of proceedings. Martirosian then sent Mikita Badziakouski to the rail in a preflop flip, with Badziakouski the first recipient of a six-figure payout.
Byron Kaverman entered the final table as the table short stack, and had an eventful time of it. He doubled through Martirosian with ace-jack vs ace-king, only for Martirosian to double back with an ace-jack of his own, besting the ace-nine of the American.
Chidwick then had the chance to finish off Kaverman for his last two big blinds, but Kaverman cracked ace-ten of hearts with king-deuce, spiking a king on the flop to stay alive.
The average stack at this point was 12 big blinds, with the action never-ending. There was another double, this time for Alisson Piekazewicz through Kaverman, with Kaverman left this time with less than one big blind. And his luck ran out when Martirosian duly sent him to the rail.
Chidwick was back on top, but again with 16 big blinds as the chip leader, anyone could win. Case in point when Piekazewicz secured another double through Chidwick, while Mateos was unlucky to bust in fifth, getting it in with ace-jack against the queen-nine of Martirosian, only for Martirosian to turn a lucky two pair.
There was a strong lead for Martirosian, but no lead was safe, with Anton then doubling through him to hold the chip lead for the first time.
Martirosian then almost sent Chidwick to the rail, only for Chidwick to have Martirosian outchipped, by the barest of margins. However, a quarter of a small blind (50,000 at 200,000/400,000) wasn’t enough to start a spin for Chidwick as he then bust to Anton.
Piekazewicz was short-stacked but doubled through Anton to begin three-handed play. Despite this Anton still held the chip lead, ahead of Martirosian with Piekazewicz still third.
And third was where Pieka would end, after his jack-ten was bested by the seven-four of Martirosian, with Anton taking a 7.8 million to 6.2 million chip lead into heads-up play.
Anton expanded lead heads-up to 2:1, only for Martirosian to double with ace-jack through eight-four. But Anton closed out for victroy and a maiden Triton title and the $577,000 payout.
Will Shillibier
Managing Editor