Triton London is officially underway. The first event of the prestigious tournament series has just been completed, and Canada's Lucas Greenwood earned his first Triton title.
Greenwood won Event #1: $25k NLH GGMillion$ for $897,000 to kick off the festival at the JW Marriot Grosvenor House. The opening event drew a prize pool of $4,050,000, of which Greenwood took the lion's share.
His path to victory featured a heads-up match that lasted more than two hours with ACR Stormer Manuel "NeverfoldQ5" Zapf. The German won a $110,000 package from ACR that's already paid off handsomely as he earned $605,500 for his second-place finish.
Triton London Event #1: 25k NLH GGMillion$ final table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Lucas Greenwood | Canada | $897,000 |
| 2 | Manuel Zapf | Germany | $605,500 |
| 3 | Oliver Bithell | United Kingdom | $416,700 |
| 4 | Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $339,800 |
| 5 | Henrik Hecklen | Denmark | $271,000 |
| 6 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $208,200 |
| 7 | Pablo Brito Silva | Brazil | $151,500 |
| 8 | Juan Pardo | Spain | $109,800 |
Greenwood overcame Zapf's heads-up lead
Greenwood and Zapf were each responsible for eliminating all six other players at the final table, leaving just the two of them to battle for it all.
Zapf came into heads-up play with 82 big blinds compared to the 53 big blinds in Greenwood's stack. That lead wouldn't be enough to fend off Greenwood's push to the finish.
Greenwood made a big fold late in the match when his top pair was run down by Zapf. Facing a big bet, Greenwood got away to keep his hopes alive. That discipline would pay off shortly after.
The final hand was a cooler: top pair versus top pair with Zapf short-stacked with the worse kicker. All the chips expected found their way into the middle, and Zapf couldn't improve and exited in second place.
ACR Stormers' success at Triton
Despite settling for a second-place finish, the $605,500 score is still the largest of Zapf's career. He had the blueprint from fellow Stormer Mark Rubbathan last year.
Rubbathan won the $20,000 NLH Mystery Event at Triton Vietnam earlier this year, converting his package into a life-changing score as well. In fact, ACR released a documentary on YouTube featuring Rubbathan's Triton run.
The ACR Stormers must have something figured out because this is the second Triton series where one of their package winners made an early, deep run. We'll see if Zapf can find continued success over the rest of the series.
Greenwood matches his brother's Triton title
If the name Greenwood is familiar, it's likely you've heard it twice. The twins Sam and Lucas Greenwood both play poker at the highest of stakes. Coming into London, Lucas trailed Sam 1-0 in the Triton titles category. That's no longer the case after today.
"It feels amazing," Lucas Greenwood told Ali Nejad after his victory. "I remember when I was walking here with my girlfriend and I saw all the faces on the wall and was like, 'I'm not up there yet.' I didn't think it would happen this fast."
And yet, it did, with his brother watching on nonetheless. The brothers went through something heartbreaking not long ago as their father passed away in 2021, so this one was especially meaningful.
"I had a lot of stuff to take care of in Toronto," shared Lucas Greenwood. "I had to take over the family business. There are some things that are more important than poker. Obviously, I miss my dad a lot. But, I'm very grateful to have so many friends and family cheering me on."
He went on to list all those that have supported him while holding back tears in the moments after his accomplishment.
"I've had a very blessed life," Lucas Greenwood said, "and the blessings continue here in London."
Congratulations to Lucas Greenwood on capturing his first Triton title and opening the London festival in style.
All photos credit: Joe Giron/Triton Poker
