Austria’s Matthias Eibinger came out on top of a dramatic final table at the Triton Poker Main Event in Monte Carlo tonight, coming back from a short stack to scoop $3,461,000 and his third Triton title after defeating Adrian Mateos heads-up.
The final table of nine in the $125k buy-in event saw the likes of Justin Bonomo and Nick Petrangelo return to battle it out for the prestigious trophy and a share of the $16,875,000 prize pool.
They were the first two to fall. Petrangelo dropped in ninth for $391,000, while Bonomo was unable to secure the tournament win that would have seen him leapfrog Bryn Kenney at the top of the all-time money list. He finished eighth for $491,000 before Aleksejs Ponakovs was eliminated in seventh ($668,000).
Pressure leads to ICM disaster for Tong
For most of the day, it seemed like there would be only one winner, with Spain’s Adrian Mateos using his massive chip lead to bludgeon his opposition into submission.
Ken Tong, one of the newcomers to the super-high-roller scene, eventually succumbed to the pressure and committed ICM suicide, shoving while Quan Zhou was on fumes.
Finding Chris Brewer with a hand and no reprieve from the runout, Tong crashed out in sixth, and Quan Zhou’s two big blinds survived into a seven-figure payout with a $263k ladder-up.
Chris Brewer did well to nurse his short stack, but he eventually got on the wrong side of a flip against Santhosh Suvarna. Brewer had A♠9♠ and was almost dead on the flop after Suvarna flopped a set of eights. It's the stuff dreams are made of, with such huge pay jumps.
Suvarna, who has come on leaps and bounds as a player since he first appeared on the Triton scene, then looked set to put a big dent in Mateos’ stack.
Mateos: 8♣6♣
Suvarna: A♣J♣
The 9♣A❤️8♠ flop gave both players a pair, and the 7♣ turn gave Suvarna the nut flush draw and Matteos the open-ended straight flush draw. Mateos check-jammed with 23% equity, and Suvana called only to see the 5♣ drop on the river. Suvana didn't spot the straight flush at first and celebrated before the realisation sunk in. The classy player still left with a big smile on his face and a bumper payday of $1,772,000.
Deadlock and deal
That left Spain’s number one against Austria’s number one heads-up, and it would prove to be a battle royale, with the lead swapping hands several times.
With neither player seemingly able to finish the other off, there was a quick break and a deal agreed, resulting in a straight ICM chop that saw Eibinger get $3,361,261, and Mateos a slightly lower $3,120,000. That left $100k, the trophy and the Jacob & Co watch to play, and Eibinger topped up his winnings just a few hands later.
Mateos four-bet jammed with pocket tens, Eibinger made the call with AK. The Austrian spiked a king on the flop, and despite picking up a flush draw on the turn, the river bricked out for Mateos.
Triton Poker $125k Main Event results
| Result | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Matthias Eibinger | $3,461,261 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | $3,120,739 |
| 3 | Santhosh Suvarna | $1,772,000 |
| 4 | Chris Brewer | $1,450,000 |
| 5 | Quan Zhou | $1,165,000 |
| 6 | Ken Tong | $902,000 |
| 7 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | $668,000 |
| 8 | Justin Bonomo | $491,000 |
| 9 | Nick Petrangelo | $391,000 |
Photos by Joe Giron/Triton Poker
