In Montenegro, the action at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series is already well underway – but tomorrow brings the start of one of the most anticipated events of the festival.
The $200,000 Triton Invitational kicks off May 19, pitting the invitee-professional pairings against one another for a three-day slugfest with a shiny trophy and seven figures up top for the eventual winner.
As always, the Invitational field is stacked with many of the world's greatest professional poker minds – and more than one exceptionally capable invitee.
In the wake of a record-breaking turnout last year in the Montenegro Invitational, Triton Poker organizers will no doubt be keen to set a new high watermark. As it stands, they'll need a few more last-minute duos to materialize to top the 48-pairing field in 2025 – check out the complete list of invitee-professional pairings below.
Triton Montenegro Invitational pairings
In keeping with the Invitational's format, the first day of play will see the invitees and professionals split into two distinct fields – pros against pros and invitees against invitees.
When you scan the list of professionals, it reads like a who's who of the world's toughest poker players.
Stephen Chidwick. Jason Koon. Fedor Holz. Bryn Kenney. Adrian Mateos. Kristen Foxen.
And those are just a few of the names on the list.
After announcing his semi-retirement, Fedor Holz won his fifth Triton Poker SHRS title in Montenegro. On the invitee side of the equation there aren't as many recognizable names – but there sure are some capable poker players.
Jean-Noel Thorel. Haralabos Voulgaris. Ding Biao. Santhosh Suvarna. Orpen Kisacikoglu. Rob Yong.
While they may not have the career earnings and trophy cabinets of their professional counterparts, these players are all more than capable of mixing it up with the high roller crowd.
Triton Poker SHRS Montenegro $200K Invitational Pairings
| Invitee | Professional |
|---|---|
| Chase Cokaliong | Danny Tang |
| Paul Phua | Patrik Antonius |
| Jean-Noel Thorel | Christoph Vogelsang |
| Javid Ismayilov | Aleksejs Ponakovs |
| Alfred Decarolis | Stephen Chidwick |
| Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Jesse Lonis |
| Gabriel Andrade | Ben Tollerene |
| Ramin Hajiyev | Mikita Badziakouski |
| Mateo Klapstein | Christopher Nguyen |
Images courtesy of Triton Poker.
