Nacho Barbero has started 2023 with some big scores. He final tabled the PokerStars Players Championship in January and left there with a fourth-place score. Only a few days into this ongoing Triton series, he has earned himself a victory here in Vietnam.
Barbero took down Event 2, the 15k NLH 8-Handed tournament here at the beautiful Hoiana Golf and Resort venue in Vietnam, earning 600,000 for his work.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | 600,000 |
| 2 | Jans Arends | Netherlands | 406,000 |
| 3 | Brian Kim | United States | 271,000 |
| 4 | Lee Wai Kiat | Malaysia | 222,000 |
| 5 | Aleksejs Panakovs | Latvia | 178,000 |
| 6 | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | 138,000 |
| 7 | Seth Davies | United States | 102,100 |
| 8 | Kean wei Tan | Malaysia | 75,000 |
| 9 | Linus Loeliger | Switzerland | 60,000 |
Barbero knocked out nearly everyone at the final table
Nine players entered the final table with Brian Kim holding the chip lead. Yet, it was Barbero who knocked out every player except one (Alex Kulev was eliminated in sixth place by Kiat Lee).
He started the string of eliminations by knocking out online phenom Linus Loeliger in ninth place by turning the nut straight to run down Loeliger's better hand. He then got it in good against both Kean wei Tan and Seth Davies, scoring the first three eliminations of the final table.
Brian Kim was the only one to put a dent in the Argentinian's armor when he doubled through Barbero during three-handed play. He looked to double through again when he moved all in with a dominating ace against Barbero, but Barbero spiked his weaker kicker to knock out Kim in third place.
He entered heads-up play with a nearly 2:1 chip lead, and it didn't take too long to finish the job and lock up the title. On the final Arends semi-bluffed when he flopped a gutshot. Barbero hung on against two more barrels after turning top pair to win the first Triton title of his career.
Other stories worthy of note
After two events here, Seth Davies has two final tables to his name. He placed fourth in Event 1: 25k NLH GG Super Millions for 357,000. Today, he grabbed a seventh-place finish for another 102,100. Not a bad start to the series, we'll see just how many final tables he can rack up the rest of the way.
Mark Rubbathan made a deep run, a great story ending on the final table bubble in 10th place. He's an "ACR Stormer," he won a 100k package by beating 42 of his peers in a Twitch contest to get here. The 50,300 he took home represents the largest live score the Englishman has made in his career.
PokerOrg Instant is live for the entire series
We have a team covering this entire series for the rest of the way. Keep on top of all the action by following along on our Instant feed. We'll get you in the room, at the tables, and share all sorts of fun activities taking place here at Triton Vietnam.
Feature photo credit: Joe Giron
