Nacho Barbero is back on top of a Triton field for the third time with a victory in the $30K NLH event at Triton Montenegro, just a few weeks after comments on a livestream cost him his job as an ACR Poker Ambassador.
Barbero made quick work of the finale, beating six of the eight final table qualifiers with big pressure and friendly runouts to win the tournament with ease. It's his third Triton title and he takes down the first $1M prize of the Montenegro stop.
The murderer's row of final table victims included runner-up Adrian Mateos, Tobias Schwecht, Stephen Chidwick, and Kristen Foxen, who moved $304K closer to Vanessa Selbst on the all-time women's money list.
This was Barbero's 16th Triton final table and second of the series. "I play a lot," he told Ali Najad after the win. "I'm one of the players that plays the most. I go to every stop and I keep showing up. It seems to work out."
Nacho shared the spotlight with runner-up Adrian Mateos. 'Maybe you have to gamble a little bit more.'
One intriguing hand in five-handed play proved to be a turning point for Foxen, who was also playing her second final table of the series.
Foxen raised with 
and left herself half a big blind before Chidwick called from the next seat over with 
. Barbero shoved over the top of both of them and she folded, with but Chidwick followed her into the muck and she was the next player out.
"I was thinking, 'Wow, this is a sick spot.' It's pretty insane because he can be so strong there. He doesn't have any shoving range there. But I'm like 'Hmm, this is a really good spot for me if I can get it through.' He's going to have to fold a lot."
Barbero questioned Foxen's fold after.
"I really think Kristen (Foxen) is the best female player in the world, but I'm not sure about this fold. Maybe you have to gamble a little bit more."
Foxen tried to let Chidwick take the fall. It didn't work this time. "Maybe you're losing a little bit of equity, but for me it's all about winning the title. Maybe one hand I'm going to lose 10K in equity, but at the end of the day what makes me happy is winning tournaments."
Playing to have fun (and win a lot)
But it's likely the difference between Foxen and Barbero that led to a different decision than he would have made.
"I come to play poker to have fun," Barbero said. "I know sometimes I tilt players, that kinda helps. It is what it is, everyone has their technique."
The post-game topic turned back to Triton, a tour Barbero loves.
"It's by far the best tour. Everything about it, the competition is obviously the hardest but it's still soft for the buy-ins we are playing. They're doing really nice stops, like The Bahamas and Jeju, it's just beautiful. To be able to put $1.5 million in buy-ins in one stop is really good. I'm going to keep coming back."
Barbero will likely come back for the rest of the series, too, with plenty more poker left to play in Montenegro.
Triton Montenegro will continue through May 27, with the the $200K Triton Invitational and the $100K Triton Main Event still to come. Keep an eye on the Triton YouTube channel for cash game and tournament livestreams every day of the series.
Images courtesy of Triton Poker.
