On Wednesday, the last of the No-Limit Hold'em events at the Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo stop came to a conclusion as Event #12: $150,000 played down to a winner. The tournament drew a field of 121 entrants (66 unique) to generate a prize pool of $18,150,000, with 20 players paid and $4,350,000 for the eventual champion.
When the final hand was dealt and all the chips had fallen, Vladimir Korzinin, or 'Gambledore' as he was christened by the fans, stood alone atop the podium to lay claim to the $4,350,000 and the Triton title. After discovering poker only recently, Korzinin has reached a pinnacle of the tournament world that many only ever dream of.
Canada's own Sam Greenwood held a sizable chip lead to start final table proceedings, with only Germany's Tom Fuchs in striking distance of his top spot. Stephen Chidwick and Triton Monte Carlo 2024 Main Event winner Bryn Kenney held nearly identical stack sizes to start, sitting third and fourth in the counts respectively, with Korzinin just behind them in fifth. Thomas Boivin and Ossi Ketola brought middling stacks into the final table, both in need of a spin to win. Dan Smith and Fedor Holz, meanwhile, toed the line of the danger zone at the bottom of the counts.
Gambledore's wizardry on display
Korzinin wasted no time in employing his wizardry, notching the first and second eliminations at the final table in relatively short order. After defending his big blind with 
from an early position raise from Korzinin, Boivin connected on the 
flop. Korzinin, with 
, opted to check back with his backdoor equity. On the turn 
, that backdoor equity materialized, but Boivin improved to trips in the process and opted to lead into Korzinin for a large sizing.
With his queen-high flush draw, Korzinin chose to press his equity and moved all-in over Boivin's bet, who looked shocked at the action but made the call quickly. The magical 
appeared on the river, however, to improve Korzinin to a flush and send the Belgian to the payout desk.
With the elimination of Boivin, Korzinin took command of the chip lead and, a few hands later set his sights on Greenwood's stack. From early position, Korzinin opened 
and Greenwood defended his big blind with 
. The 
flop left Greenwood with the lion's share of the equity as he held straight and flush draws, plus his ace outs. Korzinin, however, still had the best hand at the moment and fired out an over-bet sizing – 750,000 into 400,000.
Despite the presence of the short stacks at the table, Greenwood put his tournament life on the line with an all-in over the top. As the dealer counted down Greenwood's chips, Korzinin said, "It doesn't matter. Call."
With over 9,000,000 chips in the middle, Greenwood needed to improve on the turn or river to keep his run alive. The turn 
changed nothing and the equity distribution swung back in Korzinin's favor. On the river 
, Greenwood was left with just ace-high and would have to settle for an eighth-place finish as Korzinin added a massive infusion to his chip lead.
Fuchs, Smith, and Chidwick bow out
Having already taken out two players on the final table, Korzinin went for a double knockout in a pot against Fuchs and Holz. After raising massive from the hi-jack, Korzinin called all-ins from both Fuchs and Holz to create a three-way confrontation.
Korzinin: 
Fuchs:
Holz: 
Board: 
Holz managed to survive the confrontation with his pocket pair to nearly triple his stack, while Fuchs was sent to the payout desk in seventh place.
Korzinin continued on the warpath, eliminating a third opponent not long after Fuchs' exit. From the hi-jack, Korzinin raised with 
and Smith defended his blind with 
. The 
flop connected with both players, but Smith's bottom two pair had Korzinin's top pair in a bad way. Facing a continuation bet from his opponent, Smith pushed his remaining chips across the betting line and Korzinin quickly called.
The turn 
improved Korzinin to a superior two pair, no waiting necessary, and the river left Smith's hand second-best to end his run in a sixth-place finish.
Chidwick fell next, but unlike many others at the final table, his elimination came at the hands of someone other than Korzinin. Ketola's button open with was met with a defend from Chidwick in the big blind, with . On the flop, both players made a pair and, with just under a pot-sized bet remaining, Chidwick took the initiative and moved all in. Ketola made the call with his top pair and the cards hit their backs. Chidwick needed to improve to stay alive, but the turn and 
river changed nothing and Chidwick's run came to an end in a fifth-place finish.
GTO: Gambledore Theory Optimal
The start of four-handed play saw the pace slow as the pay jumps drew larger and larger. Korzinin, however, didn't just come to ladder up and so when Kenney moved all-in over the top of his preflop raise, he called it off with 
. Up against Kenney's 
, 'Gambledore' needed to connect with the runout to send the Main Event champion home. The 
flop provided him with plenty of outs to do so, but the 
turn left him with just 34% of the equity. The river 
was just the card Korzinin wanted to see as he completed his flush to send Kenney to the rail in fourth place.
After starting the final table as one of the two shortest stacks, Holz had done well to navigate his way to multiple pay jumps. In a clash with Ketola, however, Holz's run came to an abrupt end. After defending his big blind with 
, Holz connected with the flop, but Ketola connected better with his 
. Facing a continuation bet from Ketola, Holz put in calling chips to see the turn. The Finn continued with another bet and Holz chose to move all-in over the top for the rest of his stack.
"Good luck," said Ketola as he tossed a singular calling chip across the betting line. With just two outs to the winner, Holz was drawing thin and the river sent him to the payout desk in third place.
The wild Finn takes on Gambledore
The heads-up battle between Ketola and Korzinin saw the former take a decently sized lead into the final frame of play. Korzinin worked quickly to draw level, however, and even took the chip lead for a short while. The Finn wasn't going down without a fight, though, and clawed his way back into the lead before widening the gap considerably.
The first all-in confrontation came when Korzinin had slipped into the danger zone and moved in from the button with 
. With plenty of chips to spare, Ketola called it off with . While he got the chips in good, the 
flop smashed his opponent's holding to give him plenty of outs to the winner. The turn wasn't one of them, but the 
river improved Korzinin to a seven-high straight and kept his hopes of victory alive.
Despite the setback, Ketola continued to play his game. Korzinin's preflop aggression proved hard to overcome, however, and the chip lead slipped out of Ketola's hands. The final hand of the battle saw Korzinin limp from the button with before Ketola checked his option in the big blind with . The flop paired both players and Korzinin bet small. Ketola made the call to see the turn and checked to his opponent. Having picked up a flush draw, Korzinin moved all in as the covering stack.
Ketola didn't love it, but flicked a chip in the middle for a call and saw that his hand was best – for now. The river improved Korzinin to a flush for the third time at this final table and Ketola was forced to settle for a runner-up finish.
Triton Monte Carlo Event #12: $150,000 NLH final table results
| Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Korzinin | $4,350,000 |
| 2 | Ossi Ketola | $2,970,000 |
| 3 | Fedor Holz | $1,962,000 |
| 4 | Bryn Kenney | $1,616,000 |
| 5 | Stephen Chidwick | $1,300,000 |
| 6 | Dan Smith | $1,016,000 |
| 7 | Tom Fuchs | $762,000 |
| 8 | Sam Greenwood | $562,000 |
| 9 | Thomas Boivin | $435,000 |
Images Courtesy of Drew Amato/Triton Poker
