It was an incredibly long day in Montenegro for the 12 remaining players in the $200K Triton Invitational.
With seven additional re-entries prior to the start of play, the Montenegro Invitational officially stands as the largest field in the history of the format. Day 2 began with 92 players and tour organizers hoped to whittle the field down to a final table. While the early goings saw no shortage of eliminations, a prolonged money bubble and even more drawn out final table bubble resulted in a premature end to the day.
Tomorrow, the 12 remaining players will battle down to a winner and with $6.4M up top, it's sure to be a hell of a fight – follow along with all the action via the livestream or the Triton Poker Plus app.
12 left, $6.4M for the win
Ethan 'Rampage' Yau began the day as the chip leader, but his advantage didn't last. With the invitee and professional sides of the field combined, Yau ran afoul of the deck – and his opponents – to bust out in 42nd place.
And if we're talking about running cold, Kristen Foxen has something to add to the conversation.
In a clash with Haralabos Voulgaris, Foxen rivered a flush and was called when she moved all-in. Unfortunately for her, the river improved Voulgaris to a flush as well – a straight flush.
Foxen took revenge later in the day, eliminating Voulgaris in 47th place before eventually bowing out in 16th place for a cash of $384,000.
Before Foxen cashed in, the money bubble dragged on for quite some time. While short stacks looked for good spots to commit their stacks, the chip leaders waged war. With just a few places until the money, Paul Phua and Sinan Unlu clashed in an ace-king versus ace-king showdown – and the end result was absolute heartbreak for the latter.
When play begins tomorrow, Maher Nouira will hold the chip lead – but his path to a win will be anything but easy. In order to hoist the trophy, he'll have to navigate his way through a field rife with some of poker's sharpest minds – including Eelis Parssinen, Adrian Mateos, Isaac Haxton, Linus Loeliger, and Benjamin Heath.
$200K Triton Invitational Chip Counts
| Place |
Player |
Chips |
| 1 |
Maher Nouira |
9,900,000 (66 BBs) |
| 2 |
Anatoly Zlotnikov |
7,250,000 (48 BBs) |
| 3 |
Eelis Parssinen |
6,420,000 (43 BBs) |
| 4 |
Danilo Velasevic |
3,185,000 (21 BBs) |
| 5 |
Adrian Mateos |
2,450,000 (16 BBs) |
| 6 |
Isaac Haxton |
2,300,000 (15 BBs) |
| 7 |
Linus Loeliger |
2,190,000 (15 BBs) |
| 8 |
Benjamin Heath |
1,865,000 (12 BBs) |
| 9 |
Andre Berg |
1,785,000 (12 BBs) |
| 10 |
Kiat Lee |
1,405,000 (9 BBs) |
| 11 |
Ilya Nikiforov |
1,250,000 (8 BBs) |
| 12 |
Alexey Lozuyk |
1,105,000 (7 BBs) |
Images courtesy of Triton Poker Series.
