Mikita Badziakouski, a pro from Belarus, shipped the HKD $1 million Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Montenegro for HKD $19.6 million ($2.5 million USD), adding the biggest score to his already impressive tournament resume.
The champion defeated 63 mostly top-notch caliber poker players, including a final table that featured Poker Masters champion Steffen Sontheimer, Irish high-stakes crusher Steve O’Dwyer, and German star Dietrich Fast.
Triton Super High Roller Main Event Final Table Results
1 Mikita Badziakouski (Belarus) $2,499,090
2 Rui Cao (France) $1,683,648
3 Peter Jetten (Canada) $1,019,335
4 Wai Leong Chan (Malaysia) $702,146
5 Steffen Sontheimer (Germany) $483,171
6 Ivan Leow (Malaysia) $362,410
7 Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland) $294,514
8 Manig Loeser (Germany) $256,681
9 Dietrich Fast (Germany) $249,165
Germans Play Leaderboard Dominos
Heading into Thursday’s third and final day, Fast, who narrowly escaped the bubble on Day Two, had just nine big blinds and was unable to spin it up. But he went home with another nice payday and now has more than $6.8 million in lifetime tournament winnings, 13th all-time on Germany’s money list.
Coincidentally, by finishing one spot ahead of Fast, Loeser moved into 12th place on Germany’s money list. Sontheimer’s performance catapulted him above Koray Aldemir on the leaderboard into 11th place at $8.5 million. Everyone is chasing the partially retired Fedor Holz who has won a nearly unbeatable $26 million.
Germany’s Top Five All-Time Tournament Winners
1 Fedor Holz ($26,310,621)
2 Christoph Vogelsang ($16,847,209)
3 Rainer Kempe ($15,459,312)
4 Dominik Nitsche ($14,621,374)
5 Ole Schemion ($14,594,467)
Epic Final Day
After the German trio was eliminated, four players from four different countries remained, and battled for the $2.5 million prize, three of which would earn a seven-figure payday.
Badziakouski won a crucial coin flip against Wai Leong Chan, sending the Malaysian home in 4th place, which then guaranteed each of the remaining players at least $1 million.
Jetten and Rui Cao, who competed in the crazy $1 million buy-in livestreamed cash game the day before, were on the short stacks, both hoping the other would bust to set up a heads-up battle with Badziakouski.
But, unfortunately for Jetten, the cards never came, and he was eventually eliminated on a virtual coin flip situation by Cao
Cao still began heads-up play in a 2-1 disadvantage but made a quick comeback, nearly evening things up but that run of good fortune quickly turned after losing a massive pot on a missed straight draw.
Soon after, a frustrated Cao bluffed off the remainder of his chips on the river and was eliminated in 2nd place.
With the $2.5 million win, Badziakouski extended his lead on Belarus’ all-time money list at $9.2 million, well ahead of his nearest competitor, Ihar Soika ($2.8 million).
