The international high stakes poker action continues this week at the Triton Super High Roller Series in North Cyprus. The last week has seen some big names rise to the top including Patrik Antonius, Ben Tollerene, and Kahle Burns all finding early wins.
Sam Grafton has also shown huge skills with a major win in the $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational and runner-up finish as well. The series is attracting major fields with the first event of the series, the €25,000 No Limit Hold’em, reaching a record number of entries for Triton.
A few big-name online poker ambassadors have also scored some nice finishes. With half of the festival complete, here’s a look at some of the big winners so far.
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Event 1: €25,000 No Limit Hold’em
This tournament brought in a record 131 entries, the new benchmark for any Triton event so far. The previous record of 130 was set back in 2019. This event saw a $3.3 million prize pool with a familiar name finding the winner’s circle.
Patrik Antonius (pictured in lead image) has long been one of the biggest names in poker, playing high stakes events in both the live and online arenas. On Sept. 6, he added a Triton title to his poker resumé, scoring $825,000 in the process.
“These are the nicest events that exist in poker … everything is top, top quality,” Antonius said after the win. “They couldn’t do a better job. I’m happy to play these tournaments and I’m happy to win my first one.”
A huge call late in the tournament stood out. He made a massive read with a pair of deuces to win a big pot.
In a tournament defining moment, @Patrik_Antonius makes the most INSANE CALL with immense ICM pressure from the chip leader Mustafov. Have you ever seen anything like this in a $25k!?!?
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) September 6, 2022
This became Antonius’s first tournament win since 2018 and he now has $13.8 million in live tournament winnings. Bulgaria’s Fahredin Mustafov finished runner-up for $557,000 with Steve O’Dwyer, of Ireland, taking third for $362,000.
Event 2: $30,000 NLHE Six-Handed
Ben Tollerene, of the United States, added his name to the Triton winners list by topping a field of 77 entries and 46 re-entries for $807,927. Originally from Texas, Tollerene now has $10.6 million in live tournament winnings.
PartyPoker ambassador Yuri Martins Dzivielevski took, or Brazil, finished runner-up for $749,073. England’s Stephen Chidwick took third for $408,000.
Event 3: $50,000 NLHE Six-Handed
The buy-in ramped up even more for this event. Germany’s Pieter Aerts found the title for a hefty $1.5 million payday. The tournament brought in 72 entries and 45 re-entries for a $5.9 million prize pool.
The win caps a huge month for Aerts, who picked up a World Series of Poker bracelet in August in the WSOP Online at GGPoker. He won the $5,000 NLHE Six-Handed Championship for $400,213. Just days later, the Belgian player also took third in the $10,000 Super Million$ High Roller for $586,020.
All that added up to more than $2 million in winnings in less than three weeks. In the Triton event, the Uk’s Sam Grafton finished runner-up for $994,500. Tollerene continued his nice run, finishing fourth for $535,000.
Event 5: $75,000 NLHE Eight-Handed
The tournament on the main schedule returned with this event (Note: Triton traditionally doesn’t schedule an Event 4). The action saw 54 entries and 34 re-entries for a $6.6 million prize pool.
Kahle Burns took the title for $1.7 million and capped quite a heater for the player from Australia. The UK’s Sam Greenwood took runner-up for $1.2 million and Seth Davies, of the US, scored third for $815,000. Dzivielevski continued his nice efforts in the series, finishing fourth for $630,000.
Blessed. Good to be back guys.
Miss my lovely GF and our dog 🐕 https://t.co/NT1IdeVNHk— Kahle Burns (@ROFLshove) September 11, 2022
It’s been a huge few weeks for Burns. In August, he finished runner-up in a €50,000 European Poker Tour Barcelona event for $587,498.
That was followed by another runner-up in a $25,000 NLHE Super High Roller Championship in the WSOP Online at GGPoker for $934,604. The Triton win came after some time away from the series.
“I took some time off, spent some time with my girlfriend, my family,” he said. “When you travel a lot, you start to miss some things. I was missing my friends, missing my family. But then I started to miss the poker, so I came back.”
Event 6: $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational
This huge buy-in tournament was also part of the Triton action in North Cyprus. The event featured a mix of business professionals and poker pros separated into two different fields on the first day of action.
The fields were then combined on Day 2 and played out as a regular tournament. The event produced a $23 million prize pool and the UK’s Sam Grafton grabbed the Coin Rivet title for $5.5 million.
“It was so much fun,” he said. “Playing against some of the most remarkable entrepreneurs and businesspeople in the world … it was played with a special spirit. On the day the two lanes merged, players were smiling like it was Christmas or their birthday. Everyone had a skip in their steps. Tournament poker is just amazing. Playing this format is very special.”
Linus Loeliger, of Switzerland, finished third for $3.9 million. Online poker legend and GGPoker ambassador Fedor Holz finished fourth for $2.1 million.
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Event 7: $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha
The four-card action mixed things up a bit in the series. In the end, it was a North Cyprus local capturing the title. Christopher Philippou found his Omaha game in fine form and scored $270,000 in the process.
This was his first tournament win and came against a tough final table that included Stephen Chidwick and Erik Seidel.
The tournament attracted a total of 32 entries for an $800,000 prize pool. England’s Talal Shakerchi finished in second place for $190,000. Chidwick ultimately finished fourth with Seidel taking sixth.
The series continues this week with seven more events on the schedule.