Adrian Mateos was unable to capture his second Triton Poker Montenegro title of the series after losing heads-up to online poker crusher Wiktor “limitless” Malinowski in the $200,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em 8-handed event.
The high stakes affair, which concluded on Friday, attracted 93 entrants and paid the winner $4,789,000. Second place took home $3,292,000, while everyone at the final table received at least $661,000. And it was a stacked final table — not only the top two finishers — with poker legends such as Jason Koon, Steve O’Dwyer, and Nick Petrangelo all chasing a major tournament win. None of whom, however, could compete with the Polish poker superstar.
Triton Montenegro Event #11: $200,000 NLHE Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | $4,789,000 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $3,292,000 |
| 3 | Steve O’Dwyer | Ireland | $2,157,000 |
| 4 | Mike Watson | Canada | $1,748,000 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $1,405,000 |
| 6 | Jason Koon | United States | $1,098,000 |
| 7 | Jonathan Jaffe | United States | $865,000 |
| 8 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | $661,000 |
Final Table Recap
Malinowski came into the final table of Triton Montenegro’s 11th event with the chip lead and almost double his nearest competitor’s chip stack. He padded that chip lead with the elimination of Petrangelo in eighth, cracking the American’s ace-ten with ace-seven.
However, a well-timed river raise from Mike Watson on a Q♣10♣2♥3♣J♣ saw the Canadian overtake Malinowski with seven left, only for Mateos’ king-queen to crack the ace-queen of Jonathan Jaffe to bring it down to six and with it take over as chip leader.
The trio — Malinowski, Mateos, and Watson were evenly matched and would share the chip lead around, before Malinowski found clear water and surged ahead, eliminating Koon to move over 10 million chips.
It would take some effort to reel in Malinowski, and even after Mateos sent both Mikita Badziakouski and Watson to the rail, he still held less than half Malinowski’s chips. Malinowski then eliminated O’Dwyer in third, which paid $2.1 million — the largest cash of his career — bringing the tournament to heads-up.
Mateos was then guaranteed the largest cash of his distinguished career, regardless of whether he could overcome a severe heads-up chip deficit. He sat with 4.5 million to Malinowski’s 14 million but still held 30 big blinds with which to mount a comeback, a comeback that would never transpire.
Closing it Out
On the final hand, on a flop of 8♦4♣3♣, Mateos checked top pair with 8♥6♦, looking to set a trap. But what he didn’t know was his opponent had 8♠3♥ and had him in a world of trouble. Malinowski then bet 300,000 with two pair before the big blind called. The 7♥ on the turn made things interesting, but Mateos checked again after picking up a gut-shot straight draw.
Seeking value, Malinowski bet 1 million chips, and then snapped off a check-raise to 3.5 million. The 10♠ on the river was of no help to Mateos, who now has over $47 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. He won Event #7: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed for $1,761,000 earlier in the series.
As for the champion, the Polish poker legend is becoming as much a live tournament crusher as he’s long been an online poker star. Malinowski is now just a shade under $12 million in live tournament earnings, and he’s only 29 years old. The win was his first Triton Poker title and third live tournament win ever.
PLO Specialist Sipila Denies Vaskaboinikau Back-to-Back Triton Montenegro Victories
Remaining Triton Montenegro Schedule
| Sat 25 May | 4:00 p.m. | #15 – $52,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 |
| Sun 26 May | 1:00 p.m. | Pot-Limit Omaha Day 2 |
| 4:00 p.m. | #16 – $31,200 Pot-Limit Omaha Quatro Bounty |
Managing Editor
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019.
He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.