Champion Benedek Farkas!

An outstanding heads-up performance from a bright young talent earned 22-year-old Benedek Farkas a first major career triumph, a $572,000 payday, and a Triton ONE title in North Cyprus today.

The Hungarian player, making his second appearance at Triton ONE, had seemed to be in an impossible position, facing the runaway chip-leader Dmitrii Kukhtarev with a 12-to-1 disadvantage, at the end of a long and gruelling $10,000 buy-in seven-handed event.

But Farkas found the cards to match his discipline, added some tremendous soul-reads, and multiplied his previous best live result by a factor of 10.

"Obviously the first flip I had to win, but then I was pretty comfortable," the understated Farkas said. "I'm happy about my performance. There are not many hands which will not let me sleep."

Benedek Farkas receives his first trophy from Luca Vivaldi

He revealed that he had played a lot against Kukhtarev on the tournament's second day, when the pair were neighbors, perhaps learning the crucial information that allowed him to overturn the Russia's seemingly insurmountable lead. Farkas bided his time expertly as Kukhtarev ran the table on the final day, before seizing his moment to pounce.

"I had some ideas how he plays," Farkas said. "It was a battle. He played well. I think he ran pretty bad [during heads-up]. It was 100 to seven [big blinds] so I needed some luck. But at the end, when we were even, I think I really played well."

He continued: "It was a high-pressure situation and that's kind of my strength. Deep-stacked, I'm kind of a bit lost sometimes. But when we are 20 big blinds, it's my comfort zone. And I think when a lot of starting stacks are at stake I'm ready to pull off the moves and play my best."

Farkas had some spirited support from the rail as he applied the finishing touches to this victory, and was quick to give credit to his crew as a crucial factor in the success.

"I think it's basically everything," he said. "I just started out two years ago, and they helped a lot at the beginning. It's possible as a lone wolf, but it's way more boring. It's so much tougher and less enjoyable. I think you need a crew, especially if they are better than you. You can learn a lot. They tell you what to do, what to improve. You try to play also your own game, but they know what they're talking about."

Benedek Farkas immediately turns to his crew to celebrate

He also admitted that he'll be heading quickly to Instagram to update his followers on his triumph. Farkas' says there that he is "Documenting my poker journey", showing his online profit/loss graphs and including various photos from destinations across the globe. There's a picture of Jeju there, where Farkas made his Triton ONE debut in March this year. But there was not yet a winner's photo.

Until now.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With the first flight of the $8K Triton ONE Main Event getting under way, players with slightly bigger bankrolls could first take a stab at the first five-figure buy-in event of the week, a nice $10K 7-Handed tournament scheduled to last two days. True to form at Triton ONE, however, there were so many entries — 324 to be precise — that a third day was necessary. They whittled the field down to seven on Day 2 then bagged.

That meant a full day of action on which Super High Roller regular Sergio Aido became the unfortunate bubble boy (AK losing to K for a seven-blind effective stack), before players of similar stature, including Dan Dvoress, Artur Martirosian, Paul Phua, Sam Mullur, Joao Vieira and Xuan Liu made the money but fell short of the final.

When former One-W Championship winner Elizabeth Chen was knocked out in eighth, the final table was set:

Dmitrii Kukhtarev - 28,625,000 (95 BBs)

Igor Provkin - 10,725,000 (36 BBs)

Benedek Farkas - 9,025,000 (30 BBs)

Lyudmil Ivanov - 4,775,000 (16 BBs)

Yu Zhang - 4,600,000 (15 BBs)

Wu Jun Hao - 4,575,000 (15 BBs)

Cedric Schwaederle - 2,475,000 (8 BBs)

Triton ONE Event 9 final table players (clockwise from back left): Yu Zhang, Cedric Schwaederle, Benedek Farkas, Lyudmil Ivanov, Igor Provkin, Dmitrii Kukhtarev, Wu Jun Hao.

The obvious question to ask as Day 3 got under way was whether anyone could reel in Dmitrii Kukhtarev. The Russian had more than 40 percent of the chips in play when they reconvened for the final, and the others would need to move pretty quickly if they were to spin up short stacks into anything that could potentially challenge him.

They did move quickly. But it was only in the direction of the exit. In less than 45 minutes, four players were already out. Wu Jun Hao lost a flip to bust in seventh on the seventh hand of the day. Lyudmil Ivanov's pocket eights flopped a set to stay best, even when an ace came on the turn. Wu won $96,000 for seventh.

A short final day for Wu Ju Hao

But then on the very next hand, Ivanov gave all of his newly-acquired chips to Kukhtarev, when he three-bet jammed KQ over Kukhtarev's late-position open. Kukhtarev had the goods, though. He called with A and stayed best, with Ivanov taking $128,000 for sixth.

Lyudmil Ivanov's resurgence was short lived

Cedric Schwaederle had come to the final table as the short stack, but the two eliminations had helped him ladder up. However, he now had to get his last six blinds in, with K9, and lost to Benedek Farkas' 10. Farkas flopped a 10 and that was the most meaningful card on a run-out. Schwaederle's fifth place earned him $168,000.

Cedric Schwaederle managed to ladder two places

Yu Zhang was now the short stack and he lasted only three hands more. Yu shoved six blinds with Q4 and Kukhtarev picked him off holding Q. Nobody hit anything, which meant Kukhtarev's kicker played. Yu finished fourth for $211,000.

Fourth place for Yu Zhang

Kukhtarev had an almighty lead of 108 blinds to 27 each in the stacks of his opponents. It was surely only a matter of time.

To be honest, the three-handed battle lasted longer than might have been expected, with the two short stacks doing their best to cling on in the face of Kukhtarev's overwhelming advantage. During one spectacular pot, Kukhtarev pushed as hard as possible with the mighty 52 and got Farkas to fold A on a run-out of . The power of a chip lead.

The fold guaranteed Farkas some more time at the table (even though he would have won if he'd called) and perhaps that was the right decision because Provkin bust next. Provkin saw a potential double-up spot holding pocket fours, only to lose the flip to Kukhtarev's A10.

Igor Provkin stands to learn his fa

Provkin had marginally more chips than Farkas at this stage, but he took the walk in third and earned $261,484. It left Farkas with only seven blinds with which to take on Kukhtarev. It was a tall order.

Farkas, however, was up for the fight. He won five of the first six hands of heads up, building a more playable stack. And then he won a big one: he flopped two pair holding Q8 and improved to a boat on the turn. Having check-raised the flop, he then allowed Kukhtarev to bluff at turn and river, calling all-in on the end to double. Kukhtarev was on the wrong end of a cooler: he had 8 and was likely betting for value on the run-out.

Farkas, however, suddenly now had 34 blinds to Kukhtarev's 47 and it was game on.

Farkas was dialled in during heads-up

He took over the chip lead when he found the hero-call holding 65 on a board of 2. Farkas had check-called a bet on every street from Kukhtarev, and Farkas found out he was right to trust his instincts when his opponent showed bottom pair, holding . This had been a clinical display from Farkas, proving that you can be down but not necessarily out.

The tables had now turned almost completely, and Farkas quickly closed it out. In what turned out to be the final hand, Farkas found 54 and checked his option after Kukhtarev completed. The flop fell 3.

Farkas, as had been his style, check-called as Kukhtarev bet, holding top pair with 107.

Dmitrii Kukhtarev's run-good deserted him at the crucial moment

The 6 turn card was very good for Farkas. It gave him the straight. But arguably the 10 river was even better as it improved Kukhtarev to two pair. Farkas bet both turn and river, the final move a shove. Kukhtarev couldn't fold for his last few blinds -- to his credit, he thought long and hard about it -- and the tournament was done.

It was an amazing turnaround from Farkas, whose poker journey has now taken one very significant leap forward.