Champion Kayhan Mokri!

The biggest tournament so far on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series trip to Jeju, South Korea, ended tonight in a captivating heads-up battle between two European high-stakes regulars.

On one side, Kayhan Mokri a Norwegian pro who has built up from playing cash games in small clubs in Oslo, all the way to the highest table. On the other, the Austrian pro Mario Mosböck, whose startling transition from the soccer field to the poker table hit another high note this summer when he signed as an ambassador for Triton Poker, with three titles already under his belt.

The pair were the last two from a 114-entry field, and they chopped up the near $7 million still without a home when they began a short-stacked heads-up battle between them.

Not long later, Mokri ended on the best side of it, the 31-year-old Norwegian locking up $3,835,059 and a second Triton title.

Mario Mosbock points to the new winner, Kayhan Mokri

Mokri's understated table manner conceals a real battler's heart. Having brought the chip lead to the final, he was down to only two blinds at one point, before doubling back multiple times to regain the lead. And then he had to face off against Mosböck, who had been similarly imperilled at points before also fighting back.

It was, in a word, unpredictable.

"It feels insane," Mokri told Triton's Marianela Pereyra in his winner's interview. "It was an insane final table. A lot of all-ins. It's probably the most insane poker I've played ever in my life for this sum. I got the better end today."

He referenced his resurrection from the brink of elimination as he said, "I think in nine hands I doubled up like five times or something and became the chip leader...I'm grateful. At this stage, you've just got to get some good hands and make them hold up."

He makes it sound so simple. But in Mokri's world, perhaps it is.

Kayhan Mokri tells Marianela Pereyra about his win

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Until the late additions to the Short Deck schedule, this $150K NLH tournament was the most expensive planned for this trip to Jeju, and it therefore became the focus of all the sharks in the run-up to the Main Event.

Registration remained open until the start of Day 2, by which point 114 entries were on the board. And then the cull began to take them down to the business end.

In comparison with many tournaments on the series, this $150K event bubble was deep. When it started, there weren't any sub-five blind stacks hanging on for dear life. There wasn't even anybody with fewer than 10. So with two or three eliminations left until they were in the money, players at three remaining tables dug in for an extended period of pressure with 20 making the money.

Paul Phua and then Elton Tsang were knocked out. And then Mario Mosböck eliminated Klemens Roiter to take the field down to 21. Hard hand-for-hand played out for another 40 minutes or so, before Aleks Ponakovs could hold on no longer.

With six blinds left, Ponakovs picked up pocket fours on the button and made a raise for almost everything he had. Henrik Hecklen, in the big blind, three-bet to force Ponakovs to commit the small amount of shrapnel he had held back.

Ponakovs pushed it in and, when action finished elsewhere, learned that he was in bad shape. Hecklen had queens and there was nothing on the board to change anything. With that, Ponakovs headed out and the last 20 locked up $223,000 at least.

What could he do? Aleks Ponakovs bubbles

The chip lead changed hands multiple times as they pushed on towards the final table. The formerly imperious Tan Xuan toppled out of the tournament, followed by Christoph Vogelsang, Artur Martirosian and Dan Dvoress. Mosböck was almost out, but span up three blinds to survive. But this precarious phase came to its conclusion when Alex Foxen surrendered his last 12 blinds three-bet jamming from the small blind with A7.

Kayhan Mokri, who was the opening raiser, called and stayed good with pocket kings. Foxen was thus freed up to play heads-up for millions against Ossie Ketola, while the remaining nine bagged up chips to come back on Day 3 for the final.

The stacks were as follows:

Kayhan Mokri - 4,950,000 (62 BBs)

Javid Ismayilov - 3,340,000 (42 BBs)

Wang Ye - 3,310,000 (41 BBs)

Jason Koon - 2,790,000 (35 BBs)

Samuel Mullur - 2,420,000 (30 BBs)

Yu Zhang - 1,890,000 (24 BBs)

Mario Mosböck - 1,640,000 (21 BBs)

Brian Kim - 1,450,000 (18 BBs)

Jun Obara - 1,010,000 (13 BBs)

Event 7 final table players (clockwise from back left): Samuel Mullur, Jason Koon, Brian Kim, Wang Ye, Kayhan Mokri, Mario Mosbock, Jun Obara, Javid Ismayilov, Yu Zhang.

After a grand walk-on ceremony to begin the final day, play began in earnest in the hunt for the $4.1 million prize. But it turned out to be a short stay for the charismatic Japanese player Jun Obara.

Returning with the shortest stack, Obara mostly stayed out of harm's way. But even losing a couple of small pots meant his stack dwindled down to only six blinds when he looked at A10 on the button. That was plenty good enough to open-shove, and things may have been different if Kayhan Mokri had had less than pocket tens in the big blind.

Mokri called and the case 10 popped out on the flop. It made it all but impossible for Obara to catch up, and he was duly dispatched in ninth for $410,000. He's had a sensational trip to Jeju, and he continued smiling as he left the stage.

Bounty hunter Jun Obara out in ninth this time

Shortly before Obara's elimination, Jason Koon had doubled through Wang Ye in an early confrontation for stacks. Koon three-bet jammed pocket twos from the big blind for 25 blinds after Wang's cutoff open, and Wang called off with AK. The pocket pair improved to trips on an otherwise blank board, and Wang was left with only eight blinds.

This was significant because it gave others around the table the incentive to tighten up and hope Wang bust, but he refused to yield. He doubled through Mokri with 910 rivering a flush, and then immediately afterwards, he made a brilliant hero-call to send Brian Kim crashing out.

The pair were in the blinds with all but equal stacks of around 17 blinds. Action folded to Wang who called with 97. Kim checked his option with the pretty 89. The flop came K76. Ye led for one blind with his middle pair and Kim called with a straight draw. They saw the 2 on the turn.

Nothing had changed, but Wang led again and Kim called again, bringing them to the Q on the river. Wang still had only third pair, but Kim had whiffed. Wang checked and Kim went for it, jamming all in. Wang had only just built his stack back to a playable size, but now had to decide whether he was going to call for nearly all of it.

He did just that. He put forward the calling chips and was rewarded immediately when Kim showed the bluff. "Holy smokes," said Henry Kilbane in the commentary booth. "What an absolute sicko."

"That is a big call," said Jason Koon alongside Wang at the table. "Doesn't get any bigger. You're a better man than me."

Kim had less than a small blind left and it went to Kayhan Mokri, who had pocket kings on the next hand. Kim's Q2 was never good enough. Kim bust in eighth for $530,000.

Brian Kim couldn't get the bluff past Wang

Only two hands later Wang's resurgence continued. This time it was by getting into another huge flip with AK and winning this time. Javid Ismayilov, who will always be best remembered for the horrific bad beat he took in the Triton Invitational in Montenegro (he lost with aces against kings three-handed), picked up pocked jacks and three-bet jammed his 27 blinds from the big blind after Wang opened.

Wang called again with the covering stack, and this time an ace on the river sent the chips in Wang's direction. Ismayilov bust in seventh for $718,000.

Javid Ismayilov's elimination was not quite so cruel this time

The two Austrian players, Samuel Mullur and Mario Mosböck were at the bottom of the counts at this stage, and their fortunes diverged. Mosböck doubled with pocket fours through Mokri's AQ and had chips to spare when the friends got embroiled in a pot against one another.

Mullur open-shoved pocket threes with seven blinds, and Mosböck was fortunate enough to look down on pocket aces in the small blind. Mosböck snapped and the run out offered nothing to Mullur. His second back-to-back final table appearance finished in a sixth-place payout of $957,000. (He also won on the Triton ONE series this trip.)

Samuel Mullur comes out worst in Austria vs. Austria confrontation

Jason Koon was now in the unfamiliar position of short stack, alongside the similarly cramped Yu Zhang and Mokri. And after Koon lost half his stack to Wang, he found himself most vulnerable. He had only six blinds left when action passed to him in the small blind, and Koon shoved them in. Yu was in the big blind with only nine blinds, but determined that K5 was good enough for him to make the call.

Koon tabled 105 and got nothing from the dealer. Koon's bid for a record-extending 13th Triton title ended here, with a $1.222 million pick-up for fifth.

Jason Koon needs to stick on 12 for the time being

With four left, Wang had a bid lead holding 46 blinds. Mosböck was second, with 24, ahead of Yu and Mokri with 11 and 10 respectively. But when Yu doubled through Mosböck, holding with jacks against AK, he too moved into the conversation. But only until Mokri doubled through Yu, which left Wang marginally ahead and the other three scratching around.

The stacks were now incredibly short, however, and the dam broke. There was a torrent of double-ups and eliminations. Mokri was down but then doubled twice, first through Yu and then through Wang. The latter, with pocket eights against AJ, put Mokri into the lead.

Yu's up-and-down ride then ended at the hands of Mokri. His last single blind was in with A7 against Mokri's QJ and a queen flopped. Yu was out in fourth for $1,521,000.

Yu Zhang rode the roller-coaster before being knocked out in four

There were now only 46 blinds on the table, with Mokri holding 22 of them. He soon took the 13 that Wang had as well. Mokri found pocket fours and jammed the small blind. Wang called with A9 in the big blind and the over-cards missed. Wang's tremendous showing at the final earned him $1.846 million.

Wang Ye left his mark on the final

Here they were, then. Heads up between two Europeans. Mokri had 35 blinds to Mosböck's 11, so there wasn't a huge amount of chips in play. But with $4.1 million for the winner, and $2.8 for second, they wisely beckoned over Luca Vivaldi to talk about a deal.

Mokri and Mosbock agree a deal

Not long after, they confirmed matters: Mokri signed for $3,705,059. Mosböck was getting $3,067,941. There was $130,000 left to play for, alongside the trophy and the official title.

If Mosböck was going to mount a comeback, he'd need to double pretty quickly. And he did just that. His Q2 stayed best against 97 on the fourth hands of heads-up play. The pot gave him enough chips and momentum to put his foot down, and a series of pre-flop pushes -- thanks to a few pocket pairs -- got him to within a couple of blinds of Mokri. When the level went up, they shared only 28 blinds and there was barely anything between them.

Mario Mosbock wasn't quite able to bring it home for Triton

But then, as it always does, the big one came about. Mosböck found K3 in the small blind and open-jammed. Mokri had 109 and made the call. The dealer put the flop of 994 out there, and they already shook hands.

The Q turn completed things officially, and as the irrelevant 6 completed the board, Mokri was celebrating his second Triton title and the biggest win of his career.