Champion Richard Gryko!

It's been a very good year for Richard Gryko on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series. Actually, this needs a quick correction. It's been a very good year and one day for this 41 year old from the UK.

Three-hundred-and-sixty-six days ago, Gryko walked out of the tournament room at the Maestral Resort & Casino, Montenegro, clutching his first Triton Poker trophy. On Thursday night, on the same stage, Gryko won his second.

This one came from an even bigger tournament, the $75,000 PLO event, and it came with a first prize of $1,243,000.

In between those two successes, Gryko has been to three other Triton Poker finals, including picking up $1.27 million as runner up in the PLO Main Event in Jeju in March. And for him, this is all part of a job that clearly brings him immense pleasure.

"What keeps me coming back is it's just so much fun, apart from anything else," Gryko said. "You try and make money obviously but it's just so much fun to be in these rooms with these people and play this game."

Among "these people" is Triton Ambassador Jason Koon, who was Gryko's final vanquished opponent in this event. Gryko had been a comfortable chip leader for long periods on the second and final day, but Koon's presence in the field, and a table move, changed the dynamic somewhat as the American sought a record-extending 13th win.

"I was having the time of my life until Jason got moved to my direct left," Gryko admitted. Koon began hoovering up Gryko's chips, particularly during a long and tortuous bubble period. In one spectacular hand in particular, destined for the highlights reel, Koon bluffed Gryko off a full house.

But Gryko buckled down again, and though both players eventually cruised into the money, Koon continued to make things awkward for the PLO specialist.

Jason Koon made things awkward but couldn't land a 13th win

However when the pair got heads-up, Gryko was able to turn fortunes around and close it out for his second win.

"I just sort of ducked and weaved and had some good fortune until heads-up," Gryko said. "And then heads-up I kind of got hit in the face by the deck and then it was over quite quickly."

Humble in victory, Gryko said he was still trying to absorb what had happened, but that he relished the chance to play for these stakes in such company. "[It's] the thrill of competition," he said. "I would make very different choices if I was just trying to make as much money as I could. I can't turn down the opportunity to compete at this level, or try to at least."

For the time being, at least, it's the others who need to worry abut competing with him.

Richard Gryko discusses his latest win

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The final non-Turbo event on the schedule in Montenegro brought with it a field best described as the usual suspects. There were 28 of them, but for the first time this trip, they averaged more than a single $75,000 buy-in each. It meant 59 entries including 31 re-entries.

From a prize pool north of $4 million, there was more than $1.2 million prepared for the winner. Even when it's small, it's big with Triton Poker.

Registration closed at the start of Day 2 which meant a flurry of names appearing on the leaderboard, followed by the inevitable flurry of players dropping out of contention. However, this slowed dramatically as the bubble approached, then became an absolute crawl on the stone bubble. There were no fewer than nine short-stack double-ups during hand-for-hand play: three for Mike Watson, two for Chan Wai Leong, and two for Artur Martirosian, among others.

Mike Watson doubled three times on the stone bubble

Amid it all, Jason Koon was moved from one table to the other, telling his new table-mates, "I've been doing my best guys. I've had everybody all-in over there."

Koon was certainly central to the pre-bubble action and, despite losing in four attempts to knock out opponents, built a chip lead. It included one eye-catching pot against Richard Gryko when Koon's river raise got Gryko to fold the best hand — a full house, no less.

In that one, Gryko flopped a set of fours and ended with a boat. But Koon put in a huge river raise that represented something better, and Gryko believed him.

Richard Gryko, left, and Jason Koon tangled in a huge pot on the bubble

Patrik Antonius and Martirosian (despite the two doubles) were the short stacks still, and after Antonius doubled his three blinds to make six, it was Martirosian back in real peril. After a tournament break, Martirosian was in the big blind and he last three blinds went in against with 987. Cesar Garcia's knocked Martirosian out.

The bubble eventually burst with the elimination of Artur Martirosian

Within only about 20 minutes after that, the tournament flew to its final. Three players were knocked out in four hands amid the chaos, including the aforementioned Antonius. There was also no room at the final for Punnat Punsri, Espen Myrmo and Ben Tollerene, with the latter two busting on the same hand. They at least all picked up a min-cash.

It left six to do battle for the big bucks.

FINAL TABLE LINE-UP

Jason Koon - 3,430,000 (69 BBs)

Cesar Garcia - 2,320,000 (46 BBs)

Chan Wai Leong - 1,895,000 (38 BBs)

Mike Watson - 1,815,000 (36 BBs)

Richard Gryko - 1,280,000 (26 BBs)

Martin Dam - 1,060,000 (21 BBs)

Event 17 final table players (clockwise from back left): Richard Gryko, Jason Koon, Mike Watson, Chan Wai Leong, Cesar Garcia, Martin Dam.

Koon had a decent lead, but could not be considered out of sight. Yesterday, Dan Dvoress reeled in Manuel Stojanovic's far bigger chip lead from the bottom of the leaderboard, so everyone still had a chance.

Unfortunately for Chan Wai Leong, he had seemingly used up his share of fortune in getting to the final. He doubled up twice on the bubble, then padded his stack nicely with the eliminations of Punsri and Myrmo in back-to-back hands. But he yielded the first pot at the final to Koon, and then the second sent all his remaining 31 blids to Watson.

Cesar Garcia got the hand started by raising his button. Chan called in the small blind, holding KK10 but then Watson three-bet his big blind. Garcia folded but Chan wanted to play for the rest of it and jammed.

Watson could not call quickly enough with his sumptuous AAQ and flopped an even more glorious . There was no coming back for Chan. He was out in sixth for $274,000.

A fortunate bubble survivor, Chan Wai Leong was first out from the final proper

Martin Dam was in this tournament fresh from a third-placed finish in the PLO Main Event, underlining once again why the tag "PLO expert" gets applied to a handful of players. Dam is clearly one of them, but this turned out to be another final table from which he emerged without adding to his title haul.

Dam was the short stack with 14 blinds when he tangled with Garcia, checking his option in the big blind after Garcia alone called pre-flop from the button. Dam, holding 986 connected with the flop and bet out. Garcia raised and Dam called the few big blinds extra.

Garcia tabled his KKJ, which had been outflopped. But the turn followed by the river gave Garcia a better two pair than Dam. And that was that for the Dane. Dam's fifth place earned him $354,000.

Martin Dam, left, broken in di

Mike Watson's rollercoaster during the late stages of this event did not halt when he made it to the final. After Dam's elimination, Watson was back on the short stack, but managed to double it with AKJ beating Garcia's pretty . Watson flopped a jack and turned a king.

But when Watson himself found double suited aces again not long after -- specifically, AA8 -- he got involved in a five-bet pre-flop raising war with Koon's .

Watson was a decent favourite to double his 29 blinds, but there was a 10 and a seven on the flop and another 10 on the river. That translated into a suck-out for Koon and a fourth place for Watson. It was Watson's sixth final table of the trip, and he just had time to register the PLO Turbo with an eye on a third title.

Watson's prize was $448,000 from this one.

Is Mike Watson eyeing a place in the Turbo after seeing his aces cracked?

Koon led the three-handed standings, with 62 big blinds to Gryko's 40 and Garcia's 16.

And Garcia was not long for this world. The Spanish player cashed all three PLO events he played here in Montenegro, picking up an 11th place finish in the PLO Main Event, followed by third in the $50K Mystery Bounty. He was signing for another third place after a hand in which Koon's AKJ turned a flush to beat Garcia's , which rivered a straight.

There was a single raise pre-flop, with the remainder of the money going in after the 7K10 flop, when both had big draws to go with a pair. Koon's was bigger and the turn was decisive.

Garcia won $593,000 for third.

Cesar Garcia had to settle for another third place

They were now heads up, with Koon holding 69 blinds to Gryko's 25. Gryko has more PLO experience than Koon, but no one plays the Triton Poker Series like its ambassador extraordinaire. This one would be fascinating.

Gryko quickly levelled things up. A limp/three-bet pre-flop, followed by a c-bet on a 6410 flop won the first chunk. Then a check/jam on the turn looking at a board of won an even bigger slice of Koon's stack and put Gryko into the lead.

Heads up between Gryko and Koon

Koon steadied the ship with a few exchanges of the blinds, but Gryko had the bit between his teeth.

Gryko had a lead of 46 blinds to Koon's 32 when they played the final hand: Koon raised holding A103 and Gryko called in the big blind. That took them to a flop of .

Jason Koon sees the title slip away

Gryko checked, Koon bet and Gryko put in a raise. Koon now shoved with top two pair, but when Gryko called and tabled J95, Koon saw that he would now need to hit. The turn was not what he needed and neither was the river.

Koon remains stuck on 12 titles, with $879,000 to soften the blow. Gryko meanwhile completed his march to a second and earns another $1.243 million thanks to his wizardry in this particular game.