Champion Roman Hrabec!

An enormously entertaining final table at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Monaco tonight ended with a second Triton trophy in the hands of the Czech star Roman Hrabec, with his defeated heads-up opponent Samuel Mullur underlining his enormous potential as one of the new, young greats of the high stakes circuit.

The two players, aged 28 and 26, respectively, agreed a heads-up ICM chop when they were the last two left from a field of 155 entries in this $40,000 buy-in tournament. It indicated the respect they hold for one another’s games, honed on the online tables, not to mention the experience they likely have playing one another there.

Hrabec won the record breaking Main Event in Jeju in May, landing his career-best $4.3 million first prize. This, his second title, earned him $622,019 and he added a further $560,000 when he cashed in his eight bounties in the Mystery Bounty ceremony the following night.

Hrabec hadn’t felt especially confident going into the draw, but snagged one of the coveted gold $200K bounties, among others.

“I usually run very, very poor in the mystery bounty, so I can sell some of them,” he said in his post-game interview.

Pessimism might be his secret, however. He admitted that he’d been running a little cold of late, and had been moaning about it to his girlfriend, the Polish player Monika Zukowicz.

“I was a little bit complaining to my girlfriend about a bad run, but that’s how it works sometimes,” Hrabec said. “You complain and then you win one.”

The moment of victory for Roman Hrabec

Prepare for a million amateur players to ramp up their complaints from now on.

Hrabec, of course, is far, far from an amateur. He played exceptionally well to prevail from a final that also featured fellow Triton champions Luc Greenwood and Punnat Punsri, as well as Finnish wildcard Ossi Ketola, Norwegian veteran Morten Klein and the lively American/Chinese pro Ren Lin.

The formidable Artur Martirosian was also at the table, making eye-catching bluffs and one spectacular fold, correctly, of a full house.

But it was the Austrian Mullur who ended up as Hrabec’s final, and toughest, opponent. Railed by a strong cohort of Vienna-based friends, led by Fedor Holz, Mullur showed for the first time at the Triton Series what he had been demonstrating across the world for a couple of years. He was chip leader for long periods, only really taking a dip during heads up against Hrabec. Mullur will come again.

Mullur took $463,000 from the deal and a further $520,000 in bounties of his own in the draw.

Samuel Mullur’s best run on the Triton Series finished in second

But for the time being, it’s time once again to celebrate the Czech master’s performance. He now has two Triton titles, and counting…

TOURNAMENT ACTION

As is often the case, the main focus of the early stages of play today was the impending bubble, with only 27 players due to be paid. But as it turned out, the min-cash was split between two players — Mikita Badziakouski and Lewis Spencer — who were knocked out on the same hand on separate tables.

There were shorter stacks around the room, but both pros saw a decent chance to double: Badziakouski had pocket jacks and a chance to three-bet jam; Spencer was in the small blind with A 6 and watched Alex Theologis open-shove from the button and figured he was well ahead of that kind of range.

Lewis Spencer becomes one of two bubble boys in Monte Carlo…

Badziakouski learned his fate first, discovering that Luc Greenwood, who opened and then called the shove, had kings. This was a dramatic run-out, which came 3 10 Q , giving Greenwood a set on the turn but offering Badziakouski a straight draw, eventually giving him a useless set on the river.

That meant Badziakouski was definitely out of the tournament, but he needed to see Spencer’s fate to learn if they would be getting a small amount of money. Theologis had the inferior hand in that coup, with 7 8. But a run-out of 9  gave Theologis the bounty. This double drama brought the field down to 26.

…Mikita Badziakouski was the other one

The next couple of hours were all about two things: bounty accumulation and making the final table. Success in the first element obviously increased chances of success in the second. However, there was no room at the inn this time for players of the repute of Seth Davies, Sam Greenwood, Hossein Ensan and Christoph Vogelsang, while even Theologis fell before they convened around a final.

Theologis bust in ninth, just before the eight-handed final. He took $70,000, plus his bounties — and miraculously earned $440,000 from his two bounty draws including the big $400,000 pull. However, the remaining octet looked like this:

Samuel Mullur – 8.355m (104 BBs)

Luc Greenwood – 4.9m (61 BBs)

Roman Hrabec – 4.16m (52 BBs)

Artur Martirosian – 3.825m (48 BBs)

Ossi Ketola – 3.725m (47 BBs)

Morten Klein – 2.82m (35 BBs)

Punnat Punsri – 2.11m (26 BBs)

Ren Lin – 1.1m (14 BBs)

Triton Monte Carlo Event 3 final table players (clockwise from back left): Artur Martirosian, Morten Klein, Samuel Mullur, Ossie Ketola, Roman Hrabec, Luc Greenwood, Punnat Punsri, Ren Lin.

It was a brief stay at the final for Ren Lin, who suffered the disappointment of finding the best hand–pocket aces–in the perfect set-up–an opponent flopping top pair–but watching it beaten. Morten Klein was the villain of this particular piece, defending his big blind with Q 5 and seeing the dealer put the Q  on the felt.

Klein check-raised with his top pair and Lin made what was surely a gleeful call for his last nine big blinds. He was punished by the 5 on the turn, followed by the meaningless 10 on the river. Lin departed in eighth for $84,000.

A cruel end to the event for Ren Lin

Mullur’s chip lead was significant enough at this stage that it slowed the action around the table. ICM pressure meant nobody else wanted to risk busting next when other stacks were so even. But chips were still changing hands, and we saw some spectacular poker, nothing better than a pot between Artur Martirosian and Ossi Ketola.

This one ended with Ketola sitting with a royal flush, check-jamming the river, and putting his shades on under his furry Nordic hat. Martirosian had rivered a full house, but sniffed it out and let his hand go. It was a sensational fold, no doubt coming to a clip-show near you soon.

Artur Martirosian goes deep in the tank before folding a boat

Martirosian was rewarded for this moment of brilliance by picking up kings on the next hand, and seeing Punnat Punsri open jam with A K. Mullur came along too with A  and Martirosian all but tripled up, eliminating Punsri after a dry board.

Punsri played his part in a fun final table, but he perished in seventh for $116,000. Martirosian collected the bounty.

Punnat Punsri won’t be getting a third title this time

In addition to the spectacular fold, Martirosian had become a fan favourite thanks to some tremendous bluffs en route to the final. The Triton commentators put aside their usual impartiality and were openly rooting for him to take it down. But Martirosian ran into three queens in Roman Hrabec’s hand, then lost the last of his chips to Mullur, whose  held against Martirosian’s A 6.

Martirosian earned $159,000 for his sixth place, plus another $480,000 in bounties, but his superb fold will be replayed over and over. He is also three-from-three for cashes here in Monte Carlo so far, the mark of a man in great form.

Artur Martirosian’s eye-catching tournament ends

Ketola is in Monte Carlo for the Triton Invitational, where he will be appearing on the Invitee side of the draw. He’s owns a tech company in his native Finland and is only just developing an interest in poker, learning from one of the best, Patrik Antonius. (He has invited Antonius to play the invitational too.)

This was a warm-up event for Ketola, and he had clearly been learning well from Antonius. But his run ended in fifth after he became Mullur’s latest victim.

Mullur opened with pocket queens and Ketola, with A 10, shoved for his final 17 blinds. Mullur snapped off and won, turning a third queen for good measure. Ketola’s first ever Triton cash was worth $207,000, plus $40K in bounties.

A steep learning curve for newcomer Ossi Ketola

No one was especially short-stacked, at least by Triton standards, but the blinds were of course creeping ever upward. Luc Greenwood, a Triton champion in London a couple of years ago, was now sitting with 12 big blinds and he saw action fold to him in the small blind.

With K 6, he jammed. But Hrabec found K  in the big blind and made the call. The dominating hand stayed best, which sent Greenwood out in fourth for $260,000. He added another $220,000 in bounty payments.

Both Greenwood brothers cashed in this one, but their mantles will not need rearranging just yet.

Luc Greenwood out in fourth

Hrabec still had the chip lead, with 52 blinds to Mullur’s 45 and Morten Klein’s 26. No one had a lock just yet, but Klein needed to get something moving. Unfortunately for him, the one time he did try to get some progression, he slammed into a better hand in front of Hrabec.

Klein’s final hand was pocket jacks. He opened from the button and Hrabec defended his big blind with Q 6. The flop of  6 had enough on it to interest Hrabec, but he checked, and it was dicey enough that Klein just checked it too.

The 6 turn suddenly put Hrabec in the lead and he bet out. Klein called. Then after the 5 completed the board, Hrabec went for all of it, shoving into Klein. Klein felt that his hand was too good to fold and he stuck in the last of his chips. But Hrabec’s hand was now better, and that earned the Czech star another bounty and ended the day for Klein. He took $318,000 and added $240K more from bounties.

Morten Klein departs in third after losing with jacks

Mullur and Hrabec are both online sensations now making waves in the live poker environment, and the pair clearly had enough respect for one another’s game to immediately ask if they could chop. Luca Vivaldi brought over his trusty laptop and his inimitable brokerage skills, telling players that with the mandatory $35,000 on the side, Hrabec’s chip lead would guarantee him $587,019 from an ICM deal, with Mullur locking up $526,981. They shook on it.

They settled down to play it out, with the Triton trophy as well as the $35K to play for. Hrabec had 82 blinds to Mullur’s 42.

After Hrabec extended his lead quickly, Mullur was hastily all-in and under threat holding A 9 to Hrabec’s Q . The ten on the flop seemed set to end it in Hrabec’s favour, but the  on the turn allowed Mullur to fight another day.

The last two chat as they wait for the ICM deal to be confirmed

It was, however, just a temporary stay of execution. Hrabec pushed Muller out of another major pot to open up another 3-1 chip lead, before the dealer ensured a final hand. Hrabec had 9 10 and flopped top two on a board of  .

Mullur had 7 4 for a huge combo draw, and all the money went in. Turn and river bricked out, handing the pot and the title to Hrabec.