Champion Vladimir Korzinin!

No game in the world matches poker for its receptiveness to newcomers. If you’ve got the money, you can sit down in even the biggest games and play against the elite. They’ll have an edge, but it’s not insurmountable.

There has never been clearer proof than what happened in Monte Carlo this evening, at the latest stop on the Triton Super High Roller Series.

The last no limit hold’em event on this 14-tournament schedule reached its conclusion with Finland’s Ossi Ketola facing off against Estonia’s Vladimir Korzinin. About a month ago, neither of them had ever really played any poker, let alone to the standards of players on the Triton Series.

But in a week full of surprises, the 26-year-old gambling tycoon Ketola and the 69-year-old enigma Korzinin battled for a $4.35 million first prize. By that point, a final table featuring four of poker’s all-time top 15 money winners had been laid to waste by the rookies.

Ketola sat beneath a white fur hat. Korzinin sat behind a long, white Santa’s beard. Both were inscrutable. Both seemed unbeatable. But when the final card was dealt, this one belonged to the remarkable Korzinin. Ketola had to settle for a $2.97 million runner-up prize.

Runner up Ossi Ketola

Kozinin’s story is simply incredible. He is on a journey of discovery in later life, turning to poker in the past couple of months and quickly finding his way to the Triton Series. When he came second to Patrik Antonius in the Triton Invitational, one might have thought his moment in the sun was over.

But that was just a warm-up.

He returned for the $150K buy-in event, played with similar skill and abandon, and now he is a Triton champion. He has three documented Triton cashes (and only four in *any* poker tournament). They are for $31,000, $3,470,000 and now $4,350,000. None other even gets close.

Kozinin has rejected interview requests all week and maintained his vow of silence after the success, telling Mariana Pereyra he “had no words”. On receiving the Triton trophy he handed it immediately to Ketola and said, “I have no room for that.”

This is truly one of the most remarkable victories there has ever been in poker. Who knows what the future now holds for the incredible enigma.

Let the ticker tape fall on Vladimir Korzinin

TOURNAMENT ACTION

As players continued to enter and then re-enter, tournament organisers quickly realised this would roll into a third day of play. There were 121 entries by the end of the registration period, including 55 re-entries, as all the hold’em experts made doubly sure they would be involved as long as possible in the last two-card tournament of the series.

That put more than $18 million into the prize pool and confirmed a first prize of $4.35 million. This was neither the Main Event nor the Invitational, but these numbers demonstrate just how significant every tournament is on the Triton Series.

This was a mighty tough tournament as well, as witnessed by a really gritty and stubborn bubble, which just refused to burst. There were 20 places due to be paid, and they were playing across three tables from 24 onwards. With 22 left, a massive three-way all-in took place on the feature table in which Fedor Holz had the chance to eliminate both Jesse Lonis, who had pocket queens, and Ben Tollerene, who had eights.

Ben Tollerene busts one off the bubble

Holz had K J and the covering stack, so there was a chance for a double bust out. But there was no king to be seen, which meant Lonis knocked out Tollerene and doubled through Holz. It brought stacks quite even on that table, and left 21 in the field.

There was plenty going on on the outer tables. Stephen Chidwick was raising just about every hand on one of them, though he was winning only about half of them. That kept his stack moving up slightly and down slightly, with short-stacked Leonard Maue managing to win a couple to stick around.

Over on the other table, Sam Greenwood was forcing his way to the top of the overall counts, playing huge pots against Ren Lin (Greenwood five-bet shoved to win) and Patrik Antonius (Greenwood put out a massive river bet and got Antonius to fold after using seven time-banks).

Ossi Ketola doubled through Lonis on the feature table. Dan Smith and Holz chopped another, with Holz at risk of elimination.

Eventually the bubble burst at the table with the two shortest stacks, Paul Phua and Maue, even though neither of them took the walk. In fact, it was Chris Brewer who flamed out of this one. He got unlucky. Brewer opened from late position, then saw Tom Fuchs jam from the small blind with a slightly bigger stack.

Brewer had A K and called for the rest of it, learning he was in great shape against Fuchs’ K  . However, the dealer put the  on the flop, and it proved decisive as nothing came to assist Brewer. “Good game,” a plainly disconsolate Brewer said as he marched from the tournament room.

Chris Brewer can barely watch as the dealer seals his bubble fate

A small smattering of applause broke out as the remaining 20 celebrated a $236,000 min-cash.

The field now needed to essentially reduce by 50 percent to get us to a final. And sure enough, the short stacks, as well as Triton Monte Carlo champions Patrik Antonius (17th) and Jesse Lonis (14th), hit the rail. The last player out before the final table was Triton co-founder Paul Phua, who shoved with K Q and lost to Tom Fuchs’ A . Fuchs was ahead anyway, but ended the hand with a flush.

Paul Phua’s elimination set the final table

That set the final, with stacks as follows:

Sam Greenwood – 5.105m (85 BBs)

Tom Fuchs – 4.42m (74 BBs)

Stephen Chidwick – 2.875m (48 BBs)

Bryn Kenney – 2.87m (48 BBs)

Vladimir Korzinin – 2.785m (46 BBs)

Thomas Boivin – 2.25m (38 BBs)

Ossi Ketola – 1.665m (28 BBs)

Dan Smith – 1.23m (21 BBs)

Fedor Holz – 1m (17 BBs)

Triton Monte Carlo Event 12 final table players (clockwise from back left): Bryn Kenney, Fedor Holz, Sam Greenwood, Stephen Chidwick, Vladimir Korzinin, Ossi Ketola, Dan Smith, Sam Greenwood, Thomas Boivin

After the regular introductions, the very early stages of final table play had nothing spectacular. But then all of a sudden, Vladimir Korzinin lit the blue touch paper.

He opened from mid-position with Q 10 and picked up a call from Thomas Boivin in the big blind, holding J . Both players checked the   flop, which took them to the intriguing  turn.

Boivin now had trips; Korzinin had a flush draw. Boivin made a two-thirds pot bet, and Korzinin shoved for 35 blinds. Boivin made the call and eyed a potential chip lead. But Korzinin spiked the 7 on the river, completing the flush and sending him to the very top. A rueful Boivin hit the rail in ninth and won $435,000.

Thomas Boivin sees the bad news

Korzinin has played the wildcard to perfection during this trip to Monte Carlo, baffling almost everyone he has come up against with his far-from-solver-approved plays. The next victim of his momentum turned out to be one of the most high profile: the overnight chip leader Sam Greenwood tumbled out the door, giving Korzinin an enormous lead.

Greenwood started the final table largely avoiding major confrontation. He was easing his way in, and only playing one hand of note. In it, he four-bet Ossi Ketola and folded to Ketola’s five-bet jam. But then came the big one.

Korzinin opened from mid-position and Greenwood, with A 5 called in the big blind. He surely enjoyed the sight of the 4  flop, giving him the nut flush draw. Greenwood checked and Korzinin bet 7 BBs. Greenwood went for it, and got everything in.

Kozinin had pocket queens and called with his over-pair. When turn and river brought two hearts, Greenwood’s hopes were dashed. Greenwood had really seized control of this tournament with some devastating bubble play, surging into the chip lead. But even he couldn’t shake Korzinin, and had to settle for $562,000 for eighth instead.

The game is up for Sam Greenwood

Ossi Ketola doubled through Tom Fuchs with pocket queens to keep his hopes alive. And that put Fuchs in the firing line when he got involved in a three-way pot featuring Fedor Holz and, of course, Korzinin.

Korzinin started it, opening with A Q, and Fuchs jammed his final 10 big blinds with A . Holz was in the small blind and he looked at pocket nines. He shoved. Korzinin didn’t back down and called as well, with the chance to knock out two.

This time, he missed. The board ran clean, which meant Holz eliminated Fuchs and doubled through Korzinin. Fuchs, meanwhile, earned $762,000 for seventh. The remaining six players were guaranteed seven figure payouts.

The last hand for Tom Fuchs

Stephen Chidwick had dodged most of the fireworks to this point, but lost a big pot to Ketola to land himself short. He and Dan Smith were both sitting with about 10 big blinds and were quickly eliminated back-to-back.

Smith defended his big blind to a Korzinin open, sitting with J 10. He hit a jack and a ten on the jh] 10  flop, and Korzinin bet/called Smith’s check-raise shove. Korzinin had   and had hit top pair. The  turn continued his sun-run as he hit a better two pair to oust Smith in sixth for $1,016,000.

It wasn’t Dan Smith’s day

Chidwick’s fate was sealed by Ketola, who opened his button with 10 9 and, after Chidwick defended withK  , saw a flop of  . Both players hit a pair, but Ketola’s was bigger. Chidwick shoved, Ketola called, and the  turn and  river changed nothing.

Chidwick banked $1,300,000 and the field was down to four.

Stephen Chidwick’s tournament ended in fifth

Ketola and Korzinin have struck up what seems to be a great friendship here in Monte Carlo, and here they were first and second in the chip counts in this final hold’em event. But their positions on the leader board quickly flipped thanks to a classic hold’em cooler: queens for Ketola against , and they got it all in pre-flop.

Ketola won this one and built his stack to 87 big blinds. Kozinin had about half that, with Holz just ahead of Kenney in the final two spots. It was the Triton newcomers against the Triton veterans, with the newcomers ahead.

Holz battled back. He three-bet jammed pocket jacks over Ketola’s button open and doubled after Ketola called with A 3 and missed. But he then slipped back again, losing to Kenney’s straight when all-in pre-flop with  . Kenney had   but got some help from the board. Holz slipped some more but doubled again after flopping trips with  , then doubled again with   against Ketola’s  .

When he doubled for a third time in succession, this time making a boat with 67, Holz leapfrogged Korizin into second place in a rapidly shallowing tournament. The average stack was 20 big blinds, with Ketola’s lead sitting at 27 bigs, Holz behind a stack of 24, Korzinin at 20 and Kenney the short stack with 10 BBs.

Kenney got it in. He had red pocket sixes and jammed over Korzinin’s open with . Korzinin flopped a flush draw and filled it on the river. That was the end of Kenney.

Bryn Kenney busts

After his spectacular win in the $125K Main Event, and then a late registration into the $150K that turned into a final table appearance, Kenney had seemed essentially unbeatable. But if someone was going to kill Kenney, Korzinin seemed the most likely. And that fifth club on the river sent Kenney away with “only” $1,616,000 for fourth.

After Korzinin busted Kenney, Ketola turned his focus on Holz. A back-to-back sucker punch from the Finn to the German left Holz on the canvas, with the final hand seeing Kelola flop top pair with K 9 and Holz’s 10  hitting middle pair.

Money went in pre-flop, on the flop and the rest of it after the  turn. Ketola showed no fear in calling and Holz couldn’t catch up. His tournament finished with a $1,962,000 payday for third.

Fedor Holz hit the rail in third

This unlikely duo now settled down to play heads-up. Ketola had the slight advantage, with 49 blinds to Korzinin’s 32. They had both shown real willingness to gamble, so no one expected this to take long.

Case in point: Kozinin was soon all in with 7 2 against Ketola’s K . Yes, that was the worst hand in poker getting it in there. Korzinin flopped a flush and straight draw and rivered the straight. That prolonged the game a little while.

“I respect that,” Ketola said.

Ketola sought some assistance from his Triton Invitational partner Patrik Antonius. Remember, Antonius had repaid Ketola for his faith in inviting him to that event with an outright victory, and now here was the “businessman” side of the partnership playing for similar riches.

But when Antonius had prevailed, Ketola succumbed. They got all their chips in with a turn card showing on a board of Q J 10 . Ketola had top pair with  [6] while Korzinin had second pair and a flush draw with  .

Paul Phua chats with Antonius and Ketola

As if destined, the 9 fell on the river. That was for the win — although Korzinin didn’t immediately know it. He walked to the front of the stage and accepted the applause of the players still in the PLO Main Event. He thought they were being polite and offering him congratulation as the runner up.

Marianela Pereyra had to tell him the truth, news that he greeted with characteristic disbelief. In truth, we’re all stunned. The Triton Series might never see the likes again.