Yesterday, in the last NLH tournament of the Triton Monte-Carlo series, we witnessed why we all love poker so much. Because even a complete novice has a chance to beat a pro. It all happened during the $159,000 buy-in, 121 entries, $18,150,000 prizepool NLH 8-Handed tournament.

Sam Greenwood final table chipleader at the latest NLH Triton tournament

Professionals completely helpless

There was a $4,350,000 prize waiting for the winner and the top 9 players at the final table played for it. Sam Greenwood was the chipleader here, but he was kept company by names like Bryn Kenney, Fedor Holz, Dan Smith, Sam Greenwood and Stephen Chidwick. When the players sat down at the final table, no one had any idea that this particular group of players would be uninteresting.

Along with them sat a pair of absolute amateurs. Ossi Ketola had no tournament results until the current edition of Triton Monte-Carlo, and Vladimir Korzinin had his first ITM placing during EPT Cyprus, which took place in October. Korzinin had only 3 ITM placements prior to the start of this tournament. The most recent was a second place finish in the $3,470,000 Triton Invitational where he was defeated by Patrik Antonius in the end. After that tournament, Korzinin said that he doesn't know how to play poker at all and has only been playing for a few months.

When you see Vladimir Korzinin's game, you realize that you can throw all the modern gadgets in the trash. This 69-year-old gentleman doesn't follow any charts and plays everything the way he feels. At this final table, it was he who knocked out most of the professional players.

Fedor Holz had to settle for third place

In the last three players sat rookies Ketola and Korzinin, and against them was the acclaimed professional Fedor Holz. However, even he was not enough for this rookie duo. He was knocked out by Ossi Ketola in his last hand, which put him as chipleader going into heads-up play, and Fedor had to settle for a $1,962,000 payday.

Finnish player Ossi Ketola started heads-up play with a stack worth 49 blinds and Vladimir Korznin held a 32 blind stack. It didn't take long to witness the last hand of the night, with Korzinin holding a slightly bigger stack than his opponent. The players bumped into each other on hands of Q-6 (Ketola) and 10-6 (Korzinin). After the board was dealt, Korzinin hit a flush to become the new Triton champion with a $4,350,000 prize.

The most interesting part of this whole story is that Korzinin had no idea that he had won this tournament. In fact, after everyone started applauding him, he thought the players were just being polite. Then Korzinin walked away from the stage and started unplugging his microphone, unaware that he was the winner. The truth that he was the new Triton champion because he had hit a color on the board had to be told to him by the series moderator.

The surprised Estonian player took home his first Triton trophy, bringing his live tournament earnings to nearly $8 million thanks to a $4,350,000 win. Someone plays poker all his life and doesn't reach that amount, and then it's a bearded 69-year-old Estonian who plays his first tournaments in his life and reaches those numbers thanks to 4 ITM finishes. Nor can we forget the name Ossi Ketola, for whom the Triton Monte-Carlo is the first tournament stop. This Finnish player currently has only 4 ITM cashes, all of them from the Triton Monte-Carlo, and has already achieved winnings worth over $3.5 million.

Ben Tollerene wins second title

The previous tournament also overshadowed the first PLO event of the entire series. The PLO 6-Handed, with a buy-in of $52,000 and 82 entries, brought the prizepool to $4,100,000. A sum of $1,070,000 awaited the winner here.

The chipleader here was Finnish player Joni Jouhkimainen, who had to settle for 5th place in the end. German player Maxi Lehmanski finished just ahead of the final heads-up, and Michael Duek and Ben Tollerene made it to heads-up play. The winner was Ben Tollerene, who took home his second Triton title and the full amount for the winner.

PLO Main Event

The PLO Main Event kicked off yesterday with a buy-in of $104,000 and 78 entries. However, this number is not yet final as late registration is still open. 29 players have advanced to the final day and they are led by Artur Martirosian with a stack of 1,530,000. But there are also names like Eelis Parssinen, Jonas Kronwitter, Daniel Dvoress, Sam Greenwood, Sean Winter, Lucas Greenwood, Dylan Weisman, Jason Koon, Alex Foxen, Stephen Chidwick, Gergo Nagy and Phil Ivey.

Source - tritonpoker