$200k Invitational
 

As the name of the tournament implies, this tournament is for invited players only. They were divided between professionals and recreational or business players. At the start of the tournament, there were 58 entries, who reached for the re-entry option 15 times, creating a prizepool of $14.6 million. After two days of play, the field had been whittled down to 9 finalists who squared off on the final day yesterday.

Chipcount of the final table:

1: Elton Tsang – 3,69M
2: Dan Smith – 3,585M
3: Alexander Shelukhin – 3,28M
4: Jean Noel Thorel – 2,735M
5: Danny Tang – 2,37M
6: Mario Mosböck – 1,995M
7: Fedor Holz – 1,75M
8: Bob Voulgaris – 1,505M
9: Ilkin Garibli – 970,000
 

Ninth place went to Bob Voulgaris, whose pair of pocket tens was not enough to take down Tsang's A-K for $406,000. Eighth place went to Azerbaijani financier Ilkin Gabrili, who took home $540,000 for his debut tournament under the Triton banner. Another eliminated was German pro Fedor Holtz, who was sent out of the tournament by Mario Mosböck. Mosböck called his mentor with A Q and saw him out of the tournament with his spade flush, which earned Fedor Holtz $694,000.

Danny Tang, who managed to get chiplead for a while during the final table, ended his quest in sixth place for $875,000. Alexander Shelukhuin is a businessman from Moscow and has been a poker enthusiast all his life. On his Triton series debut, he finished in fifth place with a payday of $1.125 million, which no doubt pleased him greatly.

French player Jean-Noel Thorel, who began his poker career in the sixties, finished fourth in the tournament for $1,390,000, which earned him the top spot on the French All Time Money List ahead of players like Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier and Benajmin Pollak. He has more than $15 million in total winnings to his credit.

In the last three, the chip distribution was as follows. Mosböck had 59 blinds, Elton Tsang had 18, and Dan Smith had only 8 big blinds. After a few hands, Tsang and Smith swapped positions and it was Elton Tsang who eventually finished in third place with $1,780,000.

Heads-up
 

The Triton series title was thus played for by two progressive professionals in Dan Smith and Mario Mosböck. Although Mosböck had a 57-blind stack at the start of HU and Smith "only" had a 30-blind stack, he gradually managed to take the initiative and tip the scales in his favour. In the key spot, Smith held  A 8 and Mosböck K 8. After a flop 9 6 A check-raised and Smith called. On the turn K Mosböck called Smith's bet and on the river 8 both players had two pair. All the chips went in, which meant Mario Mosböck finished in 2nd place for $2,690,000 and the winner was Dan Smith with $3,870,000.

The $3,870,000 prize is Smith's third biggest win and brings his winnings close to $50 million. At the end of the tournament, Dan Smith paid tribute to his opponents and said that he felt good during the tournament and the cards held up when he needed them to. He concluded by adding, "People think the pros always know what to do, but sometimes you hope the others will crash and drop out."

Event #1 – $200,000 NLH TRITON INVITATIONAL

1 – Dan Smith, USA – $3,870,000
2 – Mario Mosböck – Austria – $2,690,000
3 – Elton Tsang, Hong Kong – $1,780,000
4 – Jean Noel Thorel, France – $1,390,000
5 – Alexander Shelukhin, Russia – $1,125,000
6 – Danny Tang, Hong Kong – $875,000
7 – Fedor Holz, Germany – $694,000
8 – Ilkin Gabrili, Azerbaijan – $540,000
9 – Bob Voulgaris, Canada – $406,000