If you follow us regularly, you'll know that the past week has sent much of the world's poker elite to Montenegro, where the next stop of the Triton series is currently docked. This one has already moved into its second half, and day by day, it's giving us a hint that there's still plenty to look forward to!

Triton: Newcomer beats the pros, Artsiom Lasouski the new champion

Unstoppable Mateos
 

The name Adrian Mateos certainly needs no introduction. The Spanish number one, with $43 million in cashes, has EPT, EPM Millions and WSOP bracelet wins to his name, and in March this year, Mateos has already got a taste of the Triton event atmosphere. He won a $30k NLH event in Jeju, Korea, and has carried that form to Montenegro.

He made two final tables in the first four events, and topped it all off in the seventh event, which was the $50k NLH event. In it, 97 players took care of 159 entries and, thanks to them, a prizepool worth $7,950,000. While there were plenty of big names grinding their teeth for the title, it was Mateos who managed to take them all down, including the likes of Nick Petrangelo, Phil Ivey, Dan Smith and Mario Mosboeck. "I ran really great this week, to win the tournament you need to be lucky as well". Still only 29-years-old, the Spaniard collected a $1,761,000 bonus thanks to the win, which saw him cross the $10 million mark in Triton Series cashes.

Ike Haxton must wait
 

According to many statistics and opinions, the name Isaac Haxton is one of the most feared in the poker world. The current world number eight with $48 million won has a huge number of tournament titles to his credit, mainly from various high roller series. Ike obviously feels like a fish out of water in these, but in the Triton series, there is a curse hanging over his name.

Incredibly, Ike has cashed 39 times in Triton tournaments for payouts totaling over $12 million, yet not a single win has come from it. The closest he's come to the coveted trophy in a long time was in the $50k Bounty Event, where he made it all the way to heads-up play out of 126 entries. Here, however, the coveted trophy was snatched from him by Ukrainian player Igor Yaroshevskyy, who decided that Ike would have to wait for his debut title.

When parents help
 

The latest champion so far this morning was Bulgarian player Alex Kulev, who has distinguished himself this year especially on the EPT series. But he proved that he's not lost among the best in the $100k event, which saw 102 entries play for a $10 million prizepool. The heads-up matchup of this tournament brought together representatives of the new online generation of poker players, the aforementioned Alex Kulev and 25-year-old Frenchman Thomas Santerne.

The long duel broke down after midnight, when Kulev's parents arrived at the casino after a 6-hour journey to support their son live. "When I saw my parents, everything turned around." From that moment on, Kulev tipped the scales to his side and gradually robbed his opponents of all their chips. "It really means a lot to me, to achieve this kind of success in front of my family is really special for me." The achievement itself earned Kulev a lifetime winnings of $2,566,000 in addition to the trophy.

Source - Triton Plus, Triton-Series