Wiktor Malinowski Wins Career Best Score of $4.7 million in Triton 8-Max Event

The latest Triton Poker Series Montenegro event saw 93 entries, each putting up $200,000 of their own money in a bid to win almost $5 million. It could only be on the Triton Poker Tour and in Montenegro this week, as Wiktor Malinowski scooped the $4.78 million top prize after beating Spanish poker legend Adrian Mateos to the latest title.

Limitless Leads Final Nine

It took three days to find a champion in the latest Triton Poker Tour event and just 15 players were paid as stars of the felt missed out on profit. The last person to do so was Santosh Suvarna, who bust with pocket nines to Mikita Badziakouski’s K♥ 10♥ when the Belarussian hit two kings on the flop and made sure Suvarna missed out on a slice of the $18.6 million prizepool at the last moment.

Sneaking into the money places, Malaysian businessman Paul Phua (15^th) and Finnish poker legend Patrik Antonius (14^th) both made $317,000. Chinese Triton regular Ding Biao (13^th) and All-Time Money List leader Bryn Kenney (12^th) both won $344,000, while German powerhouse Christoph Vogelsang (11^th) and British poker legend Stephen Chidwick each banked $390,000.

As the final table began, it was the eventual winner Malinowski who had the chip lead with 63 big blinds, and his lead was considerable over most, especially the short stacked Matas Cimbolas. The Lithuanian only had 10 big blinds, and soon got them in good, shoving with A♥ K♦. Called by Mike Watson with K♣ Q♣, things looked good for a double-up for the at-risk player but Cimbolas had no luck post-flop, a queen coming to help Watson eliminate the Lithuanian in ninth place for $483,000.

Koon Misses Out on 11^th Title

With eight players left, there was a flurry of American eliminations, starting with the recent Triton event winner Nick Petrangelo. He shoved with A♥ 10♣ to Malinowski’s A♣ 7♣ but just as in the case of Cimbolas exit before, the dominating hand lost out, a seven on the flop sending the unlucky ‘Nicky P’ to the rail with $661,000.

Out next was Jonathan Jaffe who probably should have been delighted to get his last chips in with A♦ Q♥ against the K♣ Q♣ of Adrian Mateos. But keeping in a rhythm with the previous eliminations, Jaffe was ousted in seventh for $865,000 when a king landed on the flop and Jaffe couldn’t land an ace on turn or river.

With six left, Jason Koon was all-in with A♣ 5♠ and was dominated by his caller Malinowski with A♥ J♠. This time, however, the best hand prevailed and Koon could not strike it lucky, leaving for a score of $1,098,000.

Mateos Unable to Complete the Run

Out in fifth place was the Belarussian Mikita Badziakouski, who won $1,405,000 when his A♥ 7♣ was unable to hit against the pocket queens of Adrian Mateos. The Spanish player held to score a result that knocked out one of his most dangerous opponents, sending Badziakouski to the rail, but into the top six players of all-time according to The Hendon Mob.

Mateos was on a roll and took out Watson in fourth when the Spanish player’s J♣ 5♦ got there against Watson’s K♣ 7♦ with a jack on the turn sending the Canadian home with $1,748,000. Soon, three became two, when Steve O’Dwyer three-bet shoved with 9♠ 4♠. Malinowski wasn’t a believer, calling with A♥ 3♦ and holding to win over $2.1 million in third place.

Heads-up, Malinowski had 94 big blinds, more than 3:1 chip lead with Mateos only holding 30 big blinds. A flop of 8♦ 4♣ 3♣ led to Mateos pushing in all his chips with 8♥ 6♦, but it was bad timing, with 8♠ 3♥ in the Polish’s players hand. A 7♥ turn and 10♠ river ended the event, and while Mateos took home $3,292,000, Malinowski took the top prize of $4,789,000 and the glory that comes with being a Triton winner.

“The table was very tough, [with] many great players,” said Malinowski after the event. “I knew when I was coming to the final the job was not done; I had to stay focused. It’s the best feeling. There are so many moments in poker when it’s not so good, so when you win it feels very special.”

Check out how Wiktor Malinowski celebrated victory right here.

This article originally appeared on PokerStake.com