Chris Moneymaker Kicks Off Triton Montenegro with Stunning High-Roller Win
Viewers and fans of the Triton Super High Roller Series can be forgiven for expecting a big name winner of the opening event of the latest festival. But the winner of Event #1: $25,000 GGMillion$ Live is arguably one of the biggest names of all.
Chris Moneymaker. The 2003 WSOP Main Event champion.
From sitting with one big blind on the bubble, Moneymaker topped a 163-player field and defeated a star-studded final table to add his name — that famous name — to the long list of Triton champions.
Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro Event 1 – $25,000 GG Million$ Live Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Moneymaker | United States | $903,000 |
| 2 | Brian Kim | United States | $609,000 |
| 3 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | $419,000 |
| 4 | Ding Biao | China | $341,000 |
| 5 | Danilo Velasevic | Serbia | $272,000 |
| 6 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $209,500 |
| 7 | Lewis Spencer | United Kingdom | $153,000 |
| 8 | Morten Klein | Norway | $110,500 |
| 9 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $91,300 |
Winner's Reaction
"I wasn’t going to lose today," said Moneymaker. "I could have put it in with any hand and I would have won. I ran pure.
"I could have put it in with any hand and I would have won. I ran pure."
"I hit a three-outer, a six outer. I thought to myself, ‘You know what, this is going to be 2003. I’m not going to lose any more hands today.'"
It's the third-biggest win of Moneymaker's career after the 2003 WSOP Main Event, and a fifth-place finish in the $250,000 Luxon Invitational last August.
"I don’t really play a whole lot of high rollers, but when I do I enjoy it,” Moneymaker said. "I probably won’t play a ton more, but I’m sure I’ll be back out at a Triton stop.
"They do a really good job. It’s insane how well they run tournaments."
The win sees Moneymaker move to the top of the Tennessee all-time money list with $7.1 million, overtaking Kathy Liebert ($6.9 million.)
Is Chris Moneymaker's Win STILL the Biggest WSOP Upset Ever?
Final Table Action
Moneymaker came into the final table with the chip lead after eliminating Byron Kaverman to get the table down to the final nine.
There was a familiar face at the final table, with Biao Ding having previously defeated the great Phil Ivey heads-up to win a Triton poker title in Jeju. And he was back in action in Montenegro, sending Isaac Haxton to the rail as the first elimination of the final table.
Norwegian high roller Morten Klein then tussled with Brian Kim, only to fall in eighth as Kim moved to the top of the chip counts.
A quirk of the structure was that the GGMillion$ blinds increase relative to the number of hands played rather than in set intervals. The average stack dwindled to around 15 blinds and, perhaps inevitably, the chips began to get in.
Moneymaker got in on the action eliminating Lewis Spencer with pocket nines vs pocket threes. Kim then picked up pocket threes against the jacks of Adrian Mateos, only to river a set to eliminate the Spaniard, who earlier this week picked up the sixth SCOOP title of his career.
It appeared that Kim had hit his stride, cracking the pocket jacks of Danilo Velasevic with ace-queen.
Surviving the carnage? Igor Yaroshevskyy. Having come into the final table as the short stack, he could only look on as Moneymaker and Kim clashed, with Moneymaker doubling up to regain the chip lead.
The two traded eliminations as Kim eliminated Biao Ding before Moneymaker finally sent Yaroshevskyy to the rail to bring things to heads-up.
Moneymaker held the chip lead, and duly finished things off on the third hand of heads-up, calling an all-in from Kim to secure victory and write another chapter in his long and successful poker career.
Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro Schedule
The second event of the festival Event #2 - $26,150 NLHE 9-Handed got underway yesterday, and is scheduled to play to a winner today. Also getting under way is Event #3 - $41,800 NLHE 8-Handed.
Pictures courtesy of Joe Giron/Triton Poker
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
In this Series
- 1 Poker's Superstars Set to Descend on Montenegro for the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series
- 2 Chris Moneymaker Kicks Off Triton Montenegro with Stunning High-Roller Win
- 3 Three Way All-In Hands Andy Ni First Triton Poker Victory as Chris Brewer Faces Huge ICM Spot
- 4 Mike Watson Claims First Seven-Figure Score of the Triton Poker Montenegro Series
- 5 Artisom Lasouski Takes Down a $40K Event on His Triton Poker Debut
- 6 Haxton Triton Drought Continues as Yaroshevskyy Wins First Title
- 7 Mateos' Incredible Legacy Continues at Triton Montenegro w/ $1.76M Score
- 8 Young Poker Star Wins First Triton Title & $2.5 Million With Parents on Rail
- 9 Petrangelo Shakes Off Triton Hoodoo; Ivey Makes the FT in $125K Main Event
- 10 Ivey Out in Fourth as Mikalai Vaskaboinikau Wins Triton Montenegro $125K Main Event for $4.7M
- 11 PLO Specialist Sipila Denies Vaskaboinikau Back-to-Back Triton Montenegro Victories
- 12 Wiktor Malinowski Proves His Skills are "Limitless" in $4.7 Million Triton Poker Win
- 13 Chris Frank Wins Triton Montenegro $100,000 PLO Main Event ($2,008,910*)
- 14 Koon Stunned as Sipila Wins Second Triton Title in Two Days
- 15 Triton Montenegro Wraps Up as Dam Denies Chidwick in PLO Bounty
