Aerts Heater Continues; Denies Grafton Heads-Up to Win First Triton Series Title
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The latest Triton Poker Series champion has been crowned, with Pieter Aerts winning Event #3 $50k NLH 6-Handed for $1,472,000 after overcoming PokerStars Ambassador Sam Grafton heads-up.
Aerts is in stellar form at both the live and online felt, becoming Belgium's third WSOP bracelet winner after taking down Event #8: $5,000 6-Handed NLH Championship in the WSOP Online before adding a third-place finish in Event #12: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller for combined cashes of almost $1,000,000.
The result is also the second-largest cash of Grafton's career behind his runner-up finish in the 2019 EPT Barcelona €100,000 Super High Roller (€1.3 million)
Triton SHR Series Cyprus Event #3 $50k NLH 6-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pieter Aerts | Belgium | $1,472,000 |
| 2 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | $994,500 |
| 3 | Kannapong Thanarattrakul | Thailand | $646,500 |
| 4 | Benjamin Tollerene | United States | $535,000 |
| 5 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | $431,800 |
| 6 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $340,300 |
| 7 | Fedor Holz | Germany | $260,300 |
Winner's Reaction
Having delayed his flight to Cyprus due to his online success, Aerts said that it was a dream come true to win his first Triton Series title.
"It's a surreal experience, one that I hope that many other poker players can also have"
"I got quite lucky to be in this position but I guess that's always the case," said Aerts. "Coming on a trip like this and planning to play a couple of tournaments — this is obviously the end result that you are looking for.
"It's a surreal experience, one that I hope that many other poker players can also have. I've enjoyed the whole day, I'm enjoying this moment. I want to thank everyone back at home who's railing me.
Asked whether or not he would be playing in the upcoming Coin Rivet Invitational, Aerts was coy in his response.
"I'm not sure. It's an invitational right," Aerts said with a smile. "If any businessmen still want to play and don't have a partner I might want to team up with them, who knows. This is an open invitation!"
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Final Table Recap
The final table of seven had a familiar name at the top of the counts, with German Fedor Holz chip leader ahead of Aerts, but a big confrontation between the two saw Holz tumble down the chip counts.
Holz called a shove from his opponent with a pair and a gutshot straight draw, but failed to get there against the overpair of Aerts to be left short.
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Holz was then eliminated by Ben Tollerene — who was looking to go back-to-back after his victory in Event #2 in Northern Cyprus — before Isaac Haxton and Matthias Eibinger both hit the rail.
By this stage Aerts held a 2:1 chip lead over the rest of the field, and would add to his lead against Kannapong Thanarattrakul after a failed hero-call with King-high from the Thai player. Tollerene then hit the rail and Aerts eliminated Thanarattrakul to hold a more than 2:1 chip lead heads-up against Grafton.
Grafton would eat into the Belgian's lead, but Aerts would win it back and more to move further even ahead. The final hand saw Aerts limp-jam with ace-deuce and Grafton call it off with ace-queen. Unfortunately for the Brit, a deuce on the turn saw Aerts take the lead and there was no miracle river for Grafton.
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.
