button in SafariFedor Holz Cracks Kings & Jacks on Bubble En Route to Fifth Triton Title
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Fedor Holz might not play much poker these days, but he’s clearly still got it.
Despite being semi-retired, the German superstar took down the $40K Mystery Bounty at Triton Montenegro for his fifth Triton title on Sunday, banking $528,811 from a $4,440,000 prize pool plus a pile of mystery bounties after a heads-up deal with Aleksejs Ponakovs.
And that figure is only going one way. Holz collected 11 mystery bounties during the event, each carrying an expected value of $80,000 with a minimum payout of $40,000, meaning his total haul will likely soar beyond the $1 million mark once all the envelopes are redeemed at Maestral Casino on Monday evening.
It’s a full-circle moment both for Holz and the Triton tour itself, after poker’s wunderkind won the very first Triton event in the Philippines in a $200,000 high roller almost exactly a decade ago.
And, in typical Fedor fashion, there was no shortage of style points along the way, after he cracked kings and jacks on the bubble en route to tasting tournament success for the first time in more than two years.
$40K Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fedor Holz | Germany | $528,811* |
| 2 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $407,189* |
| 3 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | $245,000 |
| 4 | Leonard Maue | Germany | $203,000 |
| 5 | Mike Watson | Canada | $164,000 |
| 6 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | $129,000 |
| 7 | Mikhail Soltanov | Russia | $99,000 |
| 8 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | $74,000 |
*indicates heads-up deal.
Holz Cracks Monsters on the Bubble
The event attracted 111 entries, with the top 17 places paid, and Holz found himself at the center of the bubble drama.
With 18 players remaining, Holz limped in from under the gun with 6♠4♠ before Theologis raised from the cutoff holding A♦A♠. Christoph Vogelsang called from the small blind with A♥Q♠, and Holz came along as well.
Theologis continued for 110,000 on the K♠Q♣4♣ flop and received calls from both opponents.
The 4♥ turn gave Holz trip fours to vault from worst to first. Theologis fired another 270,000, leaving himself 590,000 behind, while Vogelsang got out of the way. Holz then moved all in as the covering stack.
After burning through a large chunk of his Triton Tempo shot clock, Theologis somehow found the fold in what may go down as one of the best laydowns of the year.
But the escape lasted all of one hand.
On the very next deal, Kiat Lee opened with pocket kings before Theologis committed his final 24 big blinds with pocket jacks. Holz woke up with six-four in the big blind once again and reshoved, with Lee also committing his 34 big blind stack.
Theologis was the only player at risk of bubbling the tournament, as the min-cash would not be split with both players eliminated at the same table. Had the all-ins happened separately, the payout would have been shared.
Holz spiked a six on the flop to pick up immediate outs before improving to two pair on the river, cracking both pocket pairs to send Theologis out on the stone bubble.
Fedor the Bounty Hunter Takes It Down, With More to Come
After that huge confrontation, Holz took a commanding position in the tournament, and in typical fashion, never really relented all the way to the finish line.
Only when heads-up with Ponakovs was there the slightest flicker of weakness from Holz, as the Latvian, a world-class player in his own right, twice climbed off the canvas to stay in the title hunt when on the brink of elimination.
"There's a reason why this is the one I play once or twice a year. I have an incredible time. It's just the best tournament series there is."
However, it was not to be for Ponakovs, who added $407,189 to take his lifetime Triton earnings past $26 million (with the promise of more to come from his three bounty pulls), after an ill-timed bluff running 10♥3♠ into Holz's flopped queens brought the swingy heads-up match to a decisive close.
Speaking with Triton after the event, Holz said, "It means a lot, the first Triton was definitely very different than 10 years later. They've come a long way. They put together the best tournament series in the world, and there's a reason why this is the one I play once or twice a year. I have an incredible time. It's just the best tournament series there is."
That 'incredible time' may feel even more so on Monday evening, should the bounty gods be kind and reward the German with even more than the minimum $440,000 he's already guaranteed.
Mosböck Draws Level With Mentor Holz, But Not For Long
Saturday's action saw Mario Mosböck add another chapter to what is rapidly becoming one of the standout Triton résumés in poker, as the ex-soccer star won the $30,000 NLH 8-Handed at Triton Poker Montenegro to briefly draw level with his mentor Holz on four Triton titles, before the German pulled clear again on Sunday.
The Austrian collected $928,000 for the victory, securing the fourth Triton title of his career after surviving one of the most dramatic and swing-heavy final tables of the series so far.
And if the final few hours are anything to go by, Mosböck’s popular YouTube channel should make for essential viewing when the Austrian's latest video drops.
$30,000 NLH 8-Handed Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Mosböck | $928,000 |
| 2 | Danny Tang | $628,000 |
| 3 | Javid Ismayilov | $419,000 |
| 4 | Kristen Foxen | $343,000 |
| 5 | Patrik Antonius | $275,000 |
| 6 | Danilo Velasevic | $214,000 |
| 7 | Mehdi Chaoui | $158,000 |
| 8 | Adrian Mateos | $116,000 |
A Final Table Packed With Heavyweights
The $30K event drew 133 entries and generated a $3,990,000 prize pool, with some of the biggest names in poker returning for Day 2.
Mosböck entered the final table as chip leader, narrowly ahead of Tang, while Kristen Foxen, Patrik Antonius, Adrian Mateos, Holz, and Eelis Pärssinen were all among the deep runners in another stacked Triton field.
The pace early on was relentless. The field went from 20 players to the final table in barely 90 minutes, with Mateos, Pärssinen and Antonius all falling before the closing stages tightened considerably.
From there, the tournament evolved into a marathon.
Foxen, Tang, Mosböck and Javid Ismayilov all spent time with the chip lead during a four-handed battle that swung wildly from orbit to orbit, with repeated doubles and brutal coolers keeping the tournament alive deep into the night.
Triton Ambassadors Collide Heads-Up
For the first time in Triton Poker history, two Triton ambassadors reached heads-up play against one another.
Tang entered the duel chasing a sixth Triton title, while Mosböck was looking to pull level with friend and mentor Holz on four.
The match itself delivered exactly the kind of drama the line-up deserved.
At one stage, Tang reduced Mosböck to just eight big blinds and appeared close to sealing the victory, only for Mosböck to survive after flopping trips in a king-versus-king confrontation.
Later, with both players hovering around the 13-blind mark, Mosböck rivered a straight in a massive all-in pot holding queen-jack against Tang’s king-five to swing momentum completely back in his favor.
Tang still refused to go quietly, doubling twice to keep the match alive before the final hand arrived.
Tang moved all in with queen-six and Mosböck called with pocket tens. A queen on the flop pushed Tang ahead, but the runout completed a straight for Mosböck on the river, finally bringing an end to a chaotic and unforgettable heads-up battle.
Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro Winners So Far
As we move into the fifth day of this year's Triton stop in Montenegro, four winners have been crowned so far on poker's most exclusive high-stakes tour.
Alongside Holz and Mosböck, Daniel Dvoress and Anatoly Zlotnikov have also added titles, with full entries, prize pools, and winners available below in what is already shaping up to be a classic stop on the Triton calendar.
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 Golden Decade No-Limit Hold'em | 146 | $3,650,000 | Daniel Dvoress | $849,000 |
| $25,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em | 119 | $2,975,000 | Anatoly Zlotnikov | $715,000 |
| $30,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em | 133 | $3,990,000 | Mario Mosboeck | $928,000 |
| $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty | 111 | $4,440,000 | Fedor Holz | $528,811 |
Images courtesy of Triton Poker Series.
