button in SafariTriton Season 5 POY: Dan Dvoress Surges to the Top After Montenegro Dominance
Table Of Contents
Another stop on the Triton Poker Series has wrapped, with over $100 million in prize money awarded in Montenegro.
An astonishing 35 players cashed for at least $1,000,000 at the festival, with 16 winners crowned.
In this article, PokerNews takes a look at what that's done to shake up the Season 5 Triton Player of the Year race, and who is in pole position to take away the prestigious Ivan Leow Player of the Year Award.
Triton Season 5 Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Dvoress | Canada | 3,181 |
| 2 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 2,517 |
| 3 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 2,405 |
| 4 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | 2,156 |
| 5 | Aleks Ponakovs | Latvia | 2,089 |
| 6 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | 2,050 |
| 7 | Ben Tollerene | United States | 2,039 |
| 8 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 2,020 |
| 9 | Jason Koon | United States | 1,993 |
| 10 | Michael Watson | Canada | 1,974 |
Correct as of June, 2026
Dvoress Unsurprisingly Surges in Front
There's no questioning that Daniel Dvoress did enough to sit comfortably at the top of the leaderboard after Montenegro.
The Canadian's hat trick of wins, along with two other cashes, netted him 1,741 points. This was enough to lift him above Isaac Haxton in the race for the Ivan Leow Player of the Year Award.
After winning the Golden Decade opener, Dvoress completed the Triton Trident with Triton titles in No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and Short Deck.
He would go on to add the $100k PLO Main Event midway through the series, before rounding things out with the final event on the schedule: the $25K PLO Turbo Bounty Quattro for $367,500.
His lead over Haxton, who made two final tables in Montenegro from his three cashes, is now up to 664 points. To put that into perspective, last year's Player of the Year Artur Martirosian's gap to second-place Alex Foxen was 700 points.
The lead is by no means insurmountable, but others will need similar performances to put a dent in Dvoress. And that's before you consider that Dvoress may not be done this season.
Watson into Top 10 After Montenegro Double
There was reward for Mike Watson at the Maestral Resort & Casino, making six final tables and winning two titles, bringing his total to seven Triton titles.
That leaves him tied with Matthias Eibinger, who also added a Triton Title in Montenegro, trailing only Jason Koon's 12 Triton titles in the all-time standings.
Eibinger was one of five players currently inside the Player of the Year standings to win Triton titles in Montenegro, along with Dvoress, Watson, Danny Tang; who won the $100,000 NLHE Main Event, and Aleksejs Ponakovs who won the $150,000 10th Anniversary Special.
Tollerene Making Moves
Sitting comfortably in the middle of the Top 10, Ben Tollerene could have made some real moves in Montenegro. And while he didn't add a fifth Triton title to his poker resume, he made a good try of it.
Less than three months after his Triton Jeju Main Event win in March, he finished with eight cashes, the most of any other player.
His highest finish came in the $30,000 NLHE/PLO where he cashed in fifth for $127,000, while his biggest cash came in the $100,000 NLHE Main Event, finishing 14th for $238,000.
Tollerene wasn't the only player inside the POY Top 10 making repeat visits to the payouts in Montenegro, with Jason Koon and Punnat Punsri securing seven cashes each, with both making six final tables.
Triton Montenegro 2026 Full Results
| # | Event | Winner | Entries | Prize Pool | 1st Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 Golden Decade NLH | Daniel Dvoress | 146 | $3,650,000 | $849,000 |
| 2 | $25,000 Eight-Handed NLH | Anatoly Zlotnikov | 119 | $2,975,000 | $715,000 |
| 3 | $30,000 Eight-Handed NLH | Mario Mosboeck | 133 | $3,990,000 | $928,000 |
| 4 | $40,000 NLH Mystery Bounty | Fedor Holz | 111 | $4,440,000 | $1,208,811 |
| 5 | $50,000 Eight-Handed NLH | Christopher Nguyen | 132 | $6,600,000 | $1,535,000 |
| 6 | $30,000 NLH Turbo | Mike Watson | 84 | $2,520,000 | $659,000 |
| 7 | $200,000 NLH Triton Invitational | Adrian Mateos | 137 | $27,400,000 | $6,370,000 |
| 8 | $50,000 Seven-Handed NLH | Christopher Vogelsang | 118 | $5,900,000 | $1,037,858 |
| 9 | $100,000 NLH Main Event | Danny Tang | 159 | $15,900,000 | $3,522,000 |
| 10 | $50,000 NLH Turbo Bounty Quattro | Mike Watson | 32 | $1,120,000 | $621,000 |
| 11 | $150,000 NLH 10th Anniversary Special | Aleksejs Ponakovs | 76 | $11,400,000 | $3,027,000 |
| 12 | $30,000 PLO/NLH Mixed | Tobias Schwecht | 53 | $1,590,000 | $465,000 |
| 13 | $100,000 PLO Main Event | Daniel Dvoress | 76 | $7,600,000 | $2,018,000 |
| 14 | $50,000 PLO Mystery Bounty | Matthias Eibinger | 47 | $2,350,000 | $1,053,000 |
| 15 | $75,000 Six-Handed PLO | Richard Gryko | 59 | $4,425,000 | $1,243,000 |
| 16 | $25,000 PLO Turbo Bounty Quattro | Daniel Dvoress | 46 | $850,000 | $367,500 |
Pictures courtesy of Triton Poker
