While the $25,000 NLH 8-Handed event continues whittling its field down to a winner, another high-stakes tournament shuffles up and deals. At 3:00 p.m. local time on May 15, the $30,000 NLH 8-Handed explodes into action.
All entrants receive a 200,000-chip starting stack, and play is to 30-minute levels starting at 500/1,000, with a 1,000 big blind ante. There are 15-minute breaks every four levels, with a 45-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 8.
Last year, this event attracted a total field of 147 entrants, who created a $4,410,000 prize pool. Argentina's Nacho Barbero came out on top. padding his bankroll with $1,025,000. Barbero defeated Adrian Mateos ($694,000) heads-up for the title after battling with the likes of Stephen Chidwick ($463,000), Linus Loeliger ($379,000), and Kristen Foxen ($304,000) at the final table.
Expect another large field, crammed with some of poker's elite players vying for a potential seven-figure score.
Only 20 of the 119 high rollers that began the $25,000 NLH 8-Handed event at the 2026 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro festival remain in contention for the title, and it is Latvia's Aleksejs Ponakovs who leads them back into battle at 1:00 p.m. local time.
Ponakovs finished Day 1 with 2,545,000 chips, the equivalent of 42 big blinds, enough to put his name at the top of the overnight chip counts.
The Latvian all-time money leader — he has $38,364,398 in earnings — had to wait until his 32nd Triton cash to bag his first title. It was worth the wait because Ponakovs triumphed in the $100,000 Triton NLHE Main Event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise in December 2025 for a career-best $4,750,000. Ponakovs now finds himself in pole position for his second Triton trophy.
$25,000 NLHE 8-Handed Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Aleksejs Ponakovs
Latvia
2,545,000
42
2
Alejandro Lococo
Argentina
2,095,000
35
3
Mikita Badziakouski
Belarus
2,055,000
34
4
Curtis Knight
Canada
1,750,000
29
5
Maher Nouira
Tunisia
1,720,000
29
6
Ethan Yau
United States
1,640,000
27
7
Jason Koon
United States
1,565,000
26
8
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
1,320,000
22
9
Aleksandr Zubov
Russia
1,115,000
19
10
Anatoly Zlotnikov
Russia
1,045,000
17
Ponakovs leads an all-star cast when play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on May 15. The popular Alejandro Lococo (2,095,000) and Triton legend Mikita Badziakouski (2,055,000) make up the podium place, while such luminaries as Ethan "Rampage" Yau (1,640,000), Jason Koon (1,565,000), and Stephen Chidwick (1,320,000) return with top 10 stacks.
Lower down the counts, and with a little more work to do if they are to emerge victorious, are Alex Kulev (715,000), Linus Loeliger (715,000), Punnat Punsri (700,000), Mario Mosboeck (600,000), and Triton ambassador Danny Tang (500,000); the latter brings up the rear.
Canadian star Daniel Dvoress completed a remarkable trifecta by taking down the $25,000 NLHE Golden Decade event at the 2026 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. Dvoress, who recently broke through $50 million in live tournament earnings, came out on top of a 146-strong field to take home $849,000 of the $3,650,000 prize pool.
His victory was impressive in its own right, but with it, Dvoress has now won Triton events in No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and Short Deck, which is no mean feat.
Speaking shortly after completing his Triton hat trick, Dvoress said, "I'm very proud. It's great, obviously. It is kind of funny that it took me forever to get my first Triton trophy to begin with, and they came in Short Deck, then PLO, and then Short Deck. I've generally been a no-limit specialist. I've not been playing the other two games for very long. So it feels nice to finally get this one."
Daniel Dvoress
$25,000 NLHE Golden Decade Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Country
Prize
1
Daniel Dvoress
Canada
$849,000
2
Dejan Kaladjurdjevic
Montenegro
$575,000
3
Paul Phua
Malaysia
$384,000
4
Samuel Muller
Austria
$314,000
5
Ding Biao
China
$252,000
6
Fabian Niederreiter
Germany
$195,000
7
Mikhail Soltanov
Russia
$145,000
8
Danilo Velasevic
Serbia
$106,000
9
Ben Tollerene
United States
$85,000
Dvoress entered the final table second in chips, trailing only Dejan Kaladjurdjevic. It would be those two superstars who would ultimately reach the heads-up stage.
Ben Tollerene, Danilo Velasevic, and Mikhail Soltanov were the first trio to crash out, leaving the final table six-handed.
Germany's Fabian Niederreiter, making his Triton debut, busted in sixth, his maiden cash weighing in at $195,000.
Ding Biao
Three-time Triton winner Ding Biao crashed out in fifth at the hands of Dvoress. Biao had opened with king-queen and flopped a king on a king-three-three board. He opted to under-represent his strong holding, blissfully unaware that Dvoress had flopped trip threes with his lowly five-three offsuit. Dvoress improved to a full house on the river and set Biao all-in, and Biao couldn't find a fold.
The dangerous Samuel Muller was the next to bust after flopping a pair of queens with his ace-queen. Unfortunately for the Austriam Kaladjurdjevic's jack-nine had flopped two pair. Muller only had 15 big blinds at the start of the hand, so there was no getting away from his hand.
Paul Phua
The legendary Paul Phua exited in third to send the Golden Decade event into heads-up. A short-stacked Phua was all-in with king-eight, which had flopped second pair, against Kaladjurdjevic's queen-ten. Kaladjurdjevic turned a flush draw and hit a gutshot Broadway straight on the river.
Dvoress went into heads-up with 71 big blinds to Kaladjurdjevic's 51. The final hand saw Dvoress limp with three-deuce off suit, and Kaladjurdjevic check his ten-nine. A four-nine-five flop gifted Kaladjurdjevic top pair against Dvoress' open-ended straight draw. Dvoress completed his straight when an ace landed on the turn, and got all of the chips when Kaladjurdjevic backed into trip nines, a costly second-best hand.
Kaladjurdjevic banked $575,000 for his bridesmaid finish, leaving Dvoress to reel in $849,000 and another Triton title.
Back at the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju in September 2025, PokerNews sat down with Triton CEO Andy Wong for an in-depth conversation about the growth of one of poker’s most ambitious tours.
From creating an environment built around the world’s biggest names to fostering the unique atmosphere that has helped define the Triton experience, Wong reflected on the philosophy behind the brand and what continues to drive its rapid expansion.
The discussion also explored the “secret formula” behind Triton’s success, the importance of community at the highest stakes, and why the tour sees itself as more than just another poker series.
A cool feature you might not know about in the Triton Poker Plus app is Triton Fantasy. It’s completely free-to-play and works much like fantasy football in the Premier League or NFL.
For each event, you build a six-player roster, select a captain (come on Ben Heath!), add two boosters, and compete against other poker fans throughout the series.
If you fancy yourself as a strong judge of high roller talent, now’s your chance to prove it.
Four-time Triton champion and Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju NLH Main Event winner Ben Tollerene leads the remaining 34 players into Day 2 of the $25,000 Golden Decade, after a strong opening day in Montenegro.
Tollerene bagged 2,630,000 (66 big blinds) at the close of play, putting himself in familiar territory at the top end of a Triton leaderboard. With his track record on the tour, he will take some shifting, but there is no shortage of big names right behind him.
The most immediate threat comes from Emilien Pitavy, who sits second with 2,070,000, while five-time Triton winner Mikita Badziakouski is well placed in fourth with 1,765,000 as he chases another title on the circuit.
Also firmly in contention is Triton newcomer Fabian Niederreiter, who rounds out the top three with 1,820,000 after a strong Day 1 performance.
Payouts are now confirmed, with 23rd place locking up a $42,000 min-cash. At the sharp end, the eventual champion will bank $849,000 when the Golden Decade concludes.
Triton Montenegro $25,000 Golden Decade Chip Counts - Start of Day 2
The action got underway yesterday at Maestral Casino & Resort on the stunning Adriatic coast, with Event #1: $25,000 Golden Decade NLH kicking off the festival. There’s already been plenty of world-class players on show at the tables delivering the goods, but we’ll get into some of that a little later in the day.
For now, attention shifts to today’s schedule, which brings us a Day 2 return for the Golden Decade and the start of some 8-Handed $25K no-limit hold'em to get excited about.
Triton Montenegro Schedule - Thursday 14th May
Event #1: $25,000 Golden Decade NLH - Day 2 - 13:00
Event #2: $25,000 NLH 8-Handed - Day 1 - 15:00
As ever, you can follow all the action on the Triton Plus app for hand-by-hand coverage throughout the day.
There’s also live streaming from the feature tables across Triton Plus, YouTube and other streaming platforms, so plenty of ways to keep tabs on things as they develop in Montenegro.
More highlights from Day 1 coming up a little later.
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