button in SafariAlex Anton Leads Triton ONE Main Event Final Table After Day 3 Steamroll
It's been quite the year for American poker player Alex Anton. Since April, he has added five six-figure scores to his The Hendon Mob page, captured two WSOP bracelets, and won a coveted Triton Super High Roller Series trophy in Jeju.
His hot streak appears to continue at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa, as Anton decimated the competition on a short Day 3 of the Triton ONE North Cyprus $8,000 Main Event, ending the afternoon with 62,100,000 in his stack, worth over 100 big blinds and enough for a sizable chip lead when the final table with the 9 remaining contenders commences.
Anton doubled with pocket aces early in the day and went on to provide one-third of the eliminations on Day 3, including a double knockout. If the chipleader goes wire-to-wire on the final day, he will walk away with the $1,320,000 first-place prize, his first seven-figure score.
However, the remaining competition from the starting field of 1,006 entries is fierce. Mohamed El-Wely maintained his second place on the leaderboard after a roller-coaster day, and will start the battle for the major prizes of the $7,316,600 prize pool with 43,700,000. Meanwhile, Day 2 chipleader Yiwen Yuan, the final woman standing, burst the final table bubble, and she rounds out the podium with 31,100,000.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Anton | United States | 62,100,000 | 104 |
| 2 | Mohamed El-Wely | Mauritania | 43,700,000 | 73 |
| 3 | Yiwen Yuan | China | 31,100,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 27,900,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Raoul Kanme | Netherlands | 25,100,000 | 42 |
| 6 | Zhuoqun Zhang | China | 20,500,000 | 34 |
| 7 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | 18,500,000 | 31 |
| 8 | Aleksei Istomin | Russian Federation | 13,200,000 | 22 |
| 9 | Thore Boedefeld | Germany | 9,300,000 | 16 |
The title "Comeback Kid of the Day" definitely goes to five-time Triton SHRS champion Mikita Badziakouski. Badziakouski started Day 3 with just five big blinds, but immediately doubled up and kept soaring through the ranks. Ultimately, he bagged the fourth-largest stack with 27,900,000, eyeing a Triton ONE Main Event title to add to his two Triton SHRS Main Event victories.
Paulius Vaitiekunas is also still in contention, meaning one-third of the remaining players have a Triton SHRS trophy at home. Thore Boedefeld will start the final table as the short stack, bringing 9,300,000 into the final day.
Meanwhile, Jon Vallinas Santos has secured the title of Triton ONE Player of the Year. After his runner-up performance in the Main Event in Jeju, Vallinas finished 23rd today, earning him $44,000. Yue Zhao received the same prize for 21st place, being knocked out in the same hand as 20th-place finisher Maksim Shornikau ($51,000), courtesy of Anton, of course. Triton regular Biao Ding saw his run end in 16th for $58,500, while Mahmoud Bedoui became the final table bubble not even four hours into the day, being eliminated in 10th for $83,000.
The nine finalists will return tomorrow, November 15, at noon local time. Eleven hands remain in Level 28: 300,000/600,000 (600,000), while the following levels will each be played for 21 hands. Day 4 is the final day of the Triton ONE Main Event, so play will not halt before a winner has been crowned.
With $98,000 secured, those who remain are already guaranteed a nice payday. However, they are only one elimination away from a six-figure score, while the top three will each take home half a million or more. Meanwhile, the eventual champion is the only one to walk away with over a million dollars.
Triton ONE Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,320,000 |
| 2 | $793,000 |
| 3 | $561,000 |
| 4 | $420,000 |
| 5 | $321,000 |
| 6 | $235,000 |
| 7 | $177,000 |
| 8 | $127,000 |
| 9 | $98,000 |
PokerNews will naturally be back to report the thrilling finale of the Triton ONE North Cyprus Main Event. Make sure to tune back in tomorrow, as the final table action promises to be spectacular.