A stunning No Limit Hold’em Main Event in Monte Carlo saw Austrian player Matthias Eibinger win the Triton Poker Series title and $3.46 million as the Pokercode co-founder lifted the trophy in the European province. At a final table that featured stars of the felt such as Adrian Mateos, Chris Brewer and Justin Bonomo, Eibinger’s result was the biggest of his poker career, pushing him up into 53^rd place on the all-time money list.

Haxton and Dvoress Miss Out on Final Table

With a massive 135 entries each paying $125,000 to play, the level of player was right up with the very best tournaments to take place in 2023. Super high rollers don’t come any bigger than the players at the felt and some true modern poker greats busted before the final table of nine sat down to play down to a winner.

Bruno Volkmann min-cashed for $198,000 in 23^rd place, before others such as Nacho Barbero (19^th for $212,000), Sam Greenwood (15^th for $261,000) and Isaac Haxton (13^th for $273,500) all missed out on the final table of nine. It was the Canadian player Daniel Dvoress who missed out on the final table by a single place, cashing for $329,000 in 10^th place.

Heading into the final nine, the Spanish player and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Mateos looked unassailable at the top of the chipcounts, bagging up 125 big blinds, a mile clear of Chris Brewer in second place on the leaderboard with 32 big blinds. Nick Petrangelo turned out to be the first to leave the final table, all-in with pocket tens but unable to hold against the of Ken Tong. Tong flopped an ace and eliminated Nick Petrangelo in ninth place for $391,000.

Bonomo Misses Money List Chance

Into the final eight, Justin Bonomo knew that if he could take down the tournament, then he would overtake the man at the top of the All-Time Money List. Bryn Kenney was under threat in that position, but he managed to dodge Bonomo taking his position when his fellow American crashed out in eighth for $491,000. All-in with , Bonomo couldn’t get lucky against Mateos’ , which eventually made Broadway.

Next to leave was the Latvian Aleks Ponakovs, who earned $668,000 for his seventh-placed finish. Ponakovs moved all-in with only to lose out against Chris Brewer’s , a blank board meaning Ponakovs went to the rail. He was followed soon after by another of Brewer’s victims, as Ken Tong moved all-in with as Brewer’s prevailed, sending the newcomer Tong home with $902,000.

Out next was Quan Zhou, who banked the first seven-figure score of the event. The Chinese player was all-in short in chips with . Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t triumph against Adrian Mateos’ pocket tens as the Spanish player sent Zhou home with $1,165,000 and a handshake.

Mateos Misses Out but a Deal is Done

Four-handed, the American Chris Brewer was the man to miss out on the podium, despite the earlier eliminations of his short-stacked opponents. Brewer committed his chips with , but lost a coinflip to Santhosh Suvarna, whose pocket eights held up to send the American home with $1.45 million.

Despite winning that hand, Suvarna was next to bust and in the most painful position of all. It wasn’t that he finished in third place, as that was worth a terrific score of $1,772,000. But after his top pair and nut flush draw on the turn of a board showing made his flush but lost to Mateos’ which made a miraculous straight flush.

Some time later, a deal was struck between Eibinger and Mateos, as they guaranteed each other at least $3 million with the chips fairly even in their heads-up duel and the blinds shallow. Eibinger got it in with and Mateos called with . The king on the flop set the Austrian into the lead with marginally more chips, and he faded a flush to claim the biggest prize of his poker career to date, consigning Mateos to a runner-up results still worth the second-biggest amount he’s won in live ranking events.

Headline photo courtesy of PokerStake partner Triton Poker Series, and photographer Joe Giron.