Aleks Ponakovs Wins $150K 10th Anniversary Special Triton Montenegro ($3,027,000)

Aleks Ponakovs wins $3,000,000+ for the third time in the last 15 months

Ponakovs started the final table with the second-largest stack and spent most of the time in the top two without eliminating a single opponent until heads-up play.

In 6-max, chip leader Matthias Eibinger 4-bet shoved with 54s, Ponakovs called with JJ in a 55 BB pot.

In 4-max, Ponakovs doubled up with QQ vs 33 against Jonathan Jaffe in a 59 BB pot.

Ponakovs entered heads-up with 54 BB against Jaffe’s 68 BB. Watch the final hand on Twitter.

$150K 10th Anniversary Special Triton Montenegro final table payouts (76 entries total):

Position	Country	Player	Payout
1		Aleks Ponakovs	$3,027,000
2		Jonathan Jaffe	$2,103,000
3		Jean-Noel Thorel	$1,390,000
4		Matthias Eibinger	$1,088,000
5		Punnat Punsri	$878K
6		Jason Koon	$684K
7		Kiat Lee	$541K
8		Mikalai Vaskaboinikau	$422K
9		Igor Yaroshevskyy	$319K

For Ponakovs, this marks his third $3M+ ITM in the last 15 months:

• $3,139,000 — runner-up finish in the $150K Triton Jeju in March 2025
• $4,750,000 — victory in the $100K Triton NLHE Main Event at WSOP Paradise in December 2025

“I wouldn’t have expected I would be here playing high stakes in 2017, when I was basically almost broke,” he said. “So I’m pretty happy to be here, playing the highest events, with smartest people in the world.”

Tobias Schwecht Gets The Monkey Off His Back By Winning $30K NLH/PLO ($465K)

Thirty-three-year-old poker pro Tobias Schwecht has been traveling to Triton events since 2023. His best previous result was $702K for 6th place in the $40K NLH Mystery Bounty Jeju II in September 2025 — and after that score, Schwecht played 11 Triton tournaments without a single ITM finish.

Schwecht started the final table as a massive chip leader with 203 BB.

“I feel like I was close to a trophy a few times. I had some final tables where they didn’t go my way and you never know whether you will even get the opportunity again. Because, of course, even making a final table here is really tough. So when I came here with a big stack, I had a lot of pressure there to bring it home, so I’m really glad that I ended up doing that.”

Schwecht advanced to heads-up against Anatoly Zlotnikov — another player enjoying a fantastic Montenegro series, with six ITM finishes worth more than $3.3M combined, including one victory.

Watch the final hand on Twitter. Effective stack: 48 BB. Preflop: Schwecht opened, Zlotnikov called. Flop went check-check.

$30K NLH/PLO final table payouts (53 entries total):

Position	Country	Player	Payout
1		Tobias Schwecht	$465K
2		Anatoly Zlotnikov	$334K
3		Cong Pham	$217K
4		Michael Watson	$164K
5		Ben Tollerene	$127K
6		Artur Martirosian	$98K
7		Isaac Haxton	$78K

Right Now: Watch Day 2 Of The $100K PLO Main Event

The stream is available on YouTube, Twitch, and Kick.

The tournament attracted 76 entries in total. 14 players remain, with 13 making the money. The minimum payout is $152K, while the winner will receive $2,018,000.