The Most Interesting Duos to Follow on Triton Montenegro 2025

Vladimir Korzinin and Jesse Lonis

The man, the myth, the poker legend born during Triton 2024 is back — and he chose a very interesting pro to play with in the $200K NLH Triton Invitational.

Vladimir Korzinin is a fan-favorite recreational player from Finland who was nicknamed “Gambledore” for his magical run at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo 2024, where he won $4,350,000 in the $150K NLH 8-Handed and $3,470,000 as runner-up in the $200K The Special Triton Invitational.

The poker world fell in love with him because of his creative playstyle, magnetic charisma, kind and cheerful granddad vibes, and mysterious background — with only a few confirmed details. But after Triton, he disappeared for a few months, and it was long enough that the poker community was ready to believe it really was Santa Claus who had delighted poker fans with a one-time appearance during a time of entertainment crisis in the game.

His return was much desired but quite unexpected — especially when he picked 29-year-old U.S. poker professional Jesse Lonis, with whom Gambledore had made acquaintances during his sun-run at Triton 2024.

Jesse is a well-known and respected figure in the poker community, with almost $16M in winnings and a 40th-place ranking on The Hendon Mob USA all-time money list.

His biggest scores were earned in the last three years, including the following top five cashes in live events:

1. $2,203,017 for 1st place in the $50K PLO High Roller 8-Handed at WSOP 2023
2. $1,502,000 for 1st place in the $53K NLH 7-Handed at Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo 2024
3. $1,358,633 for 2nd place in the $50K High Roller at WSOP 2024
4. $508,465 for 1st place in the €30K Super High Roller Warm-Up at EPT Monte-Carlo 2025
5. $506,276 for 4th place in the €30K Super High Roller at EPT Barcelona 2024

Lonis is a true modern poker star whose efforts have brought him over $14M in prizes in just four years, making him one of the most remarkable poker players in U.S. history.

This duo is full of skill, luck, and charm — so their performance at Triton Montenegro 2025 promises to be quite entertaining.

Mikalai Vaskaboinikau and Wiktor Malinowski

What do a Belarusian businessman and a Polish poker prodigy have in common? Well, they’re both ethnic Belarusians, they’ve played high stakes for many years, they madly love poker, and they have a similar history with the Triton series.

Mikalai Vaskaboinikau is an entrepreneur from Belarus who started playing Triton only in 2023 and quickly found his way to big scores there.

As of May 13th, 2025, he had cashed at Triton six times, earning more than $7M — with 2024 being his most successful year yet. That year, Mikalai won:

1. $297,000 for 7th place in the $50K 8-Handed at Triton Montenegro 2024
2. $4,737,000 for 1st place in the $125K Triton Main Event at Triton Montenegro 2024
3. $371,000 for 2nd place in the $25K PLO at Triton Montenegro 2024
4. $1,506,000 for 5th place in the $200K The Special Triton Invitational at Triton Monte Carlo 2024

At Triton Montenegro 2025, Mikalai arrives as the second-highest earner on the Belarus all-time money list, with over $11M in winnings — right behind Mikita Badziakouski, who also ranks 4th on the global all-time list.

Invited by Mikalai, Polish-Belarusian poker crusher Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski hardly needs an introduction. He is widely known for participating in record-breaking pots in various online cash games, as well as crushing live high-stakes events.

Wiktor doesn’t participate in Triton events regularly, despite making his first appearance there in 2019.

Interestingly, he shares with Mikalai the same most successful Triton year — 2024 — during which he earned over $5M in five ITMs:

1. $4,789,000 for 1st place in the $200K 8-Handed at Triton Montenegro 2024
2. $330,000 for 13th place in the $100K Main Event at Triton Jeju 2024
3. $184,000 for 12th place in the $100K 8-Handed at Triton Montenegro 2024
4. $125,000 for 11th place in the $50K 7-Handed at Triton Monte Carlo 2024
5. $95,000 for 19th place in the $50K 8-Handed at Triton Montenegro 2024

Curiously, after these successes, Wiktor stayed in Jeju, South Korea for a long time.

Nothing was heard from him between November 2024 and April 2025, when he returned with a 9th-place finish for $50,000 in the $25K Single Day High Roller at the Korea Poker Cup Series 2025.

He had never been seen playing in Asia for such a long stretch — so seeing him return to Triton, now with new expertise in the Asian player meta, could be quite interesting.

Jean-Noël Thorel and Christoph Vogelsang

The last duo on our list starts with another legendary high-stakes “granddad” — French pharmacist Jean-Noël Thorel.

A long time ago, this charismatic and truly impressive individual founded three cosmetic brands — Bioderma, Institut Esthederm, and Etat Pur — which were merged in 2016 into one company, NAOS.

During his time in the beauty industry, Jean-Noël developed several revolutionary products, including the soft shampoo Nodé (1977) and the cellular water Créaline H2O (1995).

In 2018, he sold all his business assets for approximately $250M and donated the money to his charity foundation, though he continued working in the industry.

Around this time, he also started playing poker more often — with more cautious bankroll management — which quickly led him to become France’s #1 on the all-time money list according to The Hendon Mob.

Jean-Noël’s first Triton appearance was bombastic. He arrived in London, cashed in one event, and then finished runner-up in the $200K Main Event at Triton London 2023, winning $2,830,000 — his career-best cash at that time.

Later that year, he placed 4th in the $200K The Special Triton Invitational at Triton Monte Carlo, taking home $1,390,000.

In 2024, Thorel kicked off the year by finishing 2nd in the $100K Main Event at Triton Jeju, once again surpassing his best with a $2,875,000 payday.

He has yet to win a Triton title but has finished 2nd enough times to be ready for a breakthrough at Triton Montenegro 2025.

Thorel’s choice of “partner” for the Invitational event is also fascinating. The sharp-witted and ever-charming pharmacist invited one of the most consistent players in Triton’s history — the second most successful German live tournament player after Fedor Holz — true pro Christoph Vogelsang.

Between October 2017 and April 2025, Christoph cashed in Triton events 21 times but reached the final table only three times:

1. 2019 — 6th in the HK$500K 6-Handed at Triton Montenegro for $293,158
2. 2023 — 1st in the $100K 8-Handed at Triton Monte Carlo for $2,644,000
3. 2025 — 2nd in the $15K 7-Handed at Triton Jeju

He has already gained enough Triton experience and kicked off 2025 well enough to keep pushing — so following him at Triton Montenegro 2025 should be worth it.