Champion Aren Bezhanyan!

The principal purpose of the Triton ONE tour is to give ambitious poker players the chance to sample Triton's industry leading player experience, while also providing a pathway to the Super High Roller Series for players of smaller bankrolls.

Tonight in Jeju, Armenia's Aren Bezhanyan took some big strides along precisely that path.

After another swingy short-stack shootout in the 247-entry $20,000 No Limit Hold'em event at LES A Casino, Bezhanyan took down his first title on the Super High Roller Series. He first played a Triton event at Triton ONE last September, then returned this year to play a full slate of Triton ONE events, cashing six times from nine tournaments.

He carried that sensational form into the first hold'em event of the Super High Roller Series, and eventually managed to defeat Latvia's No 1 Aleks Ponakovs heads-up for a win that earned him $990,000.

He may be a relative newcomer to the Triton Poker Series, but he showed tonight that he belongs in this environment.

Aren Bezhanyan living the dream

"I have dreamt of winning such a tournament for such a long time," Bezhanyan said as he accepted his trophy. "Many times I got close to winning, but only now I have done it. It's hard to put into words all the emotions I am feeling."

Bezhanyan becomes Triton's first champion from Armenia, and becomes the perfect advertisement for the Triton pathway, from Triton ONE hopeful to Super High Roller champion.

"I wish for everyone to tray and for them to have a smooth journey," Bezhanyan advised any other players wishing to dip their toes into the Triton waters.

Ponakovs, who survived two potential tournament-ending pots by spiking just the card he needed on the river, picked up $658,000 for second.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

As is customary on the Super High Roller Series, Event #1, the first hold'em event, had a relatively modest buy-in. This one was $20,000, but still meant a prize pool of close to $5 million after all 247 entries were collected. The winner was set for just shy of $1 million, but it was still a long way off even at the start of Day 2.

By that point, at least the bubble had burst. The unfortunate Aliaksandr Shylko collected his second bubble of the trip, having had aces cracked in the Triton ONE Main Event to finish in the worst possible spot. This time, he was forced in for his final two blinds holding Q10 and lost to Johannes Straver's KJ.

Thirty-seven players returned on Day 2 with designs on the final, but plenty of superstars, including Straver, fell before the field contracted to its last nine. By the time it had, the Latvian reg Aleks Ponakovs was leading a crowd that lined up as follows:

Aleks Ponakovs - 8,050,000 (40 BBs)

Luka Bojovic - 7,300,000 (37 BBs)

Wayne Heung - 5,775,000 (29 BBs)

Li Xinjing - 6,475,000 (32 BBs)

Sebastian Gaehl - 6,100,000 (31 BBs)

Kayhan Mokri - 5,200,000 (26 BBs)

Aren Bezhanyan - 4,575,000 (23 BBs)

Wu Jun Hao - 4,075,000 (20 BBs)

Calvin Lee - 1,850,000 (9 BBs)

Event 1 final table players (clockwise from back left): Calvin Lee, Kayhan Mokri, Aleks Ponakovs, Wayne Heung, Sebastian Gaehl, Aren Bezhanyan, Luka Bojovic, Li Xinjing, Wu Jun Hao.

Ponakovs' lead only lasted until the first major hand of the final. In it, Wu Jun Hao doubled up with A10 turning a flush to beat Ponakovs' AQ. Ponakovs opened the pot, Wu jammed for 22 bigs from the small blind, and Ponakovs called. Then the dealer turned the dominated hand into a winner.

After another couple of pots went against him as well, Ponakovs actually slipped to the bottom of the leaderboard. But then he bounced back once more when his queens held against Wayne Heung's A2, and Ponakovs was in business once more.

This yo-yoing pointed to a very shallow tournament already, with players now so adept at navigating choppy waters with a short stack. Heung, however, wasn't able to recover from the clash against Ponakovs and became the first to perish. His pocket sixes lost to Aren Bezhanyan's pocket jacks, with Heung's last three blinds heading away from him.

Heung won $103,000 for ninth.

Wayne Heung was first out from the final

Li Xinjing stayed largely out of the line of fire in the opening stages of the final. Having already locked up the biggest Triton result of his career, his strategy of containment seemed smart. However, when he tried to put the pressure on the shorter-stacked Luka Bojovic, three-bet jamming KQ, he ran into Bojovic's AQ and ended up doubling up the Serbian player.

That left Li with only one blind, and though he found one double up, he was still very vulnerable. And he got his last four blinds in with pocket nines, but lost to Kayhan Mokri's A5, which rivered an ace.

Li earned $125,000 for eighth.

Li Xinjing finished in eighth

With seven players still remaining, there was an average stack of only 18 blinds.

The level went up. The average stack was now 14 blinds, but with one pot now being the difference between the chip lead and the short stack, nobody was getting out of line.

Germany's Sebastian Gaehl is making his second trip to the Triton Poker Series here in Jeju, following his debut in Vietnam three years ago. He had a tremendous Triton ONE festival, cashing every event he played, and now was at the final table in the opener of the Super High Roller Series too.

This wasn't to be his day to go all the way, however, and his elimination in seventh ended the impasse. Gaehl was in the small blind with pocket nines and only six blinds, and called Bojovic's button shove, with the covering stack.

The problem for Gaehl was that Bojovic had pocket 10s and held. Gaehl won $170,000 for seventh.

Sebastian Gaehl is another graduate from Triton ONE

Calvin Lee had come to the final table with the smallest stack, but nine blinds now was actually right around the average -- and more than what Lee had when he played his final hand. Lee had the misfortune of finding A8 and the chance to get his last seven blinds into an unopened pot, which he seized. However, Kayhan Mokri had AK and called the shove.

Neither player paired anything on the runout, which meant the better kicker played. Lee's sixth-pace prize of $231,000 took his lifetime Triton earnings nearer the $3 million mark, but he still hunts a first title.

Calvin Lee's title hunt goes on

The tournament to this point had played out in the secondary tournament room, while the $100K short deck took the two feature tables. But when that event reached its final, tournament officials were hovering with racks to move the $20K NLH players through to the stage to play their tournament to its conclusion.

Six were left, but Wu Jun Hao nearly didn't take the migratory trip. On the last hand they played before moving, Wu got his last five blinds in with pocket nines and was flipping against Bezhanyan's AK.

This time, the pocket pair held and gave Wu a lifeline. It left Mokri as the only player with a greater-than-average stack as they moved onto the stage, with the other four sitting with fewer than 10 blinds.

Mokri did what anyone would in the circumstances, and shoved relentlessly. However Ponakovs doubled twice through him, with A8 beating J7 and then pocket sixes beating A7. Just like that, Ponakovs was back in the lead.

Aleks Ponakovs flying

But that lasted one hand. Mokri jumped back to the summit when he polished off Wu in fifth, with the Singaporean player's AJ coming unstuck against Mokri's A5. The ace-five is well favoured by the solvers specifically for its wheel-making potential, and that's what happened here. The dealer spread the 643J7 board and Wu was wheeled out in fifth.

Wu won $305,000.

Wu Jun Hao at least got to play on the big stage

Bojovic got a taste for the Triton Series when he visited Paradise last December to play the Main Event. He was in Jeju to play a full slate of Triton ONE, cashing in three out of three tournaments, and was now spinning it up again on the Super High Roller Series.

His tournament ended in fourth, however, when he called for his last five blinds after Bezhanyan jammed the small blind. Bojovic had possibilities, holding 87, but lost to Bezhanyan's J10. Bojovic won $389,000.

Luka Bojovic had excellent support on his run to the final

Ponakovs now seized control of the event. A sizeable pot against Mokri, where Ponakovs showed down top pair of queens and Mokri mucked, gave the Latvian a 32-blind stack, with Bezhanyan's 12 and Mokri's six looking particularly feeble alongside.

And Mokri ended up handing those blinds to Bezhanyan when Bezhanyan jammed the small blind holding pocket fives and Mokri called in the big, with A6. This time the overcards did not hit, and Mokri was out in third for $482,000.

Kayhan Mokri: Paradise champ falls short this time

After a brief break, they came back to play heads up with 25 blinds average. Ponakovs had 32 blinds to Bezhanyan's 18, but the lead didn't last for long. Bezhanyan won the first three hands, all of which went to the flop at least, and then when he jammed the fourth on the river, with the board showing 35992, he was suddenly 3-1 ahead.

Bezhanyan could sense victory, but an ace on the river allowed Ponakovs to double holding J10 against Bezhanyan's Q9. Bezhanyan flopped a queen, turned another one, but the ace on the end gave Ponakovs broadway and the double. Bezhanyan gathered his thoughts and built up the lead again, but once more Ponakovs whacked the card he needed on the river for his 68 to beat 10K and he doubled again.

Heads up for the title

However, the third time was the last time for this pair. Ponakovs, behind in chips again, got his last 14 blinds in holding J8, calling Bezhanyan's jam with A3. The flop of A42 seemed to be a clincher for Bazhanyan, until the J turn cast some doubt again.

But this time it was a clean river. The K became the last card to fall, and Bezhanyan's pair of aces remained best. Our latest Super High Roller champion is therefore crowned, and Armenia is on the Triton board.

Aleks Ponakovs congratulates Aren Bezhanyan