Champion Danny Tang!

It's been a helluva week in Montenegro for the established superstars of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series. And today at the Maestral Resort & Casino, one of Triton's most reliable performers joined the party in immaculate style when Danny Tang landed the NLH Main Event and won more than $3.5 million.

Already a Main Event winner in Short Deck, the 33-year-old Tang now adds an even bigger win, and picks up a second Jacob & Co Triton Epic X Skeleton timepiece.

It was Tang's sixth Triton Poker title, but his first since 2023, the year he blitzed to five wins in nine months. That incredible run earned him the Ivan Leow Player of the Year award, and since then the Triton Ambassador's game has only improved as he's continued to go very close to adding to his haul.

It wasn't until today, however, that the pieces fell back into place. And what a time to for it to happen. After making a big call on the stone bubble to survive into the money in this $100K buy-in event, Tang carried the chip lead into the final day. He hit another rocky period after the final table got going and slipped to the shortest stack with eight players left. But he dug deep, turned his fortunes around, and was then able to overhaul a big heads-up disadvantage to Klemens Roiter to close it out.

Roiter had to settle for a little less than $2.4 million for second, with China's Wang Ye third and Leon Sturm fourth.

"It's a little bit strange compared to the $30K a few days ago," Tang said, reflecting on a recent runner-up finish. "I don't know why, that day I was a lot more tense. It didn't go my way last time, but today, redemption."

Klemens Roiter is first to congratulate Danny Tang

Adding that he found himself playing without expectation despite the stakes and the prestige of the Main Event, Tang said: "The story was beautiful. Obviously I wanted to win too and I'm glad I did it."

Tang admitted that the early stages of the final were difficult going, especially when he lost a massive chunk of his chips attempting to beat Wang out of a pot. But his experience of the biggest stage allowed him to refocus and make the most of the situation as his fortunes turned.

"When I went down to seven BBs after bluffing Wang Ye earlier, I was, 'Urgh, man, I blew another chip lead, another good spot,'" Tang said. "But then I got lucky, I kept myself together, and kept fighting. I said to myself, 'If I can double up once, I'm in this." And eventually cards went my way.'"

He continued: "Even heads-up I was a huge dog. I was saying to my friends I have no pressure...When I started to take the lead heads-up, I didn't want to have expectation again, but I could feel it was going very smooth. I had one pip better than him. I was making hands. He's an incredible player, but cards went my way today."

Danny Tang with his proudest supporter, his girlfriend Cadee

Tang paid special tribute to his girlfriend Katie, who watched him every step of the way, then offered his thanks to the Triton family, among whom he has quickly become a favoured son.

"Triton is in my blood, in my veins," he said. "I love Triton. My career would not have been what it is without Mr Paul and the whole Triton family...This is the best place to play poker in the world, bar none, and I'm glad I can represent the brand."

Triton is happy to have him.

Let the celebrations begin

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The Main Event overlapped by one day with the Triton Invitational, which allowed players in town for that special event to hop in this one as well. Invitationals can give numerous recreational players a real taste for the big games, and the best thing about the Triton Poker Series is that there's always another one coming right along.

In all, there were 159 entries, including 64 re-entries, which put nearly $16 million in the kitty and offered the winner a scheduled $3.5 million. Plus, the exclusive Jacob & Co Triton Epic X Skeleton timepiece was back on the podium beside a shimmering Triton trophy. It was time to get serious once again.

A fine haul for the champion, even before the $3.5m is added

Germany's Leon Sturm bagged the biggest stack after a 10-level Day 1, with the field boosted by a few late registrants on Day 2 as well. After prize-pool details were confirmed, players knew they needed to make it to 27th to be in the money, where a minimum $159,000 lay in wait.

As bubble time approached, the short stacks in the room did their best to appear at ease. The Triton Poker Series doesn’t really feature many players who would be broken by a bubble, even in a $100K event, but you only need look at the level of unwillingness among players to commit even 10 blinds or fewer to know what it really means.

The Main Event field, pre-bubble

As the hand-for-hand period of stone-bubble play began, Curtis Knight had six big blinds. He surrendered half of that stack as the button passed him by, but he stuck around with three. On an outer table, Alex Theologis got a birthday present of pocket aces in the big blind and saw Wang Ye move all-in from the small blind. Theologis called for his tournament, told his table-mates that it would be rude to give him a bubble for his birthday, and promptly doubled through Wang’s K9.

“OK, let’s gamble, guys!” hollored Jules Dickerson from the feature table.

“You first!” Thomas Boivin shot back.

Knight was then all in for his last three blinds. He had A9 and min-raised pre-flop, leaving himself less than a small blind. And by the time the very last of his chips went in, Mehdi Chaoui’s had become a straight on the board of . There was still the river to come, however, and the miracle arrived to keep Knight alive.

Curtis Knight was nursing the shortest stack at bubble time

That switched the focus back into the main tournament room, where there were two intriguing pots brewing. The first was when Boivin open-shoved his last 10 blinds and Isaac Haxton re-shoved his 20-blind stack. Dan Dvoress pondered for a while, covering both of them, but opted to let his hand go. Everyone else folded, which meant Boivin was at risk.

But action froze to let another hand play. In this, Danny Tang and Leon Sturm, were playing through the streets. Sturm was chip leader, while Tang was not in immediate danger holding 21 big blinds. Sturm had opened the pot, Tang called from the small blind, and the flop brought the 5Q4. Tang check-called Sturm’s c-bet.

The A came on the turn and both players checked. That brought the Q on the river. Tang led out for 1.5 blinds, leaving 16 behind. But Sturm put him to the test for the rest of his stack, sliding out 1 million and covering the effective stack.

Tang thought for a very long time, but flicked in a call. Tournament officials opted to play this one out first. Tang tabled his Q10 for trips, and Sturm showed his inferior J. Tang scored a huge double.

Attention therefore switched back to where Boivin and Haxton were embroiled. Boivin turned over QQ and was in a classic race against Haxton’s A. The dealer showed the pair a flop of followed by the on the turn. But the ace always comes on the river, right? It’s not just confirmation bias, surely. The duly appeared to end Boivin’s tournament and send everyone else into the money.

Thomas Boivin is all in an

Over on the feature table, Alisson Piekazewicz and Knight were the only two players still in their seats, and Knight accepted a congratulatory fist bump. He had inched through the bubble and he, like everyone, was guaranteed $159,000 and could have larger designs.

GRINDING TO THE FINAL

The rest of Day 2 concerned the battle to reach the final. It was a contest against the clock as much as against the other players, as the deep-stacked, slow-structured tournament demands heaps of stamina to play long into the night.

The aforementioned Piekazewicz, Knight and Theologis bade farewell, securing $159K, $175K and $175K, respectively, while Haxton’s tournament endd in 16th for $214,000. Dickerson made it to 13th before perishing for $263K, while Dvoress went out in 11th for $302,000.

Sturm and Tang, however, stuck around, with the former building back strongly from the bubble mishap. Those two were rubbing shoulders at the very top of the chip counts at the point that the Tunisian Maher Nouira, enjoying a tremendous Triton Montenegro festival, perished in 10th. Nouira was eyeing a fourth final table of the trip, but fell one place short and won $302,000.

That left the following reaching for bags and preparing for the last day of this epic.

FINAL TABLE LINE-UP

Danny Tang - 7,050,000 (56 BBs)

Leon Sturm - 6,775,000 (54 BBs)

Wang Ye - 6,425,000 (51 BBs)

Klemens Roiter - 4,600,000 (37 BBs)

Dominykas Mikolaitis - 4,325,000 (35 BBs)

Cong Pham - 4,025,000 (32 BBs)

Patrik Antonius - 3,250,000 (26 BBs)

Alex Kulev - 1,800,000 (14 BBs)

Kiat Lee - 1,500,000 (12 BBs)

Triton Montenegro NLH Main Event final (clockwise from back left): Danny Tang, Klemens Roiter, Dominykas Mikolaitis, Leon Sturm, Patrik Antonius, Alex Kulev, Kiat Lee, Wang Ye, Cong Pham.

With a decent night’s sleep behind them, the last nine returned for the final stretch. There was no runaway leader and even the two short-stacks needed just one double to be back in real contention.

For Triton stalwart Kiat Lee, that unfortunately proved beyond him. He played two hands at this final and lost them both, but the first of those was fascinating. In it, Leon Sturm min-raised from the hijack and Lee defended his big blind with Q5. The flop was the delightful, and Lee checked to allow Sturm to continue the betting. Sturm obliged and Lee called with trips.

The turn was the A, which now made things even more interesting. Lee check-called again, which then brought the 10 river. Lee was suddenly losing to all sorts and after a third check, Sturm bet enough to put Lee all-in.

"Lee has done nothing wrong here, he's just got a terrible run-out," Alex Livingston said in the commentary booth. Lee decided to fold a preserve his last eight blinds. And what did Sturm have? Well, he was at it with 75 and his planned worked to perfection.

The next hand was less complicated but no less disappointing for Lee. Action folded to him in the small blind and he pushed holding Q4. Alex Kulev, in the big blind, woke up with A and made the call. Kulev flopped an ace and Lee was done for.

Lee's final day was one to forget, but he still took $356,000 from this tournament.

Ninth place for Kiat Lee

The hand gave Kulev a slightly more workable stack of 20 big blinds, but that turned out to be his high water-mark. Kulev lost a subsequent small pot to Danny Tang, paying off Tang's pocket jacks. But the real killer was Dominykas Mikolaitis, who had AJ in the big blind when Kulev made a committing opening raise from the cutoff holding K.

Mikolaitis raised to get Kulev's last chip in there, and the pair showed down their hands. Kulev knew he needed to hit a king to survive, but there was no help on the full run-out. Kulev was out in eighth for $431,000.

Alex Kulev couldn't go further than eighth

The two shortest stacks coming into the final had therefore now departed, but there was significant movement further up the charts as well. Cong Pham doubled through Leon Sturm, winning a race with pocket sixes, and Mikolaitis also pushed Sturm off a pocket pair of tens when he raised large with pocket deuces that had turned a straight draw. Sturm was back into the middle of the pack.

Most notably, however, Wang Ye was surging, largely at the expense of Danny Tang.

In a three-bet pot, Wang called Tang's bets on flop and turn as the board filled with the 6102. Tang slowed to a check on the river and Ye seized the opportunity. He jammed to force a fold from Tang, who had been representing bigger than his . Wang had . It left the former chip leader with only seven blinds and put Wang in the lead.

Patrik Antonius had the second-smallest stack, but it was now his turn to suffer at the hands of Wang. And this time it was terminal. Wang picked up red pocket eights and min-raised from the cutoff. Antonius had KJ and shoved for 13 big blinds.

Ye called with little concern and dodged Antonius' overcards on the QQ5 run-out. Antonius therefore perished in seventh for $595,000.

Patrik Antonius couldn't contain the runaway Wang Ye train

Tang was still the shortest stack, but he doubled through Sturm with AK beating A. And a couple of orbits later, he doubled again, this time through Klemens Roiter. Tang had 12 blinds at the start of this hand and opened from the cutoff for all but one big blind with . Roiter called in the big blind with . The remaining shrapnel went in after the flop and Tang's hand held.

The stacks were now lop-sided, with Wang's 66 blinds the only stack above average. Everyone else was bunched between 20 and 30.

But what's a $100K Main Event final without a massive, massive cooler? This final table was about to see a whopper. Pham and Roiter were two of those players in the big bunch below Wang, but a hand between the two soon altered their fortunes. Pham picked up 1010 and opened from UTG+1 from a stack of 24 big blinds. Roiter found K on the button and stuck in a three-bet. He had 19 blinds at the start of the hand.

The others folded, but Pham just called. And if you thought the chips might have gone in pre-flop, there were absolutely certain to after the K106 flop. It was set-over-set, but how would they play it?

Klemens Roiter sees the extent of his lead over Pham

Pham checked to lay a trap. Roiter bet to get more in the pot. Pham just called, leading to the 9 on the turn. Pham checked again and Roiter jammed. Pham wasted little time in calling (he had a bigger stack than Roiter) but his three tens weren't good enough. Pham was drawing to one out, but it was Roiter who actually finished the hand with quads after the K river.

Pham had only five blinds and he open-jammed with them on the next hand, holding 97. Roiter found another pocket pair, 6, made the call and held once more. Just like that, Pham was on the rail with $817,000, while Wang had company from Roiter at the top of the leaderboard.

Cong Pham ran a boat into quads to bust

Mikolaitis now had the fewest chips of all of them, sitting with 17 big blinds. And he became the latest player to find Wang unbeatable in the big pots, losing all but one big blind to the irrepressible Chinese player in one hand, before surrendering the last chip in the next.

Mikolaitis had pocket eights and opened from the cutoff. Wang defended his big blind holding Q9 and the pair took to the 10 flop. Wang, who had flopped two pair, check-called Mikolaitis' c-bet, then check-called the turn as well.

Wang also checked the 9 river when he had a glorious boat. Mikolaitis turned his hand into a bluff and had one last stab at it, leaving himself only one blind. But Wang went for that one too, forcing Mikolaitis to give it up and survive for at least one more hand.

But it had been a hugely costly mis-step from which he could not recover. Wang's A4 turned a four to beat Mikolaitis' A on the next hand and end the Lithuania's day. Mikolaitis, a former Triton winner here in Montenegro, took $1,064,000 for fifth.

Dominykas Mikolaitis picked an unfortunate time to try to blu

Wang was now back in a comfortable lead, but the jostling below him was just heating up.

Tang lost a lump to Wang, but doubled back through Sturm, with QJ hitting two queens and beating J. But then Sturm doubled through Wang with pocket kings holding against Wang's . After a tournament break, the average stack suddenly became only 25 blinds and, still, only Wang had more than that.

Just as ICM started to become a real headache for all four of the players, Roiter and Sturm picked up monster hands at the same time and flipped for the chip lead. Roiter had Sturm marginaly covered when he found AK and raised from the small blind. (It was blind-on-blind, just to make the situation even more tortuous.)

Sturm woke up with pocket queens and three-bet. Roiter shoved, Sturm called and they were suddenly playing a 52-blind pot when only 100 were in play.

Today, it was the turn of the over-cards to win. There was an ace on the flop and Sturm never caught either of the two remaining queens. With that, Sturm took $1,334,000, his first seven-figure score on the Triton Poker Series, but he had to settle for fourth place.

Queens no good for Leon Sturm

Roiter has cashed 16 times before this event on the Triton Poker Series, but from his nine finals had never been further than third. This was clearly now his best chance to take one down, leading his opponents with half the chips in play.

And it only got better for Roiter. In a hand soon after Sturm's elimination, Roiter open-raised KJ from the button, and Wang called in the big blind. The pair saw the 7 flop. Wang had and had flopped top pair, but he decided to check-call.

The K turn hit Roiter, and the betting pattern repeated: check, bet, call. The 3 came on the river. Wang checked again, and Roiter went for everything, moving in to put Wang to the test for his tournament.

Wang decided he liked his sevens and made the call, but quickly learned the bad news. Wang was out, earning $1,636,000 — another exceptional showing from the Chinese player, but still short of a maiden title.

It was another all-action showing from Wang Ye

Only two were left. Tang, who had ridden the rollercoaster but survived with 16 blinds, and Roiter, who was flying and had 83. One had been here before many times, and one had never before been this deep on this series.

Both competitors were here to play. Roiter shoved the first hand of heads up after Tang limped. Tang shoved the second after Roiter limped. Neither got the call.

Tang took a moment to enjoy the ride. "This is so cool," he said, peering around the tournament room where a phalanx of photographers and reporters crowded along the edge of the stage. Roiter agreed with a smile, though they quickly returned to the action.

Roiter open-shoved his small blind and Tang said, "Let's run it." Tang had pocket sevens and they held against Roiter's K7. Tang had the first double, with the stacks now at 72 blinds to 27.

Heads up for the most of it

It didn't take long for Tang to get his second double either. This time, both players found an ace. Tang opened with AJ and Roiter jammed with A. Tang called for it all and stayed ahead once more. It put him now into a 3:2 chip lead.

And Tang was well on the march to closing it out.

Shortly after, the dealer again gave aces to both players, with Tang's the marginally better. All the chips went in pre-flop amd Tang's AJ held against Roiter's A.

That was the end of this beautiful story. Until the next chapter, at least...