Champion Sebastian Gaehl!

By the time players have gained enough skills to take a shot at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series they tend to have amassed a long string of results from tours across the world, building their bankrolls and toolkits to take a stab at the biggest stage.

But 28-year-old German Sebastian Gaehl took something of a shortcut.

Three years ago, he travelled to Triton Poker's only ever stop in Vietnam as an online qualifier. He did pretty well, picking up two cashes that were, at the time, the biggest live scores of his career.

It may have been a long three years as Gaehl battled his way back to this incredible tour, but he sure made it worth the wait. Gaehl cashed three times in the three tournaments he played on Triton ONE, then hit the final table in the $20K opener of the SHRS too.

And tonight in Jeju, he picked up a first outright win, sealing the deal in the $50K NLH Seven Handed event, which came with a spectacular $1,392,000 prize.

"It's tough to put it into words," Gaehl said. "I played so many years for this moment, and finally we are here. Still have to let it sink in, everything. But it feels incredible."

Gaehl is clearly an online crusher who has looked at supreme ease in the rarefied surroundings of the Super High Roller Series this week. This final table was characteristically full of elite-level players, but Gaehl remained composed to find the way through.

Fellow German crushers Leon Sturm and Tom Fuchs celebrate with Sebastian Gaehl

"You have to have patience and wait for your spots," he said. "It was a really tough final, only really, really good players at it. I think I got really lucky and I took my spots."

Gaehl defeated another young talent Brandon Wilson in a brief heads-up battle, but only after fellow online superstars Felipe Boianovsky and Alex Kulev had departed in third and fourth. Zhou Quan was at another final, as well as Anatoly Zlotnikov and Matthias Eibinger.

But Gaehl has been in sublime form in Jeju, and closed it out with a minimum of fuss.

Brandon Wilson finished in second

"The mental game goes up and down," he said. "One time you're the chip leader and then you are at the bottom of the field. But just play every spot as it comes."

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With 116 entries of $50,000 each, players were scrapping over a prize pool of $6,960,000. After an obstacle-laden opening day, only 26 remained on Day 2, which presented an early morning (by poker standards) jostle ahead of the bubble, with only 20 places paid.

Punnat Punsri began the procession of eliminations. And fellow multiple champ Alex Foxen also perished before the bubble. Things were moving at a lightning pace, and even the stone bubble didn't alter things.

Up on the feature table, Brandon Wilson, with K2, opened his button with a bet big enough to cover both opponents in the blinds. Samuel Mullur folded the small blind, but Johannes Straver had A6 and reasoned it was good enough to commit his last nine blinds.

Johannes Straver amid the red light of doom

He was ahead at the start of the hand, but the K on the turn flipped things on its head. Straver couldn't catch anything on the river, and the Dutch pro burst the bubble.

That same feature table continued as the arena for many of the most significant pots. Zhou Quan was up to his old tricks, busting Kayhan Mokri and Mullur on the same hand, with pocket kings beating AK and AJ. Zhou then also toasted Andrew Leathem, whose AK lost to A7. Overnight leader Igor Yaroshevskyy went out in ninth, and when Alex Kulev finished off Paulius Plausinaitis in eighth, they reached a final.

Zhou was looking formidable.

Zhou Quan - 7,150,000 (89 BBs)

Alex Kulev - 3,555,000 (44 BBs)

Brandon Wilson - 3,295,000 (41 BBs)

Sebastian Gaehl - 2,960,000 (37 BBs)

Felipe Boianovsky - 2,380,000 (30 BBs)

Anatoly Zlotnikov - 2,355,000 (29 BBs)

Mattias Eibinger - 1,510,000 (19 BBs)

Event 7 final table players (clockwise from back left): Matthias Eibinger, Anatoly Zlotnikov, Zhou Quan, Alex Kulev, Felipe Boianovsky, Sebastian Gaehl, Brandon Wilson.

In terms of experience, only Matthias Eibinger at the final table had more on the Triton Poker Series than Zhou. But the man in orange didn't have sufficient chips as they settled down to pose an immediate threat. Eibinger folded for a couple of orbits, before looking down at Q5 in the big blind, with only 11 total in his stack at the start of the hand.

Sebastian Gaehl opened from early position, and Eibinger called. The pair saw a flop of J610. Eibinger had a flush draw now and check-jammed Gaehl's continuation bet. Gaehl called and tabled KJ, having flopped top pair. Eibinger missed his outs on turn and river and was the first to bust from the final.

The five-time champion picked up $243,000 for his seventh place.

The man in orange, Matthias Eibinger, was first out

Zhou had not been having things all his own way at the final, and both Gaehl and Brandon Wilson had pulled up alongside him on the leaderboard. Zhou also made an uncharacteristic mis-step when he overplayed 108 against Wilson, surrendering his lead. Wilson also won a sizeable pot against Gaehl and and emerged as the table captain.

Gaehl, meanwhile, continued to be the player for the short stacks to fear. And having polished off Eibinger, he then also knocked out Anatoly Zlotnikov to trim the field down to five.

Zlotnikov raised his button from a 12 blind stack. Gaehl jammed from the big blind, holding only 15 blinds himself. And Zlotnikov called to set up a race. Zlotnikov had QJ but Gaehl's pocket eights stayed best on the all-action flop of 8JQ.

Zlotnikov could find any of the outs he needed and was out in sixth for $325,000.

Anatoly Zlotnikov lost a race

Gaehl had the bit between his teeth, and scored a sizeable double through Wilson, with his AJ ending with a flush to beat Wilson's J10, which turned into a straight. (It was all-in preflop.) These two players were now neck and neck in the lead -- at least until Felipe Boianovsky doubled through Wilson, with eights defeating fours, and Wilson slipped back around average.

Zhou was now the short stack, with Boianovsky sailing in the opposite direction all the way to the top. But nobody had much to play with.

Zhou, resplendent in his new Triton champion cap, had to take some kind of stand with only three blinds left, and A5 was clearly good enough. He saw Alex Kulev raise from early position, and Zhou got the last chips in. But Kulev's A8 stayed best. Zhou earned $516,000, but his third trophy will need to be won another day.

Zhou Quan will have to wait for a third win

All four remaining players were now guaranteed at least half a million bucks, but Wilson badly needed a double if he was to stay in the hunt for $1.3 million. And it duly arrived when he turned a jack holding QJ to beat Gaehl's pocket eights.

Boianovsky won a big pot from Gaehl that put him into the lead, and with the blinds and antes now beginning to gobble up chips very quickly, the other three stacks flattened. All of Wilson, Gaehl and Kulev had 18 blinds or fewer, but when Boianovsky tried to make the most of his comparatively big stack, open-jamming the small blind, Wilson woke up with A4 in the big blind, called for all of it, and doubled against Boianovsky's 65.

The average was 19 blinds now, and nobody had more than three either way. But Gaehl won one from Kulev leaving the Bulgarian most vulnerable. And his last 11 blinds soon went into the middle behind A10. Wilson had pocket kings and raise/called after Kulev's three-bet jam.

Wilson flopped a king to make sure, and the last remaining player with a previous Triton win went out in fourth for $516,000.

Alex Kulev was the last former champion in the field

Now guaranteed to be crowning a new champion, the tournament was more unpredictable than ever. Wilson and Gaehl had 21 blinds; Boianovsky had 15.

Boianovsky was being railed by the strong contingent of Brazilian players here in Jeju, including the bounty hunter supreme Alisson Piekazewicz. But even the run-good emanating from Piekazewicz couldn't overcome Gaehl's pocket jacks when Boianovsky three-bet shoved with A5.

Boianovsky hit a five on the flop, but JJ stayed best and we were down to two. Boianovsky won $626,000 for third.

Felipe Boianovsky, railed by some more brilliant Brazilians

Heads-up started with Gaehl in the lead, 38 blinds to Wilson's 20, and in the wake of Wilson turning down Gaehl's offer to look at the numbers.

It was only four hands old when all the chips went in the middle for the first — and last — time.

Gaehl opened the small blind. Wilson jammed for 19 blinds from the big. Gaehl called. The reason? It was A9 for Wilson and Gaehl had A10. And the dealer had no surprises.

With that, Triton found its latest champion, and Gaehl's fine trip to Jeju hit another new high.

Sebastian Gael does his first interview as a champion