Champion Klemens Roiter!

If at first you don't succeed, try learning from Klemens Roiter.

For the past two-and-a-half years, the 35-year-old Austrian has been one of the most consistent grinders on the Triton Super High Roller Series, showing up time and again and putting in excellent showings. He's cashed 17 times. He's reached 12 final tables, including four Main Events where he's finished seventh, fifth, third and second.

But until today, Roiter was still a nearly man on this prestigious tour, narrowly missing out on getting his hands on the trophy. But look at the beginning of the sentence again: "until today".

Roiter has finally done it, today beating a field of 174 entries in the $20,000 NLH Event 2 at Triton Jeju, earning another $771,000 and his first title. It's not the biggest cash of his glittering career, not by far. But it clearly means more to him than he could, at first, even put into words.

"I'm still shaking, my entire body," Roiter told Triton's Stanley Ma in his post-game interview. "I'm so happy. I couldn't be more proud."

Roiter finally gets to meet Stanley Ma for a winner's inter

Roiter did this one the hard way, weaving his way through a classically ferocious Triton tournament field with a short stack, holding his own at a turbulent final table, and then squaring off against the unpredictable Argentinian Alejandro Lococo heads up.

Lococo had the chip lead with just two them left, but Roiter remained unflustered. He drew on his wealth of experience to find precisely the right spots and to finally find the route to the title.

"I don't expect anything," Roiter said. "I think this was one of the best pieces of advice I ever got. Just don't expect anything and then good things will happen, and you're not disappointed when nothing happens. If I'd have got ninth, I would have taken it. I started relatively short today, 17 big blinds, and I was down to seven at one point, with 14 left. I just learnt to take everything how it comes and finally getting rewarded feels very good."

Crediting a big group of friends, travel buddies and study partners, Roiter also said that he feels his dedication to the grind has finally been vindicated. "I'm grinding all the time," he said. "I'm barely home. I'm going from live stop to live stop, I put in the work. I think after all this work I'm being rewarded finally, and I'm just very happy how everything has turned out."

Lococo, right, is first to congratulate Roiter

Lococo, aka Papo MC, the battle-rapping Triton Invitational champion, was among a host of decorated stars at the final, also including Ding Biao, Jesse Lonis and Webster Lim. But those previous champions all had to step aside on what was, at last, Roiter's day.

"Now I could potentially retire," Roiter said, admitting that this was the one achievement he felt was missing. "But I don't think I'm quite finished yet."

TOURNAMENT ACTION

Another healthy crowd showed up for the second event of this trip to Jeju, with 174 entries eventually putting $3.48 million in the prize pool. Levels were only 30 minutes long, which raced the field through the bubble and into the money late on Day 1 and brought only 25 players back on the second day.

By that point, everyone was guaranteed at least $35,000, all of whom were grateful that they had avoided the disgusting cooler that took the field through the bubble.

The faint-hearted should look away from these details.

Du Qiao picked up AK and committed a stack of around 13 blinds. Pretty good considering the circumstances. But Xuan Liu, who became the first woman ever to win a Triton Poker Series event on her Montenegro debut in 2025, looked down at pocket kings and called the shove from the button, with a 30-blind stack.

If the "just" call had been designed to encourage others into the pot, it worked, because Webster Lim, with only slightly fewer chips than Liu, also committed his stack from the big blind. The only problem for Liu was that Lim had pocket aces. The slightly bigger problem for Du was that both his opponents had his cards covered and he was in deep, deep trouble.

Du Qiao becomes the centre of attention to bust on the bubb

The board ran out dry, which sent Du out the door with nothing. Liu followed pretty quickly after, but she at least had a min-cash. Lim, meanwhile, was top of the charts.

After a breakneck start to Day 2, Lim was still in great shape as the last nine hit the final. Only Yu Zhang had edged ahead of Lim as the final table players sat down with the following stacks:

Yu Zhang - 6,075,000 (49 BBs)

Webster Lim - 6,000,000 (48 BBs)

Alejandro Lococo - 4,825,000 (39 BBs)

Jesse Lonis - 4,075,000 (33 BBs)

Chu Chin-Jen - 3,900,000 (31 BBs)

Klemens Roiter - 3,575,000 (29 BBs)

Justin Saliba - 3,275,000 (29 BBs)

Ding Biao - 2,050,000 (16 BBs)

Mehdi Chaoui - 1,025,000 (8 BBs)

Event 2 final table players (clockwise from back left): Yu Zhang, Ding Biao, Chu Chin-Jen, Jesse Lonis, Justin Saliba, Alejandro Lococo, Mehdi Chaoui, Klemens Roiter, Webster Lim.

Once again, it was a star-studded final, led by a man who had burst onto the scene in this room one year ago and quickly brought his Triton earnings close to $2.5 million. At the other end of the leader board, Mehdi Chaoui had similarly dazzled through the same time period, landing a maiden title here in March.

Those two players' fortunes at this final quickly went in opposite directions. Chaoui doubled up fast, winning a flip with pocket sevens against Klemens Roiter's AQ. Chaoui then rivered a flush with A to beat Yu's when the pair got it all in, blind-on-blind, pre-flop. That pot in particular sent Chaoui flying high and left Yu's challenge in tatters.

By this point, Ding Biao was already out. The three-time Triton champion (two of which events were won in Jeju) became the first elimination from the final table when he got his chips in as a call from the big blind, following Alejandro Lococo's shove from the small blind.

Ding had 12 blinds to Lococo's 44, and A10 was more than enough in this spot. Lococo had pocket deuces, which held. Ding was done in ninth for $78,000.

Ding Biao became the first player out from the final

Jesse Lonis, a four-time Triton champion, had come to the final with 33 blinds and all the guile to make the most of them. But after holding steady for the opening few orbits, Lonis became the latest in a long line of players to be set loco by Lococo.

Lonis found pocket jacks under the gun and put in a standard opening raise. Lococo, with J7, called from the big blind and saw the kind of flop that might get him into trouble: 7. Lococo check-called his top pair, with Lococo making the half-pot bet.

The 7 turn was magnificent for Lococo and disastrous for Lonis. Lococo led out for about a third of the pot, prompting a jam from Lonis with his over-pair. Lococo called with the covering stack and Lonis learned the bad news. his single out did not materialise on the river, and his tournament was over. Lonis won $94,000 for eigth.

Jesse Lonis couldn't beat trip sevens

Yu was still licking his wounds from the skirmish with Chaoui and had only four blinds to his name. Sitting UTG+1, and knowing half his stack would soon be in the middle whether he liked it or not, he jammed pre-flop holding K8 and presumably hoped to get it through.

Justin Saliba, however, had AA on the button and left Yu needing a miracle. (Saliba just called Yu's shove, but neither of the blinds fancied coming along too.)

There was nothing encouraging on flop, turn or river for Yu and he left the building in seventh, earning $130,000.

The nine-handed chip leader Yu Zhang went out in seventh

Lococo's exploits had installed him as tournament leader, with Lim the only other player with an above-average stack. The remaining four were in the 20-25 big-blind range, a situation that tends to slow proceedings for a while, at least until the blinds increase a couple more times. And then, all of a sudden, everyone becomes a very short stack, with no place to hide.

Lim, another three-time prior winner at the table, knows that as well as anybody. And he also had the misfortune to be sitting to Lococo's right, making it very difficult for him to do the pot-stealing required to stay ahead.

Lim slowly became one of the short stacks, with all five of Lococo's opponents holding between nine and 15 blinds. And when Lim finally found the cards to do something about the situation, specifically AK, he found the dealer in uncooperative mood.

Chaoui opened the pot on what turned out to be Lim's final hand, putting in a committing pre-flop raise from his 10-blind stack. Lim shoved with his premium hand, and, after everyone else folded, Chaoui called for the rest holding QJ. Chaoui had one blind more than Lim.

A queen on the flop vaulted Chaoui ahead, and a jack on the turn continued the theme. Lim missed his outs on the river and was eliminated in sixth for $179,000.

Webster Lim couldn't convert his overnight big stack into a win

By the standards of this final table, Taiwan's Chu Chi-Jen was a comparative newbie, with only one previous Triton cash. It came here in Jeju in a $30K event last year, when he made it to third for more than half a million dollars. So he clearly knew how to play.

However, much like many people before -- and doubtless many more still to come -- he ran into the steamroller Lococo. Chu committed his final six blinds with pocket eights and got the call from Lococo's A3. Lococo flopped an ace and rivered a three to make sure.

Chu now has a fifth-place finish to his name as well, and another $233,000.

A second career final table for Chu Chi-Jen

Klemens Roiter, at yet another final, had done everything perfectly to this point, as tends to be the way with this supremely talented Austrian player. And, shortly before Chu's elimination, he had even managed to add a straight flush to his highlights reel, when his 99 connected very nicely with the Q run-out. He had been all in against Chaoui's , which also rivered a no-good straight.

The pot was important because it left Chaoui with only four blinds and, even though he doubled that stack through Lococo, he still had only nine when he got involved in the biggest pot of the final table so far. Justin Saliba, who had similarly not put a foot wrong, also featured heavily.

Saliba had been chipping up nicely with a series of well-timed shoves, but the nature of short-handed play meant everyone was still vulnerable if some big hands started coming out. Saliba found QJ on the button and, four-handed with 11 blinds, he stuck it all in.

But this time he didn't get it through. Chaoui had 99 in the small blind and called for all he had left. But then Lococo, in the big blind, saw A and had the chance to knock out two at once.

It was a chance he seized. The dealer put the J78 board on the table, with Saliba's prospects of a double looking so good, only to be crushed by Lococo's flush. Chaoui perished too, taking $292,000 for fourth. Saliba's third place earned him $358,000.

Mehdi Chaoui's prayers weren't answered

Justin Saliba was flushed out by Lococo

They reset the table for heads-up play, with Lococo stacking 51 blinds to Roiter's 19. It was an intriguing match-up between Lococo's volatility and Roiter's measured calm, with just about enough chips for them to play some proper hands.

It started relatively slowly, with Roiter having marginally the best of it. But just after Lococo won back-to-back pots to reassert his authority, they played the first really big one.

Roiter completed with J7 and Lococo checked holding 10. Roiter hit top pair on the flop and Lococo check-called Roiter's bet.

Heads up for the title

The 9 turn gave Lococo a pair too, and it went check-call again, with Roiter continuing to tell a consistent story. The 6 completed the board.

Lococo checked again, and now Roiter emptied the clip, putting in the last of his chips (about two thirds of the pot). Lococo sensed the chance to end the tournament and called, but his pair was second best. The stacks were almost dead even.

The very next hand was even more significant. In this one, Roiter was able to check his option holding 72 and saw the dealer give him a pair on the 5 flop. Roiter was the one to check-call this time as Lococo got busy with .

The 7 turn gave Roiter a lock on the hand, and he took over the betting. Lococo called, leading to the 5 on the river. Roiter shipped for all of it, now holding a boat, and Lococo, with queen high to go with the two pair on the board, fancied he might still be good. Under time pressure and digging deep for the right decision, Lococo made a huge hero call. But he was wrong this time. He lost almost everything. He had less than a blind left.

The formidable Alejandro Lococo

Lococo doubled his micro stack once, but the writing was on the wall. Eventually, Roiter's 108 hit a pair of eights to beat Lococo's A and the tournament was over.

It's been a long and consistent grind for Roiter, with numerous near misses along the way. But the dam has broken and he is now a champion. It will surely be the first of many to come.