Alejandro Lococo Wins $12,070,000 As World Series of Poker Paradise Triton Million Champion

Argentina’s Alejandro Lococo has captured the largest tournament poker top prize of 2024. The freestyle rapper and poker player, known to many as ‘Papo MC’, came out on top of the first-ever World Series of Poker Paradise Triton Million invitational event. He bested a field of 96 total entries in the $500,000 buy-in nosebleed-stakes affair to secure his first gold bracelet and the staggering $12,070,000 first-place payout.

This dwarfed Lococo’s previous top score of $1,225,000 that he earned as the seventh-place finisher in the 2021 WSOP main event in Las Vegas. He now has nearly $14.9 million in lifetime tournament earnings, with the majority coming from this one career-defining victory. As a result, he has surged into second place on the Argentinian all-time money list, trailing only Jose ‘Nacho’ Barbero ($21.2 million).

“It feels amazing for sure. I have to make a special mention of my mother and father, who are here,” said Lococo in his post-win interview on Triton Poker’s broadcast. “Thanks for everybody who is supporting me.”

“This was my first $500k… actually this was my first $100k-plus in my entire life. It’s amazing, it’s like I’m dreaming,” continued Lococo.

This invitational event sported a split field during the early action, with the amateur players and the professionals they invited separated to start day 1. The 96-entry field that turned out to the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas resulted in a $48,000,000 prize pool.

The final day began with 14 players remaining, all of whom were safely in the money after the bubble burst late on day 2. Several big names were sent packing on the way down to the final table, including two-time Card Player Player of the Year award winner Stephen Chidwick (14th – $792,000). He was soon joined by hedge fund founder David Einhorn, who was knocked out of this event in the first hand of the tournament, but rebought and made it down to the two tables. Einhorn earned $865,000 as the 13th-place finisher.

Esti Wang (12th – $865,000) and four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (11th – $985,000) didn’t take long to join the payout line, which left the remaining contenders playing at two five-handed tables.

A cooler then spelled the end of Chance Kornuth’s run in this event. He flopped a nine-high straight with 7-6 suited, but two-time bracelet winner Daniel Dvoress’ turned a full house with pocket eights when the board paired. Kornuth value bet on the river and Dvoress moved all-in over the top. Kornuth called and was shown eights full. The four-time bracelet winner was eliminated in 10th place ($985,000).

The Final 9 has been reached in the Triton MILLION!@DDvoress opens 88 in the CO for 600k || Chance Kornuth defends BB with 67

Flop 5 8 9 Kornuth checks || Dvoress bets 500k || Kornuth calls

Turn 5 both players check

River J Kornuth bets 750k || Dvoress… pic.twitter.com/zrIIGOH6ry

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) December 9, 2024

The first major clash at the final table saw bracelet winner Ben Heath’s JJ face off against the A7 of two-time bracelet winner Michael Moncek. Dvoress opened with A-10 suited from the hijack and Moncek three-bet shoved for 4,975,000 from the cutoff. Heath four-bet jammed for 7,975,000 from the big blind and Dvoress got out of the way. The board came down Q875Q and the pocket pair held for Heath. Moncek earned a career-best score of $1,200,000 as the ninth-place finisher.

Sosia Jiang was the last female player in the mix. Her final hand was KQ, which she three-bet shoved from the small blind facing an under-the-gun raise from Dvoress and a call from Sinan Unlu on the button. Dvoress called with AK and neither player connected with a seven-high runout. Jiang cashed for $1,605,000, which was nearly twice the size of the New Zealander’s previous top score.

Two-time bracelet winner Aleksejs Ponakovs open-shoved for just over 20 big blinds with 98 when it folded to him in the small blind. Dvoress made a fairly quick call with A8 out of the big blind and was in dominant position with five cards to come. The 44277 runout was of no help to Ponakovs and the Latvian took home $2,140,000 for his third lifetime multi-million-dollar payday. He now has over $23 million in career cashes under his belt.

Alex Foxen committed the majority of his stack preflop with pocket sevens against the A-8 of Dvoress. The last few big blinds went in after Dvoress had improved to a pair of aces to take the lead. Foxen was unable to come from behind and the two-time bracelet winner was knocked out in sixth place ($2,795,000). This was the second-largest payday of his career, and it increased his lifetime haul to over $39.2 million.

Heath nearly hit the rail in fifth place after losing a big hand to Lococo. Heath opened with 77 in the cutoff to 1,100,000 and Lococo defended his big blind with Q9. The flop came down Q82 and Heath continuation bet 750,000 (1.5 big blinds) when checked to. Lococo called and then led out for 2,150,000 on the Q turn. Heath hung around and the 3 completed the board. Lococo bet 5,000,0000 into the pot of 8,750,000 for value with his trip queens and after plenty of time in the tank, Heath went for the hero call with his pocket pair. He was shown the winner and was left on fumes.

Heath managed to win multiple all-ins after being down to less than a small blind to bounce back out of the danger zone, though. He then doubled up yet again, with Q-J besting the A-8 of Dvoress to leave the Canadian near the bottom of the counts after spending much of the final table as the big stack.

Elias Talvitie was the next to be eliminated. The Finn defended his big blind with KJ facing a small-blind raise from Lococo, who held 107. The flop came down 864 and Lococo bet 1,800,000 with a double-gutshot straight draw. Talvitie called and picked up top pair on the K turn to go with his heart draw. Lococo fired again, this time for 3,600,000. Talvitie called and the 9 gave Lococo a ten-high straight on the end. He shoved and Talvitie went into the tank before calling all-in for 11,300,000. Talvitie was shown a straight by his opponent and headed to collect his $3,542,000 payout, which was a new personal best.

Not long after Talvitie bowed out, Dvoress got this last 19 or so big blinds in preflop with 22. He three-bet shoved over Lococo’s cutoff min-raise to 1,600,000 and received a quick call, as Lococo had picked up JJ. A jack on the KJ7 all but sealed the deal, and the 7 on the turn made the river Q a mere formality. Dvoress earned $4,390,000 as the fourth-place finisher. He now has over $41.1 million in recorded scores.

Turkey’s Sinan Unlu was the next to fall at Lococo’s hands. Unlu got his last few big blinds in preflop with J5 facing K6 for Lococo. The Q87107 runout helped neither player and Unlu was knocked out in third place ($5,304,00). This was just his 11th recorded tournament score, and by far his largest.

Heads-up play began with Lococo holding 84,000,000 to Heath’s 12,000,000. Heath slid a bit before doubling back up to around where he started. In the final hand, Lococo shoved from the button with K2 and Heath quickly called with AK. His incredible comeback story ended here, though, as the board came down Q8278 to give Lococo a pair of deuces for the win. Heath walked away with a career-best payday of $8,160,000 as the runner-up. The Brighton, England native’s lifetime earnings swelled to over $31.2 million thanks to this massive score.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Triton Poker / Drew Amato.