A stunning setting for any poker game, Monte Carlo was the place to be again this week as the American poker professional Alex Foxen crushed the opposition in the $50,000 buy-in Triton Poker Series event. With four players left, a deal was done to smooth out the remaining payouts which eventually led to Alex Foxen’s supreme return to the ring in Triton events.
| Triton Poker Series Monte Carlo Event #5 $50,000 NLHE 8-Max Final Table Results: | |||
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Alex Foxen | United States | $1,470,000* |
| 2nd | Aleks Ponakovs | Latvia | $915,000* |
| 3rd | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | $922,000* |
| 4th | Dominykas Mikolaitis | Lithuania | $964,000* |
| 5th | Xu Liang | China | $507,000 |
| 6th | Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $393,000 |
| 7th | Zhou Quan | China | $291,000 |
| 8th | Lun Loon | Malaysia | $214,000 |
| 9th | Alex Theologis | Greece | $170,000 |
*denotes four-way deal
Big Names Make the Money
Of the 147-strong field, only 23 made the money after a second consecutive ‘double bubble’ bust-out meant that Ben Heath (23rd for $85,000) was the first player to help himself to some of the $7.35 million prizepool. Others such as Santhosh Survarna (20th for $93,000), Christoph Vogelsang (15th for $114,000) and Daniel Dvoress, who missed out on the final table by just four places, cashing for $125,000 in an unlucky 13th place.
When the nine-handed final table was reached, Foxen had the chip lead with 86 big blinds, but he had plenty of stiff competition, with Marius Kudzmanas his closest challenger in second on 51 big blinds. The first player to bust was the short-stacked Alex Theologis, from Greece. He shoved with pocket eights from the cutoff position but lost to Foxen’s suited nine-ten of clubs when a ten came to give the American a better pair.
Next to go was one of two Malaysians at the final table felt as Lun Loon busted in eighth place for $214,000. All-in with ace-nine of hearts, Loon ran into Aleks Ponakovs’ pocket tens and the Latvian WSOP bracelet winner who once got the better of Phil Ivey for the World Series gold, held to leap up the leaderboard at the expense of his opponent.
Lee and Liang Leave the Party
Chinese player Zhou Quan lost out in seventh place for a score of $291,000. He was all-in with pocket queens but had the horrible misfortune of having a terrific hand that was one pip worse than Dominykas Mikolaitis’ pocket kings. No help came on flop, turn or river and Quan was on the rail.
The second Malaysian of two at the table lost out in sixth place for $393,000 as Kiat Lee left next. Calling off his stack with ace-jack, Lee was also just outdone by the strength of his opponent’s hole cards, as Kudzmanas had three-bet all-in with ace-queen. A jack in the window looked good for a miraculous double-up but it wasn’t to be as a queen joined it on the board to reduce the field to five.
China’s Xu Liang was the next player to bust, ousted in fifth place for $507,000. Just four big blinds went into the middle represented by ace-deuce, called by Latvia Ponakovs with ace-king. Big Slick held through the board and Liang left, with the remaining four players stopping to discuss a deal with tournament director Luca Vivaldi.
Foxen Outfoxes the Rest
“The Foxens will be on the Triton tour a lot more.”
After deep discussions, Alex Foxen’s strength and his three opponents’ comparative equality meant a deal took place that assured Foxen of the biggest payout. Lithuania’s Dominykas Mikolaitis busted soon after, winning $964,000 in fourth place when his pocket nines lost to the ace-queen that belonged to Alex Foxen.
Out in third for $922,000 was another Lithuanian, Marius Kudzmanas. He was unlucky to go in his final hand, as ace-eight lost to Foxen’s king-jack when the chips went in pre-flop and an ace on the flop only ended up contributing to the American making a Broadway straight to send play heads-up.
The final duel began with Foxen holding a better than 6:1 chip lead, with 25 million chips to Aleks Ponakovs’ 4 million. Foxen limped in with king-jack again before the Latvian shoved with ace-seven and Foxen’s call led to a king pairing him up on the turn, earning him the title. With the $1.47 million top prize representing Foxen’s fourth-biggest win of his career, Ponakovs was left to settle for $915,000 as runner-up.
“It definitely feels great,” Foxen said after winning the event. “There’s no high stakes series like this one. Missing it was definitely a little painful. The tournament went really smooth for me. I was really fortunate for a lot of the time. Everything just felt right. I was feeling confident and excited.”
Asked if he and his wife, Kristen, would be coming back to play more events on the Triton Poker Series tour, Foxen was in the affirmative.
“I definitely think the Foxens will be on the Triton tour a lot more,” he grinned. “There’s no comparison in terms of high stakes poker from what I can see. You’ll definitely be seeing more of us.”
After an exciting victory, Alex Foxen is back on the Triton Poker Series trail and hungry for more – watch out!