Artur Martirosian – Photo Credit: Triton Super High Roller Poker Series
Artur Martirosian has been busy in Monte Carlo, cashing in five out of the first six events scheduled at the Triton Super High Roller Poker Series.
Although he has been a fixture at the table for the last four days, his win came quickly in the $30,000 no-limit hold’em turbo bounty. The score was good for $891,000 ($360,000 of which were bounties), putting the Russian poker player’s career earnings just shy of $20 million. This was his 15th tournament victory, and first Triton title.
The win also put Martirosian in 27th place in the Card Player Player of the Year standings thanks to 4,400 points.
The series continues to pull strong numbers with large prize pools, and this tournament was no different with $3.15 million in the total pot thanks to 105 entries. The top 17 players all made the money. Notables that cashed among the chaos of the rapidly rising blinds before the final table included top high-stakes professionals Danny Tang (11th), Dan Smith (12th), Seth Davies (14th), and Brian Kim (15th).
It surprisingly took two full levels of play after shuffle up and deal at the final table before Paulius Vaitiekunas fell in ninth place, and Espen Jostad exited in eighth place. They both fell at the feet of Martirosian, who took the chip lead after eliminating both opponents on the same hand.
Martirosian was clearly in the lead, and there were so few chips left in circulation among the rest of the final table that it was only a short matter of time before fate ultimately played its hand. Martirosian took out David Benefield in sixth place, and then he scored another double knockout by sending Ren Lin (fifth place) and Adrian Mateos (fourth place) packing in the same hand for a second time on the night.
It wasn’t all bad for Mateos, who increased his Card Player POY race points up to 10,174 in the race thanks to the cash. The $313,000 payout gave him more than $11 million for the year, and a sizable 1,874-point lead over David Coleman in second place.
A three-way all-in sent Jamil Wakil home in third place. Nikita Kuznetcov won the main pot in that hand to have a fighting chance in the heads-up final with 30 big blinds against the 58 of Martirosian.
The two Russian players faced off mostly in silence as Kuznetcov scored two early doubles before Martirosian scored one of his own to take back the lead. There were only 37 blinds left on the table when Kuznetcov got all in short holding K-5 offsuit against the 10-9 suited of Martirosian. A second nine hit on the board, and Martirosian was crowned the champion. He congratulated his countrymen Kuznetcov, who took home $358,000 along with another $80,000 in bounties.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY |
| 1 | Artur Martirosian | $891,000 | 840 |
| 2 | Nikita Kuznetcov | $438,000 | 700 |
| 3 | Jamil Wakil | $353,000 | 560 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | $313,000 | 420 |
| 5 | Ren Lin | $236,000 | 350 |
| 6 | David Benefield | $163,000 | 280 |
| 7 | Benjamin Tollerene | $134,000 | 210 |
| 8 | Espen Jorstad | $111,000 | 140 |
| 9 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | $93,000 | 70 |
The Triton Super High Roller Poker Series in Monte Carlo is hitting the mid-way point with tournaments running from Nov. 1-14 on the shores of the Mediterranean. Stay tuned to Card Player for recaps throughout this marquee tournament series featuring the best poker players in the world.