From 3 big blinds to $1.5M, Ramin Hajiyev lands 2nd Triton series win

China’s Mao Renji held the chip lead with 44 big blinds, David Peters was the short stack with just 8, and so no one was truly comfortable… and the levels kept flying by - at almost turbo speed.

Short levels, short stacks

Short-stacked Peters was the first to fall, collecting $159K for his run to 9th place when his pocket 6s collided with the pocket 8s of Viacheslav Balarv.

Australia’s Kahle Burns soon found himself in a similar predicament and shoved his stack of 6 big blinds over Ramin Hajiyev’s open. Burns had , but Hajiyev had and momentum on his side. The Azerbaijani high roller had resurrected a stack of just three big blinds, at the time of registration closing, to make the final table third in chips. Hajiyev hit his king; Burns hit the payout desk for $190K.

The fast-rising blinds ensured more eliminations would follow in short order, with little safety or comfort to be found in a field of short-stacked tournament pros. Brandon Wilson of the USA, playing in his first Triton event, sent his 7 BB stack to war against Winfred Yu of Hong Kong, who barely outchipped him. Wilson’s Q-J suited was a flip against Yu’s pocket 10s, but it was one he lost, collecting $269K for his troubles.

Brandon Wilson watches his tournament life ebb away.

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Renji not afraid to gamble

Mao Renji of China then quickly thinned the field by a couple more names, first when Sam Greenwood’s ran afoul of his . The two got the chips in preflop but the board was kinder to Renji, running out to give Greenwood another $353K in Triton earnings, and Renji all of Greenwood’s chips.

The man from China - a WSOP bracelet winner in 2023 - then turned his attention to the short stack of Austria’s Manuel Fritz. The latter was ahead when he open-shoved his last 8 BBs from the small blind with K-8 offsuit. Renji in the big blind had enough chips, strength and will to call with J-9 suited, and did so. A jack came; Fritz went. A healthy $467K was his prize for finishing 5th.

Manuel Fritz went in ahead of Mao Renji, but came out behind.

Hajiyev bosses the end-game

While Renji had been winning the big showdowns, Hajiyev had been growing his stack with less risk, using his big stack to push players off pots and running good when he needed to. With 4 players left, the man from Azerbaijan would step on the gas and clear out the final three challengers himself.

First he took out Winfred Yu in 4th, shoving from the button with and eliciting a call from Yu in the big blind with . Hajiyev’s ace-high would prove to be good enough, and Yu was out with a $595K consultation prize.

Soon enough Russia’s Viacheslav Balaev would be staring at a short stack of just 7 BBs and looking for an opportunity to double up, but one suspects an unexpected ladder-up was just as warmly welcomed.

Some might say that ‘ICM is for poor people’, but you don’t see many of those at Triton events. So it was that, even with Balaev on fumes, Renji open-shoved from the small blind with . Good, but not as good as , with which Hajiyev called from the big blind. They both hit, which meant a $737K payday for Renji in third, and a huge chip lead for Hajiyev.

Mao Renji: oops.

With an 8:1 chip advantage for Hajiyev, you might have thought heads-up play would be a formality. You’d have been right. Five hands was all it took for the Azerbaijani number one to see it out and claim the winner's purse of $1,517,000. Balaev's hop up to second place earned the Russian $1,008,000.

The victory is the second for Hajiyev on the Triton circuit, and his third recorded tournament win overall - though he has accumulated a plethora of final table finishes everywhere from the EPT to the WPT, the WSOP and beyond.

Balaev's lucky ladder-up was worth more than $270K.

Triton Jeju Event #5 - $30K NLH 8-Handed - final table results

^{Images courtesy of Triton Poker. Prior tournament results thanks to The Hendon Mob.}