The $200K buy-in Triton Poker Invitational in Montenegro was effectively decided by a monster cooler on Wednesday afternoon.
With three players left and pro Seth Davies nursing a short stack, two evenly stacked VIPs went to war with the two biggest hands in the game.
Javid Ismayilov had 
and Aleksa Pavicevic had 
. You've never seen 36 million chips get in the middle so quickly.
It was a classic confrontation but it was more notable here for two reasons. The first was the money at stake. The winner of the pot would end up heads-up with 90% of the chips in play in a tournament with $6,180,000 waiting for the winner.
The second was the lack of experience held by the two players. The beauty of the Triton Invitational is that it pits an equal number of pros and amateurs against each other. Ismayilov had never cashed in a tournament before. Pavicevic had four prior cashes and the biggest was $17,135 for finishing 871st in the 2019 WSOP Main Event.
When VIPs collide
The two players clinked glasses like they were at a home game – Ismayilov had a glass of red, Pavicevic a neat whisky. With literally millions on the line, the dealer fanned out a flop of 
. So far, so good for Ismayilov.
Then the 
hit on the turn. "Good luck calculating out how much that king of hearts is worth," said Henry Kilbane in the commentary booth. The river blanked, and just like that, Ismayilov was out. Poker can be a cruel, cruel game.
Javid Ismayilov and Aleksa Pavicevic play for nearly all the chips with aces and kings.Ismayilov's consolation? The $2,793,000 he won puts him second on the all-time money list in his home country of Azerbaijan. With $6 million up top, that might not be what he goes to bed tonight thinking about.
"That was the sickest pot ever," said Randy Lew on comms.
"That king of hearts was felt by everyone around the world," said Kilbane.
"He wins that hand like he's supposed to 80% of the time and he's almost a lock to ship this Invitational," said Lew.
Seth Davies narrowly misses out on his second Triton title in two days.
Davies makes comeback but falls short
Seth Davies started heads-up with a 10-1 chip deficit, but you'd be wise to never count him out — especially after he landed his first Triton title just two days ago. And when he started doubling, Pavicevic must have started doubting himself.
First Davies doubled with 
against 
. Then it was jacks against 
. That saw his stack get back to a very playable 30bbs. Davies then survived a flush draw to see the stacks move even closer — 45bbs to 55bbs.
And then the final hand arrived. Davies made two pair with 
on a 
board. Davies bet 2.4 million on the river and Pavicevic moved all-in. Davies tanked but couldn't find a fold and Pavicevic flipped the smallest of flushes to lift the trophy.
Talking afterwards, Pavicevic said, "It’s been a surreal experience. I decided a week ago I was going to play this thing. I didn’t expect much, just to come and have a good time.
"I came for a vacation. I was in Montenegro for family obligations. I decided to give it a try. I honestly expected to bust four levels in."
Instead, he lasted all the way to the end and won $6,180,000. As he said at the end of his interview, "It was an incredible experience."
$200K Triton Invitational results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksa Pavicevic | $6,180,000 |
| 2 | Seth Davies | $4,190,000 |
| 3 | Javid Ismayilov | $2,793,000 |
| 4 | Eric Wasserson | $2,287,000 |
| 5 | Taylor Von Kriegenbergh | $1,835,000 |
| 6 | Maher Nouira | $1,423,000 |
