It looked for a long time like Chris Moneymaker was going to bag an incredible Triton Poker double in Montenegro, but the legendary pro eventually had to settle for third place in the $40K Mystery Bounty. Another $311K cash for Moneymaker is making this a very profitable trip after his victory in the opening event.
Instead, the trophy went to Belarusian youngster, Artsiom Lasouski, in his very first visit to a Triton Poker Super High Roller series. He blanked his first two attempts at a Triton trophy but went all the way in his third and looked a picture of calm on the final table. And highly excited after his win.
Sam Grafton cashed for $68,000 but fell just short of the final tableMo money for Moneymaker
Moneymaker had once again battled his way through a field of nosebleed MTT crushers to make a second Triton final table in three events, looking to add to his Event #1 win and $903,000 spoils. From the field of 151 players, 27 got paid, including fellow WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan (22nd for $33,000), Jason Koon (18th for $36,000), and Phil Ivey (17th for $40,500).
Moneymaker, though, had his sights set higher. When you’ve recovered from one big blind on the bubble to win against the world’s elite, confidence tends to be in abundance.
Watching the likes of English duo Sam Grafton and Stephen Chidwick, as well as Triton monster Danny Tang, fall by the wayside and the paydays reach six figures, Moneymaker was perhaps the most active player at the table. Numerous battles with Nikita Kuznetsov to his right saw the pair exchange the chip lead, but eventually, and somewhat unexpectedly, it was the Russian who fell in fourth after a monster shove went wrong.
Samuel Ju: 
Kuznetsov: 
Lasouski: 
Board: 
One mis-step is all it takes when you're playing no-limit Hold'em
Perfect dozen for Lasouski
And then Moneymaker was toppled in third, picking the wrong time to shove on the button with 
from an 8BB stack. Ju tanked for a while with 
but made the call and Moneymaker couldn't find a pair to save him. It's another hugely impressive deep run from the 2003 WSOP champ, and must be vindication to play at the very highest level, against the best players, and come out smelling of dollar bills.
The title was now heads-up between Ju and Lasouski. It was a fight that swayed to and fro, but the young online player from Belarus eventually pulled through, his pocket queens giving him not only a Triton title at his first stop, but also his 12th bounty of the event. He'll do his bounty pulls tomorrow, and will be hoping to claim one of the $400K or $200K jackpots to go with his biggest tournament win of $669,000.
Ju, flying the German flag, took $452,000 and one bounty, but as he explained: “It’s the bounty of Chris Moneymaker. It’s a good one!”
As for the winner, Lasouski, speaking through an interpreter, explained: “I am very excited about this moment. I can’t believe how great it is.”
Triton Montenegro Event #5, $40K Mystery Bounty results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Artsiom Lasouski | $669,000 |
| 2nd | Samuel Ju | $452,000 |
| 3rd | Chris Moneymaker | $311,000 |
| 4th | Nikita Kuznetsov | $253,000 |
| 5th | Dylan Linde | $202,000 |
| 6th | Daniel Rezaei | $156,000 |
| 7th | Danny Tang | $114,000 |
| 8th | Stephen Chidwick | $82,000 |
Images courtesy of Triton Poker/Joe Giron
