Aliaksei Boika Wins Triton Title in Jeju

A field of superstars awaited debutant winner Aliaksei Boika in the $35000 NLHE Triton Jeju Event #5 last night. The final table, conquered by Boika at the death after a heads-up triumph against experienced British pro Philip Sternheimer also featured legends of the game such as Seth Davies, Manuel Fritz and the Lithuanian rising star Vladas Tamasauskas, who in his fourth Triton event, cashed for a third time overall this series.

Stakes Go Up, Numbers Come In

The latest Triton Poker Series in Jeju saw 131 total entries take on No Limit Hold’em with $25,000 the buy-in. In the end, the 38-year-old poker star and Belarussian Aliaksei Boika took home his first ‘trident’ trophy and a top prize of $761,000 as he wore the Triton champion’s cap for the very first time.

With only 23 players cashing, Elizabeth Chen survived the bubble to bank $38,000 in 23^rd place. She was followed into profit by players such as Alex Anton (18^th for $41,000), Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson (16^th for $46,000) and Matthias Eibinger, with the Austrian  Pokercode co-creator winning $51,000 for coming 14^th.

Just outside the final table of eight, Jesse Lonis won $64,000 in 11^th place. The American was followed into the history books by his fellow American Brandon Wilson, who came 10^th for $70,000 before Artur Martirosian won the same amount to bubble the final table, the Russian just  falling short of the lights, camera and heightened action.

When the final table of eight was formed, Davies had the lead courtesy of him eliminating his compatriot Brandon Wilson. Boika was second in chips, however, and just a single big blind behind the leader.

Davies Disappointed to Depart

With eight players left, the Lithuanian poker pro Vladas Tamasauskas was busted for $95,000. He was very unlucky to do so, shoving all-in with two red queens and being in great shape to double through Boika with ace-queen. That was until an ace leapt onto the turn and the Lithuanian couldn’t catch a case queen on the river to survive.

On such strokes of luck are tournaments won and final tables conquered. So it was for Boika, who thrived in his new role as fortunate pacesetter. With Manuel Fritz from Austria busting in seventh place for $130,000, Boika continued to push on and watched on as his closest rival emerged. British high roller regular Philip Sternheimer called with pocket tens when Chinese player Chen Mingcong shoved with ace-king and the Brit won the resultant flip, a jack-high board sending Mingcong home with $175,000.

Seth Davies had started the eight-handed finale as the favorite, not only for his chips but his vast experience of closing out six and seven-figure wins. The only former Triton winner remaining lost with eights to Yu Lei’s aces before his ace-deuce lost another massive chunk of his chips when Nevan Chang’s short-stack shove got there with jack-ten. Suddenly, Davies was down to less than a handful of big blinds himself, and his miserable run ended in fifth for $226,000 when his queen-seven was shot down by Lei’s ten-nine to complete a shocking slide from hero to zero chips.

Boika Binks His First

Four potential debutants battled for glory, and Chang was now the shortie. The Taiwanese player is a veteran of these events and shoved his last into the middle behind pocket sixes. Boika found pocket queens, called and sent Chang to the rail with $282,000 after his glorious run was brought to an anti-climactic halt.

Chinese player Lei was the next to go, cashing for $343,000 in third place. All-in pre-flop with jack-ten, his aggressive three-bet move might have worked nine-handed, but three-handed, Boika was never folding ace-queen and the hand that Doyle Brunson once said cost him the most money in poker paid off for the Belarussian champion-in-waiting.

Heads-up, Boika led with 56 bigs to Sternheimer’s 32, and after half a dozen hands, the needle had barely registered change. Then it nearly popped through the metaphorical glass, as the British player raised with nine-seven of hearts and Boika called with jack-six The flop of 8-5-3 led to two checks but on the turn of a jack of hearts, Boika had top pair and Sternheimer had a combo draw. Boika admitted afterward that he thought he had two pair not one, but it didn’t matter. Sternheimer missed his draws and it was all over, as Boika binked his first Triton title and Sternheimer, crestfallen, missed out again, coming second for $516,000 while the Belarussian claimed $761,000 up top.

The Latest Triton Winner Speaks

“The fields are really tough but that’s what makes it the most interesting tournament in the world.”

After his victory, a clearly delighted Aliaksei Boika spoke to Triton’s Stanley Ma about the latest Jeju event.

“This actually means a lot to me, I’m very happy. This is one of the best achievements that a poker player can do, so I’m speechless.”

Pressed for more on what it meant to him, Boika revealed that he felt he got lucky to beat his more experienced opponent.

“This tournament involved a lot of luck, obviously, with 30-minute levels, but I’m just very happy to be here to be lucky,” he said. “Sometimes it’s better than skill. Philip is a very tough opponent. I’m sure he outplayed me a few times during this final table. But that’s OK. It’s a tough field, and that’s what you expect to happen sometimes.”

Some say that Triton isn’t as difficult to win in as other high roller tours, but the latest series champion confirmed there was no truth in that myth.

“The fields are really tough here. But that’s what makes them the most interesting tournaments in the world right now. I’m very happy to be here and I hope I will be able to continue grinding these tournaments.”