Matthias Eibinger Masters Monte Carlo in $3.4m Triton Poker Series Victory

Beating Adrian Mateos heads-up, Matthias Eibinger from Austria claimed the biggest major title of his glittering poker career in Monte Carlo. The province, home to some of the richest people in the world, saw Eibinger conquer a Triton Poker Series final table that also included players such as legendary All-Time Money List crusher Justin Bonomo, high roller supreme Chris Brewer and Latvia poker professional Aleks Ponakovs.

Haxton Not the Hero This Time

There were 135 entries into the $100,000 buy-in Main Event and that meant 23 players would cash. Scraping into the money was the Brazilian Bruno Volkmann, who cashed for $198,000, as did Dutchman Jans Arends and Christoph Vogelsang. Others to make money but miss out on the final table included Argentina’s Nacho Barbero (19^th for $212,000), American Jason Koon (17^th for $236,000) and Isaac Haxton, who during another stellar year, could only make it to 13^th place for a score of $273,500.

After Canadian player Daniel Dvoress bubbled the final table in 10^th place, wining $329,000 into the bargain, the final nine were formed and the Spanish poker legend and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Mateos looked to have an imperious lead at the top of the counts, bagging up 125 big blinds.

A long way back in real terms, Chris Brewer started in second place with 32 big blinds, with Nick Petrangelo (30BB) and Matthias Eibinger (28BB) shortly behind him. Nick Petrangelo may have begun in third place but turned out to be the first to depart, as his pocket tens weren’t able to hold when pitched against Ken Tong’s ace-queen with all the chips in pre-flop. Petrangelo’s finish in ninth place was worth $391,000.

Justin Bonomo Worries Kenney but Falls Early

Heading towards the business end of the event, one casual observer who might have been starting to sweat was the Long Islander at the top of the All-Time Money List, Bryn Kenney. That’s because he was already out, and if Justin Bonomo could win the event, then he would leapfrog Kenney into the top spot. Bonomo, however, crashed out in eighth place, his score of $491,000 sealed when his ace-five was beaten by the dominating hand of Adrian Mateos’ ace-king.

Out in seventh place was the Latvian poker professional Aleks Ponakovs, who won $668,000 after losing his chips with queen-ten against Chris Brewer’s ace-king. Brewer scored another knockout almost immediately. Calling off Ken Tong’s shove, Brewer flipped over ace-jack and was ahead of Tong’s queen-nine, and it stayed that way as Tong cashed for $902,000 in sixth place.

Fifth place went to the longest-lasting Chinese player, Quan Zhou, who moved all-in when short stacked with jack-five. Adrian Mateos called with pocket tens and held with ease to eliminate Zhou for a score of $1,165,000. Four players remained and Mateos seemed desperate to seal the deal and win the title.

A Deal is Done, Eibinger Binks

With four of the toughest poker players in the game still in with a shout of victory, it was perhaps the most in-form of the four who left next. Chris Brewer has won his first two World Series of Poker bracelets in 2023 and it has been by far the greatest year of his poker career. Another seven-figure score will have been welcome to Brewer, but he’ll have been disappointed to see his ace-nine beaten by Santosh Suvarna’s pocket eights, leaving Brewer to collect $1.45 million.

Suvarna didn’t have long to celebrate, leaving in third place for $1,772,000. An incredible hand saw him all-in with the nut flush draw, but even though he made his flush, it was not to win, as Adrian Mateos made a straight flush to send gasps around the room.

3-Handed on the $125k Main Event Final Table, @Amadi_17 clutches the most important runout of his life! 🤯

Catch more thrilling highlights by following our socials. pic.twitter.com/ig3jfP2T5B

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) October 28, 2023

Heads-up, both Mateos and his opponent Matthias Eibinger were happy to do a deal that allowed them both to celebrate winning at least $3 million. The deal took place after an hour of play when the chips were almost even, and the winning hand came soon after. With the Austrian Eibinger ahead, he got it in with ace-king and Mateos called it off with pocket tens.

It was a big flip, but it didn’t go the Spaniard’s way, with a king on the flop pronouncing the Eibinger the winner. Taking the title and winning the biggest prize of his poker career, Matthias Eibinger celebrated with close friend and fellow Pokercode founder Fedor Holz on the rail (below).

Photography by Joe Giron for Triton Poker Series.