Matthias Eibinger Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Triton PLO Victory

A glittering final table full of poker stars ended with Austrian player Matthias Eibinger holding a gold WSOP bracelet this week in The Bahamas. Beating Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson heads-up, both Eibinger and his Canadian counterpart agreed to an almost exact chop heads-up in a move that shocked some observers. Others to cash the final table included Dylan Weisman and Stephen Chidwick, who closed the distance between himself and Bryn Kenney at the top of The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List.

Another Huge Triton Poker Series

The $75,000-entry PLO WSOP bracelet event formed part of the many Triton Poker events that are taking place at Atlantis Resort this December. The Bahamas welcomes thousands of players to its tropical beaches and sun-kissed sand this time of year and poker players love to play in the 15 WSOP bracelet events taking place. Even better? Winning six-figure sums of money to take home.

Event #2 on the WSOP Paradise ticket featured 93 total entries, producing a $6.97m prize pool with just 15 players cashing in the event. Players who reached the money places included Stephen Chidwick, who gained ground on Bryn Kenney in the race to top The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List. With both men over $70m in live cashes, the de facto sprint to reaching $100m in winnings might become a two-horse race if both men continue to dominate the high rollers in the manner they currently are.

This time, it was Bryn Kenney to lost ground, as Chidwick, who started the event just $4m behind Kenney, outlasted his Long Island opponent to come fifth for $526,500 after exits for Ben Lamb in seventh place for $324,000. Soon, the field fell again, as Biao Ding busted with kings in the hole against Eibinger’s straight, claiming $412,000. Chidwick, who started the final table as the chip leader of 12 players, fell when his pocket nines along with a jack and a deuce were outrun by Eibinger’s A-K-8-7, The Austrian hit two pair and was top of the final four.

The Done Deal

After Richard Gryko busted in fourth place for $655,500, Dylan Weisman went out in third place for $809,000. Weisman led the trio with A-Q-Q-5 and was all-in and ahead of Watson’s A-K-J-3, but while a flop of 9-8-2 was safe enough as it came a five, a king on the river decimated Weisman’s stack, and eventually led to his departure.

Heads-up, it being a WSOP event, no deals would be expected to have been carried out. But in a break from tradition, Eibinger and Watson were permitted to deal for almost an exact chop, with the stacks close and the payouts almost identical. In Las Vegas last summer, both players who made the heads-up in the WSOP Millionaire Maker event – Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll – were denied the bracelet and rumors persist that they are both now banned from WSOP events as a result.

The WSOP’s statement at the time seemed unequivocal.

“We have concluded that in order to uphold the integrity of the game and to uphold our official WSOP Tournament Rules, no winner will be recognized, and no bracelet will be awarded for this year’s tournament. The remaining prize pool will be split between the final two players.”

This time, however, a deal was permitted.

Eibinger Celebrates Landmark Victory

“It just makes me hungry for more.”

Eibinger debut bracelet win was to his delight and also marks his fifth Triton Poker title, the first he’s won since 2022. Beating Watson heads-up with a straight, he took home $1,570,640 while Watson claimed $1,459,360 as runner-up. Winning the biggest piece of the $6,975,000 prize pool at Atlantis Resort, the Austrian was overjoyed with his victory.

“Yesterday, it started really badly,” said Eibinger. “Three bullets within one hour. But from there, everything worked out. I ended the day as chip leader, and now it ended like this. I can’t believe it.”

Eibinger said that the win would ‘keep me motivated to hunt those titles’ in an interview with PokerNews. He called the victory very special.

“It just makes me hungry for more. It’s going to be a bit tough because I’m not playing a full schedule in Las Vegas during the summer, so I only get some shots in the few high rollers that I play each year. I’m super happy that it worked out. I win one tournament and now I have the WSOP title and another Triton title, which is really important to me.”