France’s Gregoire Auzoux Wins First Triton Trophy in Triton Poker SHRS Cyprus Event #5: $40K NLH 8-Handed ($1.05 Million), India’s Santhosh Suvarna Finishes 4th

The 2023 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Northern Cyprus saw the conclusion of Event #5: $40,000 NLH 8-Handed on May 14. France’s Gregoire Auzoux (cover left) demonstrated exceptional skill, managing to outclass a field of 125 players (including 42 re-entries). In the end, Auzoux and Germany’s Robert Heidorn struck a heads-up deal, with Auzoux lifting his career-first Triton Poker trophy.

The 39-year-old Auzoux showed remarkable grit throughout the tournament, making a spectacular comeback and pocketing a career-best prize of $1,050,024. Heidorn, on the other hand, ended up with a slightly better $1,057,976 in second place.

Auzoux’s journey to victory was marked by a series of remarkable eliminations, including notable players like the all-time money list topper Justin Bonomo and Event #1: $25K NLH GG Super Millions Live champion, India’s Santhosh Suvarna (cover right).

Talking about his run, Auzoux said, “My strategy was easy. I was such a short stack when we started. I just played my cards and then quadrupled up in four hands, and then just tightened up. I climbed the ladder and tried to go to the end. Actually, it was a pretty smooth journey. I got lucky when I needed and I got some good cards. I ran like crazy, so it’s thanks to the cards mostly.”

He added, “When I started playing poker, these stakes didn’t exist. It means a lot. Winning a title is very, very important. It’s pretty insane, actually.”

Dubai-based Santhosh Suvarna has been a consistent presence at super high roller tournaments and has been vocal about his preference for playing Triton tournament. He landed a dream title victory in the series-opener Event #1, and making his second final table appearance at the series (his fourth overall), the former poker room operator pocketed $457,500 in fourth place.

Only the final 42 players returned on Day 2, and 17 were assured at least $78,500 from the $5 Million prize pool.

Teun Mulder, Henrik Hecklen, Fedor Holz, and Patrik Antonius were among those who busted empty-handed.

The bubble burst on Maher Nouira after his pocket eights were cracked by Tom Dwan’s ace-jack suited that rivered a flush.

Some of the notable players who made a run in money include Canada’s Andrew Chen (17th for $78,500), UK’s Ian Bradley (16th for $78,500), Canada’s Timothy Adams (15th for $82,500), Australia’s Michael Addamo (14th for $82,500), and Hong Kong’s Danny Tang (13th for $90,000).

The Netherlands’ Kevin Paque, Netherlands (10th for $102,500) bubbled the final table.

You can watch the replay of the Day 2 live stream on a 30-minute delay below.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Justin Bonomo – 59 BBs
2. Tom Dwan – 48 BBs
3. Artem Vezhenkov – 48 BBs
4. Robert Heidorn – 29 BBs
5. Santhosh Suvarna – 22 BBs
6. Daniel Dvoress – 18 BBs
7. Gregoire Auzoux – 12 BBs
8. Florencio Campomanes – 11 BBs
9. Samuel Ju – 6 BBs

Final Table Recap

Early into the final table play, short stacks Samuel Ju and Florencio Campomanes‘s fell out quickly.

The other short stack, Gregoire Auzoux, doubled up twice to keep himself afloat.

Surprisingly Tom Dwan landed on the rail next, with Justin Bonomo`s pocket queens busting his king-queen.

Auzoux then dispatched Artem Vezhenkov in sixth place, followed by Daniel Dvoress, who was shown the door by India’s Santhosh Suvarna, the latter`s cowboys getting the better of the Canadian poker superstar’s pocket nines.

Despite the knockout, Santhosh Suvarna couldn’t keep his sails high much longer and was relegated to the rail in fourth place. The Event #1 champion had carried a short stack to the final table but painstakingly worked himself up the ranks. Suvarna then suffered a bad beat at the hands of Robert Heidorn. All the chips went in pre-flop, Suvarna with pocket jacks and Heidorn who called with ace-ten. Suvarna was ahead, but the board forfeited his pair, and Heidorn`s ace-high won him the pot, delivering a severe blow to Suvarna.

Shortly after that blow, Suvarna busted in fourth place in a hand against Justin Bonomo, his pocket eights bettered by Bonomo`s ace-king that improved on the rundown.

The three remaining players exchanged the chip lead before Auzoux eliminated Justin Bonomo after winning two back-to-back hands against the latter. Bonomo took home a third-place payout after his seven-ten was dominated by Auzoux’s nine-seven that flopped top pair.

The heads-up between Auzoux and Robert Heidorn was a short affair and began with Auzoux holding 16 Million to Heidorn’s 9 Million. After playing a few hands, the duo agreed on a split, each player locking in seven figures. Auzoux was assured $1,010,024 and Heidorn $1,057,976, but they continued playing for the title and the $40,000 left in play.

It ended quickly in a hand where both players were all-in, Auzoux with to Heidorn’s . Auzoux spiked a deuce-pair on the board to win the tournament.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Gregoire Auzoux – $1,050,024*
2. Robert Heidorn – $1,057,976*
3. Justin Bonomo – $552,500
4. Santhosh Suvarna – $457,500
5. Daniel Dvoress – $369,000
6. Artem Vezhenkov – $291,000
7. Tom Dwan – $222,500
8. Florencio Campomanes – $167,500
9. Samuel Ju – $125,000

*denotes a heads-up deal

Content & Images Courtesy: Triton Poker

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