Ramin Hajiyev not only smashed through the $10million career milestone last night but also surpassed the $11million mark with a smooth takedown of event #5 on the Triton Jeju schedule.
The Azerbaijani number one (by a country mile) was among the 252 entries to the $30k buy-in NLH tournament. That meant a $7,560,000 prizepool and the top 39 would cash for at least $52k. And for those wondering, event #4 (and table #4/seat #4, etc.) never exists on the Triton Poker tour as the number is considered unlucky in most of far east Asia.
The $52,000 Bubble
The first port of call in a quick day one of 30minute levels was the money bubble and it was Diogo Coelho who would leave empty-handed…
Diogo Coelho: K♣ K♠
Sam Greenwood: A♥ Q♥
Flop: 8♦ A♠ 2♠
Turn: Q♠
River: J♥
Coelho missed his river outs and the rest of the field could breathe a little easier. There was still plenty of play before the final table and some huge names fell along the way:
- Isaac Haxton (30th for $59,000)
- Alex Foxen (23rd for $66,500)
- Nacho Barbero (19th for $81,500)
- Artur Martirosian (11th for $133,000)
Wilson KO’s Poseidon!
It was the wonderfully named Taiwanese player Poseidon Ho who bust on the final table bubble, in a hand he would have hoped to triple -up from. He was joined (or preceded, officially) by Artur Martirosian after a three-way all-in. Wilson open-shoved pre and both the Russian and the Taiwanese players saw no reason not to call with their sub-10BB stacks…
Poseidon Ho: A♣ K♥
Brandon Wilson: K♦ 9♦
Artur Martirosian: A♥ J♣
Each street saw a different player in the lead…
Flop: 4♠ 4♦ Q♠
Turn: J♦
River: 5♦
…but it was Wilson with the double KO and double-up by the end of the drama.
The Road to Heads-Up Play
China’s Mao Renji had the chip lead at the final table but nobody could feel very secure as the blinds rose inexorably. Peters fell quickly to Balaev, his pocket 6s finding no help against pocket 8s and he was followed to the rail by Aussie crusher Kahle Burns who got it in good against Hajiyev but couldn’t hold.
Winfred Yu’s pocket 10s were too good for Brandon Wilson’s Q♥ J♥ and then Greenwood’s title hopes were dashed by Renji smashing the flop and turn.
Renji also took out online beast Manuel Fritz in 5th which secured the remaining quartet at least $595,000, that cash taken by Yu for 4th as Hajiyev turned up the heat…
Mao Renji: A♦ 7♥
Ramin Hajiyev: A♠ 9♣
Flop: 5♦ 7♣ 9♦
Turn: 3♠
River: 10♠
Hajiyev Unstoppable
A monster $737,000 payday for Renji and it wouldn’t be long until Hajiyev was last man standing…
Viacheslav Balaev: J♦ 2♣
Ramin Hajiyev: 8♥ 6♥
Flop: 2♥ 4♣ Q♥
Turn: 8♣
River: A♥
Event #5 $30,000 NLH 8-Handed
Final Table results
| 1 | Ramin Hajiyev | Azerbaijan | $1,517,000 |
| 2 | Viacheslav Balaev | Russia | $1,008,000 |
| 3 | Mao Renji | China | $737,000 |
| 4 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | $595,000 |
| 5 | Manuel Fritz | Austria | $467,000 |
| 6 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $353,500 |
| 7 | Brandon Wilson | USA | $259,000 |
| 8 | Kahle Burns | Australia | $190,000 |
| 9 | David Peters | USA | $159,000 |
The Winner’s Interview
“From 70 players left I can’t say I knew I was going to win but I felt pretty good” Hajiyev said afterwards, adding:
“This one went pretty well…I’m running good.”
The Azerbaijani pro’s second Triton title gave him a place among the highstakes series multiple champions portraits. Hajiyev announced: “I’m honoured to be on that wall. They are fantastic players.”
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