Daniel ‘Dan’ Dvoress Seals Golden Decade Success and Completes Triton Trident in Montenegro

Daniel Dvoress has written another chapter in the Triton Poker Series history books, delivering a clinical performance in the $25,000 NLH Golden Decade at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Montenegro .

The victory isn’t just another trophy for the Canadian pro, it represents the completion of the prestigious Triton Trident, a feat achieved by winning titles in No-Limit Hold’em, Short Deck, and Pot-Limit Omaha.

“I’m very proud. It’s great, obviously. It is kind of funny that it took me forever to get my first Triton trophy to begin with, and then they came in short deck, then PLO and then NLH. I’ve generally been a no limit specialist. I’ve not been playing the other two games for very long. So it feels nice to finally get this one.”

Daniel Dvoress Triton Montenegro Victory

For Daniel Dvoress, the win was a long-awaited full circle. Exactly one year ago at this same venue, he finished as the runner-up in the opening event. This year, Dvoress dominated a star-studded field of 146 entries, turning his deep run into a $849,000 payday.

That event last year, I felt like I got a little bit of a tough run of cards relatively speaking. Of course, you have to get such a good run to even get second. But heads-up it was a little bit tough going. But this year it was just the opposite. I was making hand after hand. It was extremely smooth.

The victory moved Dvoress into an elite tier of players who have mastered every major discipline the series has to offer.

Final Table Results

The prize pool reached a massive $3,650,000, with the top payouts distributed as follows:

Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1	Daniel Dvoress	Canada	$849,000
2	Dejan Kaladjurdjevic	Montenegro	$575,000
3	Paul Phua	Malaysia	$384,000
4	Samuel Mullur	Austria	$314,000
5	Biao Ding	China	$252,000
6	Fabian Niederreiter	Germany	$195,000
7	Mikhail Soltanov	Russia	$145,000
8	Danilo Velasevic	Serbia	$106,000
9	Ben Tollerene	USA	$85,000

A Cruel Bubble

The bubble was especially painful for German pro Hannes Jeschka . In a strange twist of luck, Jeschka held ace-nine in two hands in a row. Both times, he was all-in against ace-four.

The first time, the players split the pot. On the very next hand, Jeschka found the exact same cards again. However, this time  Ben Tollerene , who also had ace-four, made a flush to win. This sent Jeschka home as the last player to leave without any prize money.

Golden Decade Final Table Action

The final table action began with the departure of Tollerene in ninth place, earning him $85,000. Although he started the day as the chip leader, his momentum shifted when he lost nearly all of his stack in a major hand against Dejan Kaladjurdjevic . In that clash, Tollerene’s ace-three fell to Kaladjurdjevic’s king-ten after the local player made a tough call on the river. Left with only a tiny fraction of his original stack, Tollerene was forced to move all-in shortly after and was officially knocked out by Paul Phua .

The eliminations continued with Danilo Velasevic , who took eighth place for $106,000. Velasevic played a patient game but eventually found himself in a coin-flip situation when he moved all-in with ace-queen against the pocket eights of Kaladjurdjevic. The dealer offered no help on the board, and the pocket pair held up to send the Serbian pro to the rail. He was followed by Mikhail Soltanov in seventh place, who collected $145,000 in his first-ever Triton event.

Soltanov moved all-in on a low flop with a pair of fours, but he was in deep trouble against Dvoress, who was holding pocket queens. Dvoress had already flopped three of a kind, and Soltanov was unable to improve his hand.

The Mid-Table Clash

Fabian Niederreiter was the next to exit, finishing in sixth place for $195,000. The German newcomer put his final chips in the middle with king-four, but he was dominated by   Biao Ding’s king-queen. A series of hearts on the board gave Ding a flush, ending Niederreiter’s impressive debut.

Soon after, Ding himself was eliminated in fifth place for $252,000. Biao ran into a massive “invisible” hand when Dvoress flopped three of a kind and rivered a full house. Ding, holding a strong pair of kings, called a large bet on the final card only to see that Dvoress had him completely beaten.

The Final Sprint

As the table grew shorter, Samuel Mullur finished in fourth place with a prize of $314,000. Mullur moved all-in with top pair on a queen-high board, but he had been trapped by Kaladjurdjevic, who had flopped two pair with jack-nine. Mullur called a final shove and was sent home when the two pair remained the best hand. Phua then claimed third place for $384,000 after a long battle with a short stack. Phua was actually in the lead with a pair of kings against Kaladjurdjevic’s queen-ten, but a jack on the final card gave Kaladjurdjevic a straight to knock out the Triton founder.

The tournament finally ended with Kaladjurdjevic taking second place for $575,000. The local favorite entered heads-up play against Dvoress, but the match was over in a matter of minutes. In the final hand, Kaladjurdjevic hit two pair on the river and moved all-in, unaware that Dvoress had already turned a straight.

Dvoress called instantly to win the title, leaving Kaladjurdjevic with his second career runner-up finish in Montenegro.

All quotes, images, and figures courtesy of Triton Poker Series.