“I Was Basically Broke in 2017” — Aleks Ponakovs Wins Triton Montenegro Anniversary Special for $3M

The NLH phase of Triton Montenegro 2026 ended in historic fashion on Sunday night. Aleks Ponakovs has won his second title on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series , taking down the $150,000 10th Anniversary Special for $3,027,000 from an $11,400,000 prize pool.

Final Table Result

Three Times Over $3 Million in a Year

Ponakovs’ win is the latest chapter in one of the most remarkable runs in high-stakes poker. It’s his third score of more than $3 million in barely over a year, following a runner-up finish in the equivalent Anniversary Special event in Jeju last March and victory in the $100K Main Event in the Bahamas last December. His total live earnings now exceed $40 million — a figure so dominant that his closest rival on the Latvian all-time money list has less than a tenth of that total.

The 34-year-old came into the event with a reputation for fearless aggression, but took a different approach at this final. Watching titans like Jason Koon , Punnat Punsri , Matthias Eibinger , and Jonathan Jaffe lock horns with the unpredictable Jean-Noel Thorel , Ponakovs was content to wait, punish missteps, and collect the chips that came loose.

“It worked out,” Ponakovs said. “I wouldn’t say I had many bluffing opportunities. Really just mostly get really big hands when someone put all in before me. I was pretty lucky. Thanks everyone who railed me. It was great.”

The Final Table

The $150,000 buy-in drew 76 entries (including 28 re-entries), with Eibinger leading the field overnight. Around 20 players registered at the start of Day 2, dropping into short stacks and hoping to spin up. The prize pool settled at $11,400,000 with 13 places paid.

Adrian Mateos , the recent Invitational winner, was the final player to miss the final, busting in 10th when his ace-jack ran into Ponakovs’ king-eight. The nine players who remained shared 32 Triton titles between them — four had won a Triton Main Event — and the deep structure gave them room to play proper poker.

Eibinger led with 3,380,000 (113 BBs), Ponakovs second on 2,580,000 (86 BBs), Punsri third with 2,380,000 (79 BBs). Thorel sat on 1,975,000 (66 BBs), Kiat Lee on 1,845,000 (62 BBs), with Jaffe (32 BBs), Koon (28 BBs), Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (24 BBs), and Igor Yaroshevskyy (17 BBs) making up the shorter stacks.

“This is definitely one of the best final tables I’ve played in because we were playing kind of deep,” Ponakovs said. “We had four watches [of Main Event winners] at the table. Pretty sick. I was happy to participate in this final table.”

The table played cautiously for over an hour without an elimination. Yaroshevskyy, the short stack throughout, was first to go — his ace-queen three-bet jam called by Thorel’s queen-eight, which made a flush on the river to end the Ukrainian’s run in ninth for $319,000. Vaskaboinikau, the 2024 Triton Montenegro Main Event champion, went next in eighth when his pocket eights couldn’t hold against Koon’s ace-queen after a queen flopped.

Lee was seventh out after losing a chunk to Eibinger’s straight and then seeing his ten-nine check-raise met by Jaffe’s top pair. Lee flopped a pair and straight draw but couldn’t get there, finishing for $541,000.

The real swing came shortly after a dinner break. Eibinger, who had led for most of the day, shoved over Ponakovs’ three-bet with five-four suited, covering him. Ponakovs snap-called with pocket jacks. The flop brought a straight draw for Eibinger which temporarily made him favourite, but the turn and river kept Ponakovs ahead, sending the Austrian into freefall. Two hands later, Eibinger picked up pocket kings only to see Koon cold four-bet jam with ace-king — Koon couldn’t find the ace, and Eibinger doubled back. But Koon’s recovery was short-lived: his ace-nine went up against Jaffe’s ace-seven in the big blind, a seven on the flop gave Jaffe the lead, and Koon was out in sixth for $684,000.

Punsri then clashed with Jaffe in a flip — ace-king versus pocket nines — and flopped top pair, only for Jaffe to flop a set. The six-time champion fell in fifth for $878,000. Three-handed, the counts were close: Ponakovs (47 BBs), Thorel (40 BBs), Jaffe (35 BBs).

Thorel and Jaffe played a crucial pot when Jaffe jammed ace-jack over Thorel’s button raise, putting the Frenchman’s 29 blinds at risk. Thorel called with jack-ten, saw he was dominated, and couldn’t improve. The beloved 78-year-old skincare mogul and perennial Triton contender left for third with $1,390,000. Eibinger followed in fourth for $1,088,000 when his nine-five couldn’t beat Thorel’s ace-king in his final hand.

Heads Up: Two Masters, Two Hands

Jaffe held an advantage of around ten big-blinds going heads-up. Both players settled into a careful exchange of small pots, neither pulling away. Then it unravelled in two hands.

In the first, both players flopped a pair on an eight-five-two board. Ponakovs bet twice, Jaffe called both times. The queen on the river gave Ponakovs two pair and he moved all-in. Jaffe called with his pair of twos as a bluff-catcher — but it wasn’t a bluff. Ponakovs swung to 60 blinds. On the very next hand, Jaffe limped with king-six and called Ponakovs’ shove. An ace on the flop sealed it.

“I wouldn’t have expected I would be here playing high stakes in 2017, when I was basically almost broke,” Ponakovs said after lifting his second Triton title. “So I’m pretty happy to be here, playing the highest events, with the smartest people in the world.”

Jaffe, who made all the right calls but ran into the wrong hands, collected $2,103,000 for second.

All quotes and images courtesy of Triton Poker Series.