The PLO phase of Triton Montenegro 2026 is underway, and it opened with a new name on the trophy. Tobias Schwecht has claimed his first title on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series , overcoming a late challenge from Anatoly Zlotnikov to win Triton Montenegro 2026 Event 13: $30,000 NLH/PLO Mix and bank $465,000 from a $1,590,000 prize pool.

#13 $30k -- PLO/NLH ($30,000)

Total Prize

$1,590,000

Entries

ITM

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$465,000	TS Tobias Schwecht Germany	2,262.10
2	$334,000	AZ Anatoly Zlotnikov Russia	1,599.55
3	$217,000	CP Cong Pham United States of America	1,306.02
4	$164,000	MW Michael Watson Canada	1,131.05
5	$127,000	BT Ben Tollerene United States of America	1,011.64
6	$98,000	AM Artur Martirosyan Russia	923.50
7	$78,000	IH Isaac Haxton United States of America	854.99
8	$61,000	DT Danny Tang Hong Kong	799.77
9	$46,000	RC Robert Cowen United Kingdom	754.03

A Bubble Hand That Changed Everything

The $30,000 NLH/PLO Mix drew 53 entries (including 26 re-entries), with the top nine making the money. For most of Day 1, Tom Vogelsang sat comfortably around the chip lead — until a massive bubble hand changed everything. With 10 players left, Vogelsang opened the button with 94 blinds and ran pocket queens into Schwecht’s pocket aces in a six-bet, 190-blind pot.

The board ran clean and Schwecht suddenly held a 200-blind stack as everyone else slipped into the money. After Vogelsang, Robert Cowen , and Danny Tang were eliminated, a seven-handed final table was set with Schwecht holding an extraordinary chip lead.

The Final Table

Schwecht led with 4,105,000 (205 BBs), Cong Pham second on 2,395,000 (120 BBs), Zlotnikov third on 1,910,000 (96 BBs). Ben Tollerene had 835,000 (42 BBs), Artur Martirosian 720,000 (36 BBs), Mike Watson 385,000 (19 BBs), and Isaac Haxton 250,000 (13 BBs).

Haxton doubled early but eventually lost a PLO pot to Schwecht when his king-king-queen-jack ran into Schwecht’s nut-low draw that connected — seventh place, $78,000. Martirosian blinded down to seven blinds before committing with ace-jack, running into Cong Pham’s pocket kings which flopped a set — sixth place, $98,000.

Tollerene doubled through Zlotnikov before running into him again in PLO; his two-pair-plus-flush-draw on a queen-ace-three flop ran into top set with the nut-flush draw covered, and the flush completed on the turn — fifth place, $127,000. Watson, a two-time winner already this week in Montenegro, got his last chips in with ace-ace-nine-nine only to find Zlotnikov flopped a set of deuces — fourth place, $164,000.

Zlotnikov Surges — Then Schwecht Fights Back

Zlotnikov had done the seemingly impossible heading into three-handed play, having overhauled Schwecht’s enormous lead — a two-outer with pocket sevens against Schwecht’s eights had sparked the comeback and he never looked back. Cong Pham exited third ($217,000) when his PLO flush lost to Zlotnikov’s bigger flush in spades, leaving Zlotnikov heads-up with a 79-to-54 blind advantage.

Schwecht refused to let the deficit define him. He immediately three-bet jammed ace-four to fold out Zlotnikov’s ace-ten, then won the first significant pot with pocket aces on an eight-two-two-four board, jamming the turn with Zlotnikov drawing dead. The chip lead swung back to Schwecht and never left. The final hand was another PLO flush-over-flush — Schwecht’s queen-high flush beating Zlotnikov’s, ending it in rapid fashion.

“I feel like I was close to a trophy a few times,” Schwecht said. “You never know whether you will even get the opportunity again. So when I came here with a big stack, I had a lot of pressure there to bring it home, so I’m really glad that I ended up doing that.”

For Zlotnikov, a fifth final table of a remarkable Triton Montenegro trip — on top of his Event 2 title — earned $334,000 for second.

All quotes and images courtesy of Triton Poker Series.