Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro 2026 is underway at the Maestral Casino & Resort in Pržno, near Budva, and it didn’t take long for a new champion to be crowned. Russia’s Anatoly Zlotnikov has claimed his second title on the Triton Montenegro Super High Roller Series , defeating a 119-entry field to win Event #2: $25,000 NLH 8-Handed and bank $715,000.

#2 $25k -- NLH 8-Handed ($25,000)

Total Prize

$2,975,000

Entries

119

ITM

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$715,000	AZ Anatoly Zlotnikov Russia	3,189.73
2	$486,000	MN Maher Nouira Tunisia	2,255.48
3	$321,000	YZ Yu Zhang China	1,841.59
4	$265,000	CK Curtis Knight Canada	1,594.86
5	$212,500	JK Jason Koon United States of America	1,426.49
6	$166,000	HJ Hannes Jeschka Germany	1,302.20
7	$125,000	MB Mikita Badziakouski Belarus	1,205.60
8	$92,000	EY Ethan Yau United States of America	1,127.74
9	$71,500	AP Aleks Ponakovs Latvia	1,063.24

Check the 20 Payouts & Results ...

From the Bubble to the Top

The $25,000 NLH 8-Handed drew 119 entries (including 36 re-entries) generating a $2,975,000 prize pool, with 20 players making the money. Day 1 ended with the field right on the bubble, bags coming out with an average stack of just 20 blinds. Overnight chip leader Aleks Ponakovs topped the counts ahead of Alejandro Lococo and Mikita Badziakouski .

Triton Montenegro — Stephen Chidwick bubbled the final table

Day 2 was swift. With stacks short and the money already made, players fell quickly. Former Triton champions Punnat Punsri , Danny Tang , and Ben Tollerene were among those who couldn’t navigate the early stages, and Stephen Chidwick ‘s elimination in 10th brought the final table together.

The Final Table

Curtis Knight arrived as the dominant chip leader with 6,870,000 (86 BBs), well clear of Ethan Yau (3,610,000 / 45 BBs) and Zlotnikov (3,390,000 / 42 BBs). Jason Koon was just behind on 3,355,000 (42 BBs), while Hannes Jeschka, Yu Zhang, Badziakouski, Maher Nouira, and Ponakovs rounded out the nine with between 15 and 18 blinds apiece.

The blinds were wound back at the start of the final, giving the shorter stacks some room, but it was Zlotnikov who seized control. While others played cautiously around ICM pressure, the 32-year-old from Moscow was relentlessly active, accumulating through aggression and well-timed bluffs. In one notable hand he shoved the river on a board of five-three-ten-nine-six and made Badziakouski release king-nine, tabling just ace-three.

Ponakovs was first out, his pocket tens losing to Badziakouski’s ace-jack when the jack spiked the river. Zlotnikov continued to gather chips and eventually overtook Knight at the top of the counts. Badziakouski and Jeschka traded short-stack reprieves before both eventually hitting the rail in seventh and sixth respectively.

The pivotal moment of the final came against Yau, the popular YouTube streaming sensation who had been sitting comfortably above average. Yau opened for 13 blinds and called when Zlotnikov ripped in his entire 32-blind stack from the button. Yau’s ace-king was well ahead of Zlotnikov’s ace-four, and only strengthened further on the king-queen-jack flop. The four on the turn gave Zlotnikov slim outs — and the four on the river delivered the miracle, sending Yau out in eighth for $92,000 with Zlotnikov holding just a 5% chance of winning after the flop.

Koon followed in fifth for $212,500, his big blind ace-eight unable to hold against Zlotnikov’s king-ten after pairing the board. Knight went next in fourth ($265,000), his queen-jack running into Zlotnikov’s pocket kings. Yu Zhang departed third ($321,000) when his ace-eight was outflopped by king-ten.

Heads-up, Zlotnikov held a commanding 75-to-20 blind advantage over Nouira. It didn’t last long. Nouira got his chips in with ace-five against Zlotnikov’s ten-nine, but the board ran out five-three-nine-eight-seven to hand Zlotnikov the pot and the title.

“I’m a killer too!” Zlotnikov said when asked how it felt to dismantle a final table packed with Triton heavyweights. “We are all killers. They shoot at me, I shoot at them. Everything was great.”

Anatoly ZlotnikovAnatoly Zlotnikov It was his second Triton title from just 17 series appearances, having previously won a turbo event in Cyprus in 2023. With 12-time champion Koon watching on from the rail, Zlotnikov made his ambitions clear: “12-time Jason Koon, I’m coming for you baby!”