Benedek Farkas Overcomes 12-to-1 Heads-Up Deficit to Win $572,000 at Triton ONE North Cyprus
The Triton ONE North Cyprus 2026 festival continued on Wednesday, November 11, with two more champions crowned at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel in North Cyprus.
Hungary's Benedek Farkas claimed the biggest prize of the day, winning the USD 10,000 buy-in NLH 7-Handed for USD 572,000 after overturning a 12-to-1 heads-up chip deficit. Russia's Nikolai Kanunikov also secured his first Triton ONE title, taking down the USD 6,000 buy-in PLO 6-Handed for USD 178,000.
Meanwhile, the USD 8,000 buy-in Main Event added another 363 entries in Day 1B, bringing the field to 629 across the opening two flights. Jingyao Yan, fresh from his Big Bounty victory earlier in the festival, led the latest group of survivors.
Benedek Farkas Completes Epic Heads-Up Comeback
At one stage during heads-up play, Benedek Farkas was facing a 12-to-1 chip deficit against Russia's Dmitrii Kukhtarev. By the end of the match, the 22-year-old Hungarian had completed the comeback and secured his first major tournament title.
Farkas won Event #9, the USD 10,000 NLH 7-Handed, which attracted 324 entries, including 101 re-entries, and generated a USD 2,945,484 prize pool.
Kukhtarev had dominated much of the tournament, returning for Wednesday's final seven with 28,600,000 chips, representing approximately 40% of the chips in play.
He maintained that advantage as the field narrowed, while Farkas worked his way through the final table. However, the balance changed once the pair reached heads-up play.
Farkas survived the early exchanges, doubled through Kukhtarev and gradually closed the gap before moving ahead to secure the title.
Speaking afterward, Farkas credited both his preparation and some good fortune during the comeback.
"It was a battle. He played well," Farkas said afterward, adding that Kukhtarev had run poorly during heads-up play.
He also spoke about the importance of working with other players, having begun taking poker seriously only two years earlier. Farkas credited his friends and study partners with helping him develop his game.
The USD 572,000 first-place prize was roughly ten times his previous biggest live tournament cash.
Kukhtarev collected USD 362,000 as runner-up, while fellow Russian Igor Provkin finished third for USD 261,484. China's Yu Zhang placed fourth for USD 211,000.
French player Cedric Schwaederle followed in fifth, with Lyudmil Ivanov and Singapore's Jun Hao Wu completing the final seven.
USD 10,000 NLH 7-Handed Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hungary | $572,000 | |
2 | Dmitrii Kukhtarev | $362,000 | |
3 | Igor Provkin | $261,484 | |
4 | $211,000 | ||
5 | $168,000 | ||
6 | $128,000 | ||
7 | $96,000 |
Nikolai Kanunikov Wins PLO Title on Triton ONE Debut
Russia's Nikolai Kanunikov made his Triton ONE debut a successful one, winning Event #13, the USD 6,000 buy-in PLO 6-Handed, for USD 178,000.
The tournament attracted 138 entries, including 54 re-entries, and generated a USD 766,590 prize pool.
Kanunikov entered the final day with the chip lead and went on to defeat Uzbekistan's Artur Teshaev heads-up. Teshaev collected USD 120,000 for second place after reaching his first Triton ONE final table.
The tournament had several established players in contention, including Danny Tang, Nacho Barbero and Quan Zhou.
France's Julien Sitbon was also involved in one of the more memorable moments of the final table when he hit a one-outer to make four of a kind and survive an all-in.
Despite that escape, Sitbon eventually finished third for USD 80,500, exiting in the same hand as fourth-place finisher Zhou, who earned USD 66,090.
Those eliminations left Kanunikov with a sizeable lead over Teshaev, and the Russian closed out the tournament to secure his first Triton title.
Finland's Tommi Lankinen finished fifth for USD 53,000, while Barbero took sixth for USD 41,000. Russia's Said Butba completed the seven paid places.
USD 6,000 PLO 6-Handed Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nikolai Kanunikov | $178,000 | |
2 | Uzbekistan | $120,000 | |
3 | $80,500 | ||
4 | $66,090 | ||
5 | Finland | $53,000 | |
6 | Argentina | $41,000 | |
7 | Said Butba | $30,500 |
Jingyao Yan Leads Main Event Day 1B as Field Reaches 629 Entries
The USD 8,000 buy-in Triton ONE Main Event continued with Day 1B on Wednesday, attracting 363 entries and taking the total to 629 across the opening two flights.
A further 73 players advanced from the second flight, joining the 47 survivors from Tuesday's Day 1A.
China's Jingyao Yan finished Day 1B with 4,130,000 chips, having built his stack during the latter stages of the flight.
Yan had already claimed the USD 4,000 buy-in Big Bounty title on November 8, earning USD 51,000 including bounties, and is now in a strong position for another deep run.
Turkey's Kursad Bayrakci finished second in the flight with 3,300,000, while five-time Triton champion Mikita Badziakouski advanced with 2,965,000.
Spain's Rafael Navas followed with 2,900,000, just ahead of Dimitar Danchev on 2,815,000.
Brazil's Marcelo Aziz also secured a top-ten stack, while USA's Terrance Reid and Ihar Soika of Belarus advanced with just over two million chips each.
Triton ONE Main Event Day 1B Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4,130,000 | 103 | ||
2 | Kursad Bayrakci | 3,300,000 | 83 | |
3 | 2,965,000 | 74 | ||
4 | 2,900,000 | 73 | ||
5 | 2,815,000 | 70 | ||
6 | 2,585,000 | 65 | ||
7 | Eero Abbey | 2,565,000 | 64 | |
8 | Andreas Christoforou | 2,155,000 | 54 | |
9 | 2,035,000 | 51 | ||
10 | 2,025,000 | 51 |
The current combined prize pool is approximately USD 4.57 million, with the final amount to be determined after registration closes.
Day 1C begins at noon local time on Thursday. Players advancing from all three flights will return for Day 2 on Friday, November 13, ahead of the November 15 finale.
USD 3,000 NLH QUEST Introduces Cashout Format
Wednesday also saw the start of Event #18, the USD 3,000 buy-in NLH 8-Handed QUEST, which uses a different qualifying structure from a traditional multi-day tournament.
Players begin with 150,000 chips and must accumulate at least 1,000,000 to qualify for the final day.
Rather than playing until a fixed level or percentage of the field remains, players reaching the qualifying threshold can secure their place in Thursday's final.
The tournament had attracted 42 entries at the time of the initial update, although that figure was not the final attendance. Players who reached the qualifying threshold return on Thursday to compete for the title.
Thursday, November 12 Schedule
The final starting flight of the USD 8,000 Main Event headlines Thursday's action, alongside the NLH QUEST final and two additional tournaments.
Time (Local) | Event | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|
11:00 AM | NLH 8-Handed QUEST Final | $3,000 |
12:00 PM | Triton ONE Main Event Day 1C | $8,000 |
1:00 PM | One Day NLH 7-Handed | $5,000 |
10:00 PM | One Night PLO Turbo Bounty Quattro | $2,000 |
The Triton ONE festival continues until November 15, with the USD 15,000 High Roller also scheduled for the closing weekend.
The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series follows at the same venue from November 15–30.
For more tournament results and the remaining schedule, visit the Triton ONE North Cyprus 2026 festival page.
All images courtesy of the Triton Poker Series and Merit Poker.
About the Editor
Tim Baker is a UK-born Live Poker Reporter based in Indonesia, covering major poker tournaments across Asia and around the world since 2023. With nearly two decades of experience around live and online poker, he brings deep knowledge of the game and the international poker scene to his tournament coverage.
