Michael Watson Doubles Up In Montenegro, Wins Seventh Triton Title

For a long stretch of time, the top of the Triton Super High Roller Series record books looked the same. Jason Koon held the all-time record for most Triton wins, with 12, and the chasing pack had no more than five victories on the tour. That all changed back in March, when Punnat Punsri earned his sixth Triton victory, and then Matthias Eibinger repeated the feat two days later in Jeju, South Korea.

In a matter of four days of action at the Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro presented by CoinPoker, Michael Watson passed Punsri and Eibinger to stand alone in second place. Four days after his sixth Triton win, in a $30,000 no-limit hold’em turbo event, Watson took down the $50,000 Quattro Bounty turbo title to push his career total to seven Triton trophies.

“I don’t think Jason is going to feel me breathing down his neck or anything, just quite yet,” told Triton media shortly after his win. “But being second alone is pretty incredible. So I’m really thrilled to have that on my resume right now.”

Watson earned a $621,000 payday, combining a $381,000 first-place prize with four $60,000 bounties. On his way to a seventh Triton win, Watson defeated one of the most stacked final tables in recent tour history, which included Koon, four-time Triton champions Alex Foxen and Artur Martirosian, and previous Triton winners Linus Loeliger and Anatoly Zlotnikov.

Watson’s second win of the Triton Montenegro festival earned him 408 Card Player Player of the Year points. That puts Watson in 30th place overall, with 2,399 total POY points earned across eight qualifying cashes thus far in 2026. The Canadian’s career earnings eclipsed $39 million with this win.

Pressure Creates Diamonds

While the $150,000 Triton Montenegro main event battled towards a final table, this Quattro Bounty turbo event offered considerable intrigue of its own. By the close of registration in this single-day event, 32 entrants had put up the $50,000 buy-in, producing a prize pool of $1.6 million. The money was split in two directions, with $1.12 million going towards the primary prize pool, and $480,000 dedicated to bounties, split into $60,000 per elimination once eight players remained.

Jesse Lonis went from surviving the bubble of the Triton Montenegro main event and earning a min-cash, to going out on the money bubble in this bounty event. On the fateful hand, Lonis’ K♦Q♣ couldn’t connect with the board to surpass Martirosian’s pocket fives, sending Lonis out in seventh place as he and Martirosian held identical stacks to start the hand. Martirosian secured a $60,000 bounty for his efforts.

That left six players looking to add to their lengthy Triton resumes. Martirosian took the chips from that win and surged into the chip lead, only for his fortunes to slip soon thereafter. In the meantime Zlotnikov, at his fourth final table of this Triton Montenegro festival, ran into a nasty cooler for a turbo event. He flopped the low end of a straight with 4♠3♠ on a 7♥6♣5♥ board, and ran head-first into Loeliger’s superior straight with 9♣8♣.

A Collective Rollercoaster

That loss left Zlotnikov with two 5K chips, not even enough to cover a small blind. Watson and Martirosian chased the bounty, and Watson earned the knockout when his A♣9♥ flopped top pair to beat another 4♥3♠ for Zlotnikov. At his fourth Triton Montenegro final table, Zlotnikov walked away with $79,000 and no bounties in his sixth-place finish.

Loeliger surged to the top of the chip counts, and then got the best of Martirosian in a tough spot. Loeliger flopped top pair and an open-ended straight draw with 10♣7♦. He rivered a ten-high straight against Martiroisan, whose pocket aces crumbled in what had already become too big a pot to fold. After a rush to the top of the chip counts, Martirosian was out in fifth place ($161,000).

Koon, still hunting his record-extending 13th Triton title, found a spot he liked four-handed. Action folded around to Loeliger on the button, he limped, and Foxen completed the small blind. Sitting in the big blind with 14 bbs, and pocket sixes, Koon shoved. Loeliger re-shoved, Foxen called, and Loeliger tabled K♣J♥. The K♠ gave Loeliger a pair of kings, and though Koon picked up a gutshot straight draw on the turn to triple his outs, there would be no river magic. At his third final table thus far in Montenegro, Koon settled for fourth place ($128,000).

The Watson Surge

It was Foxen’s turn to push out into the lead in this fast and volatile format, with Loeliger a distant second and Watson on the short stack. But then Watson doubled through Loeliger, with A♣K♦ holding off Loeliger’s A♦4♥. Watson found a moment of good fortune when his pocket queens turned into a rivered club flush. That hand surpassed Foxen’s turned flush with 4♣3♣, earning Watson another double.

Loeliger had his turn to take a bite out of Foxen’s once mighty stack, as his A♠10♦ held off Foxen’s A♦9♣. Watson finished the job, as Foxen’s fall ended with his K♦5♠ failing to find a miracle against Watson’s A♦K♠. Foxen ended up in third place ($168,000), failing to find a bounty.

Watson started his heads-up battle against Loeliger with an advantage of more than 3:1. Just three hands into their match, Watson called Loeliger’s all-in shove. Watson’s A♦10♥ held strong against Loeliger’s K♠5♠, and Watson officially laid claim to Triton title number seven. Loeliger settled for second place ($443,000), almost doubling his total payout thanks to three bounty prizes.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: Triton Poker.