Aleksejs Ponakovs Scores $3 Million Win At Triton Montenegro

Aleksejs Ponakovs has finally entered the elite ranks of multi-time Triton champions. The Latvian all-time poker tournament earnings leader defeated a field of 76 entries in the $150,000 no-limit hold’em 10th Anniversary Special event at the 2026 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro festival presented by CoinPoker to earn $3,027,000 and his second trident trophy.

“This is definitely one of the best final tables I’ve played in because we were playing kind of deep and if you want to show your skill level, it’s definitely in a deep structure,” Ponakovs told Triton staff. “I’ve been facing so many good opponents. We’ve been battling for so many years. We had four [main event] watches at the table, which is pretty sick. I was happy to participate in this final table.”

Ponakovs now has more than $44.8 million in career cashes to his name, with over $29.8 million of that coming from Triton events. The 34-year-old professional player from Riga only secured his first win on this tour back in December of 2025, when he took down the Triton-branded $100,000 no-limit hold’em event at the World Series of Poker Paradise stop for a career-best score of $4,750,000. That triumph also came with his third career gold bracelet.

Ponakovs has kept up the momentum after that massive win, cashing for over $7.7 million so far across 12 in-the-money finishes so far in 2026. He has made eight final tables along the way, including this win and a victory in a €25,000 high roller at the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo stop. The 840 Card Player Player of the Year points that came with his win in Montenegro brought his total to 4,640. As a result, he now sits in second place in the POY standings heading into the busy summer months.

Setting The Stage

This event was slated to run over the course of three days inside Maestral Resort Casino, but the schedule was ultimately adjusted to play down to a champion on day 2. The 76-entry turnout created a $11,400,000 prize pool, with the top 13 finishers making the money. Tom Fuchs was knocked out on the bubble early on day 2, with A♣10♠ unable to overcome the Q♥Q♦ of Kiat Lee.

Several superstars then hit the rail during the quick sprint to the final table, with main event winner from this stop Danny Tang (13th – $229,000), Eelis Parssinen (12th – $229,000), the winner of this event at the Jeju stop Paul Phua (11th – $245,000), and recent $200,000 Triton Invitational champion Adrian Mateos (10th – $245,000).

Mateos’ final hand saw A♦J♦ bested by the K♠8♠ of Ponakovs. The K♦10♠3♦ flop hit both players, but the 7♠ turn took away a couple of outs for Mateos. The 9♥ completed the board to send Mateos packing just shy of the final table.

Final Table Gets Underway

Matthias Eibinger held the chip lead going into the final table of nine. Igor Yaroshevskyy was the shortest stack to start, and ended up being the first to hit the rail. He got his last eight big blinds in with A♠Q♠ leading the Q♥8♥ of Jean-Noel Thorel. The K♠10♥4♣ was safe enough for Yaroshevskyy, but the 3♥ turn gave Thorel a flush draw to go with his live pair outs. The 9♥ on the end completed the flush, ending Yaroshevskyy’s tournament in ninth place ($319,000). The Ukrainian now has nearly $14.7 million in recorded scores after this deep run.

The next knockout was a classic race, with 12-time Triton champion Jason Koon’s A♣Q♠ squaring off against 8♦8♣ for Mikalai Vaskaboinikau. The 2024 Triton Montenegro main event winner from Belarus was ahead preflop, but a Q♥7♥4♠4♥K♦ runout gave Koon queens up and the knockout. Vaskaboinikau earned $422,000 as the eighth-place finisher.

Kiat Lee’s final stand saw him get all-in after a flop of Q♥J♥9♣ with 10♠9♠. He was facing the A♥Q♠ of Jonathan Jaffe, who took an even larger lead after the 5♥ rolled off on the turn. The 7♣ on the end officially ended Lee’s tournament in seventh place ($541,000). This was his third final table in a four-day span, having also placed seventh in the $200,000 Triton Invitational ($1,085,000) and ninth in the $100,000 main event ($356,000). With three other cashes at this series as well, his haul in Montenegro currently sits at $2,179,500. The three-time Triton champion now has nearly $26.5 million after this latest cashing spree.

Koon and Punsri Crash, Jaffe Surges

Ponakovs won a crucial all-in during six-handed play, with his overpair of jacks fading straight and flush draws for Eibinger, who four-bet jammed from the cutoff after Ponakovs three-bet his open from the button. Not long after that, Eibinger bounced back when his pocket kings held against the A-K of Koon.

Koon was left with just nine big blinds after the hand, and soon got all-in A♣9♠ leading the A♦7♠ of Jaffe, which was open-shoved from the small blind. After calling from the big blind, Koon fell behind on the K♠7♥4♠ flop. The 10♦ turn left Koon in need of a nine on the end. The J♥ appeared instead and Koon headed to the rail to collect $684,000 for this sixth-place showing. He now has more than $75.5 million in career cashes under his belt, which is currently good for third on poker’s all-time money list.

Jaffe was also involved in the next big clash, with his 9♠9♣ facing A♦K♥ for six-time Triton champion Punnat Punsri. There was an ace in the window to give Punsri hope, but it was followed by a nine. The final board read A♥Q♠9♦Q♣8♣ to give Jaffe nines full and the knockout. Punsri earned $878,000 as the fifth-place finisher. The Thai money leader is now just shy of $37 million in career cashes.

Swings Galore

Jaffe soon plummeted back down the leaderboard as quickly as he climbed it, thanks to two big losses with small pocket pairs. He lost a flip with pocket threes against the K-9 of Thorel to slide a bit, then ran threes into the pocket queens of Ponakovs to drop to the bottom of the counts. Ponakovs overtook the chip lead thanks to that massive clash.

The swinging back and forth continued, though, when Jaffe’s A-9 outran the pocket jacks of Thorel. The French all-time money leader bounced back when his pocket kings held against the A-Q of Eibinger, though, leaving the Austrian on fumes.

Eibinger’s final few blinds were soon in the middle with 9♥5♣ trailing the A♥K♠ of Thorel. The board came down 8♣6♦3♠2♥2♠ and Eibinger was eliminated in fourth place ($1,088,000). The six-time Triton champion increased his career haul to $34.5 million with this showing.

Even with that knockout under his belt, Thorel still found himself as the next on the chopping block. His last hand began with a raise to 400,000 from the button with J♥10♥. Jaffe three-bet jammed for 4,575,000 from the small blind with A♥J♣ and Thorel called for 3,700,000 total. The 8♣6♠4♣2♦5♦ runout kept Jaffe’s hand best, sending Thorel packing in third place ($1,390,000). This payday pushed Thorel’s earnings to nearly $30.2 million.

Heads-Up For The Trident

The final showdown for the trophy began with Jaffe holding 8,425,000 to the 6,775,000 of Ponakovs. The gap between the two expanded early on, with several medium-sized pots going Jaffe’s way.

The tides turned in a hurry when Ponakovs won a hefty pot with queens up. Action began with a raise to 475,000 from the button by Ponakovs, who held Q♥8♦. Jaffe defended A♦2♠ from the big blind and check-called 750,000 on the 8♥5♠2♣ flop. The K♠ turn prompted another check from Jaffe. Ponakovs fired 1,600,000 on the turn and Jaffe check-called the eight big blind wager with his bottom pair, ace kicker. The river brought the Q♦ and Jaffe checked a third time. Ponakovs’ shove for 3,050,000 was eventually called by Jaffe, who was left with just 16 big blinds after the clash.

On the very next hand, Jaffe limped in from the button with K♦6♦ and Ponakovs raised all-in from the big blind with A♠4♥. Jaffe made the call and the flop came down A♥8♥2♦ to give Ponakovs top pair. The 9♦ turn gave Jaffe a flush draw, but the 7♣ river was no help and Jaffe was sent packing in second place ($2,103,000). This was the second-largest score of the World Poker Tour champion and two-time Triton winner’s career.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: Triton Poker.