Aleksejs Ponakovs Wins the Triton Main Event at WSOP Paradise

First Triton Victory

The $100,000 buy-in tournament at the 2025 WSOP Paradise attracted 237 entries and one of the strongest fields in the event's history. Among the participants were titled players with multi-million dollar live tournament winnings, including Adrian Mateos, Ike Haxton, Espen Jorstad, Alex Foxen, Sergio Aido, Jason Koon, and David Coleman.

After three days of playing, Aleksejs Ponakovs emerged victorious, earning $4,750,000 in best-cash cash, his first Triton victory, and his third WSOP bracelet.

This tournament was also a special one for Aleksejs from a career perspective. By the time WSOP Paradise started, he had played 103 Triton events, cashed 22 times, finished second twice, and won over $17 million in total. Following Ike Haxton's victory in September, Ponakovs remained the leading "veteran without a title" and a logical candidate for the long-awaited trophy.

Final Table

After the second day of play, the tournament was down to 11 players, and Poankovs held a comfortable chip lead.

A hand against Jesse Lonis before the bubble significantly contributed to his achievement. In a large three-bet pot, Lonis couldn't resist a third barrel on the river with a busted flush draw, and Aleksejs called with the top pair on a three-suited board.

However, in one of the first hands at the final table, Aleksejs surrendered the lead to Pedro Padilha. In a BB pot against a HJ, he built a complex line with a check-call, a donk, and a 150% overbet on the river, but his opponent was prepared and showed a flush against a straight. The game then followed the Latvian player's flute.

In 5-max, Clemens Reuter moved all-in from the small blind with K7s for 7 big blinds, but Aleksejs found AKo in the big blind. Then Ponakovs won a crucial coin flip against Wang Ye, flopping a set of trips against AJo, and then outflopped Manuel Fritz with a classic A5o against AQs.

The heads-up against Padilha was short. It all ended on the fifth hand: Aleksejs limp-called an all-in with 99 for an effective 18 big blinds against the Brazilian's A9o. The pocket pair held, and Poankovs officially became the champion.

$100k Triton Main Event Results:

1. Aleksejs Ponakovs (Latvia) — $4,750,000
2. Pedro Padilha (Brazil) — $3,160,000
3. Manuel Fritz (Austria) — $2,311,000
4. Wang Ye (China) — $1,865,000
5. Clemens Reuter (Austria) — $1,462,000
6. Eelis Pärssinen (Finland) — $1,107,000
7. Wang Yang (China) — $813,000
8. Jean-Noël Thorel (France) — $597,000
9. Adrian Mateos (Spain) — $495,000