Ben Tollerene Wins 2022 Triton Mediterranean $30,000 Six-Max Event

The last time Ben Tollerene cashed in a live poker tournament, it came in a win in the £100,000 buy-in event at the 2019 British Poker Open. Just shy of three years after that victory, Tollerene made a triumphant return to the live circuit by winning the 2022 Triton Mediterranean Poker Party $30,000 buy-in six-max no-limit hold’em event. This was the first live poker tournament he had cashed in since his victory in London.

“I’m very tired,” Tollerene told Triton Poker after winning the event. “I was sort of stressed because I haven’t played poker in a while and I was struggling to remember everything.”

It seems for Tollerene, a former fixture at the high-stakes cash game tables online, playing poker with huge sums on the line was just like riding a bike. He was able to overcome the stress he was feeling and close out the win, earning $807,000 for the win. This was the third-largest score of his tournament career, bringing his lifetime earnings to more than $10.3 million.

While this was Tollerene’s first cash of the year, the 1,122 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned as the champion were enough to move him within reach of the top 300 in the 2022 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

The sizable turnout of 123 entries saw the prize pool swell to $3,698,100. Only the top 17 finishers cashed, with recent World Series of Poker Online bracelet winner Pieter Aerts being the last player sent packing outside of the money.

Plenty of big names made deep runs, including Paul Phua (17th(, reigning WSOP main event champion Espen Jorstad (15th), European Poker Tour Sochi main event winner Artur Martirosian (13th), bracelet winner and four-time Triton event champion Jason Koon (12th), and bracelet winner Sam Greenwood (9th).

The second of two days in the event began with the 17 in-the-money finishers returning and Viktor Kudinov in the lead. Kudinov ultimately finished seventh, setting up the official final table of six led by two-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski, who won a race with pocket jacks besting the A-K suited of Kudinov to set the stage.

Ignacio Chavero was the first to fall at the final table. After more than 90 minutes of six-handed action, the Spanish player shoved for a bit shy of five big blinds with K-9 out of the small blind. Dzivielevski called with Q-10 and spiked a ten on the river to make the winning pair. Chavero took home $215,000 for his sixth-place showing.

Two-time bracelet winner Fedor Holz’s stack had dwindled to shy of seven big blinds by the time he took his final stand. He raised the majority of his stack with A-7 from the hijack. Tollerene called with K-Q from the big blind and flopped top pair on a queen-high board. He check-called the remaining couple blinds from Holz. With no help on the turn or river, Holz settled for fifth place. The $272,300 he earned for this latest deep run saw him increase his lifetime live tournament earnings to nearly $35.6 million, good for 12th place on poker’s all-time money list.

Triton first-timer Alex Keating’s run in this event came to an end when he jammed his last handful of big blinds with K-2 suited from the button. Tollerene called all-in for just shy of what Keating had bet with A-10. Tollerene flopped an ace and held from there to leave Keating on fumes. He was sent to the rail moments later, earning $337,500 as the fourth-place finisher. This was his second-largest cash ever. It grew his lifetime total earnings to nearly $2.5 million.

2019 Card Player POY award winner Stephen Chidwick was the next to hit the rail. He defended his big blind with J8 off of a very short stack. He was facing a button min-raise from Dzivielevski, who held A5. The flop came down Q94 and Chidwick moved all-in for a bit shy of four big blinds with his gutshot. Dzivielevski called with ace high and backdoor flush possibilities. The 9 on the turn and 7 on the river changed nothing and Chidwick was eliminated in third place ($408,000). The British tournament star now has more than $44.3 million in lifetime earnings, the fifth-most of any player in poker history.

Chidwick already had the lead in this year’s POY race prior to this deep run. With 6,009 points, five titles, 22 final-table finishes, and $5,886,738 in year-to-date POY earnings, he now has a sizable lead of 1,286 points over the nearest competitor (Chris Brewer – 4,723 points).

Heads-up play was set to begin with Tollerene sitting on 13,600,000 while Dzivielevski had 11,000,000. The pair decided to strike a deal that locked up $749,073 for Dzivielevski and $777,000, leaving the trophy and around $30,000 to play for. Dzivielevski overtook the lead not long after the deal was struck, but Tollerene managed to battle his way back on top in time for the final hand.

Tollerene limped from the button with AQ after the last deal. Dzivielevski checked his option with Q8 and the pair saw a Q62 flop. Dzivielevski checked and Tollerene bet a single big blind with top pair, top kicker. Dzivielevski check-raised, making it 2.5 big blinds to go. Tollerene called and the 8 improved Dzivielevski to two pair. Dzivielevski bet out for three big blinds and Tollerene called. The A on the end gave Tollerene a higher two pair on the end. Dzivielevski moved all-in for just shy of seven big blinds and Tollerene made the call to secure the pot and the title.

This was the second-largest score of Dzivielevski’s live career, trailing only the $895,614 he earned as the runner-up in this year’s WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship. He now has more than $4.8 million in recorded live earnings to his name.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Joe Giron / Triton Poker.

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