Matthias Eibinger Mounts Big Comeback To Win Triton Monte Carlo Main Event

“It ain’t over til’ it’s over.”

That well-worn platitude rang true down the stretch of the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo $125,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. At one point during heads-up play, Austrian poker pro Matthias Eibinger was behind by more than a 9:1 chip deficit and was at risk with J-7 facing the J-9 suited of his opponent, four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos.

According to Card Player’s Poker Odds Calculator, Eibinger would only win the entire pot 21.58 percent of the time, with another 14.25 percent chance of a chopped pot. That meant that 64.16 percent of the time, Mateos’ would scoop the pot and secure the title. In this particular instance, though, Eibinger flopped a gutshot and turned a nine-high straight to double up to 15 big blinds, giving him some much-needed room to maneuver. Just over an hour later, Eibinger had come back to take the lead and then, after negotiating a deal with Mateos to redistribute the remaining prize money a bit, closed out the title.

Eibinger walked away with $3,461,261 as the champion, the largest score of his career. This was his third Triton title, with nearly $8.5 million in total cashes on the tour. He now has nearly $18.3 million in total tournament earnings.

This was Eibinger’s first title and fifth final-table finish of the year. The 1,320 Card Player Player of the Year points he secured for the win moved him into 64th place in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker. He has accumulated 3,117 total points and more than $5.2 million in to-date POY earnings in 2023.

A total of 135 entries were made in this $125,000 buy-in affair, creating a prize pool of $16,875,000. The top 23 finishers ultimately made the money, with a min-cash being worth $212,000.

The third and final day began with Mateos well out in front of the rest of the remaining nine contenders. Eibinger was effectively tied for fourth chip position when action resumed inside the Salle Des Étoiles at Monte-Carlo Sporting.

Two of the most accomplished tournament players on the planet ended up being the first to fall, with Nick Petrangelo (9th – $391,000) and Justin Bonomo (8th – $491,000) hitting the rail during the early hours of the day. They were soon joined by Aleksejs Ponakovs, whose Q-10 failed to outrun the A-K of Chris Brewer a preflop showdown. Ponakovs earned $668,000 as the seventh-place finisher.

Ken Tong earned $902,000 for his first-ever Triton cash, placing sixth after his Q-9 suited ran into another big ace for Brewer. A jack-high runout saw Brewer earn his second knockout of the day. Just a few hands later, short stack Quan Zhou ran J-5 suited into the pocket tens of Mateos to see his debut run on the tour ended in fifth place ($1,165,000).

The next key clash saw Santhosh Suvarna raise from the button with pocket eights and call when Brewer three-bet shoved with A-9 suited out of the small blind. Suvarna flopped top set and avoided a backdoor straight draw for Brewer to narrow the field to three. Brewer earned $1,450,000 for his fourth-place finish. This was the American poker pro’s 23rd final-table showing of the year, with five titles won and more than $12.6 million in POY earnings accrued along the way. As a result, he has climbed into third place in the rankings heading into the final two months of the year.

Despite busting Brewer, Suvarna was ultimately the next to be knocked out thanks to dramatic hand. He got all-in with top pair and the nut flush draw against the lower pair and open-ended straight flush draw of Mateos, only to see the Spanish poker pro improve to a nine-high straight flush on the end. Suvarna settled for $1,772,000 as the third-place finisher, the largest tournament score yet for the Indian player.

Heads-up play began with Mateos holding 18,575,000 to Eibinger’s 15,175,000. Eibinger was able to overtake the lead in the early going, only to have Mateos surge back into contention with a king-high flush besting queens up. Mateos then overtook the chip lead and extended it to the previously discussed 9:1 advantage before Eibinger began his comeback. After doubling with J-7 over J-9 suited, Eibinger got all-in with pocket sevens against the flush draw and overcard of Mateos and held to close the gap even more.

The two traded the lead a bit more before deciding to strike the heads-up deal which saw Eibinger lock up $3,361,261 while Mateos secured $3,120,739. The final two left the title and $100,000 to play for. Eibinger stretched his lead even further after shaking on that agreement, to the point that he held nearly a 3:1 advantage when the last hand was dealt.

Eibinger limped from the button with AK and Mateos raised out of the big blind with 1010. Eibinger moved all-in and Mateos quickly called. The board ran out K8362 and Eibinger’s kings earned him the pot and the trophy.

Mateos walked away with the prize money he had negotiated for, along with 1,100 POY points for his 15th final-table showing of the year. With two titles, 5,183 total points, and more than $8.1 million in to-date POY earnings, Mateos is now the 13th-ranked player in the POY race.

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

Photo credits: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.

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