Dimitar Danchev Wins Triton Poker Jeju Mystery Bounty EventBulgarian Poker Pro Overcomes 190-Entry Field In $40,000 Buy-In For His First Triton Title |
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Bulgarian poker pro Dimitar Danchev made the trek to the 2024 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju with more than $7.7 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name, including a World Series of Poker bracelet victory and a European Poker Your main event title. He cashed in four of the first six high-stakes events in South Korea, with his largest score being the most recent. On Monday, Mar. 11, Danchev emerged victorious from a field of 190 entries in the Triton Jeju $40,000 mystery bounty no-limit hold’em event, earning $804,000 from the main prize pool as the champion.
Danchev also took home $540,000 in bounties, bringing his haul for the event to more than $1.3 million. His success so far at the Landing Casino Jeju has seen his career earnings grow to more than $9 million.
“Actually, it’s a little bit about this,” Danchev told Triton reporters while gesturing towards the Triton trophy. “This is very special for me. The bounties, of course, are very important, but I’m kind of more excited to win the trophy.”
This was Danchev’s second title and third final-table finish of the year. The 1,176 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned for this most recent victory have moved him into fourth place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.
The top 31 finishers made the money in this event, with stars of the game like Joseph Cheong (18th), Joao Vieira (14th), Pieter Aerts (13th), Sean Winter (8th), Chris Brewer (6th), Orpen Kisacikoglu (4th), and Alex Kulev (4th) all running deep.
Triton winner and World Poker Tour champion Jonathan Jaffe held the chip lead at the start of three-handed play. He extended that lead even more when his Q-10 held against the J-8 of short-stacked Adrian Mateos. The four-time bracelet winner from Spain was unable to come from behind and was knocked out in third place ($381,000). This deep run came just a couple of days after he took down the $30,000 buy-in event at this series for his first Triton trophy and nearly $1.2 million. Mateos has now cashed for more than $2 million across five final-table finishes so far in 2024. As a result, he has overtaken the top spot on the POY leaderboard with 2,790 points.
Jaffe held nearly a 3:1 chip lead over Danchev when heads-up play began. He was able to double up twice, moving into the chip lead after the second all-in confrontation went in his favor.
In the final hand, Jaffe was at risk with J10 facing the A4 of Danchev. The board ran out A52A3 and Danchev made a wheel to lock up the pot and the title. Jaffe earned $541,000 and 980 POY points as the runner-up. This was his second final-table finish of the year, having placed fifth in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open main event at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood for $173,500 and 600 points back in January. He is now ranked 21st in the POY standings.
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Dimitar Danchev | $804,000 | 1176 |
2 | Jonathan Jaffe | $541,000 | 980 |
3 | Adrian Mateos | $381,000 | 784 |
4 | Alex Kulev | $310,000 | 588 |
5 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | $244,800 | 490 |
6 | Chris Brewer | $186,000 | 392 |
7 | Yulian Bogdanov | $135,800 | 294 |
Photo credits: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.