The Norwegian high-stakes regular put on an amazing performance, but this was one of the most one-sided events at this level that we will ever see.
Mokri was a chip magnet for the entirety of the event; including pulling off a two-outer with pocket nines when his opponent’s ace-king flopped trips.
While $7,725,000 is a boat load of money, we suspect that he was just as happy to collect his maiden WSOP bracelet and complete a hat-trick of Triton titles. He also jumped up to 64th on the Hendon Mob all-time money list.
Mokri was as jubilant as you might imagine when the job was done. Speaking to the waiting media, he said:
“I love this format. I think both sides enjoy it a lot. I think the Invitees have a format where they get to talk and play among themselves, and then face stiff competition afterwards.
“It levels the playing field a little bit, which also makes it more fun for them. I think they enjoy both parts.
“If I went back ten years and told myself I would be doing this right now, I would not believe myself. I am very fortunate to be able to compete in these tournaments, and just to be invited is a big honor in itself. I’m thrilled. I’m over the moon.”
Action Recap
As you might expect, this is the largest buy-in event of the WSOP Paradise festival, even monstrous by Triton standards.
The registration ended with a record 133 entries spread across the tables, with 98 unique players: half pros and half invitees. But it was the amateurs who made the most of the opening day, with Kayhan Mokri in second place as the only big name up the top of the counts.
Phil Ivey was on the wrong end of a cooler during the opening levels, a whopping 254 big blinds deep.
Taylor Von Kriegenbergh opened with 2♠2♣ and Ivey went for the call on the button with 10♠8♠. Jonathan Jaffe came back over the top holding Q♣ Q♦ and got two calls.
The flop came down 8♣ 2♥ 10♦ and Jaffe checked. Von Kriegenbergh bet out and Ivey raised with top two. Jaffe didn’t think long before pitching his queens.
On the 6♣ turn Ivey jammed in the rest of his stack and quickly got the bad news. The J♦ river changed nothing and Ivey headed to the rail.
Day 2 saw the action heating up as the money approached and Taylor Von Kriegenbergh wasn’t done with his giant-killing spree. Both Leon Sturm and Alex Kulev fell at the same hurdle when Von Kriegenberg’s A♦ Jâ™ dealt them both a fatal blow.
Out in 24th place, Aleksandr Zubov was the final player to exit without winning a prize, triggering a run of eliminations from the short stacks.
Daniel Negreanu busted in 18th place for $418,000 and before long the final 15 bagged up ready to return for the finale.
Five-time Triton winner Mikita Badziakouski lost his final 16 big blinds in a push to make the final table with a workable stack; yet another victim on Mokri on this day.
As the final nine assembled, there was a noticeable hush around the table in anticipation of the pay jumps about to get more than serious.
And it took more than one hour before we finally saw a player heading for the exit. Poland’s Monika Hrabec was out in ninth, collecting a best score of $771,000.
And just like with any other bubble, when the dam bursts everything changes. As quick as a flash we saw the five eliminations bust out one after another.
Cong Pham was unlucky enough to come up against Mokri when he seemingly couldn’t lose a pot. 9♦ 9♣ against the American’s A♠K♠was a fair match-up that threatened to remove Mokri from the top of the chip counts when the flop and turn came A♣ A♥ 7♥ Q♠.
But when the river was flipped over to reveal the 9♥ the commentators couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Spain’s Sergio Aido was next to fall, picking up the first seven-figure prize of the tournament. And then finance wizard Tyler Stafman, seated next to his pro partner Thomas Boivin, collected $1,780,000 for sixth after clashing with Gabriel Andrade.
Boivin also fell to Andrade only minutes later. The Belgian bagged $2,290,000 for fifth, coming ever so close to winning his first Triton title.
Then it was Mokri’s turn to dish out an elimination when he sent two-time champ Jonathan Jaffe home with $2,860,000.
Three-handed began with Mokri boasting 103 blinds to Andrade’s 58 and Albert Daher’s 39. After the trio returned from break, Andrade immediately set about dismantling Daher while Mokri tried to feed on both of them.
Daher gave up his last few chips with Q♥ 8♣ and was called by Mokri with A♦ K♥ who flopped a king to start the heads-up battle as Daher went to collect his $3,490,000 prize.
It took less than an hour for Mokri to finish the job, flopping bottom two pair on a board his opponent missed completely.
Gabriel Andrade still took home $5,240,000 from his debut Triton event, so he can’t be too upset at having only just missed out on the trophy.
$250,000 Triton Invitational Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | $7,725,000 |
| 2 | Gabriel Andrade | Ecuador | $5,240,000 |
| 3 | Albert Daher | Lebanon | $3,490,000 |
| 4 | Jonathan Jaffe | United States | $2,860,000 |
| 5 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | $2,290,000 |
| 6 | Tyler Stafman | United States | $1,780,000 |
| 7 | Sergio Aido | Spain | $1,320,000 |
| 8 | Cong Pham | United States | $967,000 |
| 9 | Monika Hrabec | Poland | $771,000 |
