'Happy to come out on top' – Pieter Aerts triumphs in Triton $100K

Wednesday in Monte Carlo saw the conclusion of the first of the six-figure buy-in tournaments as Event #6: $100,000 NLH played down to a winner. The nosebleed stakes event drew a field of 131 entries (85 unique) to generate a prize pool of $13,100,000 with 23 players paid and $3,046,000 for the eventual winner. With the jump into six-figure buy-in territory, two of the game's greats – Phil Ivey and Fedor Holz – made their first appearances in Monte Carlo.

Following Day 1 play, 52 hopefuls returned to the tournament area to fight their way down to the final table. After a sixth-place finish in Event #5: $50,000 NLH, Kiat Lee took a decent chip lead into the final frame of play, but Michael Soyza and Pieter Aerts weren't far off. Notably, Lee started the final table as the only player without a Triton title on his resume. 

Holz's first foray into the Triton streets in Monte Carlo proved a profitable one as he reached the final table sitting fourth place in the chip counts just above Andy Ni. Both Steve O'Dwyer and Mario Mosbock had room to maneuver, but Roland Rokita and Christoph Vogelsang both sat squarely in the danger zone. 

Kiat Lee held the chip lead to start the final table of Event #6: $100,000 NLH.

Ni goes down swinging, Vogelsang and Rokita follow

It took only four hands for the first elimination to come. When the action folded around to him, Ni raised from the small blind with , likely expecting a fold from his opponent in the big blind. Instead, Soyza looked down at and put in a three-bet. Ni responded by moving all-in over the top and Soyza called it off. With more than 60 big blinds in the middle, Ni was in desperate need of improvement. The runout provided no such assistance, however, and in shockingly swift fashion Ni's day ended in a ninth-place finish while Soyza took control of the chip lead. 

Vogelsang, having earned a pay jump despite starting the final table as the shortest stack, committed most of his final five big blinds with from under the gun. Mosbock found behind and made the call while the rest of the table folded. On the flop, the rest of the chips – or one chip, in this instance – went in the middle and Vogelsang was in need of an ace. The turn provided a few additional outs, but the river confirmed his elimination in eighth place. 

Rokita bowed out next after running into a domination situation when he moved all-in with and Soyza called behind with . With only a narrow path to victory, Rokita found no added equity on the flop. The turn left him pulling at just three outs with one card to come and the river improved only his opponent's holding to end his day in a seventh-place finish. 

Lee and O'Dwyer bow out

Lee's hopes of earning his first Triton title evaporated in a confrontation with O'Dwyer that sent him to the payout desk in sixth place. With , Lee committed the majority of his chips before O'Dwyer moved all-in over the top with . Lee called it off but failed to improve on the runout. 

Despite the infusion of chips from eliminating Lee, O'Dwyer was next on the chopping block after losing a key pot against Aerts. Facing an open from O'Dwyer on the button, Aerts opted to move all-in with from the small blind. O'Dwyer, with , called quickly and the cards hit their backs. As the covered stack, Aerts needed to improve to stay alive and improve he did on the flop. The turn brought in some chop outs for O'Dwyer, but the confirmed the beat, and his stack was reduced to crumbs. A few hands later, O'Dwyer's run came to an end. 

Steve O'Dwyer (left) and Pieter Aerts (right) react to the flop in a key all-in confrontation.

Four-handed deal

Following O'Dwyer's elimination, the four remaining players took a break to discuss a potential final table deal. After nearly fifteen minutes of deliberation, the players agreed to set aside $310,000 from the remaining prize pool as a winner-take-all incentive and split the rest of the cash according to the ICM value of each of their stacks. 

Mosbock was the first to hit the rail after the deal-making concluded. In a blind versus blind confrontation with Holz, Mosbock rivered trips and quickly called when his opponent moved all in. 

Mosbock:
Holz:
Board:

While both players improved on the river, Holz's hand was best and Mosbock hit the payout desk to collect his adjusted prize money. 

After an unsuccessful bluff attempt against Aerts, Holz slipped into the danger zone and found himself in need of a double-up. Thus, when Aerts opened from the button and Holz looked down at in the small blind, it was time to get busy. Holz moved all in over the top but ran into it as Soyza woke up with in the big blind and made the call. The flop provided hope for Holz, and the brought in added chop equity, but the river confirmed his elimination in third place. 

Fedor Holz was in good spirits despite facing almost-certain elimination.

Soyza vs. Aerts

The heads-up battle between Soyza and Aerts lasted nearly two full hours as the chip lead swung back and forth between the two players more than once. Each took turns attempting to eliminate the other in all-in confrontations, but neither could finish the job. 

Eventually, the final clash came as Aerts, with the chip lead, limped from the button with . Soyza, with a little more than ten big blinds, moved all-in over the top with and Aerts quickly called. For Soyza, a three-outer was needed, while Aerts simply needed to fade his opponent's outs to claim victory. With the title on the line, the board ran out to keep Aerts' ace-high holding best and leave Soyza as the runner-up finisher. 

Event #5: $100,000 NLH final table results

*denotes ICM deal

^{Images Courtesy of Triton Poker}