The victory gives him another $1.1 million to add to his bank
Mikita Badziakouski overcame the 34-player field at the 2024 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju $100,000 buy-in short deck event to take his fifth Triton title and the $1,153,000 first-place prize. The win ties him for second place with Phil Ivey and Danny Tang on the Triton leaderboard.
Five-time champion and ten-time Triton winner Jason Koon is first on the leaderboard and reached the final table at this event, finishing in fifth place for $306,000 and his 46th cash at a Triton tournament.
“Back in Cyprus (in 2022), I got second twice, and I wasn’t really caring about winning another one,” said Badziakouski after the win. “But then I went to London and Monte Carlo and didn’t get close. And by that time I’ve really been wanting to win one. I’m really happy.”
The top six players would cash in the event, as the second day began with ten players remaining. Sam Greenwood, Isaac Haxton, Daniel Dvoress and Kiat Lee finished just outside the money before Xiao Wu was eliminated in sixth for $240,000 and his first Triton tour cash. Koon would leave just before two-time Triton champion Winfred Yu, who finished in fourth place for $391,000.
Sun Ya Qi then pushed all-in with a pocket tens against Badziakouski’s pocket Aces, which held up to send Qi home in third with $510,000 for his efforts.
Badziakouski held about a 3:1 chip lead over Phua to start heads-up play. His A-J suited would hold up against Phua’s A-7 suited on the final hand to secure the pot and the win. Phua took home $800,000 as runner-up, putting his career tournament earnings over the $30 million mark.
