Rising Superstar Chris Nguyen Wins Triton Montenegro $50K for First Triton Title and $1.5 Million

Rising Superstar Chris Nguyen Wins Triton Montenegro $50K for First Triton Title and $1.5 Million

Germany's Chris Nguyen, 26, captured his first Triton Series title on May 18, winning Event #6 of the Triton Super High Roller Series (SHRS) Montenegro: the $50,000 NLH 8-Handed. Held at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Budva, the event drew 132 entries and built a $6,600,000 prize pool. Nguyen took out four of his eight opponents at the final table on his way to the trophy and the $1,535,000 top prize. Triton's official channels dubbed him a "rising superstar."

A 26-Year-Old Newcomer's Maiden Triton Title and Fifth Seven-Figure Score in 18 Months

Nguyen is a former online cash game pro who only transitioned to live tournaments roughly two years ago. Yet in just 18 months, he has racked up five seven-figure cashes — and now a first Triton trophy. While this is his maiden Triton title, the tour's official channels were already describing him as "a fully formed superstar with the potential to become an all-timer." Speaking after the win, Nguyen kept it brief: he said he was very happy, called it one of the toughest fields, and noted that all Triton tournaments are difficult.

Final Table Demolition: Four Direct Knockouts

Nguyen reached the final table with a mid-sized stack but seized momentum quickly. His first victim was 9th-place finisher Joao Simao of Brazil, whose pocket jacks ran into Nguyen's pocket queens. Two hands later, eighth-place Jason Koon of the United States — a five-time Triton champion — open-shoved K-J only to find Nguyen's A-7 of hearts in the big blind, with Nguyen completing a flush to send Koon out. The very next hand, seventh-place Patrik Antonius of Finland committed his 14 big blinds with A-9, but ran into Nguyen's A-Q. A queen on the flop and another on the river gave Nguyen trip queens, knocking out one of poker's living legends and another Triton heavyweight in back-to-back hands.

Daniil Kiselev exited fourth ($568,000) when his K-J turned middle pair against Nguyen's A-6, only for Nguyen to river a second pair for a winning two pair. Third-place Daniel Rezaei of Austria found K-10 — the same hand that had just doubled Kristen Foxen through Nguyen — but this time Nguyen's pocket sevens held against the king-ten on a missed board.

Heads-Up: Four Hands and Done

Nguyen entered heads-up play with 51 big blinds to Foxen's 15. Four hands in, Nguyen open-shoved with 9-7 from the small blind, and Foxen called all-in with the dominating K-J. But the runout completed a straight for Nguyen, ending the match. Foxen took $1,039,000 for second place, her second deep final-table cash of the Triton season.

Reshaping the Ivan Leow POY Race

Nguyen's win adds yet another contender to the 10th-anniversary Ivan Leow Player of the Year race. Early-season leader Ike Haxton has already been chased down by Dan Dvoress (Event #1), Mario Mosböck (Event #3), and Fedor Holz (Event #5) — and now Nguyen joins the chasing pack. With a $200,000 bonus and top-10 payouts on the line for the season winner, the top of the leaderboard is being reshuffled almost every day. The festival continues through May 28 with the $200,000 Triton Invitational running May 19–21, the $100K NLH Main Event from May 21, and the $100K PLO Main Event from May 24 forming the marquee back-end of the schedule.