Event #2: $1,000,000 Triton Million
Day 3 Completed
Event #2: $1,000,000 Triton Million
Day 3 Completed
As a battle rapper, Argentina's Alejandro Lococo is used to performing under pressure in front of large crowds with glory on the line. Tonight in the Bahamas, Lococo used that competitive drive to take down Event #2: $1,000,000 Triton Million at World Series of Poker Paradise for $12,070,000 and his first bracelet.
The unique collaboration between WSOP and Triton, which drew 96 entrants for a $48 million prize pool, paired the best high-stakes players in the world like Alex Foxen (6th - $2,795,000) and runner-up Benjamin Heath ($8,160,000) with deep-pocketed VIPs like David Einhorn (14th - $865,000) and Sosia Jiang ($1,605,000).
With $2.8 million in earnings and a WSOP Main Event final table appearance in 2021, Lococo, a VIP in the event, was somewhere in between the two groups.
"I'm a rapper. I don't study the game. I just try to do the best in every single hand," Lococo told PokerNews in a winner's interview. "I love the game and I try to win of course, but I'm not using solvers (or) ... running sims. You have to be really, really professional and invest a lot of hours of your life to beat these guys."
Place | Player | Country | Prize (In USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Alejandro Lococo | Argentina | $12,070,000 |
2 | Benjamin Heath | United Kingdom | $8,160,000 |
3 | Sinan Unlu | Turkey | $5,304,000 |
4 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $4,390,000 |
5 | Elias Talvitie | Finland | $3,542,000 |
6 | Alex Foxen | United States | $2,795,000 |
7 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $2,140,000 |
8 | Sosia Jiang | New Zealand | $1,605,000 |
9 | Michael Moncek | United States | $1,200,000 |
Lococo's palms weren't sweaty as he battled on Day 3 of the $500,000 buy-in tournament. Nor were his knees weak. But his arms were in fact heavy as he hoisted the golden Triton trophy in triumph, along with his first WSOP bracelet.
"I don't know how to explain it," he said. "It's amazing, like (I'm) dreaming. I knew that in some moment of my life, it was going to come, my bracelet. I was feeling really (good) with my game."
It was a victory that almost never happened as the PokerStars ambassador was originally planning on being at EPT Prague. "Sometimes the world (conspires) in your favor."
The bluffs also helped. Lococo is no stranger to going for the win and seemed to make all the right decisions as he raised and re-raised his opponents off hands. "Probably if I play like 200 times with these guys, they're going to find (an) amazing strategy (against me). But lucky for me, I beat them in my first Triton."
Several Spanish and South American pros cheered for Lococo and posed for winners photos, including Juan Pardo, 11th-place finisher Adrian Mateos and Argentina's all-time money leader Nacho Barbero.
Whether when battle rapping or running deep in a tournament, Lococo said Argentinians back home are constantly rooting for him. "I love Argentina. I think all the Argentinians love Argentina."
The victory puts Lococo second on the country's all-time money list, and he plans to catch up with Barbero. "Of course, man. I am a competitor. I'm not f***ing stopping right now."
With his dark hoodie and a baseball cap covering his face, Lococo looked like an Argentinian B-Rabbit as he went into battle on Day 3. The field of 14 players reached a final table within an hour with the eliminations of Stephen Chidwick, Esti Wang, Chance Kornuth and Einhorn, who was looking for a fantastic comeback story after being eliminated on the first hand of the tournament and making the most of his second bullet.
The high-VPIPing Michael "Texas Mike" Moncek dominated the first two days of action, but the back-to-back chip leader's reign ended as he fell in ninth at the hands of Heath.
Jiang was next to go after three-bet jamming with king-queen only to be dominated by the ace-king of Daniel Dvoress. Things continued to go the Canadian's way as he eliminated Aleksejs Ponakovs and Foxen.
Lococo took over from there as he eliminated Finland's Elias Talvitie, who had a miraculous spin-up but eventually fell in fifth as his top pair was crushed by Lococo's rivered straight. Lococo then eliminated Dvoress and Turkey's Sinan Unlu to have a dominant chip lead over Heath.
The British high-stakes pro needed a lot of luck on his side to overcome Lococo and didn't get it. In the final hand, Heath had ace-king to dominate Lococo's king-deuce but couldn't fade a deuce on the flop.
That wraps up PokerNews' coverage of a historic event in the Bahamas. Stay tuned for live updates on other events throughout WSOP Paradise.
Alejandro Lococo has defeated Benjamin Heath in heads up play, to claim the Triton Million title, his first World Series of Poker bracelet, and the $12,070,000 top prize.
Stay tuned for a winners reaction, and full day recap coming shortly.
Place | Player | Country | Prize (In USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Alejandro Lococo | Argentina | $12,070,000 |
2 | Benjamin Heath | United Kingdom | $8,160,000 |
3 | Sinan Unlu | Turkey | $5,304,000 |
4 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $4,390,000 |
5 | Elias Talvitie | Finland | $3,542,000 |
6 | Alex Foxen | United States | $2,795,000 |
7 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $2,140,000 |
8 | Sosia Jiang | New Zealand | $1,605,000 |
9 | Michael Moncek | United States | $1,200,000 |
Alejandro Lococo raised all in on the button for Benjamin Heath's stack of 6,800,000 and Heath snap-called in the big blind.
Benjamin Heath: A♥K♣
Alejandro Lococo: K♦2♥
Heath had Lococo dominated, but once the flop came 8♦2♦Q♥ the roles were reversed, and it was Heath looking for the three-outer. The 7♠ on the turn brought no help for Heath, and the 8♥ on the river gave Lococo the pot with his pair of deuces, eliminating Heath in second place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Alejandro Lococo |
96,000,000
12,800,000
|
12,800,000 |
Benjamin Heath | Busted |
Alejandro Lococo jammed on the button for Benjamin Heath's stack of 5,900,000, and Heath snap called in the big blind.
Benjamin Heath: K♦7♣
Alejandro Lococo: J♦5♦
Heath was ahead with his king high, and nothing changed once the board ran out 3♣Q♥2♥A♦Q♣.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Alejandro Lococo |
83,200,000
-800,000
|
-800,000 |
Benjamin Heath |
12,800,000
800,000
|
800,000 |
Alejandro Lococo raised to 2,000,000 from the cutoff and when it folded to the big blind Sinan Unlu he three-bet all in for 2,900,000, which Lococo quickly called.
Sinan Unlu: J♣5♠
Alejandro Lococo: K♣6♥
Unlu was left with just under three big blinds and went with his hand, but did have two live cards to improve past the king high of Lococo.
The board ran out 7♦Q♦8♣10♣7♣ missing both, and Lococo scored the knockout with king-high, sending out Unlu in third place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Alejandro Lococo |
84,000,000
12,000,000
|
12,000,000 |
Benjamin Heath |
12,000,000
-4,000,000
|
-4,000,000 |
Sinan Unlu | Busted |
Alejandro Lococo raised to 1,600,000 from the cutoff, and once it folded to the big blind Daniel Dvoress, he three-bet all in for his stack of 15,000,000, which Lococo snap called.
Daniel Dvoress: 2♠2♥
Alejandro Lococo: J♠J♥
Dvoress jammed into the pocket jacks of Lococo, and after the board ran out K♥J♣7♦7♥Q♠ Lococo made a full house, jacks full of sevens to take the pot and knock out Dvoress in fourth.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Alejandro Lococo |
72,000,000
16,000,000
|
16,000,000 |
Daniel Dvoress | Busted | |
|
Action folded to Alejandro Lococo in the small blind who raised to 2,400,000 with 10♣7♣ and Elias Talvitie called in the big blind with K♣J♥.
After the 8♥4♥6♥ flop, Lococo bet out 1,800,00 with his double-gutted straight draw, and Talvitie made the call with his flush draw and two overcards.
The turn brought the K♦ and Lococo kept betting, this time for 3,600,000, which Talvitie called with his top pair.
To Lococo's delight, the river brought the 9♠ to give him the nut straight, and he bet all in for Talvitie's stack of 11,300,000. After confirming his chip count, Talvitie made the call and was eliminated in fifth after seeing Lococo's straight.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Alejandro Lococo |
56,000,000
22,500,000
|
22,500,000 |
Elias Talvitie | Busted |
Daniel Dvoress opened the action to 1,800,000 from the cutoff, and was called by Benjamin Heath in the big blind.
The flop came 5♦J♠9♠ and after Heath checked, Dvoress jammed for Heath's stack of 5,600,000. Heath quickly made the call to put himself at risk.
Benjamin Heath: Q♠J♣
Daniel Dvoress: A♦8♠
Dvoress jammed into the top pair of Heath, and after the board ran out Q♦K♠ Heath found another double up with his two pair, queens and jacks.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Benjamin Heath |
16,000,000
9,800,000
|
9,800,000 |
Daniel Dvoress |
12,200,000
-5,800,000
|
-5,800,000 |
|
Action folded to Benjamin Heath in the cutoff and he raised all in for his stack of 2,500,000. It folded to big blind Alejandro Lococo who made the call to put Heath at risk.
Benjamin Heath: A♦3♦
Alejandro Lococo: 6♠4♠
Heath was ahead with his ace high, and once the board ran out A♣2♥Q♦9♠6♣ Heath secured the double up with his pair of aces.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Alejandro Lococo |
33,500,000
-2,500,000
|
-2,500,000 |
Benjamin Heath |
6,200,000
1,700,000
|
1,700,000 |