Persistent Tobias Schwecht Turns Huge Chip Lead Into First Triton Title and $465,000

The $30,000 NLH/PLO event of the 2026 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro has crowned its champion, and Tobias Schwecht is the man bestowed with that title. The German topped a star-studded field of 53 entrants in this event, turning his $30,000 investment into a first Triton title and $465,000 in prize money.

Schwecht had cashed 15 times in Triton events before this maiden victory. Speaking to the Triton Poker reporters shortly after his victory, Schwecht said, “I feel like I was close to a trophy a few times.”

“I had some final tables where they didn’t go my way, and you never know whether you will even get the opportunity again. Because, of course, even making a final table here is really tough. So when I came in with a big stack, I had a lot of pressure there to bring it home, so I’m really glad I ended up doing that.”

The 33-year-old mentioned he had a big stack going into the final table, and he was not exaggerating. Schwecht sat down behind towers of chips worth 205 big blinds. To put that stack into context, second-placed Cong Pham began the final table with 120 big blinds at his disposal. Compare those stacks to that of Isaac Haxton, who had to try to turn 13 bigs into a win.

$30,000 NLH/PLO Final Table Results

Haxton managed an early double-up, but any hopes of a comeback for the ages were dashed during a Pot-Limit Omaha hand against Schwecht. Haxton’s K♥K♦Q♦J♠ fell foul to Schwecht’s A♦9♥5♦4♥.

The dangerous Artur Martirosian crashed out in sixth for $98,000, the last five-figure prize on offer. Martirosian fell during a No-Limit Hold’em round, his ace-jack losing to the pocket kings of Pham, with Pham flopping an unnecessary set.

Fifth place went to Ben Tollerene after he got his chips into the middle during a PLO hand against Anatoly Zlotnikov. All the chips went in on a Q♠A♦3♦ flop, Tollerene holding 10♣10♦6♣6♦ and Zlotnikov holding Q♦Q♥7♦2♥. Tollerene must have thought he was in decent shape before discovering Zlotnikov had him crushed. A flush-completing eight of diamonds on the turn left Tollerene drawing dead.

Zlotnikov then dispatched Watson in a PLO round. Watson’s was short-stacked but looked set for a timely double when he committed his chips with A♠A♣9♥9♠ and Zlotnikov looked him up with A♥7♦2♥2♠. Watson was around a 75% favorite, which is almost unheard of in PLO circles, but the hot-running Zlotnikov spiked a third deuce to win the pot and send Watson to the rail.

The Russian continued his sun-run and took Pham’s scalp to progress the tournament to the heads-up stage. Both players made a spade flush in PLO, but Zlotnikov had an ace-high flush compared to Pham’s jack-high.

That hand gave Zlotnikov a 79 big blind to 54 big blind advantage over Schwecht at the start of heads-up play. The early confrontations went Schwecht’s way, and he soon had the chip lead again. Schwecht kept his foot on the gas, and he held a sizable lead when a monster hand took place that ultimately brought the curtain down on proceedings.

Schwecht raised with Q♥J♦9♠4♥ and Zlotnikov defended his blind with J♥9♥8♥8♣. Both players improved to a set of eights on the 3♥Q♦8♠ flop, but both elected to check. Schwecht bet on the 2♥ turn, Zlotnikov raised, and the German called, leading to the 10♥ on the river. That gifted both players a flush, but Schwecht had the better one. Unsurprisingly, the rest of both players’ stacks piled into the middle, and that, as they say, was that.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.