Ramin Hajiyev wins Luxon Invitational with $200,000 buy-in at Triton Cyprus Poker Series

Ramin Hajiyev defeated an 86-entry field in 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series North Cyprus $200,000 Luxon Invitational event, securing his first live poker tournament title and grand prize of $4,122,554. The Azerbaijani entrepreneur now has more than $7.8 million in recorded earnings.

According to the quotes given at Triton reporters, this was Hajiyev’s tenth time participating in one of the tour’s high-stakes events. He hadn’t found much success during his first attempts.

“If you’re going to destroy nine events and then ship a tenth, that better be it, right?” he said after securing the multi-million dollar grand prize.

This event featured a unique format, with amateur poker enthusiasts signing up each having one poker pro to invite. This was the only way a professional could enter the event. Recreational and professional camps were separated for Day 1 at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in Northern Cyprus, with combined camps for Day 2 and beyond.

The final day started with just nine players left, with five pros and four amateurs representing. Sean Winter, a high-stakes tournament regular, held the chip lead early on, with Hajiyev sitting on the next biggest stack when the cards went into the air.

Bracelet winner Ben Heath was the first to fall, with his AJ suited against the AK of 2022 Triton Cyprus main event winner Punnat Punsri’s AK.

The next big showdown was a preflop three-way all-in between Tobias Duthweiler’s pocket aces, Winter’s AQ, and Wai Kin Yong’s pocket sevens. Duthweiler made an aces full house to triple up, eliminating Yong (8th – $636,000) in the process.

Lookalike Jiang’s run in this event ended in seventh place ($820,000) when her black AJ collided with Winter’s AK, who barely covered her. Jiang flopped a jack to take the lead, but Winter made an ace-high straight on the river to drag the pot down to six.

Kiat Lee moved all-in with pocket aces. He raised from the button and called a three-bet all-in from Hajiyev, who held K-2 suited. Hajiyev flopped a flush draw, which hit the river to eliminate Lee in sixth place ($1,030,000). This score increased his live earnings to nearly $6 million, of which approximately $4.5 million came from box office receipts. Triton events.

A classic preflop contest spelled the end for Punsri, as his AK was unable to get past Hajiyev’s pocket tens, who flopped a set and held from there. Punsri earned $1,325,000 as the fifth-place finisher, raising his lifetime total to over $7.8 million.

Winter committed his remaining eight big blinds with A-8 from the cutoff, only to find himself in terrible shape against Duthweiler’s AJ. Both ended up rivering pocket aces, with Duthweiler’s kicker playing to earn him the pot and knockout. Winter grossed $1,640,000 as the fourth-place finisher. The American poker pro now has more than $26 million in cash to his name.

Patrik Antonius called in his handful of big blinds with Jj, committing all but a single chip preflop. Duthweiler called with A10 and called the last chip on a 1052 flop. Duthweiler hit the wheel with a 4 tour. The 3 he completed the draw and draw, giving Duthweiler his five-point straight and knockout. Antonius earned $2.1 million for his third-place finish. This was the second largest tournament payday of the Finnish high-stakes player’s career. He boosted his earnings to nearly $16.3 million.

Heads-up play began with Hajiyev more than 2:1 ahead of Duthweiler. The two struck a deal that redistributed the remaining prize money, seeing Hajiyev secure $3,992,554 while Duthweiler guaranteed himself $3,606,446. There was $130,000 and the title was left over to play for. Duthweiler doubled up with pocket nines against A-3 to take the lead. The tables soon turned once again as Hajiyev’s AJ held against A-9.

The final hand saw all the chips go all in with Hajiyev’s Acek throwing against the 88 by Duthweiler. The board went down K9774 and Duthweiler was eliminated in second place, earning the $3.6 million he had negotiated for. This was by far the biggest win in the career of the German online cash game player.

Here is a look at the winnings awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: Triton Poker / Joe Giron.