Of all the accolades, special moments, and career-defining achievements that have already marked Alex Foxen as one of poker’s best players, today at the final table of the $100,000 Triton Main Event stands out.
Foxen emerged victorious over a field of 182 of the game’s biggest stars, defeating Portuguese online legend Joao Vieira in a short heads-up match to win his third World Series of Poker bracelet and second Triton Series event in as many months.
“It’s up there with my favorite poker moments, for sure. To get the Triton Series trophy and WSOP bracelet at the same time, it’s unreal,” Foxen said after securing the title and $3,850,000 top prize.
$100,000 Triton Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Foxen | United States | $3,850,000 |
| 2 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $2,590,000 |
| 3 | Fedor Holz | Germany | $1,830,000 |
| 4 | Alexander Zubov | Russian Federation | $1,482,000 |
| 5 | Ossi Ketola | Finland | $1,172,000 |
| 6 | David Coleman | United States | $890,000 |
| 7 | Samuel Mullur | Austria | $650,500 |
| 8 | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | $475,000 |
| 9 | Seth Davies | United States | $393,000 |
Foxen was already finishing his year off in grand style even before this event. He won his second bracelet in an online event on WSOP.com in October. Then came his win in a $50,000 event at the Triton Series in Monte Carlo for $1,470,000. Earlier this week, Foxen finished sixth in the Triton Million for nearly $2.8 million. His win today brings his winnings from the WSOP Paradise series to more than $6.5 million in just a few days.
Foxen has proven, even amongst the toughest fields that poker has to offer, that he has the ability to prevail. It’s something he’s always strived to achieve. “That’s always been my motion to get better at tournaments,” Foxen said.
“It’s probably one of the most competitive, meritocratic elements of poker. You have cash games where there’s a lot of politics involved. So I love the fact that if you have the money you show up, put down the money and play. You can’t pick who’s at your table. All the best players in the world are here. It’s always been my goal to battle and beat these fields, so it’s pretty cool.”
He does it with a mindset of never looking too far ahead and just concentrating on the moment. Foxen admits he doesn’t have too many thoughts running through his mind at the poker table except what the right decision is in just that spot.
“I always try to be as completely present as possible and not focus too much on the future or anything like that, except in the capacity that it affects my current decisions. So I’m really just focused on step-by-step decision-making, one street at a time, one hand at a time, one tournament at a time. Try to leave everything, whether it be emotions or other things in life, at the door when I come and sit down at the table,” he said.
Foxen may have joined a select company with three bracelets, but there is still someone he's trailing: his wife Kristen. Poker’s power couple now has seven bracelets between them as they conquer the poker world together. The WSOP celebrated Kristen’s induction into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame just yesterday. She was in Foxen’s corner today, running over from playing the Super Main Event to witness the final hand. The fact that Foxen has someone so close by who thinks about the game as he does, who knows the grind of competing at the highest levels, is something he doesn’t take for granted.
“It’s invaluable. I can’t even put it into words,” Foxen said about Kristen’s impact on his career. “To have someone who not only understands the game on the deepest level and understands me at the deepest level, and is at my side and helping me when I’m feeling tilted or frustrated or maybe overconfident or whatever, just keep me in check. Have somebody to bounce lines off of and talk about hands with just like that. And truly understands at a deep level what it’s like to go through these tournaments and these moments. It’s something special. I don’t have words for it, honestly. It’s amazing.”
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 15 players returning to the Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas at noon local time. Ossi Ketola held a big chip lead at the start of the day with 8,415,000, nearly 3,000,000 ahead of Fedor Holz in second. Foxen was in seventh place and part of a group bunched in the middle of the pack.
Kannapong Thanarattrakul began the day with just three big blinds and was the first to bust, missing flush and straight draws as Holz held on with a pair of deuces to eliminate Thanarattrakul in 15th. Mario Mosboeck was left with just 500,000 after folding to a big river raise from Vieira who slow-played a set of aces and was eliminated in 14th shortly after when Mikita Badziakouski made two pair.
Holz scored his second knockout of the day when he busted Tom Fuchs in 13th. Badziakouski and Ketola then went heads-up to the river where Ketola moved all in. Badziakouski took several minutes before calling for 1,400,000 with a pair of jacks, but Ketola had rivered two pair to win the massive pot and climb up past 11,000,000. At virtually the same time, Stephen Chidwick was all in for 775,000 with ace-ten but was dominated by David Coleman’s ace-queen as he joined Badziakouski at the payout desk, Badziakouski taking 12th and Chidwick 11th.
The final table was set when Thomas Muehloecker moved all in for 1,950,000 with ten-eight in the small blind and Holz snap-called with ace-queen in the big blind. Holz’s ace-high remained in the lead and Muehloecker was eliminated in 10th.
Ketola was still on top at the start of the nine-handed final table with 10,375,000, with Holz in second with 9,075,000. Holz jumped into the lead early when Ketola tried a check-raise on the turn with just straight and flush draws and Holz called with two pair.
Seth Davies then raised to 750,000, leaving only a few chips behind, and both Foxen and Ketola called. Foxen moved all in on the 10-high flop for 2,075,000 and Ketola called with two jacks, while Davies got out of the way. Foxen showed two queens and more than doubled up to nearly 7,000,000, while Ketola was knocked down to 4,200,000.
Davies soon got his short stack in against Holz, who ended up with two pair to send Davies to the rail in ninth place. Dimitar Danchev was then all in for 1,225,000 with ace-king but couldn’t win a race against Samuel Mullur’s sevens as he busted in eighth place.
Foxen took the chip lead when he cold four-bet to 2,000,000 to chase away both Vieira and Holz. He and Mullur then tangled in what was the biggest pot of the tournament at the time. Holz opened to 500,000 under the gun and Foxen called in the cutoff. Mullur moved all in for more than 7,000,000 and Holz folded, but Foxen called with two jacks. Mullur turned over ace-king as the two players were racing for 15,000,000 and the chip lead. Foxen flopped top set and left Mullur drawing dead on the turn, sending last year’s WSOP Paradise bracelet winner to the rail in seventh place.
Vieira took a big hit when he tried to trap Holz with ace-king, but Holz ended up making the nut flush on the river and Vieira called a raise of 2,025,000 after burning through several time banks. Vieira was then all in for 4,400,000 with ace-ten but was dominated by Coleman’s ace-king. The board provided no help through the turn as Vieira was a card away from elimination, but he spiked a ten on the river to double up. Coleman busted soon after when Holz rivered a flush, sending Coleman out in sixth place.
Foxen still led with 14,650,000 as the players went on an abbreviated dinner break. Soon after returning, Ketola moved all in for 4,325,000 with king-ten and Foxen called with ace-ten. Ketola flopped a straight draw but improved no further as the start-of-day chip leader was eliminated in fifth.
Alexander Zubov then moved all in for 8,925,000 with ace-king and Vieira called with two fives, creating a massive coin flip situation with more than 18,000,000 in the pot. Zubov failed to connect with the board and was sent to the rail in fourth, while Vieira took the chip lead with 22,000,000.
Foxen fired two barrels in a pot against Holz before improving to a pair on the river, where he moved all in. Holz tanked for a minute before folding ace-high. Foxen won another pot when he bet 1,200,000 with two pair on the river and Vieira called with just king-high as Foxen moved back in front.
The three players remained bunched together before Foxen and Holz battled in another pot. Foxen opened to 1,000,000 on the button and Holz called in the big blind. The flop came ace-high and Holz check-called a bet of 825,000. Foxen then bet 3,300,000 on the turn and Holz called again. Foxen moved all in on the river and Holz called with a pair of aces, but Foxen showed two pair, kings and eights, to win the massive pot and eliminate Holz in third place.
Foxen led 33,000,000 to 12,500,000 at the start of heads-up. He and Vieira then went to the river where Vieira bet 7,000,000, putting in most of his stack. Foxen took a minute before calling with just bottom pair as Vieira could only show ten-high. Left with just 275,000, Vieira doubled up once but was forced all in the next hand with queen-three. Foxen had ace-king and won the pot with his ace to secure the title.
Through all the peaks and valleys of the final table and momentum-switching pots, Foxen looked back at one hand that changed everything for him: the coin flip against Mullur.
“I like to think that I always have a chance to win the tournament if I have chips in front of me. At the same time, that flip with jacks against ace-king was definitely a really pivotal moment. Whoever won that pot was going to be a favorite to win the tournament. I was fortunate to be on the right side of it and from there managed to make some good decisions, and it worked for me,” he said.
Foxen once again stood atop one of the most talent-packed fields on the poker calendar, leaving no doubt, once again, that he could outshine even the brightest stars of the game.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the Triton Main Event. Stay tuned for more coverage of events throughout the WSOP Paradise.
