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Artisom Lasouski probably is not a name you are familiar with but it could be a name that poker fans will hear plenty more about in the future. The young Belarusian got his Triton Poker Super High Roller Series debut off to the best of starts, taking down Event #5 of the Montenegro series, the $40,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold’em 7-Handed tournament. Lasouski busted before the money in the first two events, but everything aligned in the $40K Mystery Bounty, and he became a Triton Poker champion during his series debut.
Lasouski reeled in a career-best $669,000 for this impressive debut victory, a sum that is set to swell because he also collected 12 bounty tokens en route to becoming a Triton Poker champion. The mystery bounties are being drawn on May 17, so there is every chance Lasouski’s first live poker victory could be worth in excess of seven figures.
Little is known about Lasouski. His first recorded live cash came in October 2023, when he finished in the money in a $1,100 buy-in and a $5,150 buy-in European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus side event. In May 2024, Lasouski finished eighth in the EAPT Grand Final in Cyprus for $63,000, and min-cashed in the $5,300 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event.
Now, the young grinder looks set to become a millionaire.
Event #5 – $40,000 Mystery Bounty NLH 7-Handed Final Table Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | 7,400,000 | 74 |
2 | Artisom Lasouski | Belarus | 6,250,000 | 63 |
3 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 5,000,000 | 50 |
4 | Chris Moneymaker | United States | 3,675,000 | 37 |
5 | Samuel Ju | Germany | 3,000,000 | 30 |
6 | Dylan Linde | United States | 1,975,000 | 20 |
7 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,950,000 | 20 |
8 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 925,000 | 9 |
The final table started with eight players hoping to win the largest slice of the $6,040,000 (including mystery bounties) prize pool, created by a field of 151 entries.
Stephen Chidwick was the second-shortest stack at the start of the finale, and the first player heading for the exits. Chidwick came unstuck when his ace-jack failed to get there against Chris Moneymaker‘s pocket jacks. Chidwick rushed to the registration desk and bought into the $50,000 NLH 7-Handed Bounty Quattro event but busted before day’s end.
Danny Tang then lost a coinflip with pocket eights against the ace-ten of spades in the hand of Daniel Rezaei, leaving only six players in the hunt for the title.
Six-handed play spanned across more than a couple of hours before Rezaei opened with jack-ten and called a shove from Lasouski, which had been made with ace-deuce of hearts. An ace on the flop ended Rezaei’s participation in this event, although the $156,000 plus bounties Rezaei scooped will help numb the pain of defeat.
The increasing blinds began swallowing up the shorter stacks’ chips, and they were forced to make moves. Germany’s Samuel Ju lost all but three big blinds when his ace-eight of clubs lost to Nikita Kuznetsov‘s pocket jacks, yet he was not the next player out of the door.
That dubious honor went to Dylan Linde, who found himself all in with king-jack and needing some help from the board to best the ace-deuce of diamonds of Lasouski. No help arrived, and Linde fell in fifth.
Ju then tripled up after calling all in from the small blind after Lasouski had ripped it in from the button. Kuznetsov called from the button, creating a chunky pot and a potential double elimination. A jack on the flop saved Ju’s bacon, meaning his ace-jack had beaten Lasouski’s dominating ace-queen and Kuznetsov’s dominated ace-five. While Ju climbed up the chip counts, Kuznetsov crashed out in fourth place.
The 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Moneymaker achieved an incredible comeback in the opening event, turning a solitary big blind into an impressive victory. However, Lady Luck was not on his side during his latest escape attempt, his shove with jack-trey getting snapped off by the resurgent Ju and his king-ten. Moneymaker missed the board and headed into the night with a third-place finish and $311,000 to show for his efforts.
Moneymaker’s demise left Ju heads-up against Lasouski, with Ju trailing by more than two to one. Ju managed to turn the chip counts on their heads when his middle pair held against Lasouski’s nut flush draw before the chip lead changed hands several times.
The final hand saw the player get to the river on a six-three-jack-nine-nine board, with Lasouski betting enough to set Ju in for all his chips. Ju eventually called with eight-six only to discover Lasouski’s pocket queens had him crushed the entire time. Ju bowed out in second, leaving Lasouski to take down the first Triton Poker event he had ever played, a dream start to Super High Rollers for the Belarusian.
Event #5 – $40,000 Mystery Bounty NLH 7-Handed Final Table Results
Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Artisom Lasouski | Belarus | $669,000 |
2 | Samuel Ju | Germany | $452,000 |
3 | Chris Moneymaker | United States | $311,000 |
4 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | $253,000 |
5 | Dylan Linde | United States | $202,000 |
6 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | $156,000 |
7 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | $114,000 |
8 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $82,000 |
Mateos Leads the $50K NLH 7-Handed Bounty Quattro
The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro is showing no signs of slowing down, with the action continuing to come thick and fast. May 17 will see the conclusion of Event #6 – $50,000 NLH 7-Handed Bounty Quattro, where only 28 of the 126 starters remain.
Superstar Spaniard Adrian Mateos (2,125,000) is the man to catch and the only Day 2 player with at least two million chips in their stack, although Paulius Vaitiekunas (1,990,000) will argue his stack is essentially two million.
Mike Watson (1,735,000) is looking for his second Triton Poker title in a week, while Ramin Hajiyev (1,515,000) is hopeful of repeating the heroics from his Triton Poker adventure last May that saw him win the $210,000 buy-in Cyprus event for $4,122,554.
Others lurking in the wings include Isaac Haxton (1,230,000), Jason Koon (600,000), Michael Soyza (505,000), Seth Davies (440,000), and short stack Kosei Ichinose (170,000).
Event #6 – $50,000 NLH 7-Handed Bounty Quattro Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 2,125,000 | 71 |
2 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | 1,990,000 | 66 |
3 | Mike Watson | Canada | 1,735,000 | 58 |
4 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 1,670,000 | 56 |
5 | Ramin Hajiyev | Azerbaijan | 1,515,000 | 51 |
6 | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | 1,360,000 | 45 |
7 | Shyngis Satubayev | Kazahkstan | 1,355,000 | 45 |
8 | Henrik Hecklen | Denmark | 1,290,000 | 43 |
9 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 1,230,000 | 41 |
10 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | 1,130,000 | 38 |
Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. CEST and continues until a champion is crowned. Discover who that champion is by returning to CelestialPoker over the weekend.
Photography by Joe Giron/Poker Photo Archive