Battle Rapper Beats Poker Pros in WSOP Paradise Triton Million for $12 Million

Table Of Contents

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 $44,603,000 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.”

Triton Million Final Table Results

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

Winning for Argentina

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.

Alejandro Lococo“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.

Alejandro LococoWhether 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.”

Day 3 Action

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.

Michael “Texas Mike” MoncekJiang 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.

Benjamin HeathThat wraps up PokerNews’ coverage of a historic event in the Bahamas. Stay tuned for live updates on other events throughout WSOP Paradise.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

FAQ

How much is the WPT diamond membership?

Who owns the WPT? In 2021 the World Poker Tour was sold to Element Partners for $105 million.

What is TP in WPT poker?

What is TP in WPT poker? Tournament Points (TPs) are used to buy into VIP tournaments on ClubWPT. All players start with a fixed amount of TPs (500) upon opening a VIP account. They cannot be reloaded, but will be automatically “topped up” once per day.

What is the Big Bass Bonanza random Wild feature in the free spins?

What is the Big Bass Bonanza random Wild feature in the free spins? If a single wild appears without money fish symbols, then it might randomly spawn a money fish symbol.

Can I play in the US?

Can I play in the US? WPT Global does not currently provide services to US players.

Can you play WPT global on phone?

Can you play WPT global on phone? Create an account to join the WPT Global poker community. Choose your poker nickname, fill in a few details and verify your email, then you’re all set. Download poker to your PC, Mac, mobile or tablet and start playing the games you love in minutes.

This site only collects related articles. Viewing the original, please copy and open the following link:Battle Rapper Beats Poker Pros in WSOP Paradise Triton Million for $12 Million

WPT Global
news poker-players
Recommended Articles