Heads up with Malinowski

Two weeks ago, Mark “Weazel” Rubbathan was grinding out a few thousand dollars a month as a low stakes poker pro. On Saturday, he found himself playing heads up in Vietnam against Wiktor Malinowski—one of the best poker pros in the world. They were playing for a first prize of $396,000.

spent two days battling through a field of 125 competitors

The pair were sat opposite each other in a TV studio set up for the occasion in the Hoiana Resort, near Da Nang. The two players had spent two days battling through a field of 125 competitors in the $20,000 Mystery Bounty event of the Triton Super High Roller Vietnam series.

After rebuys, there was $3.58m in the prize pool. $1.79m of that was paid out to the top 27 finishers, the other $1.79m was distributed as randomized bounties of varying sizes.

Rubbathan had a ten-to-one chip lead over Malinowski going into heads up play. It took just four hands to end the game. Rubbathan won. After the bounty draw, the Brit’s total take was $636,000 – a life changing payday that would have been unthinkable for Rubbathan just weeks before.

In his post-game interview, Rubbathan would call the experience “indescribable,” “insane,” and “completely surreal.”

The high (roller) road

According to the Hendon Mob, Rubbathan’s previous biggest live win was for ￡10,870 ($14,280) in a ￡1,100 ($1,445) buy-in event. His total live earnings hit $45,306 after a small PLO win in February 2023.

Online, Rubbathan documented his life as a low stakes grinder on his Twitch channel. Earning a few thousand dollars a month. Then he got an offer to rep Americas Cardroom (ACR) and the ball really started rolling.

ACR sent seven regular folk, selected by satellite, to the Triton SHR Vietnam. These seven were joined by four sponsored streamers, including Rubbathan, who were selected through a month-long competition. Each of the 11 package winners received plane tickets to Vietnam, 13 nights at the KHOS Hoiana Resort, and $100,000 to spend on tournament buy ins while there.

Rubbathan promised to get a Phil Nagy tattoo if he won

It was on his Twitch channel that he documented his efforts to win the Vietnam High Roller package. And it was on that Twitch channel that Rubbathan promised to get a Phil Nagy tattoo if he won an event at the Triton SHR Vietnam series.

Two weeks later and Rubbathan turned his package into $636,000 by winning the Mystery Bounty event. The downside is that he’s going to have to spend some of that on a tattoo artist.

Final Table Results

1st – Mark Rubbathan – $396,000

2nd – Wiktor Malinowski – $268,000

3rd – Victor Chong – $184,000

4th – Daniel Dvoress – $150,400

5th – Calvin Tan – $120,000

6th – Gytis Lazaouninkas – $92,000

7th – Joao Vieira – $67,000

8th – Timothy Adams – $48,500

9th – Pedro Garagnani – $40,100