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Spanish superstar Adrian Mateos became only the seventh poker player in history to surpass $60 million in live tournament earnings when he raked in a career-best $6,370,000 at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. The 31-year-old topped a record-breaking field of 133 entries in the $200,000 Triton Invitational, and has now leapfrogged Alex Foxen and Daniel Negreanu in poker's all-time money rankings.
"Right now I'm pretty happy," Mateos said in his post-tournament interview. "These tournaments are super special for me, and I always come super motivated to play these Invitationals. It feels amazing to win the third title and one of these huge tournaments."
$200K Triton Invitational Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $6,370,000 |
| 2 | Alexey Lozuyk | Belarus | $4,316,000 |
| 3 | Benjamin Heath | United Kingdom | $2,877,000 |
| 4 | Andre Berg | Norway | $2,357,000 |
| 5 | Anatoly Zlotnikov | Russia | $1,890,000 |
| 6 | Maher Nouira | Tunisia | $1,466,000 |
| 7 | Wai Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $1,085,000 |
| 8 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | $797,000 |
| 9 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $635,000 |
The bubble burst on Day 2 when invitee Shaniel Stokes committed his last six big blinds with king-seven of spades and ultimately lost to the ace-nine of spades of Wai Kiat Lee. Stokes bowed out empty-handed, while the 23 survivors, who included eight invitees, locked in $318,000 for their efforts thus far.
The aim was to reduce the field to the nine-handed final table on Day 2, but play concluded with 12 players remaining.
Those 12 returned to their seats for Day 3, and the final table was set within an hour. Anatoly Zlotnikov led the way with an impressive 84 big blind stack, more than double that of his nearest opponent. Mateos sat down with 18 big blinds, placing him in the middle of the pack, while Benjamin Heath brought up the rear with a sub-10 big blind war chest.
Isaac Haxton was the first finalist sent to the showers. He jammed 11 big blinds with pocket kings from the big blind after three players had limped in. Zlotnikov was one of those limpers, and he called with ace-jack of hearts. A heart on the flop was not what Haxton wanted to see, and he couldn't find either of his two outs on the turn or river.
The shallow stacks saw all-ins aplenty, including one hand where Mateos spiked an ace on the river to crack Zlotnikov's pocket tens. Had Mateos not "Greensteined" Zlotnikov, the Spaniard would have tumbled in eighth.
But Mateos did win that, and it was Finland's Eelis Parssinen who fell in eighth. The last of Parssinen's short stack went into the middle holding ace-jack, and Kiat Lee called with pocket deuces. Kiat Lee flopped a set, and Parssnien busted, and the $200,000 Triton Invitational was down to seven players.
Those seven became six in a tournament-defining hand. Zlotnikov raised with king-jack of diamonds, Lee three-bet all-in for nine big blinds on the button with pocket queens, only for Mateos to wake up with pocket aces! Mateos moved all-in for 10 big blinds, and Zlotnikov called off the remainder of his 13 big blind stack. Zlotnikov turned a flush draw, but Mateos's rockets reached their target on a seven-high board, sending Lee to the rail, Zlotnikov onto only four big blinds, and Mateos to the top of the counts.
Tunisia's Maher Nouira was eliminated in sixth. Nouira lost a chunk of his stack when Zlotnikov cracked his pocket kings with ace-eight. Mateos struck the fatal blow, his ace-nine remaining best against Nouira's jack-nine of diamonds.
Zlotnikov and Mateos clashed soon after, with Mateos' ace-eight besting the Russian's king-five of clubs before Heath's pocket jacks held against Norway's Andre Bye Berg's sixes to give the players some more elbow room. Berg only entered the tournament at the last minute while on holiday in the area. His decision to play resulted in $2,357,000 heading his way.
Back-to-back losses sent Heath to the rail. His last 12 big blinds went over the betting line holding queen-eight, and Mateos decided his pocket sevens were strong enough to call. The sevens held on a king-high board, Heath bowed out in third, and the tournament progressed to the heads-up stage.
Alexey Lozuyk, an invitee and high-stakes cash game player, held a narrow 35 to 33 big blind lead over Mateos. However, Mateos flopped a straight on the first hand of the one-on-one clash and extracted maximum value to soar into a two-to-one lead.
Lozuyk doubled to level the stacks when the board paired on the river, giving him a higher two pair than Mateos. The Spaniard remained calm, chipped away, and forged another lead for himself before the final hand brought the curtain down on proceedings.
Mateos was all-in with ace-six of diamonds, and looked set to have his stack all but destroyed because Lozuyk held the dominating ace-jack. However, Lady Luck was shining down on the superstar Spaniard, and the flop fell six-nine-ace. The queen of diamonds on the turn removed some of Lozuyk's outs, and a black three on the river sent the Belarusian to the rail; Mateos had won yet another live event.
Mateos' family and playing partner Alejandro Lococo joined him for the winner's photo and, no doubt, post-tournament celebrations.
