Fancy your luck at the poker tables, then rub the head of Adrian Mateos, and hope that his winning streak spreads by contagion.
The Spaniard star flew into Prague for the European Poker Tour (EPT) on the back of an incredible visit to the Bahamas for the partypoker MILLIONS World, and he’s taken down the first event.
Mateos banked $1.7m in the Bahamas after winning the $25,500 Super High Roller, followed by the $10,300 Main Event, and now he’s secured his fourth EPT side event win with victory in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
The event attracted 61-entrants (15 re-entries) like rats to a sewage system, and, as expected, it was a stellar cast including EPT final table reg, Orpen Kisacikoglu, high roller star, Matthias Eibinger, and the Triple Crown winner, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier.
Let’s see how Mateos took it down to Cesky Krumlov town.
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Tsugunari Toma – 213,000
Seat 2: Orpen Kisacikoglu – 145,000
Seat 3: Adrian Mateos – 340,000
Seat 4: Arsenii Karmatckii – 100,000
Seat 5: Matthias Eibinger – 195,000
Seat 6: Bertrand Grospellier – 580,000
Seat 7: Vladimir Troyanovskiy – 267,000
Seat 8: Anton Yakuba – 910,000
Seat 9: Derek Ip – 275,000
Nine people began; the EPT would only pay eight, and it was the name of ‘Matthias Eibinger’ that felt the wrath of the delete key. With blinds at 6k/12k/12k, Tsugunari Toma moved all-in from the hijack for 227,000, and Eibinger made the call with the inferior stack from the big blind. It was the right call. It was a good call. But the A9 of Toma still managed to bury the AK of the Austrian after a second nine hit the turn.
Eibinger’s exit guaranteed everyone a €23,670 payday, and that’s precisely the amount Arsenii Karmatckii collected after his smile turned into a frown a few hands later. Anton Yakuba moved all-in for 240,000 from the first position, and Karmatckii called with less from the button. The rest of the table allowed the pair to party, and after pocket sixes beat AK, the form of Karmatckii seeped into the Prague cobblestones.
Orpen Kisacikoglu was the next to leave, and this time AK proved to be the winning hand when Adrian Mateos found it in the small blind after Kisacikoglu had moved all-in for 104,000, holding KsQc. The Turkish star did flop a second queen to take the lead, but Mateos picked up a diamond flush draw that got there on the river.
Mateos didn’t have a chance to stretch his wings and fly.
With blinds moving into Level 19, at 8k/16k/16k, Mateos opened to 24,000 from the cutoff, and then called after Troyanovskiy jammed the button for 182,000. Troyanovskiy was ahead with AhJc versus KhQs, and that’s the way it stayed after the flop, turn and river.
Like Mateos before him, a win followed a loss for Troyanovskiy when Derek Ip coolered him KK>QQ to double up, sending the Russian to the middle of the pack. Still, he bounced back immediately, eliminating the Day 1 chip leader Toma when KdQc beat Ad4h when all-in pre-flop.
Bertrand Grospellier then doubled through Troyanovskiy when As9s beat Ad8c, and then Deja Vu when As5h beat Ts7s. The Frenchman’s luck finally expired when he got it in with AhQc, and Ip looked down to see pocket jacks. ElkY got a tad excited when the saw two more queens hit the flop only for a third jack to join the fray to give Ip a boat.
The action then moved into Level 21, and Troyanovskiy doubled up in one of the first hands when Kc2s beat the Jd5s of Mateos in a blind bust-up. Then Troyanovskiy’s spin cycle of a final table ended when he lost a flip 77<AJ of Anton Yakuba.
Adrian Mateos – 1,320,000
Anton Yakuba – 1,030,000
Derek Ip – 705,000
We reached heads-up play during Level 22.
With blinds at 15k/30k/30k, Mateos opened to 60,000 on the button, and then called when Ip moved all-in for 205,000 from the big blind. Ip showed pocket jacks, and Mateos showed AQ and turned a second queen on the turn to take a 2:1 chip lead into the final phase of the tournament.
Heads-Up Tale of the Tape
Adrian Mateos – 2,045,000
Anton Yakuba – 1,005,000
Mateos had all of the chips, the experience, and, arguably, the skill. The Spaniard had lost 19 of his 36 heads-up encounters but had won his last three. Yakuba had only made heads-up six times in his career and had won as many as he had lost.
Yakuba made a fist of things, almost pulling level at one point, but Mateos was always going to win this thing.
The final hand saw Yakuba limp on the button and Mateos check his option. The dealer placed 9s6d2s onto flop, Mateos checked, Yakuba bet 45,000, Mateos check-raised to 140,000, and Yakuba made the call. The dealer painted the 4d onto the felt like a smudge of lipstick, Mateos bet 265,000, and Yakuba called. The Ac ended the action. Mateos moved all-in, and Yakuba made the call. Mateos showed 4s2d for two-pair, and Yakuba showed KQ for king-high.
Final Table Results
- Adrian Mateos – €177,500
- Anton Yakuba – €128,400
- Derek Ip – €82,840
- Vladimir Troyanovskiy – €62,720
- Bertrand Grospellier – €48,520
- Tsugunari Toma – €37,870
- Orpen Kisacikoglu – €30,180
- Arsenii Karmatckii – €23,670