Adrian Mateos Wins EPT Monte Carlo $100k by Catching Bluffs

Spaniard Adrian Mateos won the $100k high roller at PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo yesterday afternoon. He edged out Marius Gierse and Mikita Badziakouski by catching their bluffs in the final to win over $1.3 million in prize money.

EPT Monte Carlo $100k Highroller 2022 Key Facts

• Date: May 1st to 3rd
• Place: Sporting d’été, Monte Carlo
• Players: 42 entries
• Buy-In: €97,020 + €2,980
• Prize pool: €4,074,840
• Winner: Adrian Mateos (€1,385,430)

Imsirovic and Heath with Triple-Entries

Over three days, the Sporting d’été in Monte Carlo hosted the Super High Roller tournament with a buy-in of a whopping €100,000.

The tournament attracted 42 entries and almost everyone who is anyone in the high roller scene coughed up one or more €100k bullets: Ali Imsirovic, Ben Heath (both with three entries), Jake Schindler, Mike Watson, Sam Greenwood, Timothy Adams, Nick Petrangelo, Christoph Vogelsang and Steve O’Dwyer were there. Kings Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik also bought in at one point and played a half hour. However, none of the players mentioned here made it to the third day and the money.

While Marius Gierse dominated Day 1, the baton quickly passed to Adrian Mateos on Day 2. He already had around 40 percent of all chips at the end of the second day and was also the one who broke the bubble when he eliminated Orpen Kisacikoglu in 7th place with TT > AT.

Mateos wins with two call-downs

The final table was broadcast live and very quickly Kent Staahle and Laszlo Bujtas were eliminated in 6th and 5th place and the match waved back and forth for some time. Mateos always held his lead, but the Belarusian highstakes pro Mikita Badziakouski managed to almost catch up to him.

In the end, it was Badziakouski’s bluff that swung the pendulum in the Spaniard’s favor.

Badziakouski raised from the button with A 6 and Mateos defended in the big blind with J 8 . On a J 10 7 –Q –4 board, Badziakouski fired three barrels on flop, turn and river. Mateos called all of those, grabbed a substantial pot with a call-down and cemented his lead.

On the very next hand, Mateos was able to decimate the stack of his other remaining opponent at the table, Marius Gierse, also with a call-down. In a limped pot, Gierse had flopped a straight draw in the small blind with 9 8 and fired three substantial barrels on an A J 10 –3 –2 -board on flop, turn and river. Mateos, who held A 2 in the big blind, only had to call three times, won an immense pot and reduced Gierse’s stack from 2 million to 600,000 chips.

Not long after, Mateos eliminated his Belarusian opponent Badziakouski with AT > A2 in third place. The heads-up between Mateos and Gierse didn’t last long. The Spaniard entered the duel with a 25-1 lead. He could afford to let his opponent double up once with A6 > K6. But the one double did not turn into a catch-up. Gierse had barely 10 big blinds even after that hand, shoved them into the middle with J 4 and Mateos called with K 3 . The board didn’t help any player and so the last pot and the tournament win went to Adrian Mateos.

“The pandemic helped me a lot to improve my game”

Adrian Mateos

After winning the title Mateos told PokerNews: “It feels amazing to win the Super High Roller seven years after winning the Main Event. The Adrian from seven years ago was a different person. Today I think I’m more mature and a different player too. I’m still the same guy trying to compete and play the best. The pandemic helped me a lot to improve my game. I put a lot of work in studying online and playing a lot, so after the pandemic is more or less finished, I’m at my highest level and I’m ready to keep winning.”

Having already won the $250k World Series of Poker Highroller last year, this title is the next major Highroller title in his collection. With total winnings of over $27 million, Mateos is by far the most successful Spanish poker player and now ranks 20th in the Hendon Mob all-time money list.

EPT Monte Carlo $100k Highroller 2022 Results

Adrian Mateos Wins EPT Monte Carlo $100k by Catching Bluffs

SHARE THIS quote ON:

• Telegram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Link