If you ever wanted to know how to use and abuse your chip lead, Adrian 'El Conquistador' Mateos has just played an ICM masterclass to take down the Triton Poker $50K title and $1,761,000 in Montenegro.
Of course, to do this requires you to get in that position to begin with, but Mateos has had little trouble going deep live or online recently.
Today – or last night to be exact – was the Spaniard’s third final table and fourth cash from five events at Triton Montenegro, and it was a marathon affair.
Phil Ivey runs into Mateos, out in sixth
The original 159 entries were first reduced to 27 in the money spots, with co-founder of the Triton SHR Series, Paul Phua, bubbling. That was followed by what ought to have been a quick race to the final table, but play slowed so badly that eight of the nine who made it were denied a shot at the $100k event, which was running concurrently.
With six figures already locked up, that wasn’t such a disaster for most, although Phil Ivey’s sixth-spot exit showed that not everyone was enjoying the late-night session.
With chip leader Mateos bullying the table, Ivey made an unfortunate stand with 
, shoving against the Spanish pro’s open raise, but the reply was a call with 
and that was all she wrote for Ivey, his deep run worth $408,000.
Only four returned today for the denouement, and Nick Petrangelo was quick to fall, but that led to a riveting display of ICM pressure on the two short stacks, Justin Saliba and Triton newcomer Joe Zou.
With a $350k pay jump from third to second, Mateos was raising with abandon, and the duo were left helpless, folding everything except for their very best holdings. Zou scraped a double once with nines, lost a big pot to Saliba with kings, and in between, Mateos kept raking in the blinds and antes.
Something had to give, and finally Zou – who turned away from the table at every all-in – had to face his fate. His 
couldn’t match Mateos’ 
but third place and $818,000 has put Zou firmly on the ‘one to watch’ list for future tournaments.
Express heads-up
With the three-way logjam finally broken, heads-up didn’t take too long; just one hand, in fact, the stacks all-in pre-flop with Saliba at risk.
Saliba: 
Mateos: 
The hands were standard enough, but the drama was far from over, with the 
flop pairing Saliba but giving Mateos an open-ended straight draw.
The 
turn brought it home, and the river failed to bring the chop for Saliba.
Mateos bagged his second Triton title following a Jeju victory last time out and another monster payday.
“This week was amazing... I’m running so good, I hope that continues into the big tournaments in a few days,” said Mateos afterwards, revealing that the big final tables don’t phase him.
“I play these final tables almost every day... a lot online... I try to play my best with no fear; I just try to think which decision is more profitable.”
Triton Montenegro Event #7 $50k NLH results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Adrian Mateos |
$1,761,000 |
| 2nd | Justin Saliba | $1,188,000 |
| 3rd | Joe Zou | $818,000 |
| 4th | Nick Petrangelo |
$667,000 |
| 5th | Benjamin Tollerene |
$532,000 |
| 6th | Phil Ivey |
$408,000 |
| 7th | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau |
$297,000 |
| 8th | Dan Smith |
$178,100 |
Images courtesy of Triton Poker/Joe Giron
