Final Table Takedown: Adrian Mateos Becomes Youngest Player to Win Three World Series of Poker Gold Bracelets

Adrian Mateos was born in Madrid, Spain and recently moved to London, England. He started to play poker at 16 years old after watching the European Poker Tour on television. He won the 2103 WSOP Europe main event at the age of 19 for $1,379,300. That same year he won the Estrellas Poker Tour in Madrid. In May 2015, Mateos won the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. He became the first Spanish EPT champion with that huge win.

Mateos’s record is even more impressive in World Series of Poker events. He won the 2017 WSOP $10,000 heads-up championship and in 2016 he took down the $1,500 Summer Solstice event for $409,000. This summer at 22 years old, he became the youngest player to ever win three WSOP bracelets. Mateos has more than $9 million in live career cashes.

Event: World Series of Poker $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship
Players: 129 • Entry: $10,000 • First Prize: $336,656 • Finish: 1st

Key Concepts: Meta-game versus a very aggressive player; Hand ranges; Expected value percentages

Adrian Mateos: The first hand I selected was against Charlie Carrel in the semifinal match of the event. When this hand began, it seemed like I was losing most every hand. But in my defense, I was making the right folds and losing only small pots.

Craig Tapscott: Okay. Could you share any strategy you had coming into the match with Carrel? He has quite the reputation as a very aggressive and imaginative player.

AM: Charlie is an excellent player and hyper aggressive. We have played a lot of hands together in the past and we know each other pretty well. He is one of the most aggressive players on the circuit. And he knows that I know he is very, very, aggressive, and that makes for some interesting dynamics between us.

Mateos raises to 50,000 from the button holding J 8. Carrel reraises to 175,000. Mateos calls.

CT: When Carrel raised what was going through your mind? What had the preflop dynamic between the two of you been like prior to this hand?

AM: We haven’t played enough heads-up hands for me to know his range in this situation. But of course, he has a value and a bluffing range preflop, and I expect him to three-bet more than most other players.

Flop: 9 8 4 (pot: 350,000)

Carrel bets 150,000.

CT: Is this a pretty good flop for you? Seems so against such an aggressive opponent.

AM: Yes. I have a pretty easy call at this point.

Mateos calls.

Turn: 2 (pot: 650,000)

Carrel bets 300,000.

CT: He’s a pretty aggressive player, so he could be firing his full range on the turn. Right?

AM: Yes. I don’t think I can fold against him on this turn, because his three-bet range has too many bluffs. There are a lot of hands with some equity on this board that he could barrel. I can’t fold this hand on the turn in my opinion, because I don’t want to fold too much against a very aggressive opponent.

CT: What hands in your range would you consider folding?

AM: I’m probably folding some of my gutshots, and perhaps 4-x and ace-high hands. I have no choice, I have to call in this spot.

Mateos calls.

River: Q (pot: 1,250,000)

Carrel moves all-in.

CT: Can you still find a call now? He’s really putting maximum pressure on.

AM: Well at this point I need to think about if he is bluffing enough on this river to call with my hand. I need to win 25 percent of the time, because it’s a half pot bet.

CT: What range are you putting him on when this river lands and he shoves?

AM: I think he has hands in his three-bet range like 5-3 suited, 6-3 suited, 7-5 suited,7-6 suited; those types of hands. He also has some missed flush draws and I have a pretty good hand to call with. So after some consideration I thought that the call is definitely plus EV (expected value) for me to call.

Mateos calls. Carrel reveals 7 3. Mateos wins the pot of 2,546,000.

CT: Great call.

AM: Thanks. So he’s bluffing with no equity, and that makes him over bluff this spot, so my call with this hand makes me a huge profit in the long run.

Key Concepts: Bet sizing; C-bet sizing;

CT: Did you have a specific plan coming to the final table for the bracelet?

AM: I didn’t really have a specific plan against John. I was mainly staying extremely focused and trying to play my best. John was the runner up last year in the heads-up WSOP event, so I know he is a tough opponent. I watched his semifinal match to find out more about how he plays. I found out he plays pretty aggressive and he’s not scared to put out some bluffs and place a lot of pressure onto his opponent.
Mateos raises to 150,000 holding Q 7. Smith calls from the small blind.

Flop: J 5 3 (pot: 300,000)

Smith checks. Mateos bets 100,000.

CT: Why that bet sizing for your continuation bet?

AM: It was my standard one-third pot continuation bet that I was doing during all the final matches.

Smith calls.

Turn: 6 (pot: 500,000)

AM: On this turn I have a gutshot and some equity to barrel. I think this is a pretty good bet here, because I believe John’s flop call is really wide to most of my c-bets. He probably has to fold a lot on this turn, so I decided to make my bet sizing larger.

Mateos bets 425,000. Smith calls.

CT: When Smith calls that must set off some warning bells. What hand range did you have him on now? And what’s the plan for the river?

AM: He could have too many different hands like J-x, 6-x or any draw. It will depend on which river comes out for me to figure out if a bluff is profitable or not.

River: K (pot: 1,350,000)

CT: Can you continue to barrel on this river?

AM: Well I missed my equity. I need to think about if I am going to bluff or not. This river is not bad for my range, but I don’t think John will fold a J-x type hand. So I decided to bet small.

Mateos bets 520,000.

CT: Once again, why this bet sizing?

AM: I bet 36 percent of the pot because I wanted him to fold his missed draws. I don’t need to bet bigger to make him fold this type of hand, as he has a lot of flush draws in his range.

Smith raises to 1,040,000.

CT: I guess he has something else in mind.

AM: I know. He decided to raise the river the minimum. The raise made me think for a long time, because in the semifinal match he made the exact river min-raise as a bluff. But he knows that I watched that match. I can’t call with my hand because I even lose to his bluffs. If I am going to win this hand I need to go all-in or fold. After much thought, I decided to fold because I thought I had an edge in the match so far. And if I fold I could try to win the match by getting it in with a better hand. But I was really close to shoving, because for me this river raise seems pretty bluffy. And I know he is capable of bluffing in this spot. But I decided to…

Mateos folds. Smith wins the pot of 1,870,000.

AM: I later found out he had Q 9 for a missed draw.

CT: You have become a very accomplished player at such a young age. Please share the kind of work you did on your game to be able to compete and win against the best players in the world.

AM: I fell in love with the game at 16, and started to read all the poker forums online as well as watch as many training videos as I could. I also read a lot of poker strategy from various forums and books as I began my poker career. It wasn’t long before I had a large bankroll which allows me to play in whatever events and games I choose. I then decided to move to London from Madrid with a few other professional players. That allowed me to talk about hands and strategy all the time with great players. I think I tend to learn very fast, that is one of my greatest strengths. And it helps that I love the game so much, that it’s never hard for me to play or study poker. I’m never bored when learning. ♠