Adrian Mateos Scores GGMillions Win for $376,000
A brilliant late-stage victory for Adrian Mateos meant Spanish celebrations in this week’s GGMillion$, as the live tournament crusher won the $376,032 top prize. Coming into play third in chips, Mateos bade his time before delivering the knockout blow to his last two opponents to scoop glory in the weekly $10,000 buy-in high roller event on GGPoker.
Early Exit for Popyk
This week’s special guest, alongside host Jeff Gross, was a poker legend. German poker player Fedor Holz has not only risen to the top and retired in his twenties but couldn’t stay away, reigniting his career in high stakes events and launching Pokercode, which helps the best players, along with anyone else who uses it, to get even better with GTO theory! With over $47.7 million in winnings, the GGPoker Global Ambassador Holz knows high rollers better than virtually anyone, having played them so many times on his way to 10th place on the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob.
With nine players heading into the final table, the leader was Fedor’s fellow German, an online poker coach himself, Benjamin Rolle, with 79 big blinds. There was a decent gap to second-placed Canadian ‘Come2Brazil’ with 55 big blinds. Marginally behind were Spanish legend Adrian Mateos (54BB) and another German player, Alexander Tkatschew (53BB). Russian duo Vasiliy Meshkov (41BB) and Artur Martirosian (38BB), also known as the king of GGMillion$, were next, with Mauricio Pais (36BB), Ukraine’s Igor Popyk (18BB) and Brazilian Alisson Piekazewicz (12BB) hoping for a lightning start to get back into the game.
The Ukrainian player Popyk was the first player to bust, moving all-in pre-flop for 18 big blinds with an offsuit ace-king and being called by Mauricio Paes with pocket queens. ‘Come2Brazil’ had folded ace-jack of hearts, which was one less out for Popyk to chase, leaving him close to drawing dead. The Ukrainian missed across the T-8-6-7-8 board, which sent him home with $53,719 in ninth place.
The Rise and Fall of Alexander Tkatschew
The best to ever do it – in GGMillion$ terms – hit the rail next, as Russian poker powerhouse Artur Martirosian left the final table in eighth place for $68,511. On a board showing 7-3-3-2, the Russian bet big with just king-queen offsuit, and Alexander Tkatschew called with pocket tens. On the river of another deuce, Martirosian emptied the clip, shoving for 1.2 million chips into the pot, which was just under 1.1 million. Tkatschew made a quick call, and it was a brilliant one, earning him the chip lead in the process.
Alisson Piekazewicz from Brazil came into play as the short stack, and while he laddered two places, he could climb no further. All-in with pocket queens, Piekazewicz ran into Vasiliy Meshkov’s pocket aces, and while a flop of K-T-9 gave the hope of a miracle straight, neither the seven on the turn nor the three on the river, reducing the field to six and sending the Brazilian home with $87,377.
Over the next forty minutes, chips were passed back and forth without an elimination. The streak was ended by a raising war between Tkatschew and Pais. Pais was first to act and doubled the blind, and Tkatschew three-bet with ace-king to 7.5 big blinds. The action was capped when Pais bombed, shoving with ace-three diamonds. Tkatschew called only to discover he was dominating and on his way to a big double-up. That was until the J-7-7 flop was followed by a three on the turn. No help came for the now at-risk Tkatschew on the river as a four ended the German’s hopes of glory in sixth place for $111,439, as a big pot went Pais’ way.
The clock ticked past three hours, and five players still remained in their virtual seats, but within 25 minutes, the tournament would be over as play raced to a conclusion. There was a shock exit in fifth place as Benjamin Rolle, who had started the final table as the chip leader, left with $142,126 as the German missed out on the final four. All-in with pocket threes, Rolle lost a coinflip against the seemingly bulletproof Meshkov, whose ace-queen hit when the board came A-K-J-4-5. A flush draw to the river would have given salvation to the at risk player, but missed for the luckless former leader.
Mateos Starts to Sweep the Table
With four players remaining, Spanish poker legend Adrian Mateos was the chip leader with 7.1 million chips, with Meshkov (5.2m) best placed to challenge him. Both Pais (3.7m) and ‘Come2Brazil’ (3m) still had playable stacks as the blinds of 80,000/160,000 began to bite.
‘Come2Brazil’ went through a surge in some small pots before shoving pre-flop with ace-queen and getting a call from Pais with ace-seven. The dominated hand hit the ignorant end of a straight across a board of T-T-8-J-9 but was defeated by the Canadian with a straight to the queen to send Pais home with $181,264 in fourth place.
The Final Three
Meshkov was now third in chips behind both ‘Come2Brazil’ and Mateos when he was dealt pocket twos and decided it was the right time to get it all in. Mateos was ahead, having made the call with pocket fours, and remained that way through the T-T-5 flop. A seven on the turn meant Meshkov was drawing to two deuces or a chop. A five came on the river and spared his tournament life just one more hand, as next he shoved queen-ten into Mateos’s ace-queen. A board of A-8-7-5-T sent play heads-up as the Russian claimed $231,180 in third place.
The final duel saw Mateos on over 12.1 million chips taking on ‘Come2Brazil’ on 7.1 million, and it didn’t take long for the Spanish player, sometimes nicknamed ‘El Matador’ to collect all the chips and score the final blow to topple his quarry. Just three hands into heads-up play, holding pocket queens, Mateos trapped ‘Come2Brazil’ with ace-three. On a flop of 8-4-3, Mateos raised, which goaded the Canadian into a shove that was quickly called off. A six on the turn and jack on the river played out perfectly for Mateos, who claimed victory and the top prize of $376,032, leaving his opponent to collect the runner-up prize of $294,841.
Watch exactly how it all went down in this week’s GGMillion$ via the GGPoker YouTube replay with Jeff Gross and Fedor Holz right here:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $376,032 |
| 2nd | ‘Come2Brazil’ | Canada | $294,841 |
| 3rd | Vasiliy Meshkov | Russia | $231,180 |
| 4th | Mauricio Pais | United Kingdom | $181,262 |
| 5th | Benjamin Rolle | Germany | $142,126 |
| 6th | Alexander Tkatschew | Germany | $111,439 |
| 7th | Alisson Piekazewicz | Brazil | $87,377 |
| 8th | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $68,511 |
| 9th | Igor Popyk | Ukraine | $53,719 |
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.
