The high-stakes Spanish grinder took down Justin Saliba for a huge payday
Adrian Mateos navigated through 159 players to win the 2024 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro $50,000 No-Limit Hold ’em eight-max event after a heads-up battle with Justin Saliba for his second Triton title and a $1,761,000 payday. The 29-year-old Spanish grinder secured his eighth cash since the beginning of March, where he’s collected almost $4 million in winnings.Ā
Mateos’ lifetime earnings haveĀ nowĀ surpassed $44.6 million, moving him to 11th on the all-time money list.Ā
He also regained the lead in the CardĀ Player PlayerĀ of the Year standings with his second win and leads Punnat Punsri by 707 points on the 2024 POY leaderboard.
Poker Hall of Famer and five-time Triton champion Phil Ivey was the chip leader when final table play began. Dan Smith bowed out in 8th place ($215,000), and Mikalai Vaskaboinikau was eliminated in 7th ($297,000) before Ivey went to the rail in 6th with $408,000.Ā The ten-time bracelet winner now has over $42.9 million in career winningsĀ after his latest deep run.Ā
Several hands later, Ben Tollerene’s A-Q led Mateos’ A-10, but the latter improved to the nut flush after four hearts landed on the board, knocking out Tollerene in 5th place ($532,000).Ā PlayĀ was then stoppedĀ as the final four players packed it in for the night before returning for an unscheduled Day 3.
After play resumed, Nick Petrangelo was sent home by Mateos in 4th place for $667,000, and Joe Zou’s tournament ended in 3rd ($818,000) after Mateo earned another knockout.Ā
Mateos held more than a 2:1 chip lead when heads-up play began against Saliba. He turned a jack-high straight on the winning hand to take the title, giving Saliba hisĀ biggestĀ career cash of $1,188,000 as runner-up.
