Spanish Sensation Adrian Mateos Leads Final 6 in PCA Main Event
Adrian Mateos had just 11 big blinds starting the last level of the night. Thirteen hands later, the day was done and the Spanish 3-time bracelet winner lead the remaining 6 players. Besides Mateos, avid poker players Koray Aldemir, Shawn Buchanon, and Maria Lampropulos will return to the center stage on the final day of the event, as do short stacks Daniel Coupal and Christian Rudolph.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Lampropulos | Argentina | 3,505,000 | 44 |
| 2 | Shawn Buchanan | Canada | 3,755,000 | 47 |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 5,675,000 | 71 |
| 4 | Daniel Coupal | Canada | 1,275,000 | 16 |
| 5 | Christian Rudolph | Germany | 905,000 | 11 |
| 6 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 2,340,000 | 29 |
The penultimate day of the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure started with 16 players remaining and David Peters in the lead.
Short stack Phillip Corion ran jacks into aces early on and would not find what he so desperately needed; the board stayed clear of jacks. Florian Maurer (sixes into ace-queen) and first-time live player Jean Ateba (sevens into trip kings) left shortly after.
Meanwhile, high stakes regular Koray Aldemir doubled through Shawn Buchanan with set over set to grab the chip lead. As Bartosz Stasiewicz (king-queen into nines) exited, Aldemir got even richer. He flopped a flush against Jonathan West's flopped two-pair. They both got all their chips in, and West failed to improve to a full house, getting Aldemir up to 5.5 million in chips.
Peters started the day as the man in charge, but nothing worked for him on Day 5.
Besides Aldemir, two more high rollers were going deep. Spanish sensation Adrian Mateos and American David Peters often faced off in tournament buy-ins of $50,000 and more, and now battled deep in the main event. Peters started the day as the man in charge, but nothing worked for him on Day 5. He lost some smaller pots and doubled Mateos with nines against ace-three, with Mateos hitting an ace on the flop to stay alive. A failed hero-call with ace-queen high set Peters back even further, only for him to fall the next hand with ace-jack to ace-king.
Michael Farrow hit the rail next, losing a blind battle with fives to ace-ten.
With just nine players remaining, the final redraw of the tournament was in order. Combined to a single table, Koray Aldemir was still the heavy favorite with almost 6 million in chips while his nearest competitor, Maria Lampropulos, had "just" 3 million.
In hand 11 of the final table of 9, Patryk Poterek lost the last of his chips. The Polish player lost with queens to Lampropulos' ace-king after she flopped trips. With Poterek eliminated, the final table of 8 was officially set. Still, play continued as the goal was to get down to 6 players.
Aldemir went on a little bit of a cold streak as he lost pot after pot. Oleg Titov was the most significant beneficiary as Aldemir check-raised all in with ace-seven against him on a five-seven-eight board. Titov wasn't afraid calling with queens, and as no ace or seven appeared on the turn or river, he was right back in it. Meanwhile, Lampropulos didn't seem able to lose a hand and took over the lead, getting her stack up to 5 million while Aldemir dropped down to 3.7.
Lampropulos and Aldemir tangled for a bit, before Shawn Buchanan overtook the lead.
Oleg Titov didn't see a picture card for just about 3 hours.
At the start of Level 28, Mateos had 11 big blinds, making him one of the shortest stacks in the tournament. Ten hands later, he was the chipleader. He first doubled with ace-queen to Adalfer Morales Gamarra's king-queen and busted his Colombian neighbor the next hand winning with top-pair against a gutshot. A hand with kings where he got two streets of value of Aldemir, including a pot bet on the river, saw him surge to the top of the ranking.
Oleg Titov didn't see a picture card for just about 3 hours. With no real hands to do anything with, he was blinded down to just two big blinds. In the end, the Russian highlight of the table got it in with king-deuce to Daniel Coupal's ace-jack. Titov would not overcome the ace on the flop and exited in 7th place.
After a long day in the Bahamas, six players remain in the 2018 PCA Main Event with 51 minutes left in the 40,000/80,000 level. Mateos leads with Christian Rudolph as the shortest stack. Can Mateos grab his second PokerStars Main Event title? Check back in on Sunday at 3:30 local time to see the conclusion of the PCA Main Event.
Adrian Mateos Stats
| Total Live Earnings: | $12,249,710 |
| Best Live Cash: | $1,351,661 |
| Career Wins: | 11 |
| EPT Titles: | 1 |
| WSOP Bracelets: | 3 |
| All Time Money List | 34 |
| Spain All Time Money List: | 1 |
| Global Poker Index: | 1 |
| GPI Player of the Year 2017: | 1 |
| Year | Country | Buy-in | Event | Entries | Prize in US$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Spain | €1,100 | Estrellas Main Event | 632 | $137,247 |
| 2013 | France | €10,000 | WSOP Europe Main Event | 375 | $1,351,661 |
| 2015 | Monaco | €10,000 | EPT Grand Final | 564 | $1,214,161 |
| 2016 | United States | €1,500 | WSOP Summer Solstice | 1,840 | $409,171 |
| 2017 | Monaco | €50,000 | PokerStars Championship High Roller | 64 | $988,924 |
| 2017 | United States | €10,000 | WSOP Heads Up event | 129 | $336,656 |
| 2017 | Macau | HK$80,000 | ACOP Mini High Roller | 124 | $297,927 |
| 2017 | Dominican Republic | $5,000 | partypoker MILLIONS finale | 215 | $250,000 |
