Day 10 of the 2017 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw another player capture his third bracelet, this time 22-year-old Adrian Mateos becoming the youngest ever to accomplish the feat. In addition, a familiar face from the historic “Moneymaker” final table of 2003 captured a second bracelet.
Prodigy Player
For such a tender age, Spain’s Mateos has one of the most impressive résumés in all of poker. As it concerns the WSOP, he has seven cashes, totaling $2,484,128, and three final table appearances, all of which are wins. That makes him the youngest player in history to win three bracelets.
The most recent came Friday night when he topped a field of 129 players in Event #15: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship for $336,656.
“[It feels] really good, for sure,” Mateos told WSOP reporters. “I think it’s pretty hard to have three bracelets and I have it, so I’m pretty happy.”
But Mateos’ road to victory wasn’t easy. In the first round, he defeated Daniel Negreanu, and then followed that up with a win over Ian O’Hara in the second. The next three opponents he faced on the bracket included Eric Wasserson, Taylor Paur, and Ryan Hughes. He then had to go head-to-head against SCOOP champ Charlie Carrel in the Final Four. It took him just 37 hands to finish off the young Englishman.
Mateos also became only the third player so far this year to win their third bracelet within a two-day span. Both Frank Kassela and David “The Dragon” Pham did it the day before.
Final Four Results
1 Adrian Mateos (Madrid, Spain) $336,656
2 John Smith (La Habra Heights, CA) $208,154
3 Charlie Carrel (London, UK) $112,379
4 Ryan Riess (East Lansing, MI) $112,379
Singer’s Second Bracelet
Poker fans might best remember David Singer from the 2003 WSOP Main Event final table, when he finished ninth for $120,000. As of Friday night, he’s now a two-time bracelet winner.
It took four hours battling Kevin LaMonica in heads-up play, but eventually Singer topped a field of 736 players to win Event #14: $1,500 HORSE for $203,709. It marked the 40th WSOP cash and 13th final table appearance for Singer, who turned pro back in 1996.
“Obviously, it went back and forth,” Singer told WSOP officials about the marathon heads-up duel. “Most of the time I played well, but I was getting unlucky in the big hands. I was kind of frustrated but I always think I have a chance to come back.”
His other bracelet came back in 2008 when he took down Event #3: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em for $214,122.
Final Table Results
1 David Singer (Las Vegas, NV) $203,709
2 Kevin LaMonica (Huntington Beach, CA) $125,904
3 Andrew Kelsall (Tampa, FL) $88,221
4 Max Pescatori (Milan, Italy) $62,733
5 Michael Coombs (Bremerton, WA) $45,281
6 David “Bakes” Baker (Rochester Hills, MI) $33,184
7 Kyle Loman (Haverhill, MA) $24,696
8 Esther Taylor-Brady (Portland, OR) $18,669
9 Brandon Shack-Harris (Chicago, IL) $14,339
Kiriopoulos Leads 6-Max
Event #16: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max began with 1,748 runners, but just 21 survived Day 2 with Canada’s Demosthenes Kiriopoulos and his stack of 1.45 million leading the way.
Others still in contention for the $393,273 first-place prize are Matt Berkey (796,000), Matt Stout (583,000), and WPT Tournament of Champions victor Daniel Weinman (484,000).
Among those to exit in the money on Friday were Layne Flack (23rd for $15,919), Justin Bonomo (41st for $8,187), and Men “The Master” Nguyen (60th for $4,797).
The third and final day will get underway at Noon PT on Saturday.
Racener Leads Dealers Choice
On Day 2, Event #17: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship failed to reach a final table, but it did play down to just ten players. The favorite for the bracelet and $273,962 top prize is 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener, who leads with 1.124 million.
Chris Klodnicki (856,000), Eric Crain (358,000), and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow (295,000) are just a few of the players standing in his way. Meanwhile, Tommy Hang (11th for $18,880), Lyle Berman (14th for $14,783), and Todd Brunson (15th for $14,783) all finished in the money on Day 2.
The final ten players will return at 2 pm PT on Saturday to play down to a winner.
Largest PLO Event in History
One of the new events to kick off on Friday was Event #18: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha, which drew 1,711 and 1,479 players for Flights 1A and 1B respectively. That was 707 more entries than the year prior, making it the largest live PLO tournament in the world.
Ryan Laplante won last year’s event, but unfortunately, he was not among the 107 players to advance to Day 2. Among those that did were chip leader Cody Slaubaugh (726,000), Jason Mercier (272,000), Josh Reichard (270,000), JC Tran (147,000), and Erick Lindgren (99,000).
Action will resume at 2 pm PT on Saturday.
WSOP Giant Kicks Off
The other event to kick off on Friday was the $365 buy-in Event #19: The Giant, which will offer Day 1 flights every Friday between now and July 7. Those who advance will then return on July 8 for Day 2. The first flight of the inaugural event drew 1,629 entries and generated a $488,700 prize pool.
Among the 124 players who punched their ticket to July were chip leader Jeff Brin (718,000), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (637,500), and Bernard Lee (359,000), who was one day removed from finishing runner-up to Frank Kassela in Event #13.
In addition, those who made it to the top 245 players but failed to bag took home a little cash. Pat Steele ($573), Roland Israelashvili ($633), and Joey Couden ($678) were just a few of the players to make deep runs.
Get Ready for Milly Maker
Two new events will commence on Saturday. The first is Day 1A of the $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker at 10 am PT. The tournament allows for one re-entry per flight and is guaranteeing a $1 million prize to the winner. The second flight will take place at the same time on Sunday.
At 3 pm PT, Event #21: $1,500 8-Game Mix 6-Handed will get underway. The eight-game mix includes both limit and no-limit hold’em, PLO, limit 2-7 triple draw, limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or better, seven-card stud, Razz, and seven-card stud Hi-Lo 8 or better.
