Adrián Mateos: Youngest Player Ever to Win 6 Bracelets
Adrián Mateos won his sixth WSOP bracelet at 31. We revisit the key hands, his journey from online, and his biggest career record.
When a 19-year-old kid from Spain won the WSOP Europe Main Event back in 2013, the skeptics said: "It's an upswing, he's young, it'll pass soon." Thirteen years later, Adrian Mateos is proving them wrong.
A few days ago at the WSOP 2026 series in Las Vegas, the Spaniard captured his sixth gold bracelet. And he did it in the most expensive event of the current World Series — Event #41: $250,000 Super High Roller. This win earned him $4,334,411 and officially made him the youngest holder of six bracelets in history. He's only 31. Legends like Phil Ivey were only just getting started at his age. Incidentally, Ivey himself was seated at that same final table.
From the tennis court to poker
Today Mateos is an established high roller, but his path began in classic fashion for the 2000s generation. As a child, Adrian played tennis seriously, but at 16 he happened to see poker on TV and caught fire with the game. As soon as he came of age, he began storming online poker. MTT regulars know his nickname "Amadi_017" perfectly well. Before becoming a live star, Mateos built his foundation online, winning several titles on the WCOOP and SCOOP series, including a victory in the most expensive WCOOP tournament, the $25,000 Super High Roller.
With his move to live high roller tournaments, the Spaniard picked up a new nickname — "La Máquina." The high rollers dubbed Adrian this for the robotic precision of his decisions, his phenomenal endurance, and his complete absence of emotion during multi-hour sessions.
"I block the straight flush"
His run in Las Vegas at WSOP 2026 began with a hand that instantly became the top viral hit on poker social media. In the $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em tournament, the Spaniard clashed deep-stacked against Jovan Kenjić.
On a board of K♥️ 7♥️ 6♥️ 5♥️ 4♠️, in a pot that had ballooned by the river, Adrian shoved all-in. Kenjić, after long deliberation, confidently announced to the whole table: "I'm calm, I block the straight flush" and only then hit "call." With his A♥️ 9♥️ he held the nut flush, and the pocket nine of hearts blocked the most obvious and logical straight flush for Adrian. Kenjić was sure the Spaniard was bluffing.
Imagine the astonishment of Jovan and the entire room when Mateos coolly flipped over his cards — 4♥️ 3♥️. Mateos had made the bottom straight flush, three to seven. This hand instantly spread into memes across the poker community, proving that the Spaniard had "god mode" switched on.
And remember 2015 and his legendary bluff at the EPT Grand Final against Johnny Lodden? Back then, on a board of A♠️ 3♦️ 9♣️ 4♣️ A♦️, Mateos with J♠️ 10♠️ made his opponent believe he had a third ace in his hand. By shoving all-in, the Spaniard forced Lodden to fold pocket fives. More than 10 years have passed, and Mateos still sees right through his opponents.
Clash of titans at the $250,000 Super High Roller
In the $250,000 Super High Roller tournament the field was as tough as it gets, but Mateos gave his opponents a real masterclass. On his way to the title at the final table, "The Machine" outplayed and left behind, one after another, the elite of the modern live game: Phil Ivey (8th place), Jason Koon (5th place), Sean Winter (4th place), and billionaire businessman David Einhorn (3rd place).
Heads-up, Mateos went face to face with the leader of the All-Time Money List, Bryn Kenney. In the decisive hand, on a flop of 2♥️ 4♣️ 10♠️, Kenney with top pair 10♥️ 9♦️ made a hefty continuation bet, but got an aggressive check-raise from the Spaniard and decided to move all-in. Mateos instantly put his chips in, flipping over Doyle Brunson's iconic hand 10♣️ 2♣️, with which he held flopped two pair. The 8♦️ turn and 3♦️ river brought the American no improvement. At 31 years old, Adrian Mateos captured the sixth gold bracelet of his career and officially became the youngest six-time champion in WSOP history.
From a year-long downswing to $10.7M in a month
Photo: Triton Poker
Over the last thirty days, Adrian Mateos has earned more than $10,000,000 — in May he won $6,370,000 at the Triton Invitational in Montenegro, and already in June he cemented his success with a victory in the super high roller tournament at the WSOP, which brought another $4,334,411.
The Spaniard himself, after the final heads-up, admitted that this success is the result of a long and grueling struggle:
"It's crazy. Before the trip to Triton I was in a downswing for about a year, losing in every live tournament. But I kept working hard and posting good results online. I trusted the process and kept sitting down at the table. Now I have a month of an upswing, I've won a lot of money, and I'm very happy about it."
The ability to take a punch, keep iron discipline, and keep grinding despite a prolonged downswing — that's what ultimately makes a champion. Six bracelets at 31 clearly prove it: if Adrian keeps up this pace, Phil Hellmuth will have to seriously worry about his seemingly eternal record of 17 trophies. A new king is rising on the poker Olympus right now, and we're lucky to be watching it in real time.
