Adrian Mateos Wins 9th PGT Title at Poker Masters, Leads Race for Purple Jacket

Adrian Mateos won event no. 5 of the 2026 Poker Masters, claiming a first-place prize of $229,500 and his fourth PGT victory of the year. Along with his ninth PGT title overall, the 32-year-old poker pro exorcised some minor demons and took over the top spot in the Poker Masters race for the purple jacket following a tough run of luck earlier in the series. Mateos had improbably bubbled three events in the early 2026 Poker Masters action, with a runner-up finish in event no. 2 mixed in between the frustrating close calls.

Mateos’ 381 PGT points for the series, which is good enough for a solid lead over event no. 2 winner Nick Palma and the rest of the field with five tournaments to go. That pushes him past Mikita Badziakouski for fourth place on poker’s all-time money list. He remains the runaway leader on the Spanish money list, with more than double the earnings of second-ranked Sergio Aido ($31.2 million).

The 2026 Poker Masters saw the largest turnout of the series thus far, with the $10,500 no-limit hold’em tournament drawing 85 entrants. The top 13 players shared in the $850,000 prize pool. Mateos built a chip lead late on day 1, largely at the expense of fellow top POY contender Brandon Wilson. Going into day 2 and a seven-handed final table, Mateos held the chip lead, followed by Schulman in second place. Early on day 2, Lehr dispatched Wantman in seventh place ($34,000) in a battle of short stacks. Those chips wouldn’t stay in Lehr’s possession for long, though, as he ran K♣Q♣ into Mateos’ A♠Q♥, and fell in sixth place ($42,500). That trend ended as Schulman pulled back even with Becker in the race for second place, turning Q♣9♣ into a winner against a short-stacked Robert French’s A♣K♥, courtesy of a rivered nine. For the second time in five events at the 2026 Poker Masters, heads-up play was startlingly brief. In addition to all of the other accolades and career milestones, Mateos rose to fifth place on the season-long PGT leaderboard with this win. The 2026 Poker Masters runs through Oct. 23, culminating in a $51,000 buy-in championship event.