Adrian Mateos Shakes Off Three Bubbles to Win Poker Masters Event #5

Purple poker chips, pocket aces and a purple jacket on a casino table, illustrating Adrian Mateos’ 2026 Poker Masters Event #5 victory.

Key Details

Adrian Mateos won 2026 Poker Masters Event #5 for $229,500, beating Nick Schulman heads-up in two hands.
The title followed three money bubbles in the series’ first four events.
Mateos led the Purple Jacket race with 381 points after Event #5, with five events remaining.
The win was his ninth career PokerGO Tour (PGT) title and his fourth of 2026.

Spain’s Adrian Mateos won 2026 Poker Masters Event #5, a $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, for $229,500 on Saturday, October 17. He closed out the seven-handed final table at PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas by beating Poker Hall of Famer Nick Schulman heads-up. The match lasted two hands.

The win came after Mateos busted on the money bubble in three of the series’ first four events. It also put him atop the Purple Jacket standings following Event #5, with five tournaments remaining in the series.

Three Bubbles Before the Breakthrough

Mateos arrived at Event #5 with one cash from four events. He had finished on the money bubble in the other three. The money bubble is the last elimination before the paid places, so the player who busts there wins nothing.

His only cash came in Event #2, where he finished second after Nick “Nicky P” Palma beat him heads-up. Three bubbles in four high-stakes events is a rough stretch, even for an experienced professional.

Mateos said the results don’t drive his approach. “I focus only on the process and what I can control,” he told PokerNews. He added that he plays 11 to 12 hours almost every day.

How Mateos Won Poker Masters Event #5

Event #5 drew 85 entries and an $850,000 prize pool. Mateos started the final day as chip leader, and seven players reached the final table.

Here is how the eliminations unfolded. Keith Lehr exited in sixth after his K-Q lost to A-Q. Jeremy Becker’s A-K then held against Martin Zamani’s A-Q, sending Zamani out in fifth.

Schulman eliminated Texan Robert French in fourth, rivering a nine with Q-9 against A-K. Mateos then shoved the river on a T-8-3-T-5 board. Becker called with K-8 for two pair, but Mateos held T-4 for trip tens and Becker left in third.

Mateos began heads-up with more than a 4-to-1 chip lead. On the final hand, the chips went in on the turn with Mateos holding pocket aces against Schulman’s T♥9♥.

Schulman had a flush draw plus a double-gutshot, which means two separate inside straight draws. The river missed all of them. Schulman took $148,750 for second.

Mateos was frank about how much luck shaped his week. “Today I ran really good, and sometimes you run worse and you get bubbles,” he said.

Event #5 Results and Purple Jacket Standings

Place	Player	Prize
1st	Adrian Mateos	$229,500
2nd	Nick Schulman	$148,750
3rd	Jeremy Becker	$106,250
4th	Robert French	$76,500
5th	Martin Zamani	$59,500
6th	Keith Lehr	$42,500
7th	Matthew Wantman	$34,000

Three of the top four finishers were American: Schulman, New Yorker Becker and French.

The Purple Jacket goes to the player who earns the most points across the Poker Masters series. Mateos held 381 points after Event #5, leading the Purple Jacket standings with five tournaments remaining. That total includes 230 points from this win and 151 from Event #2. Whoever leads after all 10 events receives a $25,000 PGT Passport.

Mateos isn’t treating the race as settled. He told PokerNews he believes he’s leading but noted the series is only halfway through.

PGT stands for PokerGO Tour, a season-long circuit of high-stakes tournaments with its own points leaderboard. This was Mateos’ ninth career PGT title and fourth of 2026, and it lifted him to fifth on the season leaderboard. Schulman’s runner-up finish moved him into first place in the Card Player Player of the Year race.

Mateos is the fifth different winner in five events, so no player has pulled away yet. Event #7, a $15,700 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, is scheduled for Monday, October 19. Daniel Negreanu is expected to play.

Poker Masters Takeaways for US Players

Mateos’ series so far shows how tournament variance works. He bubbled three times, then won a $229,500 title days later, and he stuck to his process throughout. For your own game, size your buy-ins so a cold run doesn’t force you out of action.

If you’re in Nevada and want online tournaments between live sessions, WSOP Online offers a state-regulated option. Offshore sites operate outside Nevada regulation. Five events remain, so the Purple Jacket race is still wide open.

Sandra is a content writer and editor specializing in online poker and iGaming. She covers poker sites, game formats, industry news, and US online poker laws for Legal US Poker Sites.