Spain's Only Hope Meets an Unlucky End

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Until this year, a Spanish player had never entered the EPT Grand Final €100K Super High Roller. After winning the 2013 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event last year, 19-year-old Adrian Mateos decided to give it a go in this year's SHR. The Spanish railbirds were excited for their man, and like him, they waited patiently for a double. Mateos recently got his chips in as a dominating favorite, but sometimes poker can be a cruel game.

It began when Igor Kurganov opened for 22,000 from under the gun and Fabian Quoss flatted. When action reached Mateos in the small blind, he moved all in for 160,000 total. Kurganov quickly got out of the way, and then Quoss snap-called.

Quoss:
Mateos:

According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Mateos was a 65.48% favorite while Quoss would come from behind 33.69% of the time. Actually, that number was even less as another player at the table claimed to have folded an ace.

Even so, the flop provided two of them and put a dagger through Mateos' heart. Just like that the Spaniard went from being a big favorite to drawing dead. The meaningless and were run out on the turn and river respectively, and then a dejected Mateos took his leave from the tournament in 25th place.