“These Tournaments Are Super Special” Adrian Mateos Wins $6.37M in Triton Invitational

Triton Montenegro 2026 delivered one of the biggest moments of its 10th anniversary year recently, with Adrian Mateos winning the record-breaking $200,000 Triton Invitational for a career-best $6,370,000.

The Spanish superstar captured the third Triton Poker title of his career after surviving a brutal three-day battle at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Przno, Montenegro . The event drew a record 137 entries, making it the biggest Triton Invitational field ever held.

#8 $200k -- NLH Triton Invitational ($200,000)

Total Prize

$27,400,000

Entries

137

ITM

23

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$6,370,000	AM Adrian Mateos Spain	6,844.95
2	$4,316,000	AL Alexey Lozuyk Belarus	4,840.11
3	$2,877,000	BH Benjamin Heath United Kingdom	3,951.93
4	$2,357,000	AB Andre Berg Norway	3,422.48
5	$1,890,000	AZ Anatoly Zlotnikov Russia	3,061.15
6	$1,466,000	MN Maher Nouira Tunisia	2,794.44
7	$1,085,000	WK Wai Kiat Lee Malaysia	2,587.15
8	$797,000	EP Eelis Parssinen Finland	2,420.06
9	$635,000	IH Isaac Haxton United States of America	2,281.65

Check the 23 Payouts & Results ...

Mateos Hits a New Career High

Mateos arrived in Montenegro already established as Spain’s all-time leading tournament earner, with more than $50 million in documented live cashes and two previous Triton titles. Even by his standards, though, this one landed differently.

The 31-year-old collected $6,370,000 from a $27,400,000 prize pool, comfortably surpassing the biggest score of his career and pushing his documented tournament earnings beyond $60 million.

“Right now I’m pretty happy,” Mateos said. “These tournaments are super special for me and I always come super motivated to play these Invitationals. It feels amazing to win the third title and one of these huge tournaments.”

Mateos once again partnered with Argentinian rapper Alejandro “Papo MC” Lococo , who won the equivalent Triton Invitational event in the Bahamas in 2024. This time, it was Mateos lifting the trophy instead.

A Record Triton Invitational

The Triton Invitational remains one of poker’s most distinctive formats, combining elite professionals with official Invitees. Pros can only enter after being selected by an Invitee, creating a completely different atmosphere from a standard high roller.

This latest edition became the 10th Triton Invitational ever held and also the largest. The tournament reached 137 entries, including 41 re-entries, beating the previous record and building a massive $27.4 million prize pool.

By the time the tournament reached its final table, there were still four Invitees remaining. Anatoly Zlotnikov and Maher Nouira occupied the top spots in the counts, while Mateos entered the final as one of the shorter stacks.

“It’s a little bit different from the other tournaments,” Mateos said. “The first day is really tough, all the top pros in the world, we are battling. And then day two we mix with some VIPs.”

“Some of them play amazing, some are less experienced, but that creates different dynamics and that’s way more fun than regular tournaments because the dynamics change a lot. For me, I like these new dynamics, new changes. I like to adapt my game every time, and it fits really well for me.”

Mateos Finds a Way Through at Triton Montenegro

The final table became increasingly chaotic as stacks got shorter and nearly every orbit featured another all-in confrontation. Mateos himself needed a rivered ace at one stage to stay alive before gradually rebuilding momentum.

Isaac Haxton fell in ninth place after Zlotnikov spiked an ace against pocket kings. Eelis Parssinen followed in eighth, while Kiat Lee exited in seventh after Mateos woke up with pocket aces during a massive three-way all-in.

Nouira’s deep run ended in sixth, while Zlotnikov finally bowed out in fifth after spending much of the tournament applying relentless pressure with aggressive play.

From there, Mateos tightened his grip on the tournament.

Lozuyk Shines on Triton Debut

Mateos eventually reached heads-up play against Belarusian cash game player Alexey Lozuyk, who was making his first appearance on the Triton Poker Series.

Lozuyk looked completely comfortable on poker’s biggest stage, repeatedly fighting back and refusing to let Mateos pull away. At one point during heads-up play, Lozuyk rivered trips to pull the stacks almost level again.

Mateos responded immediately, rebuilding his lead before the final hand arrived. The chips went in with Mateos holding ace-six against Lozuyk’s ace-jack, and a six on the flop left the Spaniard one step from the title.

Lozuyk earned $4,316,000 for the breakout performance, while Ben Heath finished third for $2,877,000 after another deep Invitational run.

An Emotional Victory for Mateos

Mateos celebrated the win alongside his parents, who once again travelled to support him at Triton Montenegro. The moment clearly meant more than just another trophy.

“They are the reason why I am here,” Mateos said. “They always trust me in everything I do in life and I really love them a lot. They try to help me, I try to help them. I’m happy to have amazing parents.”

Mateos admitted the final table had pushed him emotionally, especially with so much money and pressure attached to every decision.

“I ran super hot today and everything went my way. I ended up lifting the trophy,” Mateos said. “But there are many hands where I felt the pressure, where I felt emotions. I think it’s good to feel the emotions but perform after that. I also think I played great. I’m pretty happy with my performance.”

All quotes and images courtesy of Triton Poker Series.