Spanish star Adrian Mateos has exited the 2024 WSOP Main Event after a horrific bad beat saw his pocket aces cracked all-in pre-flop.
The 30-year-old started the day second in chips and fans were excited to see a true heavy-hitter running deep with a big stack, but then it all turned sour.
Two key hands with aces versus kings defined Mateos’s day, the first showcasing just what kind of calibre player he really is.
In hand one Mateos was in a four-bet pot holding K♠ K♥ up against Will Berry’s A♠ A♣.
With deep stacks the players went to a flop instead of stacking off and the board came down Q♦ 4♦ 2♣
Berry led out for 425,000 into a pot of 1,360,000 and Mateos opted to call.
The turn came down the 10♠ and Berry fired again, this time 1,300,000 into 2,210,000.
Mateos ponders for only around one minute before pitching his hand into the muck, stunning the commentators.
BUCKLE UP.
A clash of Aces and Kings between @Amadi_17 and William Berry at the @WSOP Main Event!
📺: https://t.co/nGgEBVjzC9 pic.twitter.com/fx259PCr96
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 11, 2024
The second hand broke the hearts of poker fans all over the world.
Mateos opened to 60,000 with A♥ A♣ and got a call from Lingkun Lu in the small blind holding 5♥ 4♥
Adrian Garcia then wakes up with A♠ K♠ in the big blind and three-bets to 325,000. Mateos comes back over the top for 750,000 and Lu folds.
Garcia now feels there’s too much in the pot to be going away and decides to just go with it and he jams for 2,925,000 with Mateos snap-calling.
The flop came down safely enough with 10♠ 9♥ 8♦ but the runner runner 9♠ 3♠ ended the event for the Spaniard.
All in against ACES!
The action continues on Day 5 of the @WSOP Main Event.
📺: https://t.co/nGgEBVjzC9 pic.twitter.com/GiZ3x7XLH4
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 11, 2024
Afterwards he told Jeff Platt:
“[It] could be one of [my] worst bad beats for sure, especially in this tournament. It was a huge spot, but I think I played the hand great. I’m just unlucky and that’s just how poker works.
“During all the days, all my reads were on point. I feel like I probably played my best tournament ever. But that’s poker. Two hands: kings against aces and aces against ace-king and the dream is over.
“The only thing is to stay focused on the next tournament and try to play my best. That’s the only thing I can control and that’s my plan.”
Out of the 464 players who started the day, only 160 will return tomorrow.
Just like yesterday, Stephen Song will come back as the chip leader, and more determined than ever to improve on his 83rd place from 2021.
With $6 million and a bracelet to his name, there are few left in the field as accomplished.
Sadly, Phil Ivey didn’t see out Day 5. He, along with Bin Weng, Nacho Barbero, and Parker Talbot will have to wait until next year to try again.
Kristen Foxen, Tony Dunst, and Ren Lin are all still in with a shout.
WSOP 2024 Main Event Day 5 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Stephen Song | United States | 12,310,000 | 154 |
| 2 | Carlos Caldas | Portugal | 12,110,000 | 151 |
| 3 | Diogo Coelho | Portugal | 9,950,000 | 124 |
| 4 | Yegor Moroz | United States | 9,470,000 | 118 |
| 5 | Manuel Machado | Portugal | 8,830,000 | 110 |
| 6 | Kevin Davis | United States | 8,675,000 | 108 |
| 7 | Charles Russell | Ireland | 8,055,000 | 101 |
| 8 | Tomas Szwarcberg | Mexico | 7,950,000 | 99 |
| 9 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 7,900,000 | 99 |
| 10 | Laurent Manderlier | Belgium | 7,500,000 | 94 |
Only 17 to Return in $1,000 Mystery Bounty
The $1,000 Mystery Bounty has proven to be one of the most popular new additions to the schedule.
An impressive 4,280 entrants started Day 1, and that total has been whittled down to only 10.
The majority of the $3,616,800 prize pool will be fought over tomorrow where the winner will walk away with $282,290 and a WSOP bracelet.
Germany’s Sascha Wilhelm is in the lead but there are a few players within touching distance.
Adam Friedman Tops the $10K Eight-Game Field
Adam Friedman is leading the way in Event #88: $10,000 Eight-Game Mixed Championship, a tournament that has been graced by the old school star Gus Hansen who made a return this year.
The Dane currently sits in third place, close enough to the top to challenge for his second bracelet.
Only 22 players will return for Day 2 tomorrow.
Event #88: $10,000 Eight-Game Mixed Championship Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
| 1 | Adam Friedman | United States | 1,098,000 | 27 |
| 2 | Tom Koral | United States | 1,055,000 | 26 |
| 3 | Gus Hansen | Denmark | 948,000 | 24 |
| 4 | Ali Eslami | United States | 839,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 741,000 | 19 |
| 6 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | 626,000 | 16 |
| 7 | Fu “Grasshopper” Wong | United States | 612,000 | 15 |
| 8 | Danny Wong | United States | 608,000 | 15 |
| 9 | Maksim Pisarenko | Russian Federation | 539,000 | 13 |
| 10 | Calvin Anderson | United States | 489,000 | 12 |
David “ODB” Baker Bags Biggest Stack in $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.
Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed) has attracted some of the game’s biggest names into a field of 357 entrants.
Three-time bracelet winner David “ODB” Baker led the way as the players bagged up at the end of Day 1 but there is a long list of star names still in the tournament ready to halt his charge.
Phil Ivey for one will be looking to avenge his bust out from the Main Event deep into Day 5.
Scott Seiver is also still in contention, along with a few names from the boom years of poker — Barry Greensetin, Phil Laak, and Scotty Nguyen.
Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. (8-Handed) Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | David “ODB” Baker | United States | 353,500 |
| 2 | Paul Campbell | United States | 251,000 |
| 3 | Jared Hyman | United States | 220,000 |
| 4 | Ariel Mantel | Argentina | 215,500 |
| 5 | Sean Yu | United States | 213,500 |
| 6 | Dario Alioto | Italy | 212,500 |
| 7 | Jonathan Williams | United States | 205,500 |
| 8 | Curtis Phelps | United States | 204,500 |
| 9 | Nghia Le | United States | 202,500 |
| 10 | Mark Gregorich | United States | 201,500 |
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