Champion Adrian Mateos!

When things get wild in a high stakes poker tournament, it calls for an experienced head.

And tonight on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, it was arguably the most capable of all hold'em tournament players who managed to navigate through the many twists and turns to land the most significant win of a storied career.

Adrian Mateos is the champion of the latest $200,000 Triton Invitational, earning a first prize of $6.37 million and nearly doubling his previous highest prize. That takes some doing for a player of this 31-year-old Spaniard's repute. It is Mateos' third Triton title and takes his documented tournament winnings past $60 million. But it was possibly his hardest fought success, through a hugely unpredictable final table at the end of an extraordinary, record-breaking event.

With 133 entries, it was the biggest Invitational the Triton Poker Series has ever hosted, with a balanced field of elite pros and mostly recreational official Invitees. The format always throws up surprises, but the last of three days was especially volatile. Mateos needed his share of good fortune — one rivered ace when on the brink of elimination springs to mind — but Mateos is always able to find a way.

Celebrations start for Adrian Mateos

Eventually, he had to grind past the high-stakes cash game player, and official Invitee, Alexey Lozuyk to take it down. Lozuyk, in his first Triton event, earned $4.316 million for second.

Watched from the rail by his ever-supportive parents, the first hug Mateos gave was to his ebullient Invitee playing partner, Alejandro "Papo MC" Lococo. The last time Mateos was on a Triton Invitational stage it was to celebrate as Papo won a massive one in the Bahamas. But this time the roles were reversed as Mateos did what Mateos so often does.

"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."

Alejandro Lococo, left, leaps onto the stage to congratulate Mateos

Like so many pros of his standing, Mateos said that he really buys in to the unique nature of the Triton Invitationals.

"It's a little bit different from the other tournaments," he 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' final opponent Alexey Lozuyk

He admitted his heart had been racing at numerous points at such a thrilling final table, but it only made the victory ever sweeter. Mateos said: "I ran super hot today and everything went my way. I ended up lifting the trophy. 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."

He paid warm tribute to his parents, who made the trip once again to a destination where Mateos has previously thrived. He has spoken previously about having to convince his parents as a 19-year-old that he'd rather play poker than continue his studies, but that they supported him every step of the way.

"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."

The Mateos family (and Papo MC) celebrate in Montenegro

It's fair to say, the whole Mateos family should be incredibly proud of this hugely accomplished performer.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

With 48 confirmed pairings ahead of the registration deadline, the tournament had close to $20 million in the prize pool before a card was dealt. Furthermore, a new record for entries was in sight. The largest previous field, in terms of entries, was 133, shared by events in the Bahamas and Montenegro last year. It meant that if this tournament had more than 37 re-entries, it would set a new mark.

After the first 10 levels of Day 1 were complete, we were three off the record. And with pretty much anyone still re-entry eligible taking up their option ahead of play starting on Day 2, we hit the target. In all, 137 entries and $27.4 million in the prize pool. That meant $6.37 million to the winner.

The full field for the record-breaking Triton Invitational

YouTube streamer Ethan "Rampage" Yau topped the field after Day 1, prospering in the Invitee side of the field where the pots are always bigger and the re-entry count is highest. But he was not alone in finding the going much less smooth after fields combined on Day 2. Rampage was toast before the money bubble, due to burst when the 24th-placed finisher departed.

As is the nature of these things, the bubble did loom ominously into view during the early and then late evening on Day 2. It was a dog eat dog world now, with Alex Foxen blasting Stephen Chidwick out the door, followed by Adrian Mateos making toast of Matthias Eibinger.

The quirks of the tournament scheduling sent players on a dinner break just as they reached the stone bubble, which meant 24 came back with food in their bellies, but one of them would soon be sick.

The biggest pot played out between Isaac Haxton and Anatoly Zlotnikov, with the Russian, who was chip-leading at the time, betting all the way on a board of 437. The final bet brought his investment in the pot up to 60 percent of his stack, but when Haxton called on the incredibly dangerous board, Zlotnikov said, "You win" and mucked. We never found out what they had, but Zlotnikov was later heard to tell a friend, "I was bluffing. I bluff too much."

That put Haxton into the lead, but it didn't change the situation at the other end of the leaderboard. Instead the action there mostly took place on the neighboring Tables 1 and 3. That's where Chris Nguyen's jacks held to beat Maher Nouira's AQ, before Ilya Nikiforov got his last 10 blinds in with and doubled through Shaneil Stokes, who had .

Ilya Nikiforov survives on the bubble

Shortly after, Jason Koon also doubled through Mateos in very similar circumstances. Koon had AK and Mateos had A. The best hand held and doubled Koon's 28 blinds.

Jason Koon held against Mateos

Stokes, from the invitee side of the draw, was left with six blinds after the hand against Nikiforov, and he shoved them in after a tortuous hour of slow hand-for-hand play. He had K7 and Kiat Lee looked him up with A.

An ace flopped and Stokes was drawing dead by the turn. He left bitterly disappointed as the remainder of the field breathed silent sighs of relief. They were all the right side of the $318,000 bubble line. There were 15 pros now flexing their muscles, with eight Invitees still fighting the good fight.

It always has to be someone, and in this tournament it was Shaneil Stokes

The stated aim now for the remainder of Day 2 was to hit the final table, though it seemed a tall order. Progress was slow and as the clock ticked into tomorrow, they settled on finishing when 12 remained. Stacks were now getting short, with the notable exception of Tunisia's Maher Nouira. He bounced back from pre-bubble set-backs and assumed the chip lead in a huge pot against Linus Loeliger. Nouira's aces held against Loeliger's jacks, and it was only upward from there.

Maher Nouira led at the end of Day 2

Zlotnikov too pulled back into contention, and those two Invitees were two of only three players with greater than average stacks when the day ended. Nguyen, both Foxens, and Koon were among those now on the rail.

FINAL DAY

The third and final day began with five Invitees among 12 players left, including the two at the top of the counts. The average stack was only 23 big blinds and everyone was now guaranteed at least $466,000. But the pay-jumps were precipitous and it was now an ICM minefield. Not only did the pros need to worry about their bottom lines more carefully than usual, they needed to factor in the Invitees who perhaps didn't.

Linus Loeliger was again performing best when the stage was grandest. This was his fifth cash in a Triton Invitational, more than any other player, and he was hoping to turn it into a second final table appearance. But in a wild phase of play ahead of the final table, he was swept aside alongside Nikiforov and Danilo Velasevic.

Nikiforov's tournament ended in 12th with Q9 losing to Haxton's A, but Haxton then lost a big pot in doubling up Kiat Lee. Loeliger lost heaps with jacks to Zlotnikov's pocket sixes, while it was Lee who did the damage to Velasevic, nines losing to .

Zlotnikov also flopped a set with pocket sevens to beat Parssinen's pocket queens, and won another big pot with the mighty 72 rivering trips to down Nouira's A, which flopped an ace.

They reached the final table after only about an hour of play on Day 3, with Zlotnikov's run propelling him comfortably to the top, ahead of Nouira. Fellow Invitees Andre Bye Berg and Alexey Lozuyk found seats as well, with five pros occupying the other chairs and keeping the Invitee:Pro ratio as balanced as it could be.

FINAL TABLE STANDINGS

Anatoly Zlotnikov - 12,575,000 (84 BBs)

Maher Nouira - 6,050,000 (40 BBs)

Eelis Parssinen - 5,450,000 (36 BBs)

Kiat Lee - 4,700,000 (31 BBs)

Andre Bye Berg - 4,250,000 (28 BBs)

Adrian Mateos - 2,650,000 (18 BBs)

Alexey Lozuyk - 2,625,000 (18 BBs)

Isaac Haxton - 1,525,000 (10 BBs)

Ben Heath - 1,325,000 (9 BBs)

Triton Invitational final table line-up (clockwise from back left): Maher Nouira, Alexey Lozuyk, Ben Heath, Adrian Mateos, Isaac Haxton, Andre Bye Berg, Anatoly Zlotnikov, Kiat Lee, Eelis Parssinen.

It's fair to say that our chip leader Zlotnikov had been hitting some cards on his ride to the top which, coupled with his stated willingness to mix it up with inferior holdings, was getting him paid handsomely. The first major pot of the final continued the trend, and pitted Zlotnikov against one of the players he had clashed with for big money on the tournament's second day.

Zlotnikov was one of three players who limped pre-flop, and when the action got around to Isaac Haxton in the big blind, there was likely a good chance he'd be squeezing for his last 11 blinds. When he peeked down at pocket kings, the chips flew into the middle, but Zlotnikov had AJ and he called the shove.

The two other limpers got out of the way, and Zlotnikov had only one over-card to ruin Haxton's day. The dealer didn't mess around. The flop of 7A5 hit Zlotnikov immediately, and Haxton couldn't catch either of his two outs on turn or river.

The current Ivan Leow Player of the Year leader was the first out from the final. He took $635,000.

Zlotnikov had the last laugh against Isaac Haxton, who bust in ninth

Ben Heath had come to the final as the short stack, survived as Haxton bust, then doubled with A9 rivering an ace to beat Eelis Parssinen's pocket sevens. Not long later, Andre Bye Berg also doubled, getting aces to hold against Zlotnikov's Q. Berg therefore joined Nouira and Zlotnikov near the top of the leaderboard as the Invitees occupied the top three places.

Were the cracks beginning to show in Zlotnikov's armor now? Adrian Mateos doubled his seven blinds through Zlotnikov, with A10 holding against K. Parssinen doubled through Alexey Lozuyk with jacks against , but then Lozuyk doubled back through Zlotnikov with beating . All the chip shuffling with no eliminations undid the work of the blinds rollback at the start of the final. There was a 17-blind average, with five players below the average stack line.

Mateos was one of those below the line, but he soon flipped positions when he spiked an ace on the river holding A10 to beat Nouira's pocket 10s. Mateos ended the hand with 26 blinds and in sight of Zlotnikov, while Nouira slipped to just 10, one off the bottom.

Emotion from Adrian Mateos as he spikes an ace to survive

Heath doubled. His AQ beat Parssinen's A when four diamonds came on the board. And then when Lozuyk doubled through Zlotnikov at the exact time the blinds went up, there was a massive change in the standings. Lozuyk appeared now in the lead, but had only 25 blinds. Mateos was second with 20, ahead of Zlotnikov. The remainder of the field had less than the 13 blind average.

Surprisingly, there was time for only one more double in this level before there was actually a bust out. Heath got jacks to hold against Zlotnikov's J9s] to double his seven blinds. But on the next hand, Parssinen wasn't so fortunate.

The Finn open-shoved six blinds holding AJ and Kiat Lee, the only other player with cards, called with pocket deuces. Lee flopped a set and Parssinen could not recover. The long impasse ended with a farewell to Parssinen, who took $797,000 for eighth.

Eelis Parssinen's vigil ended in eighth

It was now far too close to call, with the dealer becoming the most significant person at the table. If everyone knew their shoving ranges, it just depended on who got the cards to make the right moves.

Mateos opened pocket eights and Nouira jammed A10. Nouira doubled thanks to a straight.

All of a sudden, however, the BIG pot that had been brewing finally came to pass. Zlotnikov opened from 13 blinds, Lee shoved his button with nine blinds and Mateos re-shoved, with 10 blinds. Zlotnikov called to put both opponents at risk.

Zlotnikov: KJ

Lee: QQ

Mateos: AA

The dealer offered not much on the 226 flop. But the turn made it interesting and had Zlotnikov pointedly showing his T-shirt stating "Just One Time" to the dealer. He needed a diamond to knock out two. But the river favored only Mateos. He all but tripled, Zlonikov was knocked back to four blinds and Kiat Lee was out.

Lee banked $1,085,000 for seventh.

Kiat Lee loses in the three-way cooler

Zlotnikov was all in again almost immediately, and he won again with A8 hitting an ace to beat Nouira's pocket kings. There were plenty of huge hands coming out with seemingly every deal, but they weren't always holding.

Zlotinkov apologised to Nouira, who he also beat heads up to win the $25K event earlier in the week, and Nouira waved it away as if it was nothing. But Nouira had been dealt a terminal blow and when he shoved his last seven BBs in from the small blind not long later, Mateos hoovered them up in the big blind. Nouira's J9 couldn't beat Mateos' A.

Nouira had to take the walk, consoled by his friend Mustapha Kanit on the way out. He earned another $1,466,000 from a third final table for the trip.

Maher Nouira couldn't catch a break at the final

Zlotnikov had been flying close to the sun throughout the whole tournament, but his wings were finally now looking a little tattered. He had only five blinds and picked up K5, putting in a raise that left him one chip behind. Mateos, on the button, just called, which meant the pair saw the flop and checked it. They also then checked the turn.

The river was the 5 and Zlotnikov now chose to toss in his last chip, holding a pair. But Mateos had had him beat all along, calling and showing A8.

The Anatoly Zlotinikov show was finally over, at least for this tournament. He earned $1,890,000 for this one, his third final table appearance of the trip and a new career high.

The final goodbye from Anatoly Zlotnikov

Mateos was now closing his experienced grip on this tournament. He had more than 40 blinds while his closest challenger, Lozuyk, had 17. Heath had 13 and Berg 12. So there was still some play left. And while all eyes were on Mateos, it was Lozuyk who found another gear, accelerating into the chip lead after winning seven consecutive hands.

Lozuyk, however, wisely paused to watch the next significant encounter. Heath, with only eight big blinds, opened from the cutoff, essentially committing what he had. Mateos folded his button, but Berg, who had been relatively quiet of late, moved in for his last seven blinds. Heath called.

Heath had jacks. Berg had sixes. And this time the bigger pair held.

Berg said he only made a last-minute decision to play this Invitational while holidaying in the area. It was a pretty good decision. He departed in fourth for $2,357,000.

What did you do on your last holiday? Andre Bye Berg played some poker...

With only three players left, there was a bit more space to play some poker. Lozuyk was still ahead with 40 blinds, with the two pros Mateos and Heath on 25 and 17 respectively.

Heath chipped up a bit, but then lost back-to-back pots to each of his opponents and ended up perishing in third. It was tough for Heath, who had previously finished second to Alejandro Lococo in the Bahamas, albeit a tournament from which he earned his biggest career score. And in this one, it was Lococo's pro partner, Mateos, who applied the killer blow.

Heath shoved his last 12 blinds from the small blind holding Q8. Mateos found a pair of sevens in the big blind to set up a flip, but the run out of 5 was blank. Heath won $2.877 million, a new second-highest ever pick-up, which consolidated his second place in the British all time money list. Heath is surely one day soon going to land a Triton title, but this one ended with a bronze.

A bronze medal for Ben Heath to add to his silver from the Bahama

Heads up stacks were very close. Lozuyk led with 35 blinds to Mateos' 33. But Mateos flopped a straight holding 109 on the first hand of heads up and extracted the maximum from Lozuyk. That gave Mateos a 2: 1 lead, and things were now looking ominous. Mateos extended his lead before Lozuyk had the chance to double back, his A going up against Mateos' , all in pre-flop. The board double paired and they chopped it.

Mateos therefore maintained a big lead, and he had Lozuyk right where he wanted him when the chips all went in next. In a single-raised pot, Mateos flopped two pair holding 98 and was up against Lozuyk's , which hit top pair on the flop. Mateos check-called the flop, then check-raised the turn of . Lozuyk shoved and Mateos called.

Heads up in the invitational

Lozuyk was drawing to a ten, a king or a deuce and the 2 fit the bill. He doubled and the stacks were even again at 25 big blinds each.

Other campaigners would have wilted. But Mateos is made of sterner stuff. He picked up another few small pots to open up another lead, before in it all went once again. This time, he got lucky. Mateos had A6 and Lozuk had A. The dealer put the flop out there, to vault Mateos way ahead.

The Q turn removed some more of Lozuyk's outs. And the 3 meant the insanity could finally end.

Lozuyk's incredible breakout performance banked him $4.316 million. But it was Adrian Mateos again for the win.

Alexey Lozuyk offers his hand to Mateos at the end