Spain’s Adrian Mateos is the 2026 Poker Masters champion. The Purple Jacket became his on Friday night at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas when Jeremy Ausmus, the only player still able to overtake him, was knocked out of the series finale in fourth place. PokerNews reported that Mateos went without a cash over the closing three events, so the race stayed open until the final day.
The title of the closing $51,000 no-limit hold’em event went to American Sean Winter, who beat Sam Laskowitz heads-up for $620,000.
Three cashes were enough
Mateos finished on 451 points from only three results across the ten events. According to Card Player’s final standings, he won Event #5 for $229,500, finished second in Event #2 and fourth in Event #7, earning $467,700 in total. The Purple Jacket also comes with a $25,000 PGT Passport.
His series could easily have looked even better. Mateos bubbled five of the ten tournaments, which he called “completely unbelievable”, and he did not cash again after Event #7. That gave the chasing pack one last chance in the finale.
“I had a big lead all the way, but in the last three events I wasn’t able to cash, so the sweat was real,” Mateos told PokerNews.
How Ausmus fell short
Ausmus, who won Event #7, reached the last final table of the series needing at least second place to take the jacket. His run ended when he moved in with pocket fives and was called by Winter’s ace-king. The board brought aces on both the turn and the river, and Ausmus left with $170,500.
Jeremy Ausmus out in fourth, and that means Adrian Mateos is the 2026 Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner!
PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 24, 2026
Nicholas Palma ended second in the standings on 407 points, with Event #9 winner Nicholas Seward third on 397. Ausmus finished fourth on 389 and Winter fifth on 373.
Winter takes the finale
The finale drew 31 entries, creating a $1,550,000 prize pool with five places paid. Winter started the last day third in chips with seven players left and closed it out against Laskowitz, who collected $387,500 for second.
Europe was well represented at that final table. Ukraine’s Igor Yaroshevskyy took third for $248,000, while Austria’s Marius Gierse, the chip leader at the start of the day, cashed in fifth for $124,000.
The win lifted Winter to 2,223 points on the PokerGO Tour leaderboard. Nobody else has gone beyond 2,000 this season, and he is now the clear favourite for PGT Player of the Year.
From Mullaly’s opener to Mateos’ jacket
The series began earlier this month with Myles Mullaly winning Event #1. Mateos built his lead in the first half of the series, helped by his Event #5 win, and despite the late scare nobody managed to catch him. For European fans who follow the high roller scene, it is a welcome Spanish success in Las Vegas.
British players have been making headlines on the continent too, with Will Kassouf collecting a €50,000 Treasure Hunt prize in Venice earlier this month.
