Nick Palma beats Adrian Mateos to win Poker Masters Event #2 for $235,200

Nick Palma won Event #2: $10,500 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2026 Poker Masters on Wednesday, Oct 14, beating Adrian Mateos heads-up at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. He earned $235,200 and his first PokerGO Tour (PGT) title, according to PGT.com's official results.

The numbers

• Entries: 84, making a prize pool of $840,000. The top 12 were paid.
• First prize: $235,200 and 235 PGT points.
• Runner-up: Adrian Mateos, $151,200 and 151 PGT points.
• The event ran over two days, Oct 13 and 14. Five players came back for the final day.

Final results

How the final day went

Mateos started the final day with the chip lead and Palma was second, with Michael Berk, David Coleman and Nick Seward behind them, Poker.org reported. Palma's day started badly. Card Player reported that about half an hour in, his A♠K♣ ran into Seward's A♥A♦ in a five-bet pot. The board ran 10♣ 7♣ 6♥ 8♦ 7♦, and Palma dropped to the bottom of the chip counts. He bounced back when his own pocket aces held against Mateos' ace-eight.

The first elimination came more than an hour and a half in, per Poker.org. Seward went out in fifth in a three-way all-in. Coleman followed in fourth: his Q♠10♦ from the small blind ran into Berk's A♣10♣, and Coleman's gutshot draw missed. Coleman won the Poker Masters purple jacket in 2025, Poker.org noted.

Three-handed, the key pot went Palma's way. Card Player and Poker.org both report that Palma rivered the nut straight, Berk raised as a bluff with two pair, and Palma moved all-in. Berk folded and was left short. He shoved Q♦J♠ from the small blind soon after, and Mateos called with A♥K♣. Berk flopped a pair of queens on Q♣ 10♠ 9♣, but the A♣ turn put Mateos back in front, and the 2♥ river ended Berk's run in third.

Heads-up with Mateos

Palma started heads-up with more than a 3:2 chip lead, per Card Player, and the match lasted the better part of two hours, per Poker.org. Mateos fought back to take the lead. Then Palma limped the button with A♥J♠, Mateos moved all-in for 22.5 big blinds with A♣7♥, and Palma called and paired his jack on the turn. Mateos doubled up twice after that.

On the final hand, Mateos moved all-in from the button for about 12 big blinds with A♦9♣, and Palma called with A♥6♥. Both players paired their ace on the A♣ 7♥ 5♦ flop, and Mateos had the better kicker. Card Player printed what Palma said at the table: "I actually feel like I'm gonna win this." The 4♣ turn gave him an open-ended straight draw. "You can't get lucky every time, Adrian. I gotta get lucky one time, too," he said, according to Card Player. The 3♥ river made his seven-high straight.

Purple Jacket race

The Poker Masters crowns an overall series winner, who gets the Purple Jacket and a $25,000 PGT Passport. With this win, Palma moved to second on the series leaderboard, behind Event #1 winner Myles Mullaly, according to PGT.com and Card Player. Mullaly won Event #1 for $218,400 and 218 PGT points, and he also cashed in tenth in Event #2. PGT.com's write-up gives Palma 236 PGT points on the leaderboard; its results table lists 235 for this event. We haven't found the reason for the one-point gap. The series runs through Oct 23 at the PokerGO Studio, with 10 events and buy-ins from $10,500 to $51,000.

Who is Nick Palma?

Card Player describes Palma as a 37-year-old poker pro from New Rochelle, New York, known as "Nicky P", with more than 400 recorded scores over close to two decades. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet just over a year ago in an online $2,000 progressive knockout event, Card Player reports. In 2026 he finished fourth in the $3,500 BetMGM Championship for $431,180 and third in a $5,000 live bracelet event for $326,136. This was his first win of the year, at his 11th final table of 2026, Card Player says. Poker.org and Card Player both put his career earnings above $5 million after this win.

Mateos, from Spain, is a six-time bracelet winner, according to Card Player. Poker.org and Card Player both list his career earnings above $70 million.

A note on the buy-in

The buy-in is $10,500. Of that, $10,000 from each entry goes into the prize pool, which is why 84 entries made an $840,000 pool. The other $500 is the fee the house keeps. Some outlets, including Card Player and Poker.org, call it a $10,000 event, after the prize-pool share.