Adrian Mateos Set to Defend Heads-Up Title; John Smith Looking to Break Through
Welcome back to PokerNews' coverage of the 2018 World Series of Poker.
The only event of its kind on the WSOP docket, Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship is one that many in the poker community wait year-round for. Adrian Mateos is the defending champion of this event and became the youngest player to win three bracelets at just 22 years old last year. Already with a final table under his belt this summer, Mateos will no doubt be back and looking to capture bracelet no. 4.
A mix of the biggest live names in the game and online heads-up specialists tend to make up a significant portion of the field, but there are also some that don't fall under either category. John Smith is the prime example of this. While he may have lost to Mateos in last year's championship match, Smith has finished runner-up two straight years and cashed in three of the last four years in this event. He may not have won the elusive bracelet, but he's been the talk of the heads-up tournament two years running.
Here is a breakdown of the heads-up tournaments over the years at the WSOP:
| Year | Buy-in | Entries | Champion | Earnings | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | $5,000 | 392 | Dan Schreiber | $425,594 | Mark Muchnik |
| 2008 | $10,000 | 256 | Kenny Tran | $539,056 | Alec Torelli |
| 2009 | $10,000 | 256 | Leo Wolpert | $625,682 | John Duthie |
| 2010 | $10,000 | 256 | Ayaz Mahmood | $625,682 | Ernst Schmejkal |
| 2011 | $25,000 | 128 | Jake Cody | $851,192 | Yevgeniy Timoshenko |
| 2012 | $10,000 | 152 | Brian Hastings | $371,498 | Jason Mo |
| 2013 | $10,000 | 162 | Mark Radoja | $331,190 | Don Nguyen |
| 2014 | $10,000 | 136 | Davide Suriano | $335,553 | Sam Stein |
| 2015 | $10,000 | 143 | Keith Lehr | $334,440 | Paul Volpe |
| 2016 | $10,000 | 153 | Alan Percal | $320,574 | John Smith |
| 2017 | $10,000 | 129 | Adrian Mateos | $336,656 | John Smith |
The schedule for the day is likely to be three rounds of matches taking place at 3 p.m, 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. Registration closes as soon as the first draw for matches begins at 3 p.m., and PokerNews will be on hand to provide the brackets and live updates on all of the action.
and Katz checked. Hellmuth bet 700 and Katz raised to 3,000. Hellmuth shoved and Katz called.
flop and 
turn were good for Hellmuth as he paired his five, but the 
against 
on 
on the turn in combination with the 
on the river made for a different ending to the hand. Riess backdoored into a straight, Morgenstern said his goodbyes.
. While Zinno had paired up, Bicknell was actually the favorite with her open-ended straight flush draw.
on the turn and 
on the river were blanks.
to counterfeit Chidwick's pocket pair and give Ivey the win with the king-kicker. Ivey got up from the table immediately to get a break before the next round starts at 6 p.m.
, leading Mateos' 
, Smith shoved for about 19,000, and Kalas called quickly with 
for a pair of aces. Smith was drawing dead with 
river moot.
and both players checked.
on the turn paired the board and Steele checked again. Seidel bet 3,000 and Steele announced all in. Seidel thought about it for just a bit before he called.
and Phil Ivey already got up from his seat. As the 