Quick answer: On the Raise Your Edge podcast, Adrian Mateos explained his famous fold of pocket kings in a four-bet pot at the 2024 WSOP Main Event. His reads, he said, told him his opponent "will have aces 90% of the time," so he folded, even though he knew that in theory folding kings there is "a big, big mistake." Will Berry did have aces.
Source: Raise Your Edge, "The GOAT of Poker on GTO - Podcast with Adrian Mateos," clipped as a YouTube Short.
The hand
It happened on Day 5 of the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event, on the feature table. Mateos, who started the day second in chips, held K♠K♥ in a four-bet pot against Will Berry. The flop came Q♦4♦2♣. Berry bet 425,000 into a pot of about 1.36 million, and Mateos just called.
The turn was the 10♠. Berry bet 1.3 million into 2.21 million. Mateos thought for just over a minute and folded. Berry had A♠A♣. The commentators praised it on the spot, and Joey Ingram called it a "god mode fold."
"It's both"
The Raise Your Edge host calls it one of his favorite hands, and "probably also one of the most painful spots" a player can be in. He makes the theory case first: "in theory we all know that you have to call kings at least once," and a GTO tool would show calling as hugely profitable. So he asks the real question. Was the fold a population read, meaning how players like Berry usually play, or a specific read on Berry himself?
"It's both," Mateos says.
On the population side, he lists the situation. It was the chip leader against the second chip leader. In his view it was "probably his first TV appearance ever." And Berry chose to four-bet out of position against him with deep stacks, which Mateos puts at about 150 big blinds.
Then there was the specific read. Mateos says he picked up physical tells and that Berry looked "super confident of his play." Put it all together, he says, "all these things said that he will have aces 90% of the time." And if 90% of a player's range is aces, folding kings is simple math.
Theory vs. instinct
What makes the clip worth watching is that Mateos doesn't pretend the fold was obvious. He describes "two different thoughts." One was the theory, which said "folding kings is a big, big blunder and a big, big mistake." The other was experience and feel, which told him "this guy have aces and always have aces."
"I decide to follow my reads, follow my instincts," he says, "and decide to fold, even I know that this is a big mistake."
That is the whole debate between solver play and exploitative play in one sentence. A GTO strategy is built to be unbeatable against any opponent. But it doesn't know that a player on his first TV table is unlikely to four-bet bluff the second chip leader for a huge pot. Mateos trusted the human read over the chart, and this time the cards proved him right.
The cruel ending
The fold didn't save his tournament. Later that same day, Mateos got all in with pocket aces against Adrian Garcia's ace-king of spades. Garcia went runner-runner to make a flush, and Mateos was knocked out shortly after.
"During all the days, all my reads were on point," Mateos told PokerGO afterward. "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."
Real-name note
Adrian Mateos's full name is Adrián Mateos Díaz. The Spanish pro is a multiple WSOP bracelet winner and is widely considered one of the best tournament players in the world.
More on RealNameOf:
- Adrian Mateos: from $1,500 at 18 to a million
- Would you call Ossi Ketola's $3 million bluff?
- Poker players' real names
FAQ
Did Adrian Mateos really fold pocket kings to aces? Yes. In the 2024 WSOP Main Event he folded K♠K♥ on the turn, and Will Berry showed A♠A♣.
Why did Adrian Mateos fold kings? He says it was both a population read and a specific read: chip leader vs. second chip leader, a likely first TV appearance, a four-bet out of position, and physical tells. He put Berry on aces 90% of the time.
Was folding kings the GTO play? No. Mateos himself says theory calls for calling kings there and that folding is "a big, big mistake" in theory. He chose to follow his reads.
What is Adrian Mateos's real name? Adrián Mateos Díaz.