button in SafariCraig Mason Wins WPT Venetian Las Vegas Fall Championship After Three-Way Chop
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Three players agreed to a chop at the $5,000 WPT Venetian Las Vegas Fall Championship final table before playing it down to a winner, and that individual is Craig Mason.
Mason, who defeated Matt Affleck heads-up, won his first World Poker Tour title and will soon have his name etched into the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup trophy. Not only that, he won $358,800 and earned a seat into the $10,400 WPT World Championship, which takes place at Wynn Las Vegas next month.
How it All Played Out
The tournament, which attracted a field of 510 entries at Venetian, played down to a final table of six on Sunday. Those finalists were all accomplished players, meaning the winner would have to grind out and earn the win.
That's precisely what happened for Mason, a WSOP Circuit and PGT champion. The eventual WPT Venetian winner entered the final table with the fifth-smallest stack, and was barely ahead of Anthony Piacquadio. But it wouldn't take long before the smallest stack was out in sixth place for $88,000.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Mason | $358,800 |
| 2 | Matt Affleck | $301,000 |
| 3 | Daniyal Gheba | $276,000 |
| 4 | Nick Pupillo | $155,000 |
| 5 | Nick Yunis | $117,000 |
| 6 | Anthony Piacquadio | $88,000 |
Mason began to climb to the top of the chip counts, but lost a 60/40 to double Affleck into a big stack. But the eventual winner would find his own double against Nick Yunis, who was later eliminated in fifth place for $117,000. Yunis was attempting to win his second WPT title two years after taking down the WPT bestbet Scramble Championship.
For quite some time, Mason, Affleck, and Daniyal Gheba were locked in a virtual three-way tie. But World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Nick Pupillo was far from out of contention.
The only problem for Pupillo was that he couldn't win a 60/40 against Mason and was out the door in fourth place for $155,000. Mason held a 2-1 chip lead at the start of three-handed play, but Affleck and Daniyal Gheba quickly closed the gap.
Gheba, who briefly moved into a big chip lead would get his chips in with Jx8x and bust in third place for $276,000 after he couldn't suck out against Mason's Qx8x. That left two players to battle for the trophy and the WPT World Championship seat.
Mason had nearly a 2-1 chip advantage, but Affleck dominated the early stages of heads-up play and overtook his lead. After about 20 hands, Affleck, holding AxQx, moved all in on a flop of 9x6x3x and was called by Jx9x. The best hand held through the river, forcing Affleck to settle for the $301,000 runner-up payout.
Mason now has over $3.5 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. He also joins the WPT Champions Club and has a seat in the World Poker Tour's biggest annual event in December.
