The Venetian

The Venetian - Las Vegas, NV
Jan 31 - Feb 2, 2018
Main Event: 1,022 Entrants
Brian Wilson Wins MSPT Poker Bowl III at The Venetian!

The $1,100 buy-in MSPT Poker Bowl III, which coincides yearly with NFL Super Bowl weekend, drew 1,022 entries (355 on Day 1A and 667 on Day 1B) to The Venetian, besting the $650,000 guarantee with an $996,450 prize pool and surpassing last year’s field of 827.

After two starting flights and Saturday’s Day 2 (instead of Sunday, to allow players to be free to watch Super Bowl LIII), it was Brian Wilson of Ontario, Canada, taking home $143,929 after a three-way deal. (Deals are permitted at MSPT Venetian Main Events)

Wilson, who says he plays poker for a living, said, "I feel great, it's awesome. This is my biggest cash by about seven and a half x," referring to his previous best cash of $18,406 for a 678th place finish in the 2014 WSOP Main Event.

Wilson wasn't shaken by the stacked final table lineup, and asked if he had a specific strategy for the final table, he said, "Not really, it was pretty much the same thing all day. I had a lot of tough tables, a lot of really good regulars, but honestly, I felt really confident in my game and I just took it like one hand at a time and just tried to play the best I could." Even the presence of pros Kou Vang, Eddy Sabat, Eric "Basebaldy" Baldwin, and Shannon Shorr wasn't enough to frazzle Wilson, who said, "I felt super comfortable with them all day, I didn't feel outclassed at all."

When asked about his pick for Super Bowl LIII, Wilson said, "It's hard to bet against Brady, but I like the Rams." Wilson finally took the time to thank some of the people that helped encourage him to victory: "Shout out to my mom, my brother, my sister, just all my friends and family back home."

On Day 2, 132 players returned to the felt, which meant 24 players left empty-handed. Some of those unfortunate enough to fall before the money included Ryan Remington, Alex Condon, and bubble boy Chris Nguyen, when his ace-deuce couldn’t over come the ace-nine of Ira Friedman.

From there, a plethora of big names managed to secure a cash, including last year’s MSPT Poker Bowl II champ Kfir Nahum (11th - $13,950), Dan “Wretchy” Martin (12th - $13,950), Eric Worre (15th - $11,957), WSOP November Niner Bryan Piccioli (16th - $9,765), WSOP Bracelet winner Jared Jaffee (22nd - $6,776), Minnesota’s Hank Mlekoday (27th - $5,680) and Dedric Henderson (29th - $4,384), Jon “PearlJammed” Turner (30th - $4,384), Chris “Moorman1” Moorman (38th - $3,388), former MSPT Canterbury Park champ “DQ” Dan Hendrickson (41st - $3,388), Lee Markholt (50th - $3,089), Jordan Cristos (63rd - $2,790), two-time WSOP Bracelet winner Scott Clements (65th - $2,591), Ryan “Protentialmn” Laplante (67th - $2,591), two-time WSOP Bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva (75th - $2,491), Ian Matakis (84th - $2,391), Season 9 MSPT POY Aaron Johnson (85th - $2,391), and Jewook Oh (105th - $2,093).

Final Table Action

Brad Libson was the first to fall at the final table after flopping top pair with ace-queen and running into the kings of Dylan Thomassie. Libson, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, recorded his first MSPT cash to go along with an impressive resume of over $500,000 in recorded tournament earnings, including a third-place finish in a $3,000 Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP in 2016.

Next to go was the inaugural MSPT Hall of Famer himself Kou Vang. Vang got his last four blinds in with ace-four, but Thomassie’s hot streak continued when his nine-eight turned a straight to leave Vang out in ninth. Vang now sits just shy of $400,000 in career MSPT earnings with the cash, and he also jumps to eighth place in the all-time MSPT Career Earnings leaderboard with his $17,936 cash.

Chris Coupal was next to go, his eights falling on the river to Shannon Shorr’s Big Slick. Coupal’s second MSPT cash was also the largest overall cash in his career, as Coupal has just a handful of recorded cashes to his name, including a fourth-place finish in the 2012 $550 event at the Deepstack Extravaganza I here at The Venetian.

One of the most accomplished players fell next in seventh, as Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin couldn’t win a flip with his king-queen against the deuces of Thomassie, who recorded his third knockout of the final table. Baldwin, a native of Beaver Dam, WI, has two WSOP Bracelets and over $6 million in lifetime tournament earnings, including a career-best $1,034,715 for a runner-up finish in the $25,000 buy-in Five Star World Poker Classic in 2010. This was Baldwin’s fourth MSPT cash.

Dylan Thomassie fell in sixth when his king-queen found a king high flop, but Pedro Mendes was waiting with Big Slick to felt Thomassie, who bagged the Day 1A chip lead in this event last year. Thomassie, originally from Illinois but now a resident of Las Vegas, made a deep run in the 2016 WSOP Main Event, finishing 79th for $80,721.

Alabama’s all-time tournament earnings leader Shannon Shorr was ousted in fifth, losing a flip with his sevens to Mendes’ king-queen. Shorr boasts $6.6 million in lifetime tournament earnings, including a career best $960,690 cash for a victory in the 2006 Bellagio Cup II. This was Shorr’s third and by far largest cash on the MSPT tour.

Eddy Sabat has his ace-queen cracked by Eli Ross and his king-queen a short time later to bow out in fourth. The Californian pro boasts over $3.4 million in lifetime tournament earnings, including a fourth-place finish in the 2017 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event at the WSOP, and he notched his second career cash with this final table appearance.

The final three players then negotiated a chop (chops are allowed at MSPT Venetian events) that resulted in the following payouts:

Brian Wilson: $143,929 (Original Payout - $184,349)
Pedro Mendes: $119,545 (Original Payout - $113,595)
Eli Ross: $119,168 (Original Payout - $84,698)

The final three players have agreed to a chop (deals are allowed at MSPT Venetian Main Events), finalizing these payouts for the trio:

1st: Brian Wilson - $143,929 (Original Payout - $184,349)
2nd: Pedro Mendez - $119,545 (Original Payout - $113,595)
3rd: Eli Ross - $119,168 (Original Payout - $84,698)

Congratulations to all three players!

Eddy Sabat jammed for 1.5 million from the small blind, and Eli Ross called in the big blind.

Sabat:
Ross:

Sabat’s lead was short-lived, as Ross flopped kings-up on the flop. Sabat was still live with the nut flush draw as well as an ace to take the lead, but the turn and river kept Ross in command.

Eli Ross - 8 million (40 bb)
Eddy Sabat - Eliminated in 4th place for $62,776

Brian Wilson raised to 350,000 from UTG, and was called by Eli Ross in the small blind.

Both players checked the flop, and Ross bet 375,000 on the turn. Wilson called.

The fell on the river, and Ross bet 575,000. Wilson raised to 1.4 million and Ross folded.

Wilson’s rail clapped and cheered, with one onlooker saying, “There’s the big dog!”

Brian Wilson - 6.6 million (41 bb)
Eli Ross - 5 million (31 bb)

Eddy Sabat raised to 400,000 on the button, and Pedro Mendes called in the big blind.

Both players checked the flop, and Mendes bet 580,000 on the turn. Sabat called.

The river saw Mendes bet 750,000, sending Sabat into the tank. He settled on a fold, and Mendes rolled over for a full house before taking down the pot.

Pedro Mendes - 7.5 million (47 bb)
Eddy Sabat - 2.6 million (16 bb)

Eli Ross raised to 260,000 from the cutoff, and Pedro Mendes three-bet to 670,000 on the button. Ross called.

On the flop, Ross checked and Mendes bet 800,000. Ross jammed for 2.205 million and Mendes called.

Ross:
Mendes

Mendes had the best hand with a pair of eights, but Ross was very live with a gutter, a flush draw and two overs. The turn brought Ross into the lead, and the river gave Ross a flush and brought Mendes closer to the rest of the field.

Pedro Mendes - 6.2 million (52 bb)
Eli Ross - 5.8 million (48 bb)

Shannon Shorr jammed for 1.8 million from the cutoff, and Pedro Mendes called in the small blind.

Shorr:
Mendes:

Shorr’s sevens were cracked in a hurry when the flop delivered Mendes top pair and a big lead. The turn and river bricked off for Alabama’s all-time tournament earnings leader, and Mendes notched another big KO.

Pedro Mendes - 9 million (75 bb)
Shannon Shorr - Eliminated in 5th place for $47,830

Pedro Mendes raised from the hijack to 275,000, and Dylan Thomassie called in the big blind.

Flop , Thomassie checked and Mendes bet 480,000. Thomassie called.

The fell on the turn and Thomassie checked again. Mendes bet 1.9 million and Thomassie check-jammed for 2.15 million total. Mendes quickly called.

Mendes:
Thomassie:

Mendes had Thomassie pipped with his Big Slick, and no queen came on the river to bring Thomassie back in front.

Pedro Mendes - 7 million (58 bb)
Dylan Thomassie - Eliminated in 6th place for $36,869

Big Slick. What a poker hand. Has there ever been a hand that’s won you bigger pots? Likewise, has there ever been a hand that’s lost you bigger pots? Poker players like a good flip, and there’s no better hand to do it with than the old ace-king.

Back in December, we watched a Big Slick hand play out at the MSPT Season 9 Finale at Canterbury Park. It happened in Level 9 (400/800/100) when the under-the-gun player opened for 2,000 and Ian Matakis three-bet to 5,900 two spots over. Kevin Berthelsen then four-bet all in for 32,525 from the lojack and the original raiser folded.

Matakis gave it some thought and then committed most of his stack to put his opponent at risk.

Matakis:
Berthelsen:

Berthelsen got it in good but fell behind on the flop. Neither the turn nor river helped Berthelsen and he exited the tournament area while Matakis was pushed the nearly 70K pot.

We were curious about the hand and consulted Jonathan Little of PokerCoaching.com.

MSPT: Obviously Berthelsen should four-bet kings preflop like he did. However, do you think he should have considered a smaller amount or are you ok with the jam?

Little: This depends on his stack size. It is difficult to know how many chips he started with, but if it was only 40,000 or so, going all in is likely his best play because if he cold four-bets to 15,000, he should not have much of a folding range. If he had more than 40,000, it probably makes sense to make it 15,000 or so with a range of premium hands and a few bluffs that contain blockers such as AxQx, AxJx, or KxQx.

MSPT: Given the way the hand played out, how do you feel about Matakis calling with Big Slick? What about a fold?

Little: Whenever you get cold four-bet, it is important to figure out if your opponent has many (or any) bluffs in their range. That said, blocks aces and kings, meaning you are likely against QxQx, JxJx, or AxKx, all of which you are in fine shape against, given the pot odds. However, if you know your opponent would only four-bet with aces and kings, clearly you should fold. I usually give my opponents more credit than that though, so I tend to get in with Big Slick in almost all situations when stacks are 50 big blinds or shorter.

MSPT: What are your thoughts about Big Slick in today’s poker world? It seems players are more willing to get it in preflop with ace-king than they have in the past.

Little: I have always been happy to get all-in with AxKx. The idea that it is a "drawing hand" or "behind" pairs is silly. You have some amount of equity in all situations and AxKx tends to have 45% or more against reasonable ranges. Given there is usually already some money in the pot, you will be getting at least a break-even price to get in due to the pot odds, and often you only need to win 40% of the time or so. If you know you will win 45% of the time and you only need to win 40% of the time, you should rarely fold.

PokerCoaching.com is an interactive poker learning experience from two-time WPT Champion Jonathan Little. Try it for free at PokerCoaching.com/mspt.