Brian Wilson wins MSPT Poker Bowl III

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The $1,100 buy-in MSPT Poker Bowl III, which coincides yearly with NFL Super Bowl weekend, drew 1,022 entries to The Venetian Las Vegas, besting the $650,000 guarantee with a $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 times," 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."

Among those to cash the tournament were last year’s MSPT Poker Bowl II champ Kfir Nahum (11th - $13,950), Dan “Wretchy” Martin (12th - $13,950), 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), 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) and Season 9 MSPT POY Aaron Johnson (85th - $2,391),

At the final table, Eddy Sabat has his ace-queen cracked by Eli Ross and his king-queen a short time later to bow out in fourth. The final three players then negotiated a chop 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)