Craig Mason Wins WPT Venetian Las Vegas Fall Championship 2026 for $358,800

Craig Mason sat down at the six-handed final table of the WPT Venetian Las Vegas Fall Championship as one of the two shortest stacks, with around 18 big blinds. Nick Pupillo had the chip lead, and a deep run from Matt Affleck, a well-known pro, made for a strong line-up. On paper, Mason was playing for a pay jump.

By the end of the day, he had personally knocked out three of his five opponents, made a three-way deal and won the heads-up battle for the title. It’s his first World Poker Tour Main Tour victory and comfortably the biggest score of his career.

“From short stack to trophy” gets written a lot in poker reporting. Here it’s simply what happened.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Original payout	After deal
1	Craig Mason	$446,800*	$358,800*
2	Matt Affleck	$280,000	$301,000
3	Daniyal Gheba	$209,000	$276,000
4	Nick Pupillo	$155,000	—
5	Nick Yunis (Chile)	$117,000	—
6	Anthony Piacquadio	$88,000	—

*Includes the $10,400 WPT World Championship entry.

Players 7th to 9th, who fell on the final day before the six-handed table, were Mohammad Pourmandi (67,000),SonnyLee(52,500) and Raman Afanasenka ($45,000).

How the Final Table Played Out

Early pressure, early double-ups

With two players under 20 big blinds and Pupillo sitting on a big lead, the early action was about survival. Pupillo’s advantage didn’t last. He handed the lead to Daniyal Gheba, while Mason found the first of several key double-ups to get himself out of the danger zone.

Mason’s jacks get the ball rolling (6th place)

Anthony Piacquadio was the first to go. He got his short stack in with A♠K♥ against Mason’s pocket jacks. A flop of K♠K♦J♠ looked great for Piacquadio at first glance, since it gave him trips. But it gave Mason jacks full of kings, and the 8♠ turn and 6♦ river changed nothing. Piacquadio left in 6th for $88,000.

Writer’s note: this is a textbook example of why short-stack all-ins are so swingy. Ace-king is the hand you want to shove with 15 big blinds, and the flop gave it trips. It still lost to a full house that only two cards in the deck could make.

Kings send out Yunis (5th place)

After a stretch of double-ups around the table, Mason picked up pocket kings at the right moment. Chile’s Nick Yunis got his chips in with jack-ten and couldn’t catch up, finishing 5th for $117,000.

The chip leader falls (4th place)

Nick Pupillo, who started the day on top, ended it in 4th. He was in the big blind, all in with K♦4♦ against Mason’s 10♠8♠ from the small blind. The board ran A♠Q♥8♥Q♠6♦, and Mason’s eight held up. Pupillo took $155,000.

Mason had now eliminated all three of the departed players.

The three-way deal

With three left, Mason, Affleck and Gheba agreed to rework the payouts. Here’s how it compared with the standard pay jumps:

Player	Original payout	Deal	Difference
Craig Mason	$446,800	$358,800	−$88,000
Matt Affleck	$280,000	$301,000	+$21,000
Daniyal Gheba	$209,000	$276,000	+$67,000

The total stayed the same at $935,800. In plain terms, Mason gave up some first-place upside to lock in a much bigger guaranteed amount, and the trophy plus the World Championship seat stayed on the line.

For newer players: deals like this are common at the late stages of big live tournaments. They’re usually based on chip counts using a model called ICM (Independent Chip Model), which estimates what each stack is “worth” in real money. The player who gives up the most is usually the chip leader, because they have the most to lose if things go wrong.

Three-handed swings and Gheba’s exit (3rd place)

The deal didn’t slow the action. The lead changed hands several times. In hand #142, Mason doubled through Gheba with ace-queen to take a clear lead. Affleck then doubled up through Gheba, leaving Gheba very short. Gheba moved all in on the next key hand and lost to Mason, finishing 3rd with $276,000 from the deal.

Heads-up: Mason vs Affleck

Mason started heads-up with the lead, but Affleck briefly took over before Mason clawed it back. The end came in hand #163.

On a flop of 9♠6♦3♥, Affleck moved all in with A♠Q♣, two overcards and no pair. Mason called with J♦9♦ for top pair. The 8♦ turn gave Affleck more outs but no help, and the 4♥ river ended it.

Mason was a WPT champion. Affleck collected $301,000.

Who Is Craig Mason?

Mason isn’t a newcomer, even if this is his breakthrough title. The Henderson, Nevada player has been a regular in high-buy-in Las Vegas tournaments for years:

• September 2025: won his first live title at the PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic, a $5,300 high roller, beating Andrew Lichtenberger heads-up for $85,750. He already had more than $2.7 million in career earnings at the time.
• March 2026: won a $3,300 event at WSOP Circuit Las Vegas for $44,021.
• Fall 2026: made the final table of the opening $10,500 event of the PokerGO Poker Masters, finishing 7th.

Two of his notable wins have now come at the Venetian, and this one adds his name to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.

Matt Affleck: Another Deep Run for a Fan Favourite

For many poker fans, Matt Affleck is forever linked to one hand: his pocket aces cracked by Jonathan Duhamel’s jacks deep in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, which knocked him out in 15th. It’s one of the most replayed hands in poker television history.

What gets forgotten is that Affleck has kept grinding ever since. The Seattle native has more than $4.3 million in recorded tournament earnings, and this $301,000 deal is one of the biggest results of his career. A WPT title still eludes him, but this was as close as he’s come in years.

Field Size and Prize Pool: How This Event Compares

WPT Venetian $5,000 Championship	Entries	Prize pool	Winner	First prize
Fall 2026 (November)	510	$2,346,000	Craig Mason	$358,800 (deal)
Spring 2026 (February)	488	~$2.24 million	Nicholas Seward	—
Summer 2025 (July)	1,153	$5,303,800	Nico Betbese	$706,960

What the numbers tell us:

• The fall field grew about 4.5% on the spring edition and beat the $2 million guarantee by $346,000.
• The summer stop remains the giant of the Venetian WPT calendar. It runs alongside the World Series of Poker, when Las Vegas is full of international players, and draws more than twice as many entries.
• Each $5,000 buy-in put $4,600 into the prize pool.
• 64 players cashed (12.5% of the field). The minimum cash of $9,200 was just under double the buy-in.

Notable Names in the Money

The payout list was packed with familiar faces:

• Phil Hellmuth finished 20th ($22,200). With about 10 big blinds, his ace-queen lost to Nick Pupillo’s pocket jacks, extending his long wait for a first WPT title.
• Sam Soverel finished 17th ($25,000).
• Shannon Shorr finished 21st ($19,500).
• Joe McKeehen, the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion, finished 22nd ($19,500).
• Jesse Lonis finished 27th and Landon Tice 28th (both $16,900).
• Jim Collopy (42nd) and Francis Anderson (47th) cashed for $12,100 each.
• Three-time WPT champion Anthony Zinno finished 51st ($10,200).

Practical insight for tournament players: look at the gap between 20th and 64th place: $22,200 versus $9,200. In a field like this, most of the money sits at the final table. That’s why strong players like Mason will gamble with a short stack late on rather than ladder up a few places. One double-up near the end is worth far more than a slightly higher min-cash.

What’s Next: The WPT World Championship at Wynn

Mason’s prize includes a $10,400 seat in the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. The festival runs from November 27 to December 21, 2026, and the Championship event itself plays December 13–20.

For context, last year’s WPT World Championship drew 1,865 entries and a prize pool of more than $18.2 million. It’s the biggest field Mason will have played for the tour’s top prize, and he’ll go in with momentum.

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