Mason Pye Claims $8K EPT Prague Package with Strategic Pick 3 Draft

Mason Pye emerged as the Pick 3 winner for the EPT Barcelona Main Event, earning an $8,000 package to the EPT Prague Main Event in December. Pye’s winning team—Michael Dwyer, Mark Teltscher, and Kalidou Sow—was assembled after careful chip-stack analysis and one pivotal wildcard decision. His strategic choices meant he finished just €1,150 ahead of the nearest rival, outperforming a field of over 600 entries in the popular prediction contest.

Pick 3 Structure and EPT Barcelona Results

Pick 3, a side contest running alongside the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in Barcelona, allows managers to select three players after both Day 1s, capitalising on fresh chip counts. This year, Michael Dwyer started Day 2 as chip leader and stood out as a likely selection. Yet, only 59 participants chose him—the smallest number among over 600 entries.

Ultimately, Dwyer was the sole Pick 3 draftee to reach the final table. Joris Ruijs, another deep runner, outlasted Dwyer through much of Day 6 but was eliminated in ninth place. No manager drafted both deep finishers. That left Dwyer’s drafters in contention for the main prize.

How Mason Pye Built His Winning Pick 3 Team

Pye leveraged the Pick 3 deadline, which closes at the start of Day 2, to review Day 1A and 1B chip leaders. He selected:

• Michael Dwyer (top Day 1A stack)
• Mark Teltscher (second Day 1A stack; finished 34th for €26,350)
• Kalidou Sow (biggest eligible Day 1B stack; finished 113th for €15,050)

His key decision was to bypass Eros Calderone, who held a larger stack than Sow but was a popular pick. "To give myself the best chance of winning outright, I had to pick a wildcard instead of Calderone," Pye explained. By opting for Sow, who had EPT pedigree but less drafting interest, Pye avoided a possible tiebreak and positioned himself for solo victory.

Second place went to 'ifeellucky', whose Antoine Labat and Michael Molenaar both cashed, but fell just €1,150 short in combined winnings—highlighting how thin the Pick 3 margin was at the top.

EPT and Mixed Games Pedigree for Mason Pye

Pye is no stranger to the European Poker Tour stage. He previously claimed a trophy in the €550 Limit H.O.R.S.E. event at Monte Carlo in 2024 and cashed at EPT Prague the same year. In discussing his EPT Prague return, Pye remarked on the venue’s atmosphere, adding, “It’s an amazing stop at the most magical time of the year.”

Having also won during poker’s SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker), Pye acknowledges his skills are stronger in mixed games than in No-Limit Hold’em (NLH). He noted, "Compared to mixed games, I’m not particularly good at NLH ... I know I’m not as well studied in NLH as I am in mixed games, especially to the standard required for an EPT Main Event. That doesn’t mean I can’t get lucky, though."

Pick 3 Draft Strategy: Picking Against the Crowd

The 2026 EPT Barcelona Pick 3 contest saw over 600 managers enter, but only a fraction selected Day 2 chip leader Dwyer. No entry combined both Dwyer and Ruijs, who made the deepest runs of all drafted players. Pye’s reasoning for an unconventional Sow pick revolved around draft overlap and maximizing his probability of unique victory.

Had he chosen Calderone, the contest may have ended with the top spot going to another manager due to tiebreak rules or cashing combinations. By tracking how many times each eligible stack had been picked, Pye engineered a winning edge—demonstrating the benefit of strategic differentiation in crowd-based contests. This approach stands as a solid case study for tournament prediction games.

What’s Next: EPT Prague and Beyond

As Pye prepares to use his $8K package for the EPT Prague Main Event in December, he continues to focus on mixed games, particularly with WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) approaching. Despite a hiatus from streaming, he stays active in major online series and plans to sharpen his NLH ahead of Prague.

The 2026 EPT Pick 3 outcome reinforces the importance of chip count awareness, unique drafting, and historical player performance. The top prize was determined by a margin of little more than a single min-cash, a testament to the format’s competitive precision. The next stop for Pye is Prague, where he aims to build on his previous EPT successes.