Michael Dwyer was the overall chip leader going into Day 2 of the EPT Barcelona Main Event. That should have made him an obvious Pick 3 candidate.
However, just 59 managers drafted him from more than 600 teams – and he was the only Pick 3 player to make the official final table.
Joris Ruijs was the other player who went deep, and he was ahead of Dwyer for much of Day 6 before hitting the rail in ninth place.
No one drafted both of them.
That meant one of the managers who drafted Dwyer was going to take the top prize – an $8K package to play the EPT Prague Main Event in December.
It came down to the kickers. Mark Teltscher, who came 34th for €26,350, and Kalidou Sow, who finished 113th for €15,050, won it for Team Pye.
Only €1,150 separated Team Pye from second-placed ‘ifeellucky’. The manager behind ‘ifeellucky’ can consider themselves unlucky, with Antoine Labat and Michael Molenaar both cashing, but their combined winnings falling just a smidge short.
Tale of the tape: How Team Pye won Pick 3
The Pick 3 deadline for EPT Barcelona came after both Day 1s, which gave you a chance to study the chip stacks before locking in your side.
Team Pye’s manager, Mason Pye, did just that, putting his faith in the big stacks.
He picked the top two stacks from Day 1A – Dwyer and Teltscher – along with the biggest Pick 3-eligible stack from Day 1B, Sow.
It was as simple as that.
There was one Pick 3 player from Day 1A with a bigger stack than Sow – Eros Calderone – but Team Pye decided to swerve him and draft Sow instead. That decision proved crucial: had Pye simply taken the three biggest stacks, he wouldn’t have won the jackpot.
We spoke with him about his strategy, why he picked the three players he did, and the thinking behind his crucial Sow selection.
Congrats Mason. Was this your first time playing Pick 3?
This was my second time. My first was earlier this year during SCOOP, where I finished 73rd, so a vast improvement this time around.
The Pick 3 deadline was open until the start of Day 2. Did you draft a team and edit, or did you wait until the day of the deadline?
The rules allowed you to draft a team up until the start of Day 2, which meant I could take advantage of the opportunity to see who the chip leaders were going into the second day, and that’s what I did.
Your strategy seemed to be to take the two big stacks from Day 1A and the biggest from Day 1B. If you'd just gone for the three biggest stacks (Calderone from Day 1A instead of Sow) you wouldn't have won. What was the thinking behind that?
My original plan was to pick the three biggest stacks. However, I knew others would follow a similar strategy, so to give myself the best chance of winning outright, I had to pick a wildcard instead of Calderone. That wildcard was Kalidou Sow.
I picked him because he had a big stack going into Day 2, but also because only a handful of people had drafted him. I also knew he was no stranger to success, having navigated the EPT Prague Main Event back in 2017.
I couldn’t be sure, but I wanted to be the only one with my particular combination of players. Essentially, I didn’t want to rely on a tiebreaker.
When did you realise you had a big shot at winning?
Towards the end of Day 4, when there were only two drafted players left: Michael Dwyer and Joris Ruijs. At that point, I was sweating it very hard. I would tune into the stream each day, hoping that Michael had survived the day.
The projected scores on the leaderboard meant that if Michael outlasted Joris, I would win.
Funnily enough, if Joris had outlasted Michael, one of my two friends would have won, since they had drafted the same team, which included Joris. It was nice insurance knowing that if I didn’t win, one of them would win the package.
You're a SCOOP champ and you've won on the EPT before. You've also cashed at EPT Prague in 2024. Are you looking forward to going back?
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been to Prague to play at an EPT, and I’m very grateful to be able to go back at the end of the year. It’s an amazing stop at the most magical time of the year. Everyone is merry and having a great time, both on and off the tables. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
You're the Leader of The Mixed Games Movement... how's your NLH game?
Compared to mixed games, I’m not particularly good at NLH. I’m honest about my strengths and weaknesses, and 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.
Do you still stream?
I’ve taken an extremely long hiatus from streaming. I’ve teased that I’ll go back live soon, but 'soon' never came. I’ll never rule it out, though. If I feel it’s the right time to come back, I will.
As for me personally, I’ve been trying to take my mixed games studying a lot more seriously. I still grind most online series, too.
Speaking of which, WCOOP will be coming up, so that will be my next focus. I should probably start learning some NLH, though. December is just around the corner.
Congratulations to a canny Pick 3 manager – we’ll see Mason in Prague, where he’ll hopefully be bagging big and chasing some potentially life-changing money.
