Brock Wilson has been on the precipice of a major title on a number of different occasions. Second in the Bahamas in a partypoker $25K event in 2019. Second in a $50K PokerGO Cup event in early 2022. Third at WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa that September.
Coming into Day 2 of the opening event of the $25,000 WPT Alpha8 Trifecta at Wynn Las Vegas, Wilson’s eight best live cashes of his career were all final table appearances that fell short of the winner’s circle.
On Wednesday, Wilson turned all of that around, claiming the WPT Alpha8 Trifecta title and $571,400. On the final hand, Wilson picked off a bluff from Seth Gottlieb with second pair to lock down the victory.
“I play a lot of these WPTs, and this is by far my biggest accomplishment to date,” said Wilson. “It feels really good to just outright win it, and this trophy is the coolest one that I’ve seen. But it’s gonna be tough to carry.”
Wilson will have to find a permanent place to display the giant Alpha8 trophy in his home, and he can thank a few key circumstances along the way for his victory. His decision to play this tournament happened last minute after busting out several hours into Day 1B of a $3,500, $4 million guaranteed event at the Wynn.
“I was standing with on the rail deciding whether I was going to play,” said Wilson. “Especially in a $25K, I try really hard to compete with some of the best players in the field, and after I busted the $3,500, I was really in a mood to try and battle it out.”
There was also a key decision Wilson made that was ultimately incorrect at the time, but ultimately set him up to make a run to the top.
“I’m really thankful that it all worked out today,” said Wilson. “I made a big fold versus Artur Martirosian on the bubble which was dead wrong. I thought I might go from like 1 of 12 in the chip counts to stone bubbling, and fortunately, I kind of kept my composure. Realistically, from there I just got easy spots. I didn’t get another spot to make a mistake, and it all went my way.”
Wilson had enjoyed success at Wynn Las Vegas previously, taking down a small field $10,000 High Roller in December 2020. But Wilson had spent more time cheering on his girlfriend, Cherish Andrews, as she tore through a number of big events including an incredible run during the 2022 WPT World Championship festival than playing deep into events himself.
“With all my friends, I’m kind of known to come and rail for my friends, and my girlfriend here,” said Wilson. “I don’t make a ton of FTs – this is kind of my first big score here, and it feels really good. I love playing here. December’s big and it’s cool, now we’re having stuff during the summer as well. It feels amazing to finally have a really big score here.”
This time around, it was Andrews joining Wilson for his winner’s photo. Most importantly, a cash worth over half a million dollars takes a summer that was previously a struggle and turns it into a positive in a single swing.
“Honestly, I probably bricked 10 or 15 bullets straight, and you really have to mentally prepare yourself for a tournament like this,” said Wilson. “It feels good just to cash. It’s tough mentally because every day you play and you lose and you brick and you’re like, ‘Where did it all go wrong? I feel like I made good decisions, but I keep getting the same negative result.’ It wears on everyone. You can feel it towards the end, and even really good players, on average. might not win over the summer.
“It’s just tough with tournaments. It’s so hard to actually make it to the end, and I really like the big fields and the big money, but it is hard. These smaller, [big buy-in] fields are great confidence boosters, because it’s much easier to get through 78 players. But they’re really good players and you have to really be ready to play and battle.”
Wilson’s win also makes him a frontrunner to win his seat for December’s WPT World Championship, which will take place at Wynn Las Vegas for the third consecutive year. The top eight qualifiers who earn points with results across the three $25K WPT Alpha8 Trifecta events over the next three weeks will each win their $10K seat for December. The second Trifecta tournament takes place on July 3-4 and the third Trifecta tournament runs from July 10-11.
With final table appearances for Gottlieb (2nd), Martirosyan (3rd), Matthias Eibinger (4th), David Coleman (6th) and reigning WPT World Champion Dan Sepiol (7th), each of those players has a head start on everyone else who’s looking to qualify.
For Wilson, Wednesday’s win brought a combination of joy and relief as he earned the most significant live title of his career and the second-largest live cash of his career. It was all a matter of impeccable timing and bold plays, and he was all too happy to put it together at once.
“I’m very thankful that I ran good all at once, because you could run up to like 15 starting stacks in four straight tournaments and then bust and you’ll end up pretty much down money. Whereas if you ran up to 15 starting stacks and then that luck continues all in one tournament, now you have a big score and you’re super happy.”