The 2018 Poker Masters series kicked off at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas this past Saturday with its opening $10 K NLH event wrapping up successfully and finding a winner in David Peters, who defeated a tough field of 69 entrants to win the title for the $193,200 first-place prize.
It was Brandon Adams starting the final table as the chip leader with a hope to notch up a second Poker Masters win. However, Peters jumped from third to first place at the final table right away. Tangling with 2016 Super High Roller Bowl winner Rainer Kempe, he won a big pot with higher pair.
The good run for Peters continued versus Poker Masters newcomer Cord Garcia. In his first Poker Masters final table, Garcia put forth a game effort but could not hold against Peters who hit an Ace on the board to eliminate Gracia in fifth place.
Kempe, who had made several moves to steal from Peters, ran into the Peters once again and departed in third place. The board ran out with four spades and Peters made a runner- runner flush.
After Kempe going out in third place, Brian Green started heads-up as a massive dog as Peters had 9-1 chip lead. Green picked his spots and managed to get in ahead. However, he could not go all the way. On the last hand, he moved all in with his snowmen into Peters cowboys and was unable to hit a third eight. Green eventually up ended up finishing 2nd in the tournament for $138,000.
Final Table Payouts:
| 1 | David Peters | $193,200 |
| 2 | Brian Green | $138,000 |
| 3 | Rainer Kempe | $89,700 |
| 4 | Brandon Adams | $69,000 |
| 5 | Cord Garcia | $55,200 |
| 6 | Isaac Haxton | $41,400 |