It wasn’t easy for Kenneth O’Donnell, but he managed to grind it out over the course of two days and was crowned a champion for his efforts at the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

O’Donnell out maneuvered Jefferson Guerrero in a quick heads-up battle on Day 2 to take down Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack. In fact, the heads-up showdown went just three hands before O’Donnell emerged as the winner.

O’Donnell garnered a $351,098 winning prize and, of course, a WSOP bracelet, the first of his poker career. Guerrero collected $216,941 for his runner-up finish.

Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Final Table Results

The newest WSOP bracelet winner’s climb to the top meant he had to navigate a minefield of a who’s who in the poker community.

The player field boasted poker royalty with 16-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth, as well as WSOP bracelet winner and Women in Poker Hall of Fame inductee Kathy Liebert.

Hellmuth’s quest for a 17th WSOP bracelet came to an end in Level 32 when he was eliminated in 47th place for a payout of $7,385.

O’Donnell also had to keep an eye on multiple WSOP bracelet winners, which included past WSOP Main Event champions Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, and Jerry Yang. Other notable bracelet winners to play the event included Pei Li, Allen Cunningham, Bradley Jensen, Jeremy Wien, Farzad Bonyadi, Erik Cajelais, David Jackson and Mike Ruter, among others.

Li made a deep run before being eliminated in 11th place for $26,223. Li’s exit ensured there would be a first-time WSOP bracelet winner at the conclusion of the tournament.

O’Donnell rose to the occasion in the face of stout competition. He persevered throughout the two-day event by steadily building his chip stack with well-timed aggression –– and he admits, some luck –– to get to the final table, which he started with the fourth-largest stack. And then he took it home.

A total of 6,085 entrants participated in Event #11, which generated a prize pool of $3,098,760.

Ka Chun Kan finished in third place ($162,371), while Aaron Georgelos took fourth place ($122,407).

Winner’s Reaction

O’Donnell, who calls St. Petersburg, Florida, home, says he’s been playing poker “for decades,” and nothing comes close to what he’s feeling after securing his first WSOP bracelet.

“It’s huge,” O’Donnell told PokerNews after winning the event. “It’s amazing.”

O’Donnell has cashed in tournaments before, according to his Hendon Mob page. His largest payout came when he took home $53,299 from a $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic in 2021.

But this is the WSOP, and knowing the level of competition he faced in the tournament field brought the reality of the moment home.

“It’s absurdly lucky,” O’Donnell told PokerNews after coming out on top from the heads-up battle. “These giant field events are an exercise of just repeatedly getting lucky, and I did.

“I’m very, very happy to have been the ‘Chosen One’ for the poker gods today. This feels really special. I just feel really blessed.”

As for what’s next, O’Donnell doesn’t plan to go home just yet.

He’s remaining in Las Vegas and eyeing more tournaments. But first, he owes his wife a phone call to let her know he’s a WSOP bracelet winner.

“I’ll play something tomorrow (Wednesday),” O’Donnell said with a chuckle. “I’ll talk to my wife back home in a minute and wake her up.”

This concludes coverage of Event #11 of the 2023 WSOP, but make sure to continue to stay plugged in with PokerNews for live updates of your favorite events throughout the summer.

Can you believe that we are already a week into the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas? It seems it is true that time flies when you’re having fun!

The seventh day of the series saw a trio of fresh champions crowned at various points of the day.

Tyler Brown triumphed in Event #3: $1,000 Mystery Millions, outlasting a staggering 18,187 opponents. Brown banked the $1 million top prize plus a coveted gold WSOP bracelet.

The second bracelet awarded on Day 7 went to Chad Eveslage, who will forever be known as the champion of Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship. Victory came with a $311,428 first-place prize and a third bracelet for Eveslage.

Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack awarded its bracelet and $351,098 top prize to Kevin O’Donnell. Some 318 of the 6,085 starters returned for Day 2, and O’Donnell navigated his way past them all.

Felipe Ramos Second in Chips in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Going Into Day 3

Only 16 players remain in the hunt for the title of Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, and Brazil’s Felipe Ramos (4,155,000) finds himself second in chips going into the final day’s action.

Ramos almost finished top of the pile, but Jeremy Eyer‘s 4,420,000 contains a shade over three big blinds more than the Brazilian.

Two bracelet winners are among the final 16. Israel’s Yuval Bronshtein (1,355,000) is a two-time WSOP champion, while Jinho Hong (1,280,000) has one bracelet.

There is a chance we will see the first female champion of the 2023 WSOP because Christina Gollins (2,965,000) is fifth in chips going into Day 3. Gollins finished third in the 2022 WSOP Ladies Event, and has another bite at the cherry on June 6.

Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Top 10 Chip Counts

Play resumes at 2:00 p.m. local time on June 6, with the clock showing Level 26. Blinds will be 40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante. As always, PokerNews will be on the tournament floor, bringing you all of the action until a champion is crowned.

Ang is the Man to Catch on Day 2 of the $600 PLO Deepstack; Deeb Bags Big

A staggering 3,200 players turned out for Event #13: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack, a record attendance for such a tournament. After the completion of 22 levels, only 117 players remained, and nobody had more chips than Aaron Ang.

Ang bagged up 2,765,000, and was one of four players to finish Day 1 with over two million chips. Giorgiy Skhuluhiya (2,600,000), Soheb Porbandarwala (2,175,000), and Marek Rous (2,090,000) were the other three.

A certain Shaun Deeb (1,265,000) finished with a top 20 stack, and is one to watch on Day 2. Deeb narrowly missed out on capturing his sixth WSOP bracelet on June 5, when he finished second in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack event online. He now has a realistic chance of adding more poker gold to his impressive collection.

Event #13: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. on June 6 with the event at Level 23. Blinds start at 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante, and the plan is to play down to a champion.

David Williams Shines the Brightest on Day 1 of the Seven Card Stud Championship

David Williams has opened up a massive chip lead after Day 1 of Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. Williams, who has a stud bracelet from 2006, bagged up a tournament-leading stack of 530,500 chips, over 200,000 more than Max Hoffman in second place.

Although he has started incredibly well in this event, a Williams victory is far from guaranteed because there are some phenomenal poker players among the 55 Day 1 survivors.

Dzmitry Urbanovich (247,000), Frank Kassela (186,000), and Eli Elezra (184,500) will return with top ten stacks.

The likes of Jeff Madsen (155,500), Andre Akkari (148,000), Robert Mizrachi (54,000), and Daniel Negreanu (13,500) are still in the mix, although Negreanu has plenty of work ahead of him if he is to capture this tournament’s bracelet.

Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 6, with the plan to play seven hour-long levels. Late registration remains open until the start of play, so expect a few stud specialists to turn up fashionably late.

What to Expect on Day 8 of the 2023 WSOP

Hold onto your hats because June 6, the eighth day of the 2023 WSOP, is a busy one. Not only are Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, Event #13: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack, and Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship nearing a thrilling conclusion, but another four events shuffle up an deal.

The fourth online event, a $600 No-Limit Hold’em Ultra Deepstack, will start then play to a conclusion on June 6. You can also tune into Event #15: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed), and Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better! We told you it was an action-packed day at the 2023 WSOP tables!

One year ago, American poker pro Chad Eveslage won his first WSOP gold bracelet, and he is now a three-time champion to start the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas with a bang. Out of a field of 130 entries in Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship, he came out on top of a short-lived heads-up duel with Dutch Boyd to draw even with his final opponent as far as the number of bracelets are concerned.

Since April 2021, Eveslage earned six titles in major live poker tournaments, including two seven-figure scores. Within the last four days, he has won two WSOP gold bracelets and further cemented his status as one of the hottest-running players on the circuit and within the mixed games scene. The top two finishers shared the biggest portion of the $1,209,000 prize pool as Eveslage collected a payday of $311,428, whereas Boyd earned a consolation prize of $192,479.

The Indiana native was in high spirits after the back-to-back Dealer’s Choice victories and joked that his improbable run could be a sign of the world coming to an end.

“The singularity is coming, and this is probably the last World Series,” he laughed in a winner’s interview with PokerNews. “Not probably, but 10% this is the last World Series to ever happen. You know, gotta make the most of it while it’s here … Nice to get a win, nice to get some of this before we all merge with machines.”

A total of 13 players returned for the final day including nine WSOP bracelet winners and at the end, it was Eveslage who had all the chips as he ended the tournament in style with a straight flush in Big O. Zack Freeman finished in third place, Dustin Dirksen, Ari Engel and Marco Johnson all reached the official final table as well. Last year’s runner-up Mike Gorodinsky had to settle for seventh place when he was ousted by eventual runner-up Boyd.

Final Table Result Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship

The Dealer’s Choice

As improbable as it was, Eveslage’s second Dealer’s Choice victory almost seemed inevitable on Day 3 as every hand seemed to go Eveslage’s way and several of his opponents commented that he was the best player in poker right now. That includes fourth-place finisher Dirksen, who texted his 11-year-old to say he was playing against a truly special opponent.

“Is Chad the best Badeucey player in the world?” asked Craig Chait from the rail on Day 3 as the final two tables played out.

“USP — You’re an ultra-super-pro,” Mike Thorpe later told Eveslage during the final table.

As humble a poker player as he is elite, the cheery and soft-spoken 31-year-old called it “very unlikely” that he is the best poker player in the world.

“Definitely not at no-limit Hold’em, but probably in heads-up Badeucey,” he acknowledged. “Probably not full ring. But I don’t know.”

The tournament gave Eveslage an opportunity to absorb knowledge from greats like Poker Hall of Famer John Hennigan (9th – $33,087), who Eveslage asked at one point on Day 2 about what it was like playing with old school poker legend Chip Reese.

“Playing with Hennigan was fun,” said Eveslage. “He’s a character. I’ve never played with somebody like him. He’s a complete alien, but in like the best way ever.”

It also gave Eveslage a chance to play with 2022 runner-up Gorodinsky as the two engaged in playful banter throughout Day 3. “Me and Gordo have played a lot online, but we haven’t played much live.”

The Dealer’s Choice Championship is a special event with a fabled history that includes Adam Friedman winning it consecutive years in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (Friedman fell on Day 1 this year and back in 2022). May Eveslage be following in the fellow midwesterner’s footsteps?

“If there’s another World Series next year, if the singularity doesn’t get us, I suppose that I will try to win (again),” Eveslage said. “And I think I’ve got an edge on Adam. He might have his own little opinion.”

Day 3 Action

Only 13 players returned for Day 3 and there were several short-stack doubles before James Obst fell in 13th place ahead of the two-table redraw.

After the elimination of Scott Bohlman, three-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe hit the rail at the hands of Eveslage when he called down with pocket aces as Eveslage had flopped a sneaky set of threes.

Eveslage continued to trend upward, and he got some help from the rail as his friends held up a massive yellow poster reading “Play Like a Chadpion” with a blown-up photo of his 2021 bracelet win.

The only player having a better day than Eveslage at this point was Dirksen, who held a sizable chip lead up to a pivotal no-limit hold’em hand during seven-handed play. In a three-bet pot, Dirksen moved all in with a flopped flush draw, and Eveslage called with an overpair before a brick runout earned him the double.

The chatty and light-hearted Dirksen stayed afloat ahead of the eliminations of two-time bracelet winners Gorodinsky (7th – $42,965), Johnson (6th – $56,528), and Engel (5th – $75,341) before falling in fourth after another no-limit hold’em confrontation with the eventual champion.

Eveslage entered heads-up play with a big lead against Boyd, whose place in poker history dates back to the iconic 2003 WSOP Main Event when he made a failed bluff against eventual champion Chris Moneymaker.

The imbalanced heads-up confrontation only lasted a few hands and ended when Boyd chose to play Big O. The two got it in on the flop with Boyd having the best of it before the turn gave Eveslage a straight flush, and the river confirmed a scoop and a third bracelet for the Dealer’s Chosen One.

This wraps up PokerNews coverage of a memorable and historic Dealer’s Choice Championship here at the 2023 WSOP. Be sure to check out the live reporting portal for coverage of other bracelet events.

You would be forgiven for thinking the online poker world stops when the World Series of Poker (WSOP) takes place in Las Vegas, but that is not the case. Not everyone heads to Las Vegas to compete at the WSOP, people like Alexandre “aminolast” Raymond stay at home grinding online.

Raymond may yet hop on a plane from his native Canada and head to Nevada before the summer is out. If he does, he will be doing so with a bankroll containing $89,560 more than a couple of days ago because Raymond took down the PokerStars Titans Event this weekend.

Eighty-one players bought into the Titans Event for $5,200 and created a $405,000 prize pool. The top 11 finishers shared that princely sum, so spare a thought for Rodrigo “SELOUAN1991” Selouan, who fell in 12th place and popped the money bubble.

Jonathan “x_zola25” Skovsen and Rodrigo “seijistar” Sirichuk were the first in-the-money players to bust; both collected $10,221 for their efforts.

$5,200 Titans Event Final Table Results

*reflects a heads-up deal

Brazil’s Felipe “ketzerfelipe” Ketzer crashed out in ninth for $12,761, with Canada’s “Stumpfed” and Poland’s “PAX176” joining Ketzer on the sidelines, doing so with $15,933 and $20,617 more in their PokerStars accounts.

Ivan “Negriin” Luca fell in sixth for $26,678, “P0KERPR02.0” banked $34,521 for their fifth-place finish before “DNegs98” crashed out in fourth for $44,669.

Heads-up was set when Ole “wizowizo” Schemion ran out of steam in third, a finish good for $57,801.

Raymond’s final opponent was the dangerous David “dpeters17” Peters. The heads-up duo opted to strike a deal. That deal saw Peters collect $82,014 for his runner-up finish, with Raymond scooping $89,560 and the victory.

Romanovsky’s Hot Streak Continues

Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky enjoyed a solid Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) at PokerStars last month, and his hot form continued over the weekend with an outright win in the $1,050 Sunday High Roller PKO. The victory came with $29,532, including bounties.

Some 120 players exchanged $1,050 for the chance to become the tournament’s champion, each looking to win as much of the $120,000 prize pool as possible. Team PokerStars’ Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot burst the money bubble when he fell in 16th place, but he did bank $2,250 from the bounty prize pool, so all was not lost.

$1,050 Sunday High Roller PKO Final Table Results

Ireland’s “Dabedo V2” saw their tournament end in a ninth-place finish. The Irish grinder won $1,811, but they did not manage to claim a single scalp before they busted.

Niklas “Lena900” Astedt ($5,121) and Bruno “great dant” Volkmann (3,503) joined the list of busted players before “tekelson221” ($4,948) and “Swizz’aoul” ($5,887) bowed out, and left only four players in the hunt for the title.

Those four players, with bounties included, guaranteed themselves five-figure prizes. “berny9623” ($11,798) collected the first of these, with “Qee….:)AA” of Montenegro securing a $10,184 payday for their third-place finish.

Romanovsky fought with Indonesia-based Australian Stevan “random_chu” Chew heads-up, and the Ukrainian got the better of his final opponent, busting him in second place. Chew banked $15,032, while Romanovsky netted $29,532.

Other PokerStars Results

PokerStars Ambassador Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg helped himself to the $7,562 top prize of the $109 Sunday Kickoff, but the biggest winner, outside those mentioned above, was “mpoc1234” courtesy of them taking down the $530 Bounty Builder for $31,650.

Check out the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar

Do you find yourself missing out on tournament you wish you had played? Then why not try the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar, a free-to-use tool that allows you to find upcoming and tournaments that are in late registration at 888poker, PartyPoker, and PokerStars.

Day 7 of the 2023 World Series of Poker is in full swing inside Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

There have already been some highs and lows for the players competing. Dan Shak snagged the last $100,000 bounty prize in the Event #3: $1,000 Mystery Millions while 2022 Global Poker Index (GPI) female player of the year Cherish Andrews suffered a brutal bad beat to burst the money bubble in Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout.

Phil Hellmuth also has the chance to get his 17th WSOP bracelet, as he is one of the final 55 players in Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack.

Andrews Falls to Runner-Runner to Burst Money Bubble

Day 2 of the $5K Freezeout is underway and in the money. Just 148 of the 735 entries made it to the tournament’s second day, with the top 111 players finishing inside the paid places. Play began at 1 p.m. local time, and by 3 p.m., they were on the stone bubble.

Bubble play in high buy-in events can often take an age, but it took just one hand for it to burst this time around. And the aforementioned Andrews was the unfortunate player to leave the event empty-handed and saw herself head to the rail after an unfortunate runout despite being the huge favorite.

In the hand, Shiva Dudani raised from under the gun and the action folded around to Andrews in the big blind, who went all in for her last 109,000. Dudani quickly called, and their hands were revealed.

Cherish Andrews: Q♦Q♠
Shiva Dudani: 5♣5♦

Andrews was well ahead with her pocket queens and seemed certain to scoop in a double-up following the 3♠4♣8♠ flop. The 2♣ turn then gave Dudani an open-ended straight draw, drawing gasps from the players. The 6♣ completed the board and Dudani’s straight to KO Andrews and burst the money bubble.

The remaining field is now guaranteed a minimum payout of $8,011.

Will Hellmuth Get Bracelet #17?

One player experiencing some good fortune today is Poker Hall of Famer and all-time bracelet record holder Phil Hellmuth. The ‘Poker Brat’ is in the midst of a deep run in Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack which has just 53 players remaining.

Hellmuth started the day with 665,000 and now has a stack north of 2 million as the tournament enters its final stages. A winner will be crowned today, and if Hellmuth ends up going all the way, it will be his ninth bracelet No-Limit Hold’em bracelet. He came close to capturing that in 2022 but was denied by David Jackson in last year’s $3K Freezeout.

Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP Bracelet Wins

Editor & Live Reporter

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.

Chris Moneymaker had the Bluff of the Century in 2003. This past week, Doug Polk had perhaps the Failed Bluff of the Century.

On Sunday, heads-up for a bracelet, Polk bluffed off a significant portion of his stack at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) less than one week after his infamous bluff attempt that didn’t get through on Hustler Casino Live’s $1 million game.

In both instances, the Upswing Poker founder had a busted draw and attempted to use aggression to coerce his opponents into folding somewhat marginal holdings in massive pots. Both times, however, his efforts were unsuccessful and quite costly.

Losing a $1.1 Million Pot to Tom Dwan

During the fourth and final day of the big games on Hustler Casino Live, Polk played one of the most memorable hands ever in live-stream poker history against Tom Dwan.

The hand began with Polk raising to $3,000 from the cutoff with 5♠4♠ and then calling a three-bet to $14,000 from “durrrr” and his 7♥7♣ in the small blind.

When the flop came 2♠7♦K♦, bingo for the preflop aggressor, Dwan bet out $15,000 and his opponent called, hoping to either pick up some equity on the turn or bluff to take it down. The 6♥ was juicy as it gave the co-owner of The Lodge Card Club near Austin, Texas an open-ended straight draw. But Dwan bet out $30,000, about half the size of the pot.

Polk then bumped it up to $115,000 on his draw, and this is where the hand got a bit strange. Sitting on the second nuts, Dwan went into the tank for quite some time, an odd play. The only hand that had him beat was pocket kings, and that wasn’t a likely holding for his opponent given he didn’t four-bet preflop.

After a few minutes of waiting, Polk had enough and called the clock. Shortly after, Dwan made the call and the 6♠ showed up on the river, giving “durrrr” a full house. He decided to slow-play his hand and checked it over to the button.

Polk, who couldn’t possibly win the $291,000 pot without betting, refused to surrender to the former online poker star and ripped off a bet of $420,000, leaving about $550,000 behind.

There was no way Dwan would fold as he was only concerned with pocket kings or possibly pocket sixes, both unlikely scenarios. Once again, he oddly went into a deep tank before deciding to just call.

In the sixth and final round of WSOP Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Polk had built up a relatively comfortable lead against Chanracy Khun. First place was set to pay $507,020 in the 64-player tournament, and the runner-up would take home about $190,000 less.

With the blinds at 80,000/160,000, Khun limped the button with 8♠6♣ and then Polk checked Q♦4♦ to a flop of 5♣6♦3♥, top pair for the button and an open-ender for the big blind.

Following a check, Khun bet 160,000 and received a call. When the K♣ appeared on the turn, action again checked to the button who bet 250,000. Polk opted for a check-raise on his draw to 900,000 but was unable to convince his opponent to fold.

Off to the river they went, which was the 9♥, no improvement to either player. Knowing that queen-high couldn’t win at showdown, the heads-up no-limit hold’em legend put Khun to the test for his entire 2.34 million stack.

After some thought, Khun made the brilliant call with third pair and took down the most crucial hand of the match. His stack was up to 7.1 million, while Polk had dropped down to under 2.5 million or about 15 big blinds. Shortly after, Khun took down his first WSOP bracelet, denying Polk his fourth.

While Polk hadn’t officially lost the tournament following the failed bluff, it put him in a deep hole that he couldn’t overcome. And while you could also argue there never was a guarantee he would have won if not for bluffing off so much of his stack in the first place, for all intents and purposes, Polk lost around $700,000 this past week on two bluffs-gone-wrong.

The good news, for the popular YouTuber, is that he isn’t a results-oriented poker player, and the money he’s won lifetime from bluffs just like these have likely exceeded the money lost in his failed bluffs.