Frank Kassela, originally from Chicago and now residing in Las Vegas, became the next WSOP champion in the 2017 edition of the world’s longest running live poker series. The player beat the field of Event #13: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw for his third-ever gold bracelet and $89,151 in prize money.
The tournament was played over three days and was completed on Thursday night with Kassela claiming the gold. The player came into the event well-prepared for its format. Kassela is an experienced high stakes mixed games player and his experience helped him much to take down the 2-7 Lowball Draw in style.
The player entered the event’s final day as one of six survivors. The pack of finalists was led by Bernard Lee who maintained a good advantage over his opponents throughout the day. And it was Lee whom Kassela faced heads-up eventually.
The two-handed match began with Lee holding half as much chips as his only remaining opponent. Kassela later on took the lead but maintained it for a very short while. He then won a key pot that secured him with the lead once again. This time Kassela used his chip advantage to finish his opponent.
The final hand in play saw Lee three-bet pre-flop to move all his chips in. Kassela asked for a count and then called. Lee signaled a single-card draw, while Kassela stood pat, tabling [Jx][10x][7x][5x][4x]. Lee then showed [9x][4x][3x][2x] and then reached to turn over his final card. The [9s] appeared, sending him to the rail in second place. The player collected $55,086 for his runner-up finish.
As mentioned above, this was Kassela’s third gold piece from the WSOP. He won his first two bracelets back in 2010, when he took down the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship and the $2,500 Razz. Kassela has performed terrifically in the Series over the years and his three gold bracelets and 25 in-the-money finishes are a great testament to this. His latest triumph brought his WSOP earnings to more than $1.9 million, not a bad result for someone who considers himself a recreational player.
Although Kassela said that he was extremely happy to have claimed a third gold bracelet, he did not leave himself much time to savor the victory. The player rushed to the registration desk for the $10,000 Six-Max Dealers Choice event to pursue gold piece number four.
Kassela said in his post-victory interview that he would have probably reaped greater success, if he had played professionally. Yet, the player seems to enjoy his status of a recreational player. He told interviewers that he spends quite a lot of his spare time playing cash games in “Bobby’s Room” at the Bellagio casino.
