Livello 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
Kenneth O'Donnell raised to 3,200,000 in the cutoff and Manuel DeAlmeida instantly shoved his stack of 8,400,000 across the line from the button. The action quickly folded back to O'Donnell and he made the call.
Manuel DeAlmeida: Q♦7♦
Kenneth O'Donnell: A♠8♦
O'Donnell was in the lead with his ace-high and the 9♥4♦3♣8♥10♣ run out gave him a pair of eights to eliminate DeAlmeida in 7th place.
Livello 41
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Eric Pfenning jammed under the gun and Ka Chun Kan was next to act as he went into the tank. After asking the dealer how much the bet was, he heard it was 17,000,000 and made the call.
Eric Pfenning: 5♦5♥
Ka Chun Kan: 8♠8♦
Pfenning's pocket fives had run into a larger pair and the board ran out J♠10♠6♥7♣6♠, sending him home in 6th place.
Livello 41
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Short-stacked Aaron Georgelos shoved in the hijack for 7,400,000 and the action folded around to Ka Chun Kan in the big blind.
"Is there any fold equity?" Joked Kan as he sigh called the rest of the bet.
Aaron Georgelos: A♣K♣
Ka Chun Kan: J♣5♠
Georgelos reacted with disappointment as the J♥9♥8♠ flop hit, giving Kan top pair. But the A♦ turn brought some life back into the face of Georgelos, turning the best hand and the 7♠ river was a clean one as he secured the double.
Livello 41
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Robert Gittelman raised to 10,000,000 in late position, but was met with resistance from Ka Chun Kan, who three-bet all in on the button.
The blinds got out of the way, and Gittelman immediately pushed his remaining 8,000,000 forward to call. He didn’t like what he saw when the cards were tabled.
Gittelman: 4♣4♠
Kan: J♥J♠
“I need a four,” Gittelman said to his cheering section on the rail.
Unfortunately, a four never arrived when the dealer ran out 3♠A♥9♦2♦K♦ on the board. Gittelman’s former stack boosted Kan to 92,000,000, which placed him well ahead of the remaining players.
Livello 41
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
First to act, Aaron Georgelos went all in for his remaining 15,600,000 in chips. Jefferson Guerrero called on the button and both of the blinds folded.
Aaron Georgelos: Q♠J♠
Jefferson Guerrero: A♠K♠
The board ran out A♣6♠7♦Q♦K♦ and Guerrero joked with Ka Chun Kan that it was about time he shared.
Georgelos had a tremendous run and was quite gracious with his opponents throughout the tournament. He's played cards for well over a decade and perhaps we'll see him hunting a bracelet in a different event this summer.
Livello 41
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Kenneth O'Donnell shoved for 29,400,000 on the button and Ka Chun Kan made the call. Jefferson Guerrero went deep into the tank as well, but ultimately decided to let his 6x6x go.
Kenneth O'Donnell: 9♠9♦
Ka Chun Kan: K♠J♥
"What do you need?" Yelled the rail to O'Donnell.
"Nine-ball corner pocket," he replied.
The dealer responded with the 9♣8♥2♠, giving him just that as he flopped top set. The 8♦ locked his double as he improved to a full house and the 10♦ river was just a formality.
Livello 42
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Kenneth O'Donnell raised to 5,000,000 on the button and Ka Chun Kan jammed for about 36,000,000. Jefferson Guerrero instantly folded and O'Donnell made the call.
Ka Chun Kan: 9♣9♦
Kenneth O'Donnell: A♥Q♠
"No nine-ball corner pocket this time!" Yelled O'Donnell to his rail.
The dealer didn't quite listen so well this time as he fanned a flop of 9♠8♣6♥, leaving O'Donnell thinking he was dead.
The 10♦ hit the turn though, giving him a gutshot straight draw, which Kan couldn't fade as the J♠ completed the board on the river. Kan was eliminated in 3rd place for $162,371.
Livello 43
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 6,000,000 ante
Kenneth O'Donnell jammed on the button and Jefferson Guerrero made the call for his 43,000,000 stack.
Jefferson Guerrero: K♦10♣
Kenneth O'Donnell: J♦8♦
The flop came Q♠J♣8♣, giving Guerrero and open-ended straight draw but O'Donnell connected more so, making two pair. The 3♠ on the turn changed nothing but the 8♠ river improved O'Donnell to a full house, ending the heads-up battle.
Guerrero collected $216,941 for his second-place finish.
Livello 43
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 6,000,000 ante
Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack has come to an end at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas and it was Kenneth O'Donnell who emerged with all of the chips, taking home $351,098.
This event had a total of 6,085 entries, creating a prize pool of $3,098,760 and a total of 912 players reached the min payout of $960.
318 players reached day two and it was a rapid pace as only 160 were remaining by the first break. O'Donnell had gained chips in the middle of the day and managed to battle his way to victory throughout the tournament, eventually dominating the short-handed final table with only a few left.
Final Table Results:
Place
Player
Prize
1
Kenneth O'Donnell
$351,098
2
Jefferson Guerrero
$216,941
3
Ka Chen Kan
$162,371
4
Jefferson Guerrero
$122,407
5
Robert Gittelman
$92,953
6
Eric Pfenning
$71,104
7
Manuel DeAlmeida
$54,794
8
Andres Morales
$42,539
9
Fabio Coppola
$33,274
Stay tuned to PokerNews as a full recap will be posted shortly.
Livello 43
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 6,000,000 ante
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
Rank
Player
Country
Prize
1
Kenneth O'Donnell
United States
$351,098
2
Jefferson Guerrero
Colombia
$216,941
3
Ka Chen Kan
China
$162,371
4
Aaron Georgelos
United States
$122,407
5
Robert Gittelman
United States
$92,953
6
Eric Pfenning
United States
$71,104
7
Manuel DeAlmeida
United States
$54,794
8
Andres Morales
United States
$42,539
9
Fabio Coppola
Italy
$33,274
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.