Frank Kassela Captures 3rd Career Bracelet at WSOP 2017

While professionals players tend to dominate the tournament poker circuit, this year’s World Series of Poker seems to be demonstrating more than most the skill gap that exists between recreational players and their more skilled counterparts. With around 20 events completed, the list of multiple bracelet winners continues to grow, with players such as David Bach, Abe Mosseri, and Ben Zamani picking up second career bracelets, while Adrian Mateos, David Pham, and Doug Polk have now locked up a hattrick of WSOP titles.
Meanwhile, the latest player to now join the latter group is Frank Kassela, a 49 year-old pro based in Las Vegas, who recently took down Event #13: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw for $89,151. A total of 266 players had entered the tournament to create a prize pool of $359,100, at the end of which Kassela beat New York City pro Bernard Lee to claim the victory.
Despite now boasting three WSOP bracelets, as well as $3,010,501 in career earnings, Frank Kassela modestly describes himself as a recreational player who predominately focusses on entering WSOP events rather than following the tournament circuit like other professional players. In fact, around two-thirds, or almost $2 million of his winnings has been collected at the WSOP, and commenting on his recent success, stated:
“Nothing feels better than winning a World Series of Poker bracelet when you’re a poker player. Generally speaking when it comes down to being a recreational player, I consider myself one of the best recreational players in the world. I have no idea what I could do if I hopped on that train and played all year long, but I’m sure I’d have a lot more tournament success than just showing up here six weeks every summer.”
After the final table of six was reached, Kassela eliminated Stuart Rutter (6th), Jared Bleznick (5th), and eventually Bernard Lee (2nd) to claim the title. Straight after his win, Kassela then swiftly headed over to the tournament registration line to book a place at the $10,000 6-Max Dealer’s Choice event.
Final Table Results:
1: Frank Kassela $89,151
2: Bernard Lee $55,086
3: Tim McGuigan $37,032
4: Matthew Waxman $25,451
5: Jared Bleznick $17,890
6: Stuart Rutter $12,868