WSOP: Patrick Kennedy Wins Event #45 Snags First Bracelet, $245K

Lance Bradley · July 31, 2020

Patrick Kennedy won his first career bracelet on Friday after steamrolling the final table of Event #45.

There might not be much known about Patrick Kennedy, the winner of World Series of Poker Online Event #45 ($840 Bounty NLHE) on Friday morning, but at least five of his opponents at the final table will be cursing his name for some time.

Kennedy eliminated five of the other eight players at the final table to take home the $140,768 first place prize and more than $100,000 in bounties.

It took just a few minutes of final table play for the first player to bust. Chi Chung Ho moved all in from UTG+1 for 3,592,712 with . Jose Severino called all in from the big blind and was racing with . The flop hit Ho the hardest but Severino was now drawing to a flush. Unfortunately for Severino, neither the turn or river brought the flush home and he was eliminated in ninth.

Arie Kliper made it 600,000 to go from middle position before Kennedy moved all in for 16,001,688 from the button. Francesco Favia called off his last 2,482,628 from the small blind and Kliper folded when action came back to him. Kennedy turned over and Favia needed some help after turning over . The flop missed Favia entirely and the turn gave Kennedy a full house. The river was too little too late for Favia and he was out in eighth place.

A few minutes later, Ho Yin Tai decided to make a stand. From the cutoff, Tai moved all in for 4,172,092 – just a shade more than 10 big blinds – with and Franco Spitale woke up in the big blind with . Tai got no help on the flop, turn, or river and was eliminated in seventh.

Kennedy ended another opponent’s run just three minutes later. Kliper moved all in for 5,838,781 from the cutoff with and Kennedy moved all in for 18,259,316 from the small blind with . The runout didn’t save Kliper and he was sent to the rail in sixth place.

It took almost 30 minutes to go from five players remaining to four. Down to just 13 big blinds, Chi Chung Ho moved all in from the button for 6,541,828 with and Josh Pollock called from the big blind with . The board ran out to make Ho the fifth place finisher.

Kennedy kept up his role of being the executioner at this final table. Action folded to Kennedy in the small blind and he shoved for 26,375,127 with and Spitale called off his last 2,769,825 with . Spitale could only watch the runout to end his tournament with a fourth place result.

Kennedy continued to maintain the chip lead and then put it to good use to send the second-biggest stack out. Kennedy called from the button, Pollock did likewise from the small blind and Bernardo Dias checked from the big blind. All three players then checked after seeing the flop. The turn was the and Pollock fired a bet of 1,005,000 before Dias made it 3,015,000 to go. Kennedy moved all in and Pollock folded but Dias called all in. Dias showed for two pair but Kennedy showed for a turned straight. Dias didn’t fill up on the river and was eliminated in third.

Thanks largely to that pot, Kennedy had a slightly better than 3-1 chip lead over Pollock when heads up play started. That didn’t stop Pollock, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, from making it competitive. He worked his way into the chip lead but wasn’t able to spend much time on top before meeting his fate as the runner-up. Kennedy raised to 1,200,000 before Pollock re-raised to 4,200,000. Kennedy moved all in for and Pollock called off his last 24,769,156. Pollock showed but got bad news as Kennedy tabled . The flop didn’t offer Pollock much hope and the turn and river completed the board to eliminate Pollock in second.