Chris Klodnicki picks up second WSOP bracelet

After many ups and downs from chip leader, to short stack, to bracelet glory, Chris Klodnicki emerged victorious in Event #35: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Secret Bounty at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe Las Vegas.

It marked Klodnicki's second bracelet and $733,317 in prize money was added to his already impressive earnings at the WSOP.

Klodnicki navigated his way through a field of 568 runners, including a stacked final table that had three other bracelet winners and multiple players with seven figures in earnings such as Jeremy Ausmus and Barak Wisbrod.

After the win, Klodnicki was asked by PokerGO where he has been over the past few years.

"Really not traveling for poker but playing online," said Klodnicki. "I've been playing a ton of online no-limit hold'em so, you know, I felt really good, and they have the bounty events online too so I felt really comfortable in this format and it was nice to get back to live poker. I've always felt comfortable in live poker. I've worked on my fundamentals a little bit more by playing online"

He was then asked, "This was a bit of a crazy final table, chips flying around. How did it feel?"

"It was very shallow, it was very gambley, not a ton of actual poker being played which is kind of unfortunate for an event this size but, whatever, I'm happy I won," said Klodnicki. "I was down super short, I think I was in last place with eight people left but just hung around. Obviously ran good in the spots I needed to and just happy to be here right now."

So, is this the return of Chris Klodnicki?

"I think gradually. I think I'll play a little more next year," said Klodnicki. "I don't know if I'll ever get back to playing full schedules, maybe when my kids are off in college but I'll definitely be here more than the past few years, which was not at all."

PokerNews also asked Klodnicki about the bounty aspect of the tournament.

"Yeah, I always like when things change a lot in tournaments," said Klodnicki. "I just feel like I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to inflection points where other people might not be paying quite as much attention. Like when the bounties were in play, I tried to do some calculations to figure how much they were worth. I was fighting hard for the bounties but didn't get any big ones. I was fighting for the $250K."

Klodnicki's road to the bracelet was filled with swings. He entered as chip leader but quickly lost it to Ausmus, who jumped in the lead after snagging aces on the first hand of the final table. The first elimination would be Eric Yanovsky who was eliminated in eighth place ($73,756) after his jacks couldn't hold up against Ausmus' Ace-Queen.

Daniel Rezaei would fall in seventh place ($96,265) after all the chips got in preflop and his queen-nine could not hold against Ausmus' flopped pair of aces. Angel Guillen was then eliminated in sixth place ($127,515) after his pocket nines were ahead in a three-way all-in hand against Wisbrod and Ausmus, who both found an ace on the river with their respective Big Slicks to chop up Guillen's chips.

Tracy Nguyen had an amazing showing at the final table. She came in as the short stack but would ladder all the way to fifth place ($171,389) after her pocket tens lost to Klodnicki's ace-queen.
Ausmus held the chip lead for the bulk of the final table but would be eliminated in fourth place ($233,690) after a cold deck saw his queens lose to Klodnicki's ace-king for the chip lead, and then his short stack found its way into the middle with king-duece to Klodnicki's aces.

Barak Wisbrod was eliminated in third place ($323,181) after he got it all in preflop with ten-high but was unable to improve against Klodnicki's king-high.
On the wild last hand of play, Aram Oganyan was eliminated in second place ($453,226) after the chips all got in the middle preflop. Oganyan turned a straight with his nine-eight but a miracle ace on the river made a full house for Klodnicki, who once again held pocket aces.

Overall, it was an action-packed day that saw Klodnicki's perseverance earn him his second bracelet. He was top stack, shortest stack, and ultimately champion. It was a feat many can only dream of.

Final table results:
Place Player Country Prize
1 Chris Klodnicki United States $733,317
2 Aram Oganyan Mexico $453,226
3 Barak Wisbrod Israel $323,181
4 Jeremy Ausmus United States $233,690
5 Tracy Nguyen United States $171,389
6 Angel Guillen Mexico $127,515
7 Daniel Rezaei Austria $96,265
8 Eric Yanovsky United States $73,756