Frankie O’Dell emerged victorious in Event #18: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship and made history by becoming the only person to win three Omaha hi-lo bracelets.
O’Dell topped a field of 183 players to bag the top prize of $443,461 – his largest Omaha hi-lo score to date. The American poker pro won a $1,500 event in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $133,760, and again captured a $2,000 event back in 2007 for $240,057.
In 2018, he came close to winning the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice after finishing second to Jeremy Harkin for $80,256.
The California native fought a tough fight in three-handed play against Robert Mizrachi and Owais Ahmed, which took about five hours.
Final Action
Among the players who returned for the final action were four-time WSOP winner Shaun Deeb, American player Ed Vartughan and WPT/WSOP champ David Benyamine, all of whom finished ninth, eighth, and seventh respectively.
Jake Schwartz, Robert Campbell and Nick Guagenti were the next casualties, owning the sixth, fifth and fourth spots. Their elimination left O’Dell battling it out against Mizrachi and Ahmed in what he described as a “war” between two warriors and old school poker.
At one point in the intense three-handed play, O’Dell was left on 95,000 at 100,000/200,000 limits after Ahmed managed to scoop him with the nut flush and nut low. But the bracelet winner quickly redeemed himself and was back in the game after scooping a succession of pots. Ahmed did not give in that easily, working his way to the top of the chip counts, holding a 70% advantage.
Hard Work Pays Off
The crucial moment came when Ahmed and O’Dell held kings but then the latter made a straight and he would continue to dominate the play, eliminating Mizrachi in third place for $194,850. A heads-up battled ensued between O’Dell and Ahmed, and, after about half an hour, O’Dell ended up on top. Ahmed won $274,192 for his runner-up victory.
Over the years, O’Dell has continuously been grinding in the Omaha hi-lo format and also allocating some of his time into playing stud hi-lo. His runner-up finish during last year’s $1,500 Dealer’s Choice event also served as motivation for him to strive hard and be on top of his game
