Kassela wins second WSOP title of the summer, $214,084

When the first of three long days in this year's $2,500 Razz championship at the World Series of Poker ended, Frank Kassela was in the worst possible situation, short of being bounced out of the tournament. He had the smallest chip stack of the remaining 105 players, sitting dead last on the chip count. While he'd won his first WSOP title a few weeks earlier in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Eight or Better event, it looked like Kassela had no shot to win.

Two days later, with mountains of chips piled in front of him, Kassela was beaming at the final table at the 2010 World Series of Poker. With flashbulbs popping high above, Kassela answered questions that would have been unthinkable 48 hours earlier. How did he do it? How did he manage to comeback from being dead last? How did this mild-mannered semi-pro poker player and businessman make it all the way to the final table and overcome a huge chip disparity? How did he end up with every single chip in the tournament and win his second WSOP gold bracelet victory within two weeks?

"I had 5,100 in chips at the start of Day Two," said Kassela. "I got lucky. I mean, you have to get lucky, especially at razz. I think the bets were 600-1,200 at the time, so I had like four bets left. I ended up making a hand on seventh street, and doubled up."

Within the first two hours of the second day of play, he was in 74th place out of 81 survivors. Kassela fought and scratched and continued to move up in the chip standings. Meanwhile, one by one, players busted. When the money was reached, Kassela had about an average-sized stack. Over the next several hours, Kassela became a bona fide contender and arrived at the final table as a formidable force.

Unfortunately, things did not go well for Kassela during the first seven hours of what turned out to be a grueling 10-hour finale. He was dead last again when play was four handed. He was all-in and down to the felt again when the entire building went dark as a result of a power outage that temporarily hit the Rio (and much of Las Vegas). The lights remained out for about 20 seconds before emergency generators were engaged and began to provide limited power and lighting.

"I was just sitting in my chair in the darkness and lowered my hands and covered my chips," said Kassela. "The tournament director told us to pull back our antes and we sat there and waited until the lights came back on."

Once the lights came back partially, the final table remained in a shadowy state. So, the action shifted to the ESPN Main Stage, which was amply supplied with plenty of light. Chips were moved. Spectators shuffled their way towards new seats. Players collectively transferred to seats at a new final table. It was just the break that Kassela desperately needed. The break allowed him to gather his thoughts, refocus is attention, and take a new seat at another final table with a fresh attitude and renewed sense of optimism. Two hours later, it was all over. Sitting in the spotlight was none other than Frank Kassela, the champion.

Kassela, became the first multiple gold bracelet winner of 2010. The 42-year-old semi-pro collected $214,084 in prize money. Kassela moved to Las Vegas recently so he could concentrate more on poker playing. Kassela is playing poker full-time now; however, during other months he spends much of his time concentrating on his business.

The final table included two other former WSOP gold bracelet winners: Chris Bjorin and Jennifer Harman.

Maxwell Troy, a 37-year-old poker pro from Los Angeles, Calif., was the runner up for the second time this year, winning $132,229. Troy also finished second in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better event.

George Lewis, from North York, Ont. was third, while Vladimir Shchemelev, from St. Petersburg, Russia, was fourth. It was Shchemelev fourth final table of this year's WSOP.

Mikko Pispala, from Helsinki, Finland, was fifth, two-time gold bracelet winner Harman was sixth, Stuart Rutter, from Birmingham, England, was seventh, and Bjorin, from London, England, was eighth.

The top 40 finishers in the 365-player field collected prize money. Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event in addition to the three who made the final table include Artie Cobb (10th), Linda Johnson (16th), Dario Minieri (19th), David Chiu (20th), Joe Hachem (22nd), Hasan Habib (23rd), Daniel Negreanu (29th), and Greg Raymer (37th).

Modified from notes provided by Nolan Dalla for www.wsop.com