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Klodnicki removes his name from the dreaded 'Best Without a Braclet' list with win in $1,500 no-limit hold'em.

July 7, 2017 (Las Vegas, NV) - For Chris Klodnicki, it's not the third time that is the charm, but the fourth. Before Saturday afternoon, the 32-year-old poker pro racked up over $6.3 million in WSOP earnings alone and finished runner-up in three different events including the One Drop High Roller and the Poker Players Championship. 

He was easily on the dreaded list of 'Best Players Without a Bracelet,' but that all changed on Saturday when he took down the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em to secure his first bracelet. Klodnicki waded through a massive field of 1,956 players and needed an extra day of play to win $428,423.

"It's definitely more relief at this point," said Klodnicki about his first bracelet win.

The tournament was scheduled to end on Friday evening, but at the end of the Friday's scheduled play, Klodnicki and Emile Schiff decided to bag up chips and come back on Saturday to finish their heads-up match.

Klodnicki said that he was behind the decision to bag up and that an extra night's rest was what he needed to play his best.

"I was just kind of tired," said the New Jersey native. "I am getting kind of old, so my stamina just isn't what it used to be. I just thought it would be better just going to bed and starting fresh. I didn't want to make any mistakes."

Klodnicki earned his win in no-limit hold'em, but his resume shows that he is more than a one-trick pony. Earlier this summer, he finished third in the $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship and has plenty of mixed game cashes throughout his career.

He's been successful both in cash games and tournaments as well. Having played in the biggest games on the East Coast before moving out to California and settling down with a wife and child. Despite the impressive resume, Klodnicki doesn't think he has a 'best game.'

"I just think I'm pretty well-rounded," said the now Southern California resident. "I don't know what my best game is."

Echoing sentiments of other poker playing parents, the presence of a family has created a new dynamic for Klodnicki's professional poker career.

"The money is a little more important," said Klodnicki. "I feel more responsible. It's extra motivation, it's good. I get to share my winnings with my family, so it's nice."

With Day 1A of the Main Event getting underway while Klodnicki was putting the finishing touches on his first bracelet, the win propels him into the biggest tournament of the year with some extra confidence and momentum. 

"Yeah, I mean, I've been kind of having a bad summer," said Klodnicki. "But I've kind of been making Day 2's lately, which is nice. And I ended up winning this, which is shocking. I've done well in the Main Event and whatever happens, happens. I'm sure I'll play fine and hopefully I'll have another deep run."

When the final scheduled day of action got underway on Friday, there were 22 other players standing between Klodnicki and his first WSOP title, with plenty of well-established pros looking to add a first bracelet of their own or add another one to their collection.

Klodnicki seemingly steamrolled the early part of the day and got to the final table with a sizable chip lead, having more than double his closest competitor. His heater didn't stop at the early portion of the final table either. He eliminated fellow pro Dylan Hortin in ninth place when his outran Hortin's with a jack on the river.

Aditya Sushant, who teamed up with Nipun Java to win the $1,000 Tag Team no-limit hold'em earlier in the summer, hit the rail in eighth when he was on the wrong side of a cold deck against Schiff. Sushant ran his ace-king into Schiff's pocket aces and Sushant fell short of his second bracelet of the summer.

Schiff also busted part of last year's November Nine in seventh place. Kenny Hallaert finished in seventh when his couldn't hold up against Schiff's . Hallaert took home $58,083 for his deep run.

Darren Elias lost a flip against Schuyler Thornton to bust in sixth place. Elias has won several million playing tournament poker, but his first bracelet will wait at least one more event.Schiff busted Ulrich Schnetter in fifth to move neck-and-neck with Klodnicki at the top of the counts.

A couple hands later, Schiff took a massive chip lead when he won a monster pot off of Klodnicki. On the river on a board of , Klodnick bet all three streets and then folded the river when Schiff jammed on him. Klodnicki quickly became the short stack with four players remaining and Schiff held the lead.

"Everything was going my way early on in the day, most of the day," said Klodnicki about Friday's action. "Then I lost one massive pot and some smaller ones and all of a sudden, I was super short. Luckily I left myself with 800,000 or whatever. I almost shoved the river that hand. I was kind of bummed, but I just kept fighting."

Fighting was what Klodnicki did and chipped up a bit before Ben Zamani was eliminated in fourth place. Zamani fell just shy of his second bracelet of the summer and third of his career. He settled for a cash worth $139,896.

Near the end of Friday's action, Schiff busted Thornton in third place with pocket kings against Thornton's ace-queen to take a big chip lead into heads-up play against Klodnicki.

Klodnicki scored a double up just before the end of the night to come back on Saturday with just slightly worse than a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage. He doubled up again with ace-king against Schiff's ace-ten and never looked back.

"I thought I had an edge heads-up," said Klodnicki. "Obviously, when the stakes are high, anything can happen, but I kind of had a feel for his strategy. I started to figure it out a little bit. I developed my strategy based on it, but the cards worked in my favor. I had the ace-king against the ace-ten and then I won the flip. You got to win these all ins no matter how good you play."

Klodnicki grinded Schiff down even further before he got the last of his stack in with nine-seven against Klodnicki's pocket threes. Klodnicki didn't even look at the board until it was complete and Schiff extended his hand in congratulations.

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Final Table Results:

1st: Chris Klodnicki - $428,423
2nd: Emile Schiff  - $264,692
3rd: Schuyler Thornton - $191,453
4th: Ben Zamani - $139,896
5th: Ulrich Schnetter - $103,281
6th: Darren Elias - $77,047
7th: Kenny Hallaert - $58,083
8th: Aditya Sushant - $44,255
9th: Dylan Hortin - $34,083