2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 8
$600 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  107
Prize Pool:  $56,175
June 14, 2021

On Sunday, A.J. Kelsall made Day 2 of $1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Event 5), obviously hoping to win it all on Monday and take home the guitar trophy.

Fast forward to Monday night, and Kelsall has won a guitar trophy, but it was in a completely different event, and in one of his least favorite games — pot limit omaha.

“I’m not a PLO player, I’m a hold’em player,” said Kelsall. “I just don’t have a good feel for PLO. I feel like I don’t read the hands as well, or know when to bluff as well as I do in hold’em. I’m definitely a nittier PLO player than when I play hold’em.”

So how did Kelsall end up in a PLO event?

“I busted the $1K in 14th with four minutes left in registration, so I decided, ‘What the hell?’ I got in, and here we are,” said Kelsall. “Things happen for a reason, right?”

The key moment for Kelsall may have been his very first hand.

“When I first sat down I had 20K,” said Kelsall, “and the big blind was 1,500. Then I quadrupled up in my first hand to get up to 80K. It’s pretty unusual to enter at the end of registration, and then you’re above average after one hand.”

This victory adds to Kelsall’s already impressive resume, with more than $1.7 million in career tournament earnings.

“Tampa is technically my home,” said Kelsall, “even though I say I’m a vagabond. I’m usually between Tampa and Vegas, and I drive down to the Hollywood tournaments, because everyone at the Seminole Hard Rock puts on a great tournament. Hollywood tournaments are always some of the best in the country, and I’m pretty excited this is the biggest series Tampa has ever had.”