Matt O'Donnell Wins Event #47 ($551,941)

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Matt O'Donnell won Event #47: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em for by far the biggest cash of his career, $551,941. He claimed his first career bracelet for beating the 1,244-player field.

In doing so, he erased the pain of last summer's second-place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship, when he lost a 9-1 chip lead. This time around, O'Donnell prevailed in another long heads-up battle when he beat Israel's Timur Margolin, with the players' respective rails reportedly getting testy during the match.

��There was definitely a lot of despair when I won, I could just hear the silence and it felt great,�� O'Donnell said.

O'Donnell had another big lead heads up but almost lost it again. This time, aided by a lucky double with against all in preflop and two flips that went his way, O'Donnell reversed the momentum and came back to win, doubling his career tournament earnings.

��Hopefully, it's the first of many,�� O'Donnell said of his new jewelry. ��The bracelet's exciting, but the money's pretty sweet, too.��

For his remaining schedule this summer, he plans to play at least the Main Event and the $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha. If he makes any more final tables, expect to see him clad in a blue-and-pink shirt, emblazoned with a pink llama on the front.

��It was my buddy's shirt,�� O'Donnell said with a laugh. ��He pulled it out one day a couple of months ago. I was like, 'If I make a final table this year, I'm going to wear it for good luck.' I'll probably never wash it again.��

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Matt O'Donnell	Lutz, FL	$551,941
2	Timur Margolin	Ramla, Israel	$341,338
3	Brandon Wittmeyer	Las Vegas, NV	$215,964
4	Andy Black	Dublin, Ireland	$156,759
5	Andrew Dean	Feeding Hills, MA	$115,637
6	Jeff Gross	Ann Arbor, MI	$86,601
7	Rick Alvarado	Ontario, Canada	$65,799
8	Andre Akkari	Sao Paulo, Brazil	$50,658
9	Raghav Bansal	India	$39,508