World Poker Tour

Frankie O'Dell

Hometown
Long Beach, CA

Total Winnings
$776,385

Frankie O'Dell was on the road at an early age since his father, a Mexican American adopted by an Irish American family, was a casino employee who traveled for his work. Frankie's dad was there at every step of the young poker player's indoctrination " from teaching him the game, to letting him deal. He even took the 11 year old Frankie to see the legendary Johnny Moss compete in a WSOP event. Johnny caught the youngster peeking over the rail and tipped a wink at him. O'Dell was impressed and studied the game hard under his mentoring dad. His father saw innate poker skills in his son eventually taking him aside and telling him he was 10 times the player that he was at the same age. What it came down to, he said, was O'Dell's ability to wait for good cards, read the competition and know when to move in. The strategy applies to O'Dell's current game, which is a mix of patience and aggression.

At 19 Frankie was sneaking into casino games and playing without attracting attention as long as he didn't win too much cash. After he came of age O'Dell played in a lot of tournaments, and in 1997 he won the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event at the Hall of Fame Poker Classic in Las Vegas. In 1999 he placed 23rd in a WSOP $1,500 Limit Hold'em event. Frankie spent the next three years honing his Omaha game and in 2003 he won over $45,000 at the World Poker Open's $1000 Omaha Hi Lo tournament. His aggressive style had started leaking off the table and his demeanor was not attractive to other players - especially when they played poorly or handed him a bad beat. Now he focuses on maintaining his cool. This change in attitude might be a sign of maturity or his deeply held religious beliefs. Frankie thanked the Lord for his victory when he won his gold bracelet in the 2003 WSOP $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo and he also dedicated the win to his father and mentor who had died in 2000.

Frankie credits his expertise in Omaha to enjoying the game so much, finding it less stressful than Hold'em, and the tutelage of professional poker player Mike Matusow. Despite his preference for Omaha, Frankie made an incredible appearance at the 2006 World Poker Tour's $9,700 No Limit Hold'em tournament at the Bicycle Casino near his hometown. After knocking out some heavyweight pros, and coming to the final table with a massive chip lead, O'Dell took second place to Joe Pelton, winning a prize of $776,385.