Bryn Kenney Looks to Stay Number One During the Poker Masters

Bryn Kenney is a force and fixture on the high roller circuit with $18 million in tournament earnings. He’s led the GPI Player of the Year race all year even while taking most of the World Series of Poker off and losing a drastic amount of weight as part of a prop bet.

“It would be cool to win , I’m playing every tournament my best,” Kenney said. “Whatever happens I’ll just keep trying to crush and probably end up winning it.”

Kenney’s calm confidence might come across as ego but being understated is part of his game. “It’d be another cool thing, just like being number one,” he continued. “I’m gonna win it but I don’t want to be too cocky. I’m going to keep crushing in tournaments like I’ve been doing. I’ll win POY, stay number one and call it a year.”

Kenney shed somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 pounds and the difference is noticeable. “It keeps me sharper, stronger and feeling better for longer – it definitely helps,” said Kenney. “Hopefully, it’s realistic to stay the same weight. Even if I get heavier I’m hoping it’s ten pounds of muscle, I want to keep this forever hopefully.”

Kenney’s schedule is pretty much set through the Holidays and fans shouldn’t expect him to chase points. “Well, I go to all the biggest tournaments anyway – I can’t really go to more,” he said. “I’m not going to go to small tournaments to try to win it to be honest, but I’ll play all the big tournaments from now until the end of the year.”

At time of publication, Kenney’s lead in the standings was as slim as its been all year at 136 points. Virtually all his competition is in attendance for the Poker Masters, which incentivized him to play. “It’s really nice to come and play a week of high rollers,” he said. “To be honest, before this week I didn’t really feel like grinding and felt more like chilling, but I couldn’t miss this.”

“Of course, they’re going to be tough tournaments with the schedule, all the best players are going to come,” he said. “Still, I like my game, it’s a fun tournament and I feel strong about my edge.”