Ryan Miller has claimed the first World Series of Poker gold bracelet of his career following a stunning heads-up comeback in Event #63 of the 2023 WSOP, the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. Miller erased a 9:1 deficit against chipleader Bryn Kenney to earn $344,677 for the victory, an amount that exceeds the previous career WSOP earnings for the Pennsylvania-born mixed-games specialist.
In finishing off the huge comeback, Miller denied Kenney his own second WSOP bracelet. Kenney won his only gold bracelet to date back in 2014. His runner-up finish in this event was worth $213,027.
"It’s definitely my biggest tournament win, my biggest comeback," Miller told PokerOrg. "I’m very excited. I tried to stay positive. It wasn’t looking good, so I wasn’t expecting to win, but there’s always a chance, and things started going my way. I definitely felt I could do it."
A huge momentum shift during the heads-up duel occurred as the dinner break approached. Kenney lobbied to play an extra 20 or 30 minutes, but Miller declined, citing his hunger, even though he only had enough chips at that time to play perhaps one big hand.
When they returned from the 75-minute break Miller landed a cooler on Kenney to double up and make the duel a real match. Miller had trip fives while Kenney had trip fours; neither player had a low, and Miller scooped the pot when Kenney bricked his full-house draw on sixth and seventh streets.
“That was the key hand. If that goes the other way, I’m out," Miller said.
The hand started a rush that soon sent all the chips on the table in Miller's direction. "From there on I went on a very quick upswing to take the lead, in maybe 30 minutes after that, and it ended pretty quick," he related. "After dinner everything went my way."
The last hand found Kenney all in and with a pair of nines on fifth street, but he didn't improve from there. Miller made a pair of aces on fifth as well, and that stood up for the high-only pot and the win.
