In August, KKPoker was delighted to announce Trevor Otterson as the winner of our Canada Star Video Contest, gifting him a poker package worth US$3,000.

As part of Trevor’s prize, he collected CAD2,000 to use in live poker tournaments. In his winner’s interview, Trevor discussed his plans to attend several poker event series in Calgary. Roll forward a few weeks, and Trevor was battling for big prizes at the WSOP International Circuit (WSOPC) event.

After reaching the final table of Ring Event #3, and cashing in Ring Event #6, his third cash of the trip was to be his biggest live poker result yet, earning an incredible C$45,799 for second place in Ring Event #8.

KKPoker caught up with Trevor to learn all about his journey from KKPoker contest winner to being heads-up for a WSOPC Ring honor.

BOUNTIES TO BEGIN

On October 2nd, Trevor used part of this KKPoker Canada Star sponsorship prize to enter the C$230 + 70 + 100 No-Limit Hold’em – Bounty (Ring Event #3). The prize pool hit C$79,350 after 345 entries joined the action, and Trevor was on the bounty hunt right from the start, carrying the momentum onto the final table, earning an 8th-place finish.

“It’s always nice to get off to a good start in any series, as it builds confidence that carries through. I was fortunate to pick up an early bounty, but more importantly, a bigger stack. ” said Trevor on his early deep run.

Bounty tournaments, especially those in the live poker format, introduce additional dynamics that players must adapt to for positive performances. For Trevor, it was all about patience.

“You always need to be aware of positions and stacks, especially in a fixed $100 bounty, as solid poker is still important, and you are better off waiting for opportunities to use your chip stack. Progressive bounties, or mystery bounties, where the top bounty can be huge—often as much as 4th place, etc., are a very different strategy.” he added.

BATTLE FOR THE RING

Event #8 of the WSOPC Calgary was to be another test for Trevor, jumping up the buy-in levels and paying C$1,000 for his seat at the table.

Trevor has long been a live poker tournament player, becoming a familiar face at his local games. But after meeting KKPoker consultant Trevor Delaney two years ago, Trevor expanded by playing more online poker MTTs and travelling to live poker events further afield, such as KKLIVE. Going into WSOPC Calgary, Trevor had earned 13 recorded results on his Hendon Mob profile since January 2024, including a 10th-place finish at KKLIVE Montreal 2024.

“Reaching the final table was a big step. I always approach these larger events the same way: try to slowly get some chips and try to make the money, then start looking higher with the next goal: the final table.” said Trevor.

Trevor had to navigate some tough situations before reaching the final table, including a super short stack of just 2.5BB on the bubble, and seeing Pocket Aces cracked by Ace-Jack!

“My opponent had AJ and rivered a straight. That one hurt, as I would have had a huge stack going to the final table, so I had much more work to do again. That’s tournament poker, though. No mistakes or bad plays, I was fortunate enough to have those losses and be able to absorb them.

“Once the final table was reached, I was one of two big stacks; the rest were mid-sized, and there were many uncontested pots. After two small stacks were eliminated, a key spot came when Kyle Ho won a big hand, eliminating one of the average stacks. He had a huge stack then and played it well. He pressured the lower stacks, all hoping to ladder up with the huge pay jumps.“

Trevor faced off against the experienced Kyle, who had over US$1.1 M in recorded live poker tournament results, as he looked to claim his first WSOPC Ring.

“As we got heads-up, I knew the challenge was going to be hard, as he had about 5 to 1 lead. I doubled once and was just short the second time. He played very well and deserved the win.” added Trevor.

“But overall, being so far from home, the KK family really makes you feel great and offers support and congratulations, especially at the final table. You have this support system even when you are away from your area. That doesn’t happen on other platforms, and the KK lives are a huge part of that growing a ‘family’.”

“IT WAS AN HONOR”

“The KK sponsorship was awesome, and I was proud to wear the swag and promote KK to others. Hopefully, we get some new community members, as many players showed interest.” said Trevor.

“I probably would have gone to Calgary to play in the series, but the Canada Star sponsorship prize made it an easy choice and really helped, since travel costs are high as well.

“It was an honor to represent KK. And the KK family was there. This event was different, though, because when someone asked me about KKPoker, instead of explaining the platform and satellites there, I was able to add, “They’re sponsoring me for this event,” and that truly got people’s attention. It’s a big deal to poker players, and they want to know more.

“With the prize money, I put it into a seperate account I have just for poker and travel. This upcoming year, I hope to attend the Caribbean Series in St. Martin and the Irish Open, as I’ve heard wonderful things about both, but unless something changes, they both appear near the end of March. St Martin’s isn’t set yet, so hopefully it’s a little later than last year. I’ll probably play one or two of the series in Canada too, as it’s just not the best time to be vacation-traveling right now.“

NEXT STOP: MONTREAL

Next up for Trevor is KKLIVE Montreal! The event, which combines Online Day 1 flights with a Live Day 2, takes place in November 2025.

Trevor has already secured his place in the Live Day 2 and guaranteed a min-cash prize.

“I am once again proud to be going to Montreal, and I continue the streak of being the only player to be at every KKLIVE in Canada, so far!

“Honestly, it’s my favorite event. It’s more like a family reunion event than a poker tournament.

“The guaranteed cash, travel money, and hotel included, plus a wonderful banquet (which is another bonus many first-timers won’t know about), make the event special.

“I hope to keep qualifying for these for a long time. I’ve already secured a middle-of-the-pack chip stack, so I’m in a decent position. The blind structure makes it a great event, and with the $500 KNOCKOUT charity event scheduled a couple of hours after the start of Main Event Day 2, it works perfectly. Some lower stacks or those bumped out early will have another great event to play!” said Trevor.

Trevor also has his eyes on more KKPoker prizes via the regular online satellites and special events.

“With KKPoker, I’ll keep trying to grind out some seats in the wonderful satellites offered and play my favorite online event: Canada’s Best. This year I haven’t done as well, but hopefully I’ll improve next year.

“Hopefully, in my next big live series, I will finally get that ring prize. I have several final tables and two second-places in the last year, so hopefully I take that next step. Maybe I can earn a new KKPoker sponsorship for that journey?!”

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