26-year-old Californian poker pro Brian Yoon has added a second World Series of Poker bracelet to his growing collection, along with the main prize of $633,341 after winning event 35 NLHE Eight Handed against some formidable opposition.
Yoon’s first bracelet was awarded just last year at the Little One for One Drop charity match at the 2013 WSOP, when he won $663,727 after besting a field of 4,755 other players to score his biggest career earning.
Among the 550 players who invested in the $5,000 buy-in in order to take a crack at the $2,585,000 prize pool of event 35 were notable names like Jeff Madsen, Oliver Busquet, Sam Trickett, Eric Froehlich and Ravi Raghaven, none of whom reached the final table.
Against expectations, the event completed in three days rather than four due to the frenetic pace of the action as the large field was whittled down, first to a talented final table and then to a heads up between Yoon and top pro player Josh Arieh, with both players on an even footing in terms of chip stacks.
Despite the prolonged contest that such a situation would suggest, it was all over in just 19 hands as Yoon powered his way to a notable victory, adding an impressive entry to his long list of live tournament honours.
Arieh headed for the exit and a comforting pay-day of $391,575 for his second place, whilst other final table pay-outs were:
Josh Bergman $246,169
Ardit Kurshumi $176,684
Mustapha Kanit $128,862
Dan Smith $95,515
Timo Pfutzenreuter $71,940
Tony Cousineau $55,034