Event #50: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em BOUNTY

A new champion has been crowned at the 2017 World Series of Poker and it's Chris Bolek, who emerged victorious after defeating Bryan Emory heads-up to claim his first gold bracelet and $266,646 in Event #50: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em BOUNTY.

The tournament saw a field of 1,927 entries, which created a prize pool of $2,601,450, and each elimination added $500 to the pocket of the winner. The final table included such big names as 2014 November Niner Dan Sindelar, Argentina's Richard Dubini, and Dutch poker stalwart Govert Metaal. An unscheduled fourth day was added after 121 hands of the official final table last night saw five players bag up and return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino at 1 p.m. local time on June 29th 2017.

Bolek previously won a WSOP Circuit ring at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in 2014, and he had already cashed four times at the 2017 WSOP, with a total of $404,388 in WSOP and Circuit cashes prior to his victory. He came into the final day as one of the three short stacks with just 14 big blinds and ran extremely well to emerge victorious, picking up seven bounties and his own for $500 apiece.

Born in Quito, Ecuador, Bolek now resides in Boca Raton, Florida. The professional poker player learned the game while playing home games in high school. After he was awarded his bracelet, PokerNews had a chance to get an interview with him. Here are some of the things he had to say:

When asked how Bolek felt to win his first bracelet, he responded, "It feels very surreal. I came in pretty short to the final table, and I just wanted to give myself a shot to win. People say how good it is to visualize things, so I spent some time trying to do that this morning to get into the right mindset, and it just kind of all came together perfectly."

Bolek was then asked what the run was like from four-handed onward, where he seemed to just steam roll things.

"That was just a rush of cards, man," he said. "From the double-up with queen-ten versus ace-jack where I rivered a jack; that just felt unbelievable. It felt like, if I win that hand, I was just going to play well and not lose. Then I really just hit a rush of cards. I had a really good hand in every spot that I played a big pot with. The all ins worked every time, which doesn't really happen, but that was really nice for it to happen now."

While Bolek likes to travel, most of his big scores so far have come back home in Florida, and he took previously missed chances as a learning opportunity.

"I just told myself when I do get back there, just try and maker better decisions," he said. "When I was playing in Jacksonville for the WPT, I was pretty nervous for the live stream. That definitely helped a little bit. I was happy we didn't have a stream yesterday, just because it allows you to concentrate on what is going on and use the same cards. I just felt super comfortable this time around, and I think that helped a lot. I had a roommate watching and just hoped that I would last long enough to get the value of watching the live stream at first. Luckily, it worked out."

When asked what he had planned for the rest of the Series, he replied with the following: "I had a schedule in my head beforehand, so I probably won't adjust it too much. I think I am just going to enjoy the win and let it set in, and then get ready for the Main Event."

Runner-up Bryan Emory came into the day as the chip leader and kept his 11 bounty chips next to his stack the entire time. After pulling away early on, Emory seemed poised to claim the title and was still all smiles before entering heads-up with a crushing chip deficit.

Final Result Event #50: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em BOUNTY

Day 4 Action

Zhaoxing Wang moved all in on the very first hand, and he did so again in the fourth hand of the final day. This time, he was called by initial raiser James Gilbert, and Wang tabled ace-nine suited. Gilbert had the dominating ace-ten suited and filled up to a full house, tens over aces, by the river.

Soon after, Chris Bolek came from behind to double through James Gilbert when his queen-ten met ace-jack suited of Gilbert. An ace-king-king flop left Bolek with a gutshot, and the river brought a jack to complete the straight.

In Hand #147 of the official final table, Chris Bolek moved all in from the small blind, and Tobias Peters called in the big blind for slightly less. Bolek tabled pocket jacks, and Peters had ace-ten. A jack on the flop and a jack on the turn gave Bolek quads, and Peters had to settle for fourth place.

Only five hands later, Bolek scored another vital double through Bryan Emory when the latter defended his big blind with king-eight. Bolek flopped an open-ended straight draw with jack-ten suited, and a king on the river gave Emory top pair while Bolek improved to the nut straight. Bolek's shove was reluctantly called, and that vaulted him into the top spot. Soon after, Emory also paid off the trips tens of Bolek when holding pocket sevens, and that created a commanding lead.

On Hand #162, James Gilbert moved all in for his last 11 big blinds from the button, and Chris Bolek called in the big blind with pocket queens. Gilbert only had queen-jack and was drawing dead on the turn of a king-high board to give Bolek a 6:1 lead for heads-up.

It took ten hands from there to determine a champion. Bryan Emory moved all in for most of the hands to build his stack slightly, but his three-bet shove in Hand #172 was quickly called by Chris Bolek with red eights. Emory's ace-four suited failed to connect with the board, and Emory had to settle for second place and a payday of $164,735.

This marks the end of the PokerNews' live reporting of Event #50, and the halfway mark has already been reached with all eyes set on the upcoming $50,000 Poker Players Championship and the Main Event.

Hand #163: Bryan Emory limped on the button, and Chris Bolek checked his option. The flop was    , and both players checked to the turn, which was the  . Bolek check-called Emory's bet of 160,000. The river was the  , and Bolek check-folded to Emory's bet of 300,000.

Hand #164: Chris Bolek moved all in on the button, and Bryan Emory folded his big blind.

Hand #165: Bryan Emory moved all in on the button, and Chris Bolek folded his big blind.

Hand #166: Chris Bolek raised to 350,000 on the button. Bryan Emory moved all in from the big blind, and Bolek folded.

Hand #167: Bryan Emory called on the button, and Chris Bolek checked his option. The flop was    , and Bolek check-called a bet of 225,000. The turn was the  , and Bolek check-called a bet of 475,000. The river was the  , and both players checked. Emory showed   , and Bolek tabled    for a chopped pot, with both men playing two pair and a queen kicker.

Chris Bolek	11,700,000	-700,000
Bryan Emory	2,750,000	695,000

Hand #158: Chris Bolek raised to 350,000 on the button and won the blinds and antes.

Hand #159: Bolek received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #160: James Gilbert received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #161: Bolek opened the action with a raise to 350,000 on the button. Bryan Emory called in the big blind and bet the     flop for 225,000. Bolek called and the   appeared on the turn. Emory checked and Bolek bet 475,000.

Emory reached into his stack and called, then the   on the river paired the board. Emory checked and Bolek bet 1,200,000. Emory called and Bolek flipped over    for trip tens, while Emory sighed and mucked his cards after showing them very briefly, saying "I can't get away from it" as he did.

Chris Bolek	10,200,000	2,700,000
Bryan Emory	2,000,000	-1,700,000

Hand #148: James Gilbert received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #149: Bryan Emory also received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #150: Gilbert raised to 350,000 on the button and Emory three-bet to 850,000 in the small blind, forcing a fold from Gilbert.

Hand #151: Chris Bolek raised to 380,000 in the small blind and Gilbert let go from the big blind after some consideration.

Hand #152: Bolek made it 350,000 to go from the button and Emory called in the big blind. The flop fell     and Emory checked. Bolek bet 300,000 and Emory called. After the   turn, Emory checked once again with Bolek checking behind.

The   appeared on the river and Emory bet 450,000. Bolek gave it some thought and, once a minute had passed, he announced all in. Emory asked for a count and the shove of Bolek was for 2,875,000. Emory called and Bolek showed    for a straight, while Emory mucked   . Emory briefly flashed his cards before sending them into the muck and Bolek took over the lead.

Chris Bolek	7,170,000	3,620,000
Bryan Emory	3,700,000	-2,900,000
James Gilbert	2,575,000	-1,125,000

Hand #143: Tobias Peters got a walk.

Hand #144: Chris Bolek was on the button and raised all in. The blinds folded.

Hand #145: Tobias Peters raised all in on the button and took down the blinds.

Hand #146: Tobias Peters was under the gun and raised all in. Chris Bolek was in the big blind and after tanking for a minute, he folded.

Hand #134: James Gilbert was on the button and raised to 275,000 and took down the blinds.

Hand #135: Tobias Peters got a walk.

Hand #136: Bryan Emory was under the gun and raised to 265,000, taking down the blinds.

Hand #137: James Gilbert was in the small blind and limped in. Bryan Emory was in the big blind and raised to 425,000, Gilbert folded.

During this hand, Chris Bolek was peeling his cards to have a look and one of the cards basically shattered/broke as he did. Tobias Peters and James Gilbert were having a good chuckle about it, saying, "That's some super human double-up strength," adding also a warning to "watch out for the paper cuts."

Hand #125: Gilbert raised to 275,000 from the button and Zhaoxing Wang moved all in from the big blind. Gilbert asked for a count and the shove was for 1,875,000. The raising chips were pulled in and Gilbert had 1,600,000 more to call, which he did after some consideration.

Zhaoxing Wang:   
James Gilbert:   

The board ran out       and Gilbert's full house spelled the end for Wang, who was eliminated in fifth place for $64,746.

James Gilbert	5,000,000	1,700,000
Zhaoxing Wang	0	-1,675,000