Event #56: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Andres Korn just became the second-ever WSOP bracelet winner from Argentina, the first being Ivan Luca in 2015. Korn beat out a field of 623 players to win Event #56: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $618,285 and the elusive gold bracelet.

Korn nearly doubled his recorded career tournament earnings with this score, and it was around six times the payday of his previous biggest cash to date. But for Korn, the win was less about the money.

"The bracelet weighs so much more," he said. "I wasn't even looking at the pay jumps; I was just focused on the bracelet. For us who play poker, this is the glory. And you don't get that many chances to play for it." Not that the money isn't nice, of course. He added, "The money's beautiful, but my main thing was the bracelet."

Korn came into the final table with the chip lead, and he immediately went to work. The first four eliminations came in the first level of play, and Korn was responsible for the first two — Sergio Cabrera in ninth place, and Mark Zullo in eighth place. In both hands, Korn called to put his opponent at risk with a pocket pair against two overcards and held up, improving to a set on the flop with pocket eights against Zullo. Pete Chen knocked out the next two players to gain some ground on Korn, and they were down to five players before the second level of the day.

In the next level, Korn eliminated Mike Sowers in fifth place and Marton Czuczor in fourth place to take a commanding lead into three-handed play. Against Sowers, Korn spiked a jack with queen-jack to beat ace-nine suited, and he flopped another set with pocket eights against Czuczor's ace-jack suited to send him to the rail.

Korn dominated three-handed play, maintaining a 2:1 chip lead over the next-biggest stack throughout. After he eliminated Thomas Boivin in third place by winning yet another flip with queen-seven against Boivin's pocket fives, Korn entered heads-up play against Chen with a chip lead of more than 2:1.

Korn ran good at the final table, as he explained: "It was beautiful. I connected with every flop. I won every flip. The cards just kept coming my way. It was amazing." Korn said he felt good going into heads-up, as he has a lot of experience playing heads-up online, and then he just kept connecting with the flop.

In heads-up play, Korn kept the pressure on Chen, grinding him down slowly. Chen doubled up once after getting short-stacked, but Korn got him back down to around 1,000,000 chips soon after. In the final hand of the match, Korn shoved on the button with eight-nine suited, and Chen called with king-nine. Chen was in good shape to double up again, but Korn once again out-flopped his opponent (with top two pair this time), then held on to eliminate Chen in second place and win the tournament.

If Korn's favorite hand wasn't pocket eights before, it just may be now. Korn flopped two sets with eights to eliminate two players at the final table, then paired his eight in the last hand for his first win in the States.

Korn commented, "After today, with any eights, actually. I had the eight-nine in the last hand. All my friends were shouting, 'This is the day of the eights!' It worked out."

When asked if he will be playing the Main Event, Korn said he definitely would. "I've been having a good year. This is like the fifth tournament I have won this year. I'm running hot."

With two WSOP Main Event cashes to his credit, Korn hopes for his good run to continue into the most prestigious event in poker, which begins next week.

Here are the complete final table results:

Final Table Results

Hand #133: Pete Chen gave Andres Korn a walk.

Hand #134: Korn limped, and Chen moved all in. Korn folded.

Hand #135: Korn got a walk.

Hand #136: Korn open-jammed, and Chen folded.

Hand #137: Chen open-jammed and took the pot.

Hand #123: Pete Chen opened to 250,000, and Andres Korn defended, bringing a flop of    . Korn checked, and Chen continued for 150,000. Korn called. The turn was the  , and Korn checked once again. Chen checked, as well, and the   was delivered on the river for free. Korn bet 150,000, and Chen folded.

Hand #124: Korn limped, and Chen checked to see a     flop. Chen checked, and Korn bet 130,000, winning the pot.

Hand #125: Chen opened to 250,000, Korn three-bet to 645,000, and Chen folded.

Hand #126: Chen got a walk.

Hand #127: Korn got a walk.

Andres Korn	13,255,000	830,000
Pete Chen	2,320,000	-830,000

The two finalists have completed their fourth level of the day and have been rewarded with a 15-minute break.

Here is how they are currently stacked up:

Andres Korn	12,425,000	2,035,000
Pete Chen	3,150,000	-2,035,000

Hand #114: Andres Korn opened to 200,000, and Pete Chen defended. The flop came    , and Chen check-folded to a bet of 225,000 from Korn.

Hand #115: Chen opened to 225,000, and Korn three-bet to 555,000. Chen called. The flop was    , and Korn continued for 375,000. Chen raised to 750,000, and Korn made it 2,000,000 to go. Chen four-bet jammed, and Korn called.

Chen:   
Korn:   

The board ran out   and  , giving Chen his flush and a huge double-up. Chen's all-in was for 2,070,000.

Andres Korn	10,390,000	-2,425,000
Pete Chen	5,185,000	2,425,000

Meet the final table of Event #56: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em. These are the nine players are all playing for $618,285 and a WSOP gold bracelet.

Hand #99: Pete Chen raised to 200,000 on the button and Andres Korn three-bet to 580,000 in the big blind. Chen four-bet to 1,225,000 and Korn quickly moved all in. Chen looked at Korn and folded his hand.

Hand #100: Korn folded his button, giving Chen a walk.

Hand #101: Chen raised to 200,000 on the button and Korn called. The flop was     and they both checked. The turn was the  . Korn checked, Chen bet 200,000, and Korn folded.

Hand #102: Korn raised to 200,000 on the button and Chen called. On the     flop, Chen checked and Korn bet 230,000. Chen called and the turn was the  . Chen checked again and Korn checked back. The river was the   and they both checked. Chen showed    for a pair of kings, good for the pot.

Hand #103: Chen raised to 200,000 and Korn called. The flop was     and Korn checked. Chen bet 200,000 and Korn let it go.

Andres Korn	11,645,000	325,000
Pete Chen	3,930,000	-325,000

Hand #93: It folded to Andres Korn in the small blind and he put forward enough chips to put Thomas Boivin to an all-in decision in the big blind. Boivin quickly called for his remaining stack of 1,065,000 and he was at risk.

Boivin:   
Korn:   

Boivin was ahead with his pair of fives, but Korn made a pair of queens on the     flop to take the lead. Boivin was looking for one of the two remaining fives in the deck, but he didn't find one on the   turn or the   river.

Boivin was the third-place finisher, taking home $264,306 for his efforts.

Andres Korn	10,930,000	1,030,000
Thomas Boivin	0	-1,100,000

Hand #82: Andres Korn raised to 165,000 on the button and Pete Chen called in the big blind. The flop came     and they both checked. On the   turn, Chen checked, Korn bet 205,000, and Chen folded.

Hand #83: Chen raised to 200,000 in the small blind and Korn called in the big blind. the flop was     and Chen checked. Korn bet 210,000 and Chen called. On the   turn, both players checked and the river was the  , pairing the board. They both checked again and Chen tabled    for fours and sixes with a king kicker. Korn showed the   before mucking his hand.

Hand #84: Chen raised to 170,000 on the button and Thomas Boivin called in the big blind. The flop was     and Boivin checked. Chen checked back and the turn was the  . Boivin led 150,000 and Chen folded.

Hand #85: Boivin completed in the small blind and Chen raised to 305,000 in the big blind. Boivin called and the flop was    . Boivin checked and Chen checked back. The turn was the   and both players checked. The river was the   and Boivin checked again. Chen bet 225,000 this time and Boivin called.

Chen showed    for the wheel and that was good for the pot.

Hand #86: Chen raised to 210,000 in the small blind and Korn called in the big blind. The flop came     and they both checked. They also checked the   turn and the   river. Chen had a seven in his hand for a pair of sevens, and that was good for the pot.

Andres Korn	9,730,000	1,530,000
Pete Chen	3,840,000	1,240,000
Thomas Boivin	2,050,000	-1,225,000