Brian Yoon won his third WSOP bracelet on Wednesday, and now has a seven figure score too (WSOP photo)

A new millionaire was made on Wednesday at the 2017 World Series of Poker. In total, two bracelets were handed out, a tournament played down to five players, another played down to seven, and three more clocked exciting days at the felt. Here’s a rundown of the action.

More than a million for Yoon

If there’s one thing you can say about Brian Yoon, it’s that the 27-year-old pro knows how to navigate large tournament fields. First he took down the $1,111 Little One for One Drop back in 2013 for $663K, besting 4,567 players. He returned to the WSOP in 2014 and won his second bracelet in a $5K event, beating 550 runners.

Now Yoon has won his third career bracelet, having finished on top of the $1,500 Monster Stack’s 6,716-strong field for a massive $1,094,349 payday.

“Getting this one in 2017 feels really good,” Yoon said. “It’s my biggest score ever. I think that the way I approach this type of tournament is really good, and I’m really well-suited for it. I think I do a lot of things, a lot little adjustments, that other people don’t do.”

Whatever those adjustments are, they saw him beat out a tough final table which included Maurice Hawkins(6th – $213,591) and Will Failla (9th – $97,223).

Heads up against BelarusianIhar Soika, Yoon had a 3:1 chip lead when Soika jammed with the As8s and was called by the KhTh. The board ran out Js5s2h7d, before the Td hit the river to give Yoon the win.

Final table payouts

  1. Brian Yoon – $1,094,349
  2. Ihar Soika – $675,995
  3. Stanley Lee – $501,353
  4. Ryan Mcknight – $374,515
  5. Yuliyan Kolev – $281,800
  6. Maurice Hawkins – $213,591
  7. Thomas Ryan – $163,087
  8. Richard Ma – $125,451
  9. Will Failla – $97,223

Five remain in $1,500 No Limit Bounty

A tournament that has proved very popular with pros and recreational players alike is the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Bounty. Players who eliminate someone receive a $500 bounty chip, meaning if you bust out three players, then you’re free-rolling.

A total of 1,927 players took a seat a few days ago, but now just five remain.Bryan Emory leads the finale, followed by James Gilbert, Chris Bolek, Zhaoxing Wang, and Tobias Peters.

Some of the big names who returned on Wednesday but couldn’t survive include Tom ‘Jabracada’ Hall, Govert Metaal, and Harrison ‘gibler123’ Gimble.

Play resumes on Thursday with $266,646 for the winner.

Final Five Chip Counts

  1. Bryan Emory – 6,130,000
  2. James Gilbert – 3,300,000
  3. Chris Bolek – 1,700,000
  4. Zhaoxing Wang – 1,675,000
  5. Tobias Peters – 1,650,000

Bryce Yockey takes down $10K PLO Eight for $511K

Bryce Yockey conquered a tough final table to win the K PLO 8 or Better Championship on Wednesday. (WSOP photo)

The other gold handed out on Wednesday went to Bryce Yockey, who came out on top in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for a $511,147 payday and his first career bracelet.

“I just fucking came through,” Yockey said after his victory. “It feels really good. It’s different than winning a $1,500 tournament. There’s a lot of tough pros to get through. It felt good to get here.”

There were several big names who had made it through the 207 runners to join Yockey at the final table. Two-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh would eventually exit in third for $216,077, following Chris Ferguson’s fourth-place finish for $150,929.

As Yockey himself says, this event was pretty darn popular too.

“Every pro I talked to is like, ‘Wow this was an amazing success,'” he said. “I think everyone who played it had a good time. I know two guys who flew in just to play this tournament.”

Final table payouts

  1. Bryce Yockey – $511,147
  2. Jeremy Joseph – $315,911
  3. Josh Arieh – $216,077
  4. Chris Ferguson – $150,929
  5. Quentin Krueger – $107,709
  6. Chris Roth – $78,569
  7. Ray Henson – $58,612
  8. Kate Hoang – $44,738

Mercier, Charania, Kempe still in $1,500 NLHE contention

The smaller buy-in No Limit Hold’em events attract huge crowds, and this $1,500 event was no different. 1,580 runners took their shot, but after Wednesday’s Day 2 just 23 remain.

There are some big names among them. Samuel Phillipsleads right now (1.28 million), but he’ll have stiff competition from the likes of WPT Five Diamond champ Mohsin Charania (1.04 million), five-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier (457K), and 2016 Super High Roller Bowl winner Rainer Kempe
(240K).Andy Frankenberger (525K) is also still seeking his third bracelet.

There’s $364,438 up top in this one, with play resuming Thursday.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Samuel Phillips – 1,289,000
  2. James Florence – 1,284,000
  3. Brandon Ageloff – 1,200,000
  4. Griffin Malatino – 1,114,000
  5. Mohsin Charania – 1,045,000
  6. Alexander Elias – 847,000
  7. Andy Frankenberger – 525,000
  8. Jack Allen – 459,000
  9. Jason Mercier – 457,000
  10. Yanki Koppel – 436,000

Max Silver leads $3,000 Six Max Limit Hold’em Finale

Just seven players remain in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em 6-Max, and it’s the UK’s Max Silver who sits atop the chip counts. He’s chasing his first WSOP bracelet.

Of the 256 players who started in this event, just 73 returned for Wednesday’s Day 2. Some of those who fell during the day’s play include Stuart Rutter, Jason Mercier, Andre Akkari, Jack Duong, Joseph Risi, Ray Henson, John Racener, and James Obst.

There’s $172,645 for the eventual champ. Play resumes at 2pm Thursday.

Final table chip counts:

  1. Max Silver – 1,021,000
  2. Ayman Qutami – 792,000
  3. Guowei Zhang – 510,000
  4. Georgios Kapalas – 475,000
  5. Mickey Craft – 445,000
  6. Lena Wang – 395,000
  7. David Olson – 97,000

Two Events Kick Off

Wednesday saw two new tournaments start their Day 1s: Event #54: $10,000 Eight Handed Pot Limit Omaha Championship, and Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud.

In the PLO Championship, 428 started and 186 made it through to Day 2. Sorin Drajneanu finished the day as chip leader, but the big news was that defending champion Brandon Shack-Harris finished fourth in the chip counts. He’s joined at the top by Johnny Lodden, Patrick Mahoney, and Dan Shak.

This event is officially a record-breaker, beating last year’s turnout and creating a $938,732 first-place prize. Play resumes Thursday.

Top 10 chip counts

  1. Sorin Drajneanu – 469,700
  2. Andjelko Andrejevic – 369,400
  3. Arvi Vainionkulma – 320,200
  4. Brandon Shack-Harris – 301,200
  5. Johnny Lodden – 270,000
  6. Eddie Ochana – 269,000
  7. Patrick Mahoney – 264,300
  8. Dan Shak – 255,100
  9. Randel Brown – 250,400
  10. Corey Hochman – 247,500

Meanwhile, in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud, just 68 of the 298 starters survived.

Bryan Slick bagged the chip lead with 92,400, followed by Jonathan Ulrich (77,300), John Bunch (69,000), and Joseph Cappello (66,000), and Marcel Luske(64,300).

Andre Akkari and Adam ‘adamyid’ Owen are also still in the mix with 54,000 and 45,300 respectively.

First place prize is $96,907, and Day 2 starts on Thursday.

Top 10 Chip Counts

  1. Bryan Slick – 92,400
  2. Jonathan Ulrich – 77,300
  3. Joseph Cappello – 66,000
  4. Marcel Luske – 64,300
  5. Michael Harris – 61,700
  6. Christopher Vitch – 61,700
  7. Wesley Hickey – 58,400
  8. Tom Koral – 58,200
  9. Georgii Belianin – 55,000
  10. Al Barbieri – 54,500