Event #35: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed

Event #35: $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em at the 2014 World Series of Poker, which attracted 550 players and created a prize pool of $2.585 million, was originally scheduled to be a four-day event; however, things moved a little faster than expected on Day 3 and a winner was crowned. That man was Brian Yoon, who captured a $633,341 first-place prize and his second WSOP gold bracelet.

Yoon may be familiar to poker fans as the man who topped a massive field of 4,756 players in last year's $1,111 buy-in Little One for One Drop event for a first-place prize of $663,727. With this win, Yoon, who is two for two in WSOP final-table wins, brings his lifetime WSOP winnings up over $1.4 million.

Day 3 began with 23 players, and it didn't take long for some to hit the rail. Among the early eliminations were Olivier Busquet (23rd - $18,095), Eric Froehlich (22nd - $18,095), Ravi Raghavan (21st - $18,095), and Jeff Madsen (20th - $18,095). Madsen began the day as chip leader, but he lost a good portion of his stack straight out of the gate. Then, in Level 21 (5,000/10,000/1,000), he three-bet all in for 147,000 from the big blind after Yoon had opened for 20,000 from the small blind. Yoon called and was in a dominating spot with the    to Madsen's   . The board ran out a clean      , and the 2006 WSOP Player of the Year made an unexpected early exit.

From there, 11 players followed him out the door before the final table was set. Among them were Matt Davenport (18th - $18,095), Sylvain Loosli (16th - $21,946), Sam Stein (14th - $27,013), David Peters (12th - $33,734), and Sam Trickett (11th - $33,734).

Tony Cousineau was the first final-table casualty after his pocket nines failed to hold against Yoon's king-queen on Hand #43. With that, Cousineau added to his record streak of 63 WSOP cashes without winning a gold bracelet.

On Hand #49 of the final table, Timo Pfutzenreuter exited in seventh place when his pocket sevens fell to the    of Mustapha Kanit after an ace appeared on the flop. Another ace on the turn left Pfutzenreuter drawing dead, and he took home $71,940 for his seventh-place finish.

Nine hands later Kanit would eliminate Dan Smith when his own pocket sevens held against Smith's   , but seven hands later Kanit would be on the rail after a failed bluff against Yoon.

Four-handed play last quite awhile, but eventually the blinds got big and Josh Arieh was able to eliminate two players in five hands. The first was Ardit Kurshumi, who failed to win a race for his tournament life, and the other was Josh Bergman, who failed to overcome Arieh's    with the   . Kurshumi and Bergman were felled in fourth and third place for $176,684 and $246,169, respectively.

Heads-up play between Yoon and Arieh began with the two near even in chips, and they were pretty deep. It could have been an extended affair, but instead it lasted just 19 hands. During that time, Yoon gained momentum, opened up a chip lead, and finished off his opponent after flopping a flush.

Congratulations to Brian Yoon, winner of Event #35: $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em!

Hand #140: Brian Yoon raised to 100,000 on the button and Josh Arieh folded.

Hand #141: Arieh raised to 100,000, Yoon called, and the flop fell    . Yoon check-called a bet of 75,000, both players checked the   turn, and the   completed the board on the river. Yoon checked for a third time and then called when Arieh bet 225,000. Arieh showed the    for aces and kings with a five kicker, but it was no good as Yoon held the    for aces and kings with a seven kicker.

Brian Yoon	6,250,000	490,000
Josh Arieh	2,010,000	-490,000

Hand #137: Josh Arieh raised to 100,000 on the button, Brian Yoon called, and the flop fell    . Yoon check-called a bet of 75,000 and then both players checked the   turn. When the   completed the board on the river, Yoon bet 275,000 and Arieh called.

Yoon tabled the    for a flush, and it was good as Arieh mucked his cards.

Brian Yoon	5,030,000	590,000
Josh Arieh	3,230,000	-590,000

Hand #131: Josh Arieh raised to 100,000 and Brian Yoon called, which brought a flop of    . Yoon checked, Arieh bet 75,000, and Yoon check-raised to 225,000. Arieh called and then called a bet of 400,000 on the   turn.

When the   completed the board on the river, Yoon tanked before betting a big 875,000. Arieh leaned back, looked at his cards, and then said, "Was hoping they'd change."

They didn't, and Arieh folded his hand.

Brian Yoon	4,880,000	820,000
Josh Arieh	3,380,000	-820,000

Hand #122: Brian Yoon opened for 100,000 on the button, Josh Arieh called, and the flop came down    . Arieh check-called a bet of 60,000 and then both players checked the   turn. Arieh checked for a third time on the   river and then folded to a bet of 170,000.

Hand #123: Arieh raised to 100,000 on the button, Yoon called, and the flop came out    . Yoon check-called a bet of 100,000 and then both players checked the   turn. Yoon checked for a third time on the   river and then folded to a bet of 225,000.

Hand #124: Yoon opened for 100,000 on the button, Arieh called, and the     appeared on the flop. Arieh check-called a bet of 100,000 and then check-called one of 225,000 on the   turn. Both players checked the   river and Arieh tabled the    for kings. Yoon mucked.

Hand #125: Arieh raised to 100,000 and Yoon folded.

Josh Arieh	4,760,000	750,000
Brian Yoon	3,500,000	-755,000

Hand #117: With a dead small blind, Josh Arieh raised to 100,000 from the button and then folded to a three-bet from Brian Yoon in the big blind.

Hand #118: Josh Bergman received a walk.

Hand #119: Arieh received a walk.

Hand #120: Yoon received a walk.

Hand #111: Josh Arieh received a walk.

Hand #112: Josh Bergman raised to 85,000 on the button and won the pot.

Hand #113: Ardit Kurshumi called from the small blind and Brian Yoon checked his option from the big. Kurshumi led out for 40,000 on the     flop and Yoon folded.

Hand #114: Yoon raised too 100,000 from the small blind and then folded when Bergman moved all in from the big blind.

Hand #115: Bergman raised to 95,000 from the small blind and then folded when Arieh three-bet to 230,000 from the big.

The players opted to take a five-minute break after this hand, which corresponds to the end of Level 27.

Hand #104: Brian Yoon raised to 80,000 under the gun and Josh Arieh called him from the small blind. Ardit Kurshumi came along from the big and all three saw a flop of    . Three checks followed, the   appeared on the turn, and Arieh checked.

Kurshumi bet 140,000, Yoon called, and Arieh got out of the way, which brought about the   on the river. Kurshumi bet 265,000 and Yoon called with the    for sevens and fours. It was good as Kurshumi held an inferior two pair with the   .

Brian Yoon	3,610,000	210,000
Ardit Kurshumi	1,000,000	-400,000

Hand #95: Ardit Kurshumi opened for 80,000 under the gun and Josh Bergman and Josh Arieh called from the small and big blinds respectively. Two checks on the     flop put action on Kurshumi and he bet 80,000. Both his opponents folded.

Hand #96: Brian Yoon raised to 80,000 from the cutoff, Arieh called from the small blind, and the flop fell    . Arieh checked and then folded when Yoon bet 100,000.

Hand #97: Arieh called from the button and Yoon checked his option from the big blind to see a flop of    , which they both checked. Arieh then called a bet of 60,000 on the   turn before Yoon bet 120,000 on the   river. Arieh responded with a raise to 365,000, and Yoon tanked for a bit before making the call. Arieh tabled the    for a flopped set and Yoon mucked.

Brian Yoon	3,400,000	-280,000
Josh Arieh	2,200,000	240,000