A pair of bracelets were on the line during another titillating Sunday night at the Rio. Two more players became first-time bracelet winners... and both were non-Americans. Argentina's Andres Korn won his first bracelet with a victory in Event #56 $5,000 NL. Korn secured only the second total bracelet for Argentina. Meanwhile, in Event #58, a young German pro Jens Lakemeier shipped his first-ever bling. Lakemeier faded 197 runners in the Big Bet Mixed to win a payday worth $122K.
Three cheers to Argentina and Germany! No, it wasn't a World Cup final... but it very well could have been. Both countries will hear their respective national anthems played in the upcoming days after one of their native sons shipped bracelets over the weekend. Sunday night at the 2017 WSOP featured three tournaments playing down to a champion. The donkament didn't quite get there, but two other events played down to a winner.
In Event #56, a former businessman turned pro, Andres Korn, won the $5,000 NL bracelet. It was surprising to learn (thanks to kick ass intel from the WSOP staff), that Argentina had previously won only one bracelet. Shocker, right? I thought Nacho Barbero and Leo Fernandez would have had three or four by now. Alas, Andres Korn is the newest bling winner...and rest assured babies will be named after him in the next calendar year.
Over in Event #58 $2,500 Big Bet Mixed, a German pro (living in Austria for ahem... tax reasons... cue up Taxman by the Beatles) stepped into the winner's circle Jens Lakemeier, a 23-year old pro, won his first-ever bracelet and locked up another piece up bling for the Germans.
Event #56 $5,000 NL - Final Results

Surprised only 623 players took a shot at the $5K bracelet event. The prize pool was just shy of $3M. However, first place got a heady payout of $618K. Oh, and the bling! The trend continued... with another first-time winner. But this time, a player from South America prevailed. A former businessman turned pro, Andres Korn, shipped the gold bracelet in this one.
James Hughes bubbled off the final table in tenth place. Spain's Sergio Cabrera was the first player to exit the final table. Thomas Boivin from Belgium missed a bracelet by two spots when he busted in third place.
Andres Korn defeated Pete Chen heads-up for the win and $618K in cash. Korn won his first bracelet, but only the second for the country of Argentina.
Notables who went deep included... Pierre Neuville, Matt Affleck, Richard Harroch, SirWatts, Aditya Agarwal, Guy Pariente, Tim West, Matt Stout, Jack Salter, Mett Berkey, Taylor Black, Nacho Barbero, Kelly Minkin, Bart Hanson, Cate Hall, Steve Karp, Jimmy Guerrero, Nick Schulman, Brent Hanks, and Dan Zack.
2017 WSOP - Event #56 $5,000 NL
Entrants: 623
Prize Pool: $2,896,950
Payouts: 94
Final Table Results:
1. Andres Korn (Argentina) $618,285
2. Pete Chen (Taiwan) $382,122
3. Thomas Boivin (Belgium) $264,306
4. Marton Czuczor (Hungary) $185,794
5. Mike Sowers (USA) $132,767
6. Simon Lam (USA) $96,472
7. Andy Spears (USA) $71,300
8. Mark Zullo (USA) $53,615
9. Sergio Cabrera (Spain) $41,031
Event #59 $2,500 Big Bet Mix - Final Results

German players have been dominating the international scene, on both the high-ballin' high roller circuit and the usual NL-centric global alphabet tours. The Germans have been crushing online souls for the past decade too. So it was not out of the ordinary to think the Germans would have another sensational summer in Las Vegas. However, you'd probably be surprised that someone other than semi-retired Fedor Holz or Christoph Vogelsang or Ole Schemion or Tobias Reinkemeier or Dominik Nitsche would be hoisting gold over their heads this summer. Alas, a young pro named Jens Lakemeier, who barely cracked the Top 100 all-time cashes for Germans, would add his name to the list of WSOP winners.
Jens Lakemeier final tabled an event at the 2015 WSOP Europe when the young German was only 21 years young. It took him two more years, but he finally binked his first-ever WSOP event... and subsequently won his first bracelet.
Jens Lakemeier picked off Jason Stockfish heads-up for the victory. Andrew Kelsall bowed out in third place. Jerry Won busted in fourth, and Ashton Griggin went dunzo in fifth place. Kenny Fitzgerald was the first player to exit the six-handed final table.
Ryan Hughes bubbled the final table in seventh place. Danny Boy Kid Poker Negreanu made another run, but he failed to advance more than 12th place.
Only the top 30 places paid out. Notables who went deep and cashed included... Marco Johnson, ODB, Steve Friedlander, Brandon Cantu, Craig Chait, Tuan Le, Jason Mercier, Adam Owen, Benny Glasser, and the legendary online exile Cal Anderson.
2017 WSOP - Event #59 $2,500 Big Bet Mix
Entrants: $443,250
Prize Pool: 197
Payouts: 30
Final Table Results:
1. Jens Lakemeier (Germany) $112,232
2. Jason Stockfish (USA) $69,359
3. Andrew Kelsall (USA )$47,239
4. Jerry Wong (USA) $32,804
5. Ashton Griffin (USA) $23,235
6. Kenneth Fitzgerald (USA)$16,793