Colorado poker pro wins WSOP title, $508,090

Chance Kornuth won the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha championship at the World Series of Poker on Thursday morning, claiming his first WSOP bracelet and $508,090.

Kornuth exploded upon the scene at the Rio and came out of nowhere to collect $508,090 in prize money. This was only his second time to cash at the WSOP. His Las Vegas winnings up to this point had amounted to a grand total of $2,005.

"It was intense," said Kornuth. "It was just awesome. The fans were great. Other than a few arguments (in the crowd), everyone at the table got along great. It was really fun."

The final duel was an all-Colorado battle. Kornuth, age 24, is from Denver; the runner up was Kevin Boudreau, from Colorado Springs, Colo. He earned a very respectable consolation prize amounting to $313,792.

Kornuth attended the University of Colorado (Boulder) for three-and-a-half years. He studied architectural engineering before leaving college to play poker full time. He says he may go back later and finish his degree.

"I definitely think dropping out is a bad thing," said Kornuth. "I think college has a very specific purpose. I think you go not only to get an education and to determine which career path you want to choose but also to become worldly, and try to deal with other people. That's what I got out of college."

Kornuth won the tournament when he was dealt queen-nine-eight-six (two hearts) and Boudreau held ace-king-king-four (two spades). Boudreau ended up all in after the flop when Kornuth hit a pair of eights and a straight draw, and Kornuth moved ahead when he hit another eight on the turn to make trips. The river was a blank, giving Kornuth the bracelet and the title.

Twenty-six year-old poker pro Danny Smith, from Folsom, Calif., was third for $226,923, Ted Martin, a portfolio manager from New York, N.Y., finished fourth to win $165,825 in prize money. Scott Mandel, from Chicago, Ill., won $122,455 for his fifth-place performance.

Julian Gardner, from Manchester, England, who was second to Robert Varkonyi in the 2002 Main Event, finished sixth in this tournament, while Eric Liu, from San Francisco, Calif., was seventh. Robert Mizrachi, a former gold bracelet winner from Miramar, Fla., was eighth, and Jose-Nacho Barbero, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, was ninth.

The top 45 players in the 460-player field collected prize money. Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included Mizrachi (eighth), Jason Mercier (16th), Joshua Tieman (21st), Ayaz Mahmood (22nd), and Annette Obrestad (36th).

Modified from notes provided by Nolan Dalla for www.wsop.com