South Korea has its first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner after Jiyoung Kim won the Ladies Championship in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Kim, a coffee shop owner from Seoul, outlasted a field of 968 players to claim the US$167,308 first prize and a place in history as the only South Korean to taste WSOP gold.
In doing so, South Korea became the 51st different country in the WSOP’s 50-year history to win a gold bracelet.
However, Kim said afterwards that she has no grand plans for her prize money.
“I’m giving it to my mom. All of it,” she said. “She is always worried about me going overseas to play poker tournaments. I feel for her, that’s why I will give it to her.”
The WSOP is an annual tournament series held at the Rio in Las Vegas, with this year’s 50th anniversary series featuring a record 89 bracelet events across two months.
The most prestigious of them all, the US$10,000 Main Event, kicks off on Wednesday.
