Steve Sung was pleased.

A native of South Korea now residing near Los Angeles, Sung outlasted 6,011 other participants to win a $1,000 no-limit hold’em tournament, Event 4, of the 2009 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The victory marked the first time he has captured WSOP gold.

“I feel amazing,” Sung, 24, said. “I feel that this big monkey is off my back. It feels amazing to win.”

With more than 6,000 entries, Event 4 was the largest competition, excluding Main Events, in World Series history.

Among the other players cashing in the tourney were Lee Watkinson (36^th), J.C. Tran (68^th), Tony Ma (358^th) and Brett Jungblut (367^th).

Russia’s Nikolay Evdakov (382^nd), who had a record ten cashes at the 2008 WSOP, cashed for the first time this year.

Overall, 621 places paid.

Event 4

No-Limit Hold’em – Stimulus Special

Buy-in: $1,000

Entries: 6,012

Payouts

1. Steve Sung, Torrance, CA … $771,338
2. Pete Vilandos, Houston … $473,282
3. James Matz III, King of Prussia, PA … $313,826
4. Larry Sidebotham, Grand Rapids, MI … $227,253
5. Nathan Mullen, San Francisco … $175,851
6. Daniel Heimiller, Las Vegas … $145,009
7. Jeffrey Oakes, Chandler, AZ … $126,612
8. Phong Huynh, Duluth, GA … $117,414
9. Daniel Fuhs, Long Beach, CA … $114,167