California's Lee wins third-ever WSOP cash

Preston Lee, a 32-year-old poker pro from Millbrae, California, has emerged as the winner of Event #39 of the 2018 World Series of Poker, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout.

Lee triumphed in three successive rounds of play in this event featuring the distinctive shootout format, with only the winner of each sit-'n'-go style table advancing to the next round.

Lee's $236,498 winner's payday came in only his third-ever WSOP cash, with the prior two, in 2011 and 2017, amounting to just over $4,000.

The final player between Lee and the bracelet was Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Corey Dodd. Like Lee, Dodd is a relative newcomer to WSOP bracelet events, with his only earlier cash coming in 2013. Dodd, also 32, earned $146,146 for the second-place run.

Prior bracelet winner Anthony Reategui finished third for $105,307, while well-known Las Vegas pro Dylan Linde claimed fourth for $76,829.

The story of this final table was the protracted heads-up duel between Lee and Dodd, which stretched 131 hands past Reategui's bustout in third. For the most part, Lee held the edge, but both players spiked three-outers at separate points late in the duel to stay in the hunt.