partypoker US Network Online Series (August 16-23)

Wednesday night sees the partypoker US Network Online Series continue with another high-stakes No-Limit Hold'em tournament in the $215 buy-in Event #5: $15,000 GTD NLH, which starts at 7:30 p.m. ET.

All within the state of New Jersey may compete across any of the three platforms of partypoker US, Borgata Poker and BetMGM Poker.

Players receive starting stacks of 30,000 with unlimited entries and re-entries available for the first two hours of play. Levels will last 10 minutes in length for the duration of the tournament, with the late registration period closing at the end of Level 12 (1,600/3,200/400) at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET. A full structure of the tournament has been provided below.

Betting Structure

Remaining partypoker US Network Online Series Schedule

Tonight's official event schedule kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with the $10 buy-in Event #4: $2,500 GTD NLH, and also features the fourth flight of the Phased $50,000 GTD NLH Main Event, featuring a buy-in of $25.

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken has recently entered that field. If you don't know that name, you should as he's become on of the most accomplished players in these series.

In the last two series, Vanauken accomplished the incredible feat of capturing back-to-back titles not once, but twice.

In the July 6-12 series, he topped a 134-entry field to win Event #4: $15,000 GTD NLH for nearly $7,500, and then the next night bested 144 runners to win Event #5: $,7500 GTD Green Chip Bounty for $3,145. Then, at the end of July, he won the $320 buy-in Event #3: $15,000 GTD PKO Bounty for $6,393 and a day later emerged victorious in the $215 buy-in Event #4: $12,000 GTD PKO Bounty Boost for $5.691.

PokerNews recently had the chance to chat with Vanauken about his recent successes.

Money Never Sleeps

For the 43-year-old Vanauken, who is married with three kids ages 7, 10, and 19, he’s never really had a nine-to-five job. Instead, he fancies himself a real estate broker engaging in flips and investments while playing poker on the side of course.

“I first learned playing $4/$8 limit at Foxwoods in early 2000 and now play now $20/$40 and $30/$60 when I can find a game, or settle on $1/$2 or $2/$5 NLH," he said. "I have played the WSOP Main Event two times with no luck busting on Day 2 both times.”

Additionally, Vanauken grinds a decent amount on the virtual tables under the screen name “alwaysliquid,” which stems from the movie Wall Street when Gordon Gekko tells Bud Fox about how money never sleeps and you need to always be liquid.

“Since New Jersey went legal I play on Borgata and WSOP. I used to play PokerStars but had an issue with them over a year ago and have since boycotted them. I do very well on Borgata. I even shipped the Mega Thursday [not long ago] on my phone from an Applebee’s parking lot as I had no WiFi at home due to power outage.”

As for his recent successes on partypoker US, Vanauken was pleased but wanted to remain humble.

“I am humbled to be able to compete with all of the great players in New Jersey,” he said. “I’m proud that all of my studying and grinding has been producing favorable results in the past few years, taking me from an average breakeven player to a profitable one. At the same time, I try to maintain being humble with this great game and what it has provided for me and my family.”

Proudest Poker Accomplishments

For Vanauken, the scores rank up there among his proudest poker accomplishments, which includes beating a poker legend.

“In 2013, I beat Joe McKeehen for the Borgata Limit Championship,” Vanauken said. “I think that was the last limit event held at Borgata.”

Other highlights on his poker résumé include finishing sixth in the 2018 WSOP Circuit at Canada’s Playground Poker Club and finishing runner-up in a pair of WSOP Circuit online events back in March.

“So close to a ring but the two cashes of $35k and $20k within a few days definitely eased the quarantine pain,” Vanauken said.

With the latest partypoker US Network Online Series happening now, only time will tell if Vanauken can keep his streak of winning back-to-back events alive.

Click here to sign up for Nj.partypoker.com!

In Level 5 with blinds of 400/800 and an ante of 100, "njpokeraa" jammed for 16,100 in the cutoff and Michael “IIIIIIIIIIIII” Haberman came over the top, re-shoving for 22,900. The players in the blinds folded and the two were off to the races.

"njpokeraa":
Michael “IIIIIIIIIIIII” Haberman:

It was a classic coin flip situation and Haberman quickly pulled out in front as the flop came . He found himself needing to fade the two remaining sixes in the deck and did so as the turn and the river completed the runout, leaving his opponent dry on chips as the pot was shipped his way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael “IIIIIIIIIIIII” Haberman	40,893 10,953	10,953
njpokeraa	Busted

In Level 8 with blinds of 800/1,600 and an ante of 200, "jerseyman99" limped in early position and Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken jammed for his last 8,400. "SLHalper13" re-jammed for 20,500 in the small blind and "jerseyman99" called both shoves.

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken:
"SLHalper13":
"jerseyman99":

Nothing changed on the flop , but the turn all of a sudden put both at-risk players in need of hitting two outers to stay alive. Neither found any luck on the river and both pots were shipped to "jerseyman99" as the other two players were sent to the virtual rail.

"SLHalper13" has not rebought, while Vanauken got back in on the action after a minute or two.

Player	Chips	Progress
jerseyman99	113,432 77,486	77,486
Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken	30,000 30,000	30,000
SLHalper13	Busted

In Level 11 with blinds of 1,400/2,800 and an ante of 350, action folded around to Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd on the button and he jammed for 37,000. Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken was in the big blind and called all in for less.

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken:
Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd:

Vanauken saw his ace up against a higher one and was in need of some help to stay alive. The flop came , bringing with it several chop outs. However, none came as the turn and river completed the runout to result in Dodd earning the pot and the knockout.

Vanauken quickly rebought with around one-and-a-half levels left remaining in the registration period.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd	66,580 -16,700	-16,700
Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken	30,000 13,400	13,400

Level 13 has begun with blinds of 1,800/3,600 and an ante of 450, and its beginning marks the official closure of the late registration period. Fifty-seven entries were logged and a total $15,000 prize pool will be paid out to the top seven players. Here's a look at the list of payouts.

In Level 16 with blinds of 3,000/6,000 and an ante of 750, "Ozzy_Rocks111" saw action fold around to the small blind and they jammed to put Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken all in for 87,000 effective. Vanauken thought for a few moments and then called.

"Ozzy_Rocks111":
Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken:

Vanauken called with two live cards and saw his opponent be the one to connect on the flop . He still found himself with six outs, but the turn gave "Ozzy_Rocks111" trips and left Vanauken drawing dead to the river , leaving him with nothing more than an ace kicker to the board's two pair. The pot was shipped his opponent's way for their full house and he was eliminated in 10th place, bringing about the final table of nine.

Two more eliminations are needed for the tournament to reach the money.

Player	Chips	Progress
marysgotqueens	375,026 24,562	24,562
Standoff23	329,970 329,970	329,970
Ozzy_Rocks111	223,991 144,180	144,180
Doni34	201,139 -12,681	-12,681
Michael "miw210x" Wang	126,729 -22,000	-22,000
Chris “rumpthumper” White	118,073 42,161	42,161
Hanadog9	115,377 -21,473	-21,473
Ryan “simlSgg” Hagerty	111,935 -9,250	-9,250
TheTerminator1	107,760 -44,012	-44,012
Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken	Busted

In Level 19 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and an ante of 1,250, action folded around to the small blind where "Doni34" committed their last 37,000 and received a call from "Standoff23" in the big blind.

"Doni34":
"Standoff23":

"Doni34" was ahead but the flop changed that, giving "Standoff23" a pair of queens. The turn gave "Doni34" a pair of treys and added two outs to their river total, but they all bricked as completed the runout to result in their eighth-place finish in the tournament, becoming the bubble finisher as a result.

Player	Chips	Progress
Standoff23	377,418 45,810	45,810
Doni34	Busted

In Level 20 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and an ante of 1,250, "Ozzy_Rocks111" opened to 24,000 under the gun and action folded around to Ryan “simlSgg” Hagerty on the button, who three-bet jammed for 174,000. Chris “rumpthumper” White came over the top in the small blind for 328,000 and "Hanadog9" called all in from the big blind for 243,000. "Ozzy_Rocks111"

Ryan “simlSgg” Hagerty:
Hanadog9:
Chris “rumpthumper” White:

White had a shot at a double-knockout but picked up a huge sweat on the flop as "Hanadog9" flopped a nut flush draw with a chance at a near-triple. However, the turn and river proved to be safe for White and he sent the pair of ace-kings packing to bring the number of players in the field from seven down to five in the matter of one hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris “rumpthumper” White	779,035 412,441	412,441
Ozzy_Rocks111	162,532 -4,500	-4,500
Ryan “simlSgg” Hagerty	Busted
Hanadog9	Busted

In Level 21 with blinds of 7,000/14,000 and an ante of 1,750, action was heads up between "Ozzy_Rocks111" in the big blind and "marysgotqueens," who was in the cutoff. Stacks got in on a flop of after "Ozzy_Rocks111" check-shoved for their stack and received a quick call.

"Ozzy_Rocks111":
"marysgotqueens":

"Ozzy_Rocks111" was ahead but still had 11 cards in the deck that would spell doom. One came on the turn , leaving them in need of a two outer that never came as the river completed the runout and resulted in them taking fifth place in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Michael "miw210x" Wang has found a couple of doubles and has chipped up to five big blinds, with a stack of 71,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris “rumpthumper” White	731,081 -47,954	-47,954
marysgotqueens	632,093 306,462	306,462
Standoff23	275,418 -102,000	-102,000
Michael "miw210x" Wang	71,408 57,056	57,056
Ozzy_Rocks111	Busted