partypoker US Network Series (Jan. 17-24)

Event #2: $20K GTD PKO Bounty 6-Max
Day: 1
Event Info

partypoker US Network Series (Jan. 17-24)

Final Results
Winner
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken
Winning Hand
a2
Prize
$8,880
Event Info
Buy-in
$320
Entries
76

Top Pair Good For "AlwaysCheck88"

"AlwaysCheck88"
"AlwaysCheck88"

In Level 6 with blinds of 500/1,000 and an ante of 125, "AlwaysCheck88" raised to 2,000 under the gun and action folded around to "Ozzy_Rocks111" in the big blind, who three-bet to 6,500. "AlwaysCheck88" called.

The flop dropped {7-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds}{k-Diamonds} and "Ozzy_Rocks111" made a continuation-bet of 5,130. "AlwaysCheck88" peeled and the turn came {6-Spades}. Both players checked, bringing the river {2-Spades} where action once again checked through to showdown.

"Ozzy_Rocks111" showed {a-Spades}{q-Clubs} for the nut no-pair, which was bested by the top pair {k-Clubs}{j-Diamonds} of "AlwaysCheck88" to earn them the pot.

Player Chips Progress
AlwaysCheck88 us
AlwaysCheck88
61,943
61,943
61,943
Ozzy_Rocks111 us
Ozzy_Rocks111
56,029
6,029
6,029

"mistabiggs" Kicked To the Curb by "redraider"

"redraider"
"redraider"

In Level 7 with blinds of 600/1,200 and an ante of 150, action folded to "redraider" on the button, who opened to 2,640. They received a call from "mistabiggs", who defended their big blind and action went heads up to a flop of {j-Hearts}{9-Spades}{6-Spades}.

"mistabiggs" check-called a continuation-bet of 3,390 and then check-called another 10,170 on the turn {3-Hearts}. They then led the river {8-Clubs}, jamming their remaining 19,825 into the middle and quickly receiving a call from "redraider".

"mistabiggs": {10-Spades}{6-Clubs}
"redraider": {q-Clubs}{j-Clubs}

"redraider" called correctly with top pair and sent "mistabiggs" to the rail as a result.

Player Chips Progress
redraider us
redraider
82,644
18,230
18,230
mistabiggs us
mistabiggs
Busted

Get to Know BorgataPoker.com Sponsored Pro Michael "Gags30" Gagliano

Michael Gagliano
Michael Gagliano

BorgataPoker.com has a trio of sponsored pros — Katie Stone, Daniel Buzgon, and Michael "Gags30" Gagliano — all of whom have been active this year in the partypoker US Network Online events.

In regards to the man known as "Gags," he has been playing poker professionally for a decade and has amassed more than $2 million in live tournament cashes. That includes a career-best $448,463 for winning the 2016 World Series of Poker Event #25: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, good for his first bracelet. He also finished third in the 2017 WSOP Event #27: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em - 6 Handed for $210,139.

He also has more than $4 million in online scores. Of that, $338,315 has come on BorgataPoker.com.

According to his website, "before poker he worked in an elementary school, which has given him a great background to become a premier poker instructor. Coaching for more than seven years he has helped more than 50 students from all over the world improve their game. These students have gone on to win multiple championships including the WSOP Main Event. Michael has also worked as a consultant for several major casinos and online poker sites to help them improve their product and better serve their customers."

Gagliano is one of the chip leaders right now, with a stack of over 275,000.

For more on Gagliano, be sure to follow him on Twitter at @Gags30poker.

Player Chips Progress
Michael "Gags30" Gagliano us
Michael "Gags30" Gagliano
44,690
-5,310
-5,310
WSOP 1X Winner

Stone Finished by "redraider"

Katie Stone
Katie Stone

In Level 8 with blinds of 800/1,600 and an ante of 200, Katie "KatieStone" Stone jammed for her last 13,000 and received action from "redraider" in the small blind.

Katie "KatieStone" Stone: {k-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}
"redraider": {a-Spades}{k-Clubs}

At risk for her tournament life, Stone needed to find a jack and was unable to do so as the board ran out {8-Diamonds}{5-Spades}{2-Clubs}{q-Spades}{9-Hearts} to result in her elimination from the tournament at the expense of "redraider", who then moments later also eliminated "wxg5316068" moments later for their third knockout in the last two levels, and they now find themselves with a top-five stack in the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
redraider us
redraider
152,636
69,992
69,992
Katie "KatieStone" Stone
Katie "KatieStone" Stone
Busted

Updated Chip Counts

Play has moved into Level 9 with blinds of 1,000/2,000 and an ante of 250. Sixty-one entries have now been recorded, meaning the guaranteed prize pool is just six entries away from being surpassed. An updated look at the top page of the leader board has been provided below.

Player Chips Progress
ScarletRaptor us
ScarletRaptor
313,960
211,759
211,759
EmeraldForest32 us
EmeraldForest32
215,696
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken
170,218
97,469
97,469
RiverMan us
RiverMan
160,042
125,892
125,892
l23weeeeeeeee us
l23weeeeeeeee
153,702
Karibou us
Karibou
133,973
51,059
51,059
Ryan "TheSims" Hohner
Ryan "TheSims" Hohner
126,132
-3,192
-3,192
Alex "JinYang" Butcher us
Alex "JinYang" Butcher
119,146
-4,283
-4,283
redraider us
redraider
117,144
-35,492
-35,492
James "Bagels" Lillis us
James "Bagels" Lillis
115,870
54,255
54,255
Jon "Jetsfan411" Borenstein us
Jon "Jetsfan411" Borenstein
114,780
64,780
64,780
Don "dhimp20" Himpele us
Don "dhimp20" Himpele
106,250
56,250
56,250
Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty
Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty
105,502
36,841
36,841
joey1way us
joey1way
100,663
Daniel "leinad" Buzgon
Daniel "leinad" Buzgon
89,187
39,187
39,187
GiantGenius us
GiantGenius
75,691
xxx6395200 us
xxx6395200
67,724
9,729
9,729
stickybuns us
stickybuns
59,200
Matt "Boozehound" Iles us
Matt "Boozehound" Iles
58,438
Anthony "supremetny" Chin
Anthony "supremetny" Chin
57,994

"joey1way" Scores a KO

"joey1way"
"joey1way"

In Level 10 with blinds of 1,200/2,400 and an ante of 300, "joey1way" was in the small blind and three-bet over an open from "beast801", who was on the button and called the reraise. They continuation-bet on a flop of {5-Clubs}{7-Hearts}{10-Hearts} and then called a jam from "beast801" for 31,365.

"joey1way": {a-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}
"beast801": {k-Hearts}{q-Hearts}

"joey1way" had top pair, top kicker and was up against two overcards and a flush draw. The turn {5-Diamonds} and river {7-Diamonds} came safely for them and they earned the pot and the knockout as a result.

Meanwhile, "beast801" wasted no time away from the tables. They re-entered and have a new 50,000 with which to play.

Player Chips Progress
joey1way us
joey1way
137,488
36,825
36,825
beast801 us
beast801
50,000
50,000
50,000

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Vanauken Gets Gottlieb

Ross Gottlieb
Ross Gottlieb

In Level 11 with blinds of 1,400/2,800 and an ante of 350, a blind-on-blind battle ensued between Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken in the small blind and Ross "thehebrewhammer" Gottlieb in the big blind that saw stacks go into the middle and ultimately bring a board of {k-Clubs}{j-Spades}{q-Hearts}{a-Clubs}{3-Hearts}.

Ross "thehebrewhammer" Gottlieb: {k-Spades}{q-Diamonds}
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken: {a-Spades}{a-Diamonds}

Gottlieb had flopped top two pair but Vanauken hit a set of aces on the turn that left Gottlieb with nothing but chop outs to survive. He missed on the river {3-Hearts} and was eliminated as a result, with Vanauken earning the bounty and the pot to take his stack up to 280,000.

"thehebrewhammer"
"thehebrewhammer"
Player Chips Progress
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken
280,491
110,273
110,273
Ross "Thehebrewhammer" Gottlieb us
Ross "Thehebrewhammer" Gottlieb
Busted

Guaranteed Prize Pool Exceeded

The guaranteed prize pool has been exceeded in Level 12 with blinds of 1,600/3,200 and an ante of 400 as 67 entries have been recorded. Twenty-three players remain across four tables, and the following list of players includes those formerly in the tournament, but who are no longer among the 23 still in contention.

Registration will remain open through the end of Level 15 at approximately 10:42 p.m. ET.

Player Chips Progress
jaehoez24 us
jaehoez24
Busted
Matt "Boozehound" Iles us
Matt "Boozehound" Iles
Busted
Anthony "supremetny" Chin
Anthony "supremetny" Chin
Busted
stickybuns us
stickybuns
Busted
Michael "Gags30" Gagliano us
Michael "Gags30" Gagliano
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
Don "dhimp20" Himpele us
Don "dhimp20" Himpele
Busted
Jaime "mooseman1710" Reyes
Jaime "mooseman1710" Reyes
Busted
njpokeraa us
njpokeraa
Busted
Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd
Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd
Busted
Ozzy_Rocks111 us
Ozzy_Rocks111
Busted
Vinny "brownmagic" Pahuja us
Vinny "brownmagic" Pahuja
Busted
BlckJck us
BlckJck
Busted
Michael "miw210x" Wang
Michael "miw210x" Wang
Busted
AlwaysCheck88 us
AlwaysCheck88
Busted
Frank "FrankyFunk" Funaro
Frank "FrankyFunk" Funaro
Busted
Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty
Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty
Busted
KingofNJ us
KingofNJ
Busted
rounder1420 us
rounder1420
Busted
The Counselor us
The Counselor
Busted
upayformypennys us
upayformypennys
Busted

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken Looking for More partypoker US Success

Eric Vanauken
Eric Vanauken

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken is a name you should know as he's become on of the most accomplished players on the partypoker US Network.

A couple of months ago, 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.

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