Event #1: $100K GTD Kickoff | WPT Online Borgata Series powered by partypoker US Network

09-14-2020 01:40 UTC-4

"treetrap" Wins WPT Online Borgata Series Event #1: $100K GTD Kickoff for $18,080

Anthony Thompson

The WPT Online Borgata Series Event #1: $100K GTD Kickoff came to an end early Monday morning with "treetrap running their way to the finish line for the first-place prize of $18,080.

The first event saw 145 players started the tournament with that number steadily increasing throughout the registration period as "treetrap" outlasted a field of 495 entries at $215 apiece.

The 495 total entries generated a total prize pool of $100,000 that would be paid out to the top 64 players.

The playing field saw a total of 183 players at the start of Level 16 but that number quickly dwindled as "BrigBeach" bubbled the tournament at the start of Level 23, leaving the remaining players in the money.

From there, players started dropping by the wayside as Mike “IIIIIIIIIIII” Haberman (63rd place - $334), David "TheKing411" Coleman (58th Place - $334), Dan “mj23style” Sewing (46th Place - $450), Ross “thehebrewhammer” Gottleib (40th Place - $525), Angel "chromeking" Lopez (37th Place - $525), Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken (34th Place - $525) all got a piece of the pie but fell short of the making final table.

Final Table Action

In Level 37, "jbodey5288" was the first to fall in eighth place after they lost a race holding a pair of fives to eventual champ "treetrap" holding big slick and "HugeTastyLoad" fell shortly after in seventh place.

The end of Level 38 saw "JElizabeth" fall in sixth place after they failed to pair their ace against Alex “JinYang” Butcher who flopped a nine holding king-nine suited.

Level 39 was the final Level as "jerseyman99" eliminated "ghoul" in fifth place holding aces against ace-queen off and then took care of Butcher in fourth place holding a pair of sevens against ace-ten.

"tbone111" was the next casualty after they jammed their ace-jack into the pocket queens of "treetrap" ending their night in their place.

The chip stacks were even at 12 mil a piece but "jerseyman99" got aggressive, losing the majority of their stack after jamming into "treetrap's" aces and they fell the very next hand taking home $13,200 for second place.

Event #1 Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	"treetrap"	$18,080
2	"jerseyman99"	$13,200
3	"tbone111"	$10,150
4	Alex “JinYang” Butcher	$7,658
5	"ghou"	$6,000
6	"JElizabeth"	$4,500
7	"HugeTastyLoad"	$3,250
8	"jbodey5288"	$2,250

PokerNews coverage will continue for the series on Tuesday, September 14 with updates coming for Event #2: $10K GTD NLH R + A ($109).

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09-14-2020 01:32 UTC-4

"jerseyman99" Eliminated in 2nd Place ($13,200)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 39 with blinds at 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante), "jerseyman99" raised all in for 4,309,240 and "treetrap" called from the big blind.

"treetrap":
"jerseyman99":

"treetrap" woke up with a made hand and "jerseyman99" couldn't find their ace with the runout ending their tournament in second place.

Player	Chips	Progress
treetrap	24,750,000	4,329,240
jerseyman99	Busted

09-14-2020 01:19 UTC-4

"tbone111" Eliminated in 3rd Place ($10,150)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 39 with blinds at 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante), "treetrap" raised from the button and then called "tbone111's" 3,927,748 three-bet jam from the big blind.

"treetrap:
"tbone111":

"treetrap" was ahead with their ladies and nothing changed after the flop.

The turn was no help to "tbone111" as they needed any ace or jack to win the pot but the river came the ending their tournament in third place.

Player	Chips	Progress
treetrap	12,345,678	6,533,646
tbone111	Busted

09-14-2020 01:11 UTC-4

Alex “JinYang” Butcher Eliminated in 4th Place ($7,658)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 39 with blinds at 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante), "jerseyman99" raised all in for 7,107,594 and Alex “JinYang” Butcher called off his 4,892,026 stack from the small blind.

"jerseyman99":
Alex “JinYang” Butcher:

Butcher was behind looking to pair one of his overs but he couldn't find a pair with the runout ending his tournament in fourth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
jerseyman99	12,079,620	2,892,026
Alex “JinYang” Butcher	Busted

Tags: Alex Butcher

09-14-2020 01:06 UTC-4

"ghoul" Eliminated in 5th Place ($6,000)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 39 with blinds at 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante), "jerseyman99" raised from under the gun and then called "ghouls" 2,622,188 three-bet jam from the button.

"ghoul":
"jerseyman99":

"ghoul" was in rough shape but found a little hope after the flop paired their queen.

The turn didn't change a thing as "ghoul" needed to find another lady on the river to stay alive but it came the ending their tournament in fifth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
jerseyman99	9,187,594	1,320,372
ghoul	Busted

09-14-2020 00:57 UTC-4

"JElizabeth" Eliminated in 6th Place ($4,500)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 38 with blinds at 70,000/140,000 (17,500 ante), "JElizabeth" was all in preflop for 768,026 from the small blind and was called by Alex “JinYang” Butcher from the button.

"JElizabeth":
Alex “JinYang” Butcher:

"JElizabeth" was ahead with their ace-high until the flop appeared pairing Butcher's nine.

The turn was no help to "JElizabeth" nor was the river ending their tournament in sixth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alex “JinYang” Butcher	5,132,026	375,276
JElizabeth	Busted

09-14-2020 00:49 UTC-4

"HugeTastyLoad" Eliminated in 7th Place ($3,250)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 38 with blinds at 70,000/140,000 (17,500 ante), "HugeTastyLoad" tossed in their last 45,280 from under the gun, "jerseyman99" came over the top for 8,070,676 from the hijack and "ghoul" called off their 1,288,454 stack from the button.

"ghoul":
"jerseyman99":
"HugeTastyLoad":

"ghoul" was ahead with their made hand of eights and they the runout secured their double-up while eliminating "HugeTastyLoad" in seventh place.

Player	Chips	Progress
jerseyman99	7,867,222	-498,797
ghoul	2,639,688	1,029,984
HugeTastyLoad	Busted

09-14-2020 00:42 UTC-4

"jbodey5288" Eliminated in 8th Place ($2,250)

Anthony Thompson

In Level 37 with blinds at 60,000/120,000 (15,000 ante), "jbodey5288" raised all in for 1,214,624 from late position and was called by "treetrap" from the big blind.

"treetrap:
"jbodey5288":

"jbodey5288" was ahead with their made hand of fives until the flop appeared pairing "treetrap's king.

The turn didn't change a thing nor did the river, ending "jbodey5288's" tournament in eighth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
treetrap	5,812,032	3,893,374
jbodey5288	Busted

09-13-2020 22:18 UTC-4

Lopez Loses Race Ending His Tournament

Anthony Thompson

In Level 26 with blinds at 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante), "elapidus" raised to 48,000 from the hijack and then called Angel "chromeking" Lopez's 358,617 three-bet jam from the cutoff.

"elapidus":
Angel "chromeking" Lopez:

Lopez was racing for his tournament life and he fell behind after the flop.

The paired the board on the turn and Lopez needed a nine on the river to stay alive but it came the ending his tournament in 37th place for $525.

Player	Chips	Progress
elapidus	1,785,863	880,617
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	Busted

Tags: Angel Lopez

09-13-2020 21:45 UTC-4

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken Looking for More partypoker US Success

Anthony Thompson

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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