Eric "8Bracelets" Van Auken 2021 WSOP Online Event #26: $500 NLH The Big 500 Encore ($93,627)
On Sunday night, the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Event #26 $500 NLH The Big 500 Encore attracted 729 players who rebought 389, making 1,118 total entries which built a $503,100 prize pool.
The tournament was an encore to the first event on the 2021 WSOP schedule, and after more than 12 hours of play, it was Eric "8Bracelets" Van Auken coming out on top to win a $93,627 top prize for his first career bracelet and topping his previous career high cash of $39,994 by some distance.
According to Hendon Mob, the New Jersey native has accumulated $112,063 in winnings thus far in his career, meaning this top prize nearly doubles his career winnings in one fell swoop.
2021 WSOP Event #26: $500 NLH The Big 500 Encore Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric "8Bracelets" Van Auken | $93,627 |
| 2 | Dominick "Flow_Cold" Sarle | $57,856 |
| 3 | Corey "Corgasm" Paggeot | $40,952 |
| 4 | Naichang "cncly1314" Chen | $29,381 |
| 5 | Tomasz "ToMRoX" Trelski | $21,331 |
| 6 | Dean "nikobellic99" Curreri | $15,697 |
| 7 | Justin "pocketprofit" Wong | $11,722 |
| 8 | Jacob "tooletime13" Toole | $8,855 |
| 9 | Jack "Borgia92" McClelland | $6,792 |
After "oneTiger" exited as the bubble bout in 167th place, the in-the-money eliminations came at a steady pace which included two-time WSOP bracelet winner Ryan "adopt_adogg0" Leng (130th - $805), Ryan "hagzzz021" Hagerty (64th - $1,157), Ye "yuan365" Yuan (28th - $2,214), Brett "Metanemesis" Apter (18th - $3,320), and (10th - $6,457).
Final Table Action
Jack "Borgia92" McClelland was the first final table victim as his ace-king fell to pocket queens when a straight came in to take out the flopped king. Next to go out was Jacob "tooletime13" Toole who lost a flip with ace-queen vs jacks.
Justin "pocketprofit" Wong hit the rail in seventh place, falling to pocket kings. Dean "nikobellic99" Curreri fell in sixth after being able to chase down ace-queen with king-jack.
Tomasz "ToMRoX" Trelski was eliminated in fifth place after taking the lead with king-eight on the flop but going back behind on the turn to an ace to pair his opponent's ace-ten. The next player to go was Naichang "cncly1314" Chen in fourth place when his ace-jack could not overcome ace-queen.
In third place was Corey "Corgasm" Paggeot who enjoyed another amazing run following his second place finish in last night's Event #24.
Heads up play began with Dominick "Flow_Cold" Sarle holding a 3:1 chip lead over Van Auken but it was Van Auken who would immediate start to chip into the lead and eventually draw close. After a series of big hands, he would take a 3:1 chip lead himself, completely flipping the table. Sarle did get a double up to bring the stacks to even but Van Auken would put a hammer lock on it in a big all in when his pocket eights made a straight on the river to over take the ace-ten of Sarle who had flopped a ten. Van Auken won a couple of hands later.
The 2021 WSOP Online continues on Monday with Event #27: $1,000 PLO Championship. PokerNews will be live reporting and streaming the action, so be sure to join us then.
2021 WSOP Online Bracelet Winners Thus Far
| Date | Tournament | Players | Re-entries | Total Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Jul | Event #1: $500 NLH BIG 500 Kick-Off | 837 | 440 | 1277 | $574,650 | Jose "deposit" Nooa | $105,161 |
| 2-Jul | Event #2: $600 NLH Monster Stack | 727 | 311 | 1038 | $560,520 | Manig "Ohio77" Loeser | $104,313 |
| 3-Jul | Event #3: $500 NLH Turbo Deepstack | 641 | 309 | 950 | $427,500 | Donnell "Spreezy52" Dais | $90,801 |
| 4-Jul | Event #4: $500 NLH Super Turbo | 608 | 242 | 850 | $382,500 | Jeffery "Steelvikes7" Hoop | $73,861 |
| 5-July | Event #5: $1,000 NLH 8-Max | 459 | - | 459 | $648,700 | Jeremiah “freestylerr” Williams | $139,600 |
| 6-July | Event #6: $2,000 NLH Deepstack | 312 | 104 | 416 | $769,600 | Tyler "ShipTheShip" Denson | $175,700 |
| 7-July | Event #7: $777 NLH Lucky 7's | 576 | 312 | 888 | $621,600 | Michael "stiltwalk" Mercaldo | $123,574 |
| 8-July | Event #8: $888 Crazy Eights Hold'em | 514 | 268 | 782 | $625,600 | Carlos "CarlosWelch" Welch | $124,369 |
| 9-July | Event #9: $400 NLH 6-Max | 788 | 429 | 1,217 | $438,120 | Philip "wingsuiter" Beck | $81,534 |
| 10-July | Event #10: $333 NLH | 986 | 531 | 1,517 | $455,100 | Michael "njnj17" Leib | $81,645 |
| 11-July | Event #11: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack | 1,078 | 339 | 1,417 | $510,120 | Vijay “Eclypzed” Para | $86,210 |
| 12-July | Event #12: $500 NLH Turbo Deepstack | 654 | 305 | 959 | $431,550 | Bryan "Pellepelle" Piccioli | $83,332 |
| 13-July | Event #13: $1,000 NLH Freezeout | 561 | - | 561 | $504,900 | Ryan "Adopt_aDogg0" Leng | $108,654 |
| 14-July | Event #14: $500 No Limit Hold'em | 673 | 363 | 1,036 | $466,200 | Gionni "COLDWARKID" Demers | $90,023 |
| 15-July | Event #15: $5,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Freezout | 188 | - | 188 | $940,000 | Justin "Jsaliba2" Saliba | $253,800 |
| 16-July | Event #16: $600 PLO8 6-Handed | 293 | 295 | 498 | $268,920 | Allen "Acnyc718" Chang | $61,394 |
| 17-July | Event #17: $400 NLH 8-Max | 747 | 378 | 1,125 | $405,000 | Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka | $75,371 |
| 18-July | Event #18: $1,000 NLH North American Open | 524 | 232 | 756 | $692,000 | James "Danfriel" Gilbert | $137,570 |
| 19-July | Event #19: $888 PLO Crazy Eights 8-Handed | 285 | 222 | 507 | $405,600 | Martin “bathroomline” Zamani | $92,598 |
| 20-July | Event #20: $3,200 NLH High Roller | 221 | 91 | 312 | $948,480 | Sang "youngkoi" Lee | $241,768 |
| 21-July | Event #21: $600 PLO 6-Handed | 281 | 270 | 551 | $297,540 | Bradley "drstrange7" Ruben | $69,148 |
| 22-July | Event #22: $600 NLH Knockout | 612 | - | 612 | $342,720 | Anthony "Lastbullet" Kennedy | $46,796 |
| 23-July | Event #23: $500 NLH Turbo | 457 | 237 | 694 | $312,300 | Ryan “hagzzz021” Hagerty | $67,207 |
| 24-July | Event #24: $400 NLH Monster Stack | 826 | 350 | 1,176 | $423,360 | Byung "bhy101" Yoo | $77,475 |
| 25-July | Event #25: $7,777 NLH Lucky 7's High Roller | 113 | 38 | 151 | $1,113,927 | David "dpeters17" Peters | $283,940 |
| 25-July | Event #26: $500 NLH The Big 500 Encore | 729 | 389 | 1,118 | $503,100 | Eric "8Bracelets" Van Auken | $93,627 |
offered no improvement for Sarle and he was eliminated in heads up action.
against the 
of Sarle.
, the turn was the 
and the river the 
to finish off Paggeot after another deep run.
gave Van Auken a pair of aces and eliminated Trelski from the tournament in 4th place.
vs the 
on the turn gave Wong an open ended straight draw, but the 
on the river was a blank and he was eliminated from the tournament.
vs the 
and Toole got the worse end of the flip to be eliminated in eighth place.
while Wong had the