On Sunday, the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online continued with Event #18: $1,000 NLH North American Open, a tournament that drew 524 players who rebought 232 times. The 756-entry field resulted in a $692,000 prize pool, and after nearly 11 hours of play, it was James "Danfriel" Gilbert emerging victorious to capture a $137,570 top prize and his first gold bracelet.
Gilbert, who defeated wunderkind Landon "ActionDealer" Tice in heads-up play, was a WSOP Circuit ring winner with nearly $2.1 million in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob. That includes a career-best $434,598 for finishing second in the 2015 WPT Borgata Poker Open and $326,565 for finishing runner-up in the 2018 WPT Seminole Rock N Roll Poker Open.
Gilbert previously came close to winning a bracelet back at the 2017 WSOP when he finished third in Event #50: $1,500 NLH, good for $139,180. A little over a week later, he took ninth in the 2017 WSOP Event #68: $3,000 NLH for an additional $48,745.
2021 WSOP Online Event #18 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1 | James "Danfriel" Gilbert | $137,570 |
| 2 | Landon "ActionDealer" Tice | $85,047 |
| 3 | Brett “furofakind” Shaffer | $59,512 |
| 4 | Felix “madenspauwke” Vandeput | $42,281 |
| 5 | Tony “Panoramic” Dunst | $30,448 |
| 6 | Francis “tennispro75” Anderson | $22,282 |
| 7 | William “swaggyb” Corvino | $16,539 |
| 8 | Daniel “DLAZ14” Lazrus | $12,456 |
| 9 | Daniel “st0neydanza” Dagostino | $9,550 |
Among those to finish in the top 126 and make the money were Kristen "krissyb24" Bicknell (12th - $7,404), Raman "Acrogum" Afanasenka (13th - $5,882), Chance “bingsui” Kornuth (14th - $5,882), Jonathan “Art.Vendelay” Dokler (20th - $3,875), Mike “mkspresident” Shin (27th - $3,875), Ian “apokerjoker2” Steinman (43rd - $2,699), Ryan “bitc0in” Riess (57th - $2,007), and Event #17 champ Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka (79th - $1,661), who was one day removed from winning his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Final Table Action
Daniel “st0neydanza” Dagostino was the first final table casualty after losing a flip with ace-king against the pocket jacks of Brett "furofakind" Shaffer. Not long after, the Big Slick of Daniel “DLAZ14” Lazrus also went down in flames to Shaffer, who flopped top pair with queen-jack.
At that point, Gilbert got bust eliminating William “swaggyb” Corvino in seventh place winning a race with ace-jack against pocket eights, and then he dispatched Francis “tennispro75” Anderson winning another flip, this time with tens holding against ace-jack.
Gilbert kept his momentum rolling when he rivered an ace holding ace-five against the pocket nines of two-time bracelet winner and WPT commentator Tony “Panoramic” Dunst. With four players remaining, Gilbert had a massive lead, Tice sat second in chips, and then there were two extreme short stacks – Felix “madenspauwke” Vandeput and Shaffer.
Gilbert proceeded to eliminate them in back-to-back hands to take a more than 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play. Tice fought tooth and nail, but Gilbert’s lead proved too insurmountable. Eventually, Tice got it in with king-eight and failed to get there against the king-ten of Gilbert.
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 |
