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 The Hendon Mob, the New Jersey native has accumulated $112,063 in winnings in his career so far, which means this latest prize almost doubled 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 boy 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 unable 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 falling back behind on the turn; his opponent paired the ace of his ace-ten. The next player to go was Naichang "cncly1314" Chen whose ace-jack could not overcome the dominating ace-queen.
Finishing in third place was Corey "Corgasm" Paggeot, who enjoyed another amazing run following his second-place finish in last night's Event #24. Again, it just was not meant to be for Paggeot
Heads-up play began with Dominick "Flow_Cold" Sarle holding a 3:1 chip lead over Van Auken but it was Van Auken who immediately started to chip up and eventually draw close. After a series of big hands in his favor, he claimed a 3:1 chip lead for himself. Sarle did get managed to find a double-up to bring the stacks even, but Van Auken would put a hammerlock on it in a big all-in when his pocket eights made a straight on the river to overtake the ace-ten of Sarle, who had flopped a ten. Van Auken won a couple of hands later when his king-ten held against jack-ten.
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 |
