James "Danfriel" Gilbert Wins 2021 WSOP Online Event #18: $1,000 NLH North American Open ($137,570)
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 �C 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.
The 2021 WSOP Online continues on Monday with Event #19: $888 PLO Crazy Eights - 8-Handed. 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 |