A new World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner was crowned in the early-morning hours of July 28. The 2021 WSOP Online $3,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event took more than 11 hours to narrow a field of 265 total entries down to a champion. When the dust settled, Daniel ‘RiverRats’ Lazrus was the last player standing. The New York resident earned his first piece of WSOP hardware and the top prize of $205,347 as the champion.
This was by far Lazrus’ largest recorded tournament score, topping the $22,334 he earned as the 54th-place finisher in the 2020 WSOP $10,000 buy-in domestic main event.
The top 36 finishers made the money in this event, with plenty of big names among those who cashed including Bracelet winner Ankush ‘rickrosstheb’ Mandavia (36th – $5,639), World Poker Tour main event champion Dan ‘BackDoorDan’ Smith (28th – $5,639), Bryan ‘Pellepelle’ Piccioli (25th – $5,639), Alx ‘OrcinusOrca’ Foxen (23rd – $6,445), three-time bracelet winner Nick ‘CashUsKlay’ Schulman (19th – $6,445), three-time bracelet winner Ben ‘WhyIsGamora’ Yu (16th – $7,573), bracelet winner Barry ‘puigismyfriend’ Hutter (13th – $9,103), Joe ‘swansong79’ Kuether (11th – $11,198), and four-time bracelet winner Jeff ‘NedrudRelyt’ Madsen ($11,198).
Bracelet winner Jim ‘BOCARATONE’ Collopy was the first to fall. He ran A-10 into the A-J of three-time bracelet winner David ‘dpeters17’ Peters to hit the rail in eighth place ($18,126). A preflop coin flip saw Jeremiah ‘freestylerr’ Williams eliminated in seventh place. His pocket sixes lost out to the A-Q of Brett ‘Metanemesis’ Apter, who rivered an ace to send Williams packing with $24,249.
Lazrus scored his first knockout at the final table when his A
7
outran the A9 of Felix ‘madenspauwke’ Van De Put. A second on the turn earned Lazrus the pot, while Van De Put settled for $32,385 as the sixth-place finisher.
David Peters’ quest for his fourth bracelet ended in brutal fashion, with his A
A getting cracked by the A
Q of Daniel ‘juice’ Buzgon after all of the chips went in preflop. Buzgon flopped a queen and turned another to win the pot and eliminate Peters in fifth place ($43,744). The score increased his career tournament earnings to more than $36.6 million, good for sixth on poker’s all-time money list.
Michael ‘DirtyMike973’ Marone’s run in this event concluded when his pocket sevens ran into the pocket eights of Lazrus. Both players hit sets, but Marone’s three sevens were still second best. He earned $61,145 as the fourth-place finisher, while Lazrus took the chip lead into three-handed play.
Buzgon overtook the top spot in the chip counts when his pocket eights won a preflop all-in race against the KJ of bracelet winner Brett ‘Metanemesis’ Apter ($87,246).
Lazrus was able to battle his way back on top by the time the final hand of the tournament arose. He raised to 150,000 from the button with A10 and Buzgon called from the big blind with A4. The flop came down A108 and Buzgon check-called a 90,000 continuation bet from Lazrus. The 2 saw Buzgon check again. Lazrus fired 612,010 and Buzgon called. The 3 completed the board, drawing another check from Buzgon. Lazrus shoved for 2,464,187. Buzgon, who was covered by less than a single big blind, made the call with his pair of aces. Lazrus’ two pair were the best hand, earning him the pot and the title. Buzgon took home $126,882 for his second runner-up finish of the series.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Daniel ‘RiverRats’ Lazrus | $205,347 |
| 2 | Daniel ‘juice’ Buzgon | $126,882 |
| 3 | Brett ‘Metanemesis’ Apter | $87,246 |
| 4 | Michael ‘DirtyMike973’ Marone | $61,145 |
| 5 | David ‘dpeters17’ Peters | $43,744 |
| 6 | Felix ‘madenspauwke’ Van De Put | $32,385 |
| 7 | Jeremiah ‘freestylerr’ Williams | $24,249 |
| 8 | Jim ‘BOCARATONE’ Collopy | $18,126 |
Lazrus photo credit: PokerNews.