“I was really excited for this one,” he said. “The field was all elite players. It’s just incredible, there are no words for what I’m feeling. For the rest of my life I’ll be able to say I’m a bracelet winner.”
The National Championship saw 100 qualifying players from the 17 WSOPC Circuit stops combine with 57 of the most elite players in poker, determined by their rankings in the last two years of WSOP events.
The 157 players created an overall prizepool of $1.57 million with the penaultimate 2012 WSOP bracelet also on the line.
Eriquezzo qualified for the National Championship by winning WSOPC Atlantic City for $191,194.
The final table was stacked with pros as Amanda Musumeci, Sam Stein, David, “ODB” Baker and Matt Keikoan all took a seat on the final day of the event.
Musumeci was the first player to bust as she had the misfortune of shoving pocket nines into Nikolas Stone’s pocket kings.
Surprising it didn’t take long for Stein, Baker and Keikoan to follow her to the rail as they all busted well short of heads-up.
David Baker Denied Second Bracelet of 2012 WSOP
David Baker had the unique opportunity to become the first two-bracelet winner of the summer but ended up busting in sixth place when he lost a coinflip to Huy Nguyen.
Heads-up proved to be a short but entertaining battle between Eriquezzo and Stone, who busted more players at the final table than anyone else.
In the end Eriquezzo won the tournament with king-jack against Stone’s queen-jack. Stone flopped a queen but Eriquezzo rivered a straight.
The final table had an ugly undertone as last week Musumeci and Eriquezzo, who were dating, ended their relationship and Musumeci took to Twitter and posted pictures of alleged physical abuse.
Musumeci later apologized and removed the photos saying she regretted how she acted.
After winning the tournament Eriquezzo wouldn’t discuss their relationship but said he was appreciative of the support he received from his friends and family over the last week.
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