Event #37: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

Eric Baldwin won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2009, over nine years ago. Today, he won his second in Event #37: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2018 World Series of Poker.

On the extra fourth day of play, he started out with a dominant chip lead over Ian Steinman. Steinman didn't go down without a fight, though, and it took a suckout with ace-jack versus kings for Baldwin to win.

"It was a lot of hours of poker and a lot of short-handed play, that really sucks your mental energy," Baldwin said after his win. "But man it's fun! I wish everyone could experience this. It's so cool!"

On the last scheduled day of the tournament, the field quickly played down from the twenty that started to a final table of nine. Jason Guarinello was the first to fall at the final table after losing a race to Michael Finstein.

It took nearly twenty hands until Mathew Moore was sent home next. He lost a coin flip to Rudelitz to be sent home in ninth place. Gilsoo Kim dropped in eight place after shoving pocket jacks into the pocket kings of Robert Georato.

Next up with his head on the chopping block was Stephen Song. He finished in seventh place when he shoved jack-seven into Georato's ace-deuce and couldn't catch up.

Right after, Baldwin won a massive pot against Aaron Massey in a cooler situation to take the chip lead. Baldwin bet the flop, turn, and river on a board where he made a backdoor flush with ace-three of clubs. Massey showed nine-ten of clubs for a flopped middle pair that had made runner runner flush as well.

"That was an incredible runout for me obviously, just a nasty cooler for him," Baldwin said afterward, reflecting on the hand. "It definitely propelled me, and I believe it gave me the chip lead."

Michael Finstein fell next in sixth place after losing a flip against Baldwin. Baldwin's pocket threes flopped a set and sent Finstein home. Baldwin eliminated Robert Georato in another coinflip when his pocket nines held up once again, this time against king-ten.

Aaron Massey was never quite able to recover from the cooler, and he was sent home in fourth place, losing a flip to none other than Baldwin. This time, Baldwin's eights held up against king-ten.

The final player to fall on Day 3 was Enrico Rudelitz who got it in with ace-five against Steinman's queens and couldn't catch up.

"Heads up did not start well, and I ended up needing to get lucky allin one time, and then built back up some momentum," Baldwin said of the start of the heads-up on Day 3.

After two hours of play, the two remaining players got the option to either play another level or come back the next day. Baldwin wanted to continue. He had the lead, the momentum, and he wanted to be home the next day to celebrate his wife's birthday. Steinman, though, was more a fan of the idea to continue the next day and so the bags came out, and play was halted.

When the action resumed on Day 4, Steinman was the first to take a hit when Baldwin made two pair in a sizable pot.

Steinman won it all back doubling with sixes versus ace-king, and won some more getting two streets of value with a flopped top pair that he checked behind on the flop. That got Steinman up to his highest point, trailing with 4 million to 6 million.

Steinman wouldn't hold on to his newfound chips. He lost some smaller pots, doubled back with king-six against queen-deuce, but eventually lost it all in another pre-flop all-in situation. Steinman got it in good with pocket kings against the ace-jack off of Baldwin. The latter turned a jack and rivered an ace to win the tournament, $319,580, and the bracelet. Steinman had to settle for $197,461.

Baldwin celebrated his win with his supporters on the rail. Not only fellow poker players had come out to cheer him on, as a surprise, his mother had come out as well. "It's surreal. My mum came out and surprised me. I had no idea she was coming, so it ended up being a blessing that we didn't finish last night. It gave her a chance to get out here and see it."

His mother hadn't been present when Baldwin won his first bracelet in 2009, and his dad, unfortunately, missed out on that one too. Since his first bracelet, his father came to Vegas anytime Baldwin made a final table but was never lucky enough to catch his son win his coveted second bracelet. "He kept coming out and trying to catch me when I'd make a final table, but I could never win one, including a grueling second place [to Matt Waxman in 2013.]"

Eric Baldwin's father passed away three years ago, so Baldwin junior dedicated his win today to him. "In a lot of ways, this one is for him," Baldwin said while wiping away a tear.

His mother chimed in; "He was here... His presence was here."

Baldwin reflected on the changes the game has undergone since that first bracelet in 2009. "A lot has changed in the game, but at the same time, it's the same game. You're sitting at the table with the other players and try to take each other's chips."

He was critical as well; "A lot of the advancement in strategy gets taken too far and can maybe seem intimidating to the recreational players. There are always trends in strategy, and there's always people talking like they're super smart."

Baldwin offered a tip for newcomers to the game: "Don't be intimidated by something like that, this is an awesome event that's going on out here, and it's still something that's incredibly enjoyable."

Not only the game has changed since 2009, his life has changed dramatically as well. "It seems like a different lifetime ago because so much has happened between then and now. I started a family. I'll tell you, it makes you treat it a lot more professionally," Baldwin said laughing.

"We got real responsibility, comparatively. It's been an evolution and just the coolest thing in the world. My wife Mary [...] is an absolute superhero. She's so good with our kids, and I'm incredibly lucky. All of my support; I'm incredibly blessed. My mum, my sister, my grandma still follows [my poker career], and they're all just super supportive and incredible people. So I'm very lucky, in more ways than just this."

Hand #267: Ian Steinman raised to 250,000 and Eric Baldwin called. Baldwin checked on     and called as Steinman bet 200,000. The   on the turn made four-to-a-straight on the board and both players checked, The   completed the board and Baldwin checked again. Steinman bet 450,000 and Baldwin folded.

Hand #268: Baldwin limped in and Steinman checked. Both checked on     before the   hit the turn. Steinman bet 120,000 and Baldwin called. The   on the river was checked by both and Baldwin showed a winner with   .

Hand #269: Steinman raised to 250,000 and Baldwin folded.

Hand #255: Ian Steinman made it 250,000 to go and Eric Baldwin called. Baldwin and Steinman checked on the flop of     before the   on the turn paired the board. Baldwin checked and Steinman bet 200,000. Baldwin check-raised to 575,000 and Steinman folded.

Hand #256: Baldwin limped in and Steinman checked. Two checks followed on     before the   hit the turn. Steinman bet 120,000 and Baldwin called. The   hit the turn and Steinman check-folded to a bet of Baldwin.

Hand #257: Steinman folded to give Baldwin a walk.

Hand #258: Baldwin limped in and Steinman checked. The flop came     and Steinman check-folded to Baldwin's 120,000 bet.

Hand #259: Steinman limped in and Baldwin checked. Both checked on     and the   hit the turn. Baldwin checked, and then folded to Steinman's 120,000 bet.

Hand #260: Baldwin gave Steinman a walk.

Hand #261: Steinman made it 250,000 to go and Baldwin called. Baldwin check-called 200,000 on     before check-folding to Steinman's 400,000 second bullet on the   turn.

Eric Baldwin	7,500,000	270,000
Ian Steinman	2,350,000	-270,000

Hand #242: Ian Steinman limped in but folded to Eric Baldwin's push.

Hand #243: Baldwin limped in and he folded to Steinman's push.

Hand #244: Baldwin limped in and Steinman checked. They both checked the     flop before Steinman took down the pot with a bet of 175,000 on the   turn.

Hand #245: Steinman limped in and Baldwin checked. They both checked on     and Steinman took it down with a bet of 175,000 on the   turn as Baldwin check-folded.

Hand #246: Baldwin limped in and Steinman checked. The same pattern was seen once again as the     flop was checked before Steinman won the pot with a 175,000 bet on the   turn.

Hand #247: Steinman limped in and Baldwin checked. The flop of     was checked by both once more and the   hit the turn. Baldwin check-called a bet of 175,000 this time, before check-calling 500,000 more on the   river. Steinman tabled    and Baldwin mucked.

Eric Baldwin	5,925,000	-1,340,000
Ian Steinman	3,925,000	1,340,000

Hand #235: Ian Steinman raised to 200,000 from the button and Eric Baldwin called. They both checked through the     on the flop and the   on the turn to the   on the river. Baldwin bet 300,000 and Steinman raised to 875,000. Baldwin checked how much the raise was. Baldwin sat back and took a sip of his water. He looked at the board again and then called. Steinman tabled    for the rivered pair of aces.

"Good raise." Baldwin complimented Steinman.

Hand #236: Baldwin raised to 275,000 from the button and Steinman folded.

Hand #237: Baldwin got a walk.

Hand #238: Steinman got a walk this time.

Hand #239: Steinman raised to 200,000 and Baldwin called. Baldwin check-called the 175,000 bet on the     flop. They both checked through the   on the turn to the   on the river. Baldwin bet 450,000 and Steinman backed down.

Hand #240: Steinman got a walk.

Hand #241: Steinman limped in and Baldwin opted to check. The flop came    , Baldwin check-called the 100,000 bet of Steinman. The turn brought them the  , Baldwin now check-raised to 600,000 when Steinman bet 200,000. Steinman called. The   on the river completed the board. Baldwin counted out some chips and put in a bet of 1,060,000. Steinman asked how much it was and after considering it for about a minute or two, Steinman called.

"Straight," Baldwin announced and then showed    for the rivered straight, indeed. Steinman mucked his hand

Eric Baldwin	7,265,000	925,000
Ian Steinman	2,585,000	-925,000

Hand #221: Ian Steinman raised to 200,000 from the button and Baldwin folded.

Hand #222: Eric Baldwin let Steinman walk.

Hand #223: Now it was Baldwin's turn to get a walk.

Hand #224: Baldwin limped in on the button and Steinman opted to check. They both checked through the     flop to the   on the turn. Steinman bet 100,000 and Baldwin let go.

Hand #225: Steinman raised to 200,000 and Baldwin called. The flop came    , Baldwin check-called the 150,000 continuation bet of Steinman. The turn came with the  , and Baldwin check-folded when Steinman fired another bet of 275,000.

Hand #226: Baldwin raised to 250,000 from the button and Steinman called. They both checked through the     flop to the   on the turn. Steinman checked. Baldwin bet 380,000. Steinman asked the dealer for a confirmation and then called.

The river completed the board with the  , Steinman checked for the last time. Baldwin decidedly bet 800,000. Steinman asked the dealer again what the amount was. The dealer did so. Steinman crossed his arms, looked at his cards and his stack, and then put in a stack as a call. Baldwin tabled    for the turned two pair to take the pot down.

Eric Baldwin	8,200,000	985,000
Ian Steinman	1,650,000	-885,000

Hand #211: Ian Steinman raised to 200,000 from the button and Eric Baldwin called. The flop came    , Baldwin check-called the 150,000 bet of Steinman. They both checked through the   on the turn and the   on the river. Steinman took the pot down with   .

Hand #212: Baldwin raised to 250,000 from the button and Steinman opted to call. The dealer spread out the     on the flop for both players to check on. The turn came the  , Steinman bet 200,000 and Baldwin called. They both checked on the   on the river. Steinman showed    and was beaten by the    of Baldwin.

Hand #213: Steinman bet 200,000 on the button and Baldwin let his hand go.

Hand #214: Baldwin bet 275,000 and Steinman folded.

Hand #215: Steinman raised to 200,000 from the button and Baldwin announced all in while putting one stack of his 100,000-value chips in. Steinman looked at his cards again and considered his options. He counted out his stack and looked towards the rail. He glanced at his cards once more. And then folded.

Eric Baldwin	7,550,000	300,000
Ian Steinman	2,200,000	-300,000