Gossip Column: WSOP Gold Bracelet Auctioned on eBay & Arlie Shaban Gets Injured While Completing Challenge 7

Just when we thought it’d be a quiet and sleepy weekend, the shockers coming in from the poker industry has put us on the edge of our seats. In the realm of competitive poker, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet is considered the most prized possession, a symbol of ultimate achievement and every year, thousands of people head to the ‘Mecca’ of poker, Las Vegas in quest for the elusive prize. But now we hear that a WSOP bracelet was auctioned on eBay, and even purchased as quickly as it was put up! Word has it that it is Venezuelan player Joseph Di Rosa Rojas who sold off his bracelet online.

Meanwhile, our favorite poker streamer and Run It Up (RIU) Team Pro Arlie Shaban has been busy these past few days. Shaban just completed his seventh challenge as directed to him by the ‘Poker Gods’ but bruised his eye in the process.

WSOP Gold Bracelet Auctioned on eBay

For most poker players the WSOP festival in Las Vegas is the ultimate destination and winning the prestigious gold bracelet is like crossing the final frontier. It’s hard to imagine any player who has accomplished this dream would want to sell it off, but sometimes even the most unthinkable things can happen!

Recently, the auction site eBay reported that a WSOP gold bracelet was on offer and as soon as the listing was posted, the bracelet was purchased. The bracelet in question allegedly belonged to Venezuelan poker player Joseph Di Rosa Rojas who had won it after taking down the $2,620 Marathon event at WSOP 2017. The event had gathered a total of 1,759 entries and Rojas had bested the massive field to bank a payday of $690,469.

The bracelet is 56.1 grams and contains 10-karat gold. The listing on eBay stated that the item, “has been checked out by a local jeweler in Las Vegas it is real deal. Still has its $5,000 price tag on it. He said it’s in overall good shape does have in his words, ‘some light wear from wearing it here and there but nothing bad at all.”

PokerNews tried unsuccessfully to contact Rojas, but did get a response from the bracelet’s seller, ‘forloveofthegame’. The vendor indicated, “It was sold to a jeweler store near the strip in Las Vegas. I buy a lot of electronics from his brother. He came to me said his brother took this in. I thought it was pretty cool and I had a couple guns he wanted so we traded. He couldn’t discuss with me who sold it to him as it would be a violation of confidentiality.”

The seller further stated,“I couldn’t tell you if it was [Joseph Di Rosa Rojas] in fact who sold to them or who it was. I took it to Pawn Stars in Vegas and their jeweler looked at it. He said he has seen numerous WSOP bracelets. He said everything looked correct and it looked genuine in his opinion. He said they pop up semi-often in Vegas with the number of events at the WSOP now and it being an annual event. That was good enough for me. I figured if anybody knew it would be those guys.”

The item was sold for $3,000 to an unidentified individual who probably didn’t mind splurging the amount to get some WSOP bling on his hands!

Arlie Shaban Completes Challenge 7 But Bruises His Eye

Popular Twitch streamer Arlie Shaban who joined the Twitch channel Run It Up (RIU) as team pro a few months back certainly is taking the 12 challenges set before him by the anonymous ‘Poker Gods’ seriously enough.

Shaban has been going about managing his poker routine and his RIU commitments along with the difficult and interesting challenges that are coming his way. We must say, the ardent player has got a lot of stream, as he recently managed to carry out the seventh task, even if it meant him getting injured!

So, what was the challenge about, really?! Well, the Poker Gods asked Shaban to capture the mythological Cretan Bull, father of the minotaur, just as Hercules had.

They wrote, “One could say The Cretan Bull is responsible for ‘The Minotaur Effect’ and “The Mythology Boom.” You remember that time your ancestors played the Minotaurmaker Tour? Good times.”

And so, Shaban had to drive up a mountain, where he found someone waiting for him with mountain bicycles. Just as he was chatting up, he saw Chris Moneymaker running up to one of the cycles.

We’d have recognized Moneymaker who was wearing a helmet with horns, had it not been the hint in the Poker Gods’ message, ‘Minotaurmaker’! Well, Shaban followed up through the dense forest and gave Moneymaker quite a chase!

The ‘Cretan Bull’ fell off his cycle at one point and here’s where Shaban managed to catch up. The two had a bit of a tussle, since Moneymaker was not giving up yet, and the chase then continued on foot. Finally, Shaban managed to get Moneymaker to the ground and towered over him, taking the horns on Moneymaker’s helmet by his hands.

And so, the seventh challenge by the Poker Gods got over!

PokerStars shared Shaban’s injured look on Twitter.

Well…@ArlieShaban’s seventh labor was a little tougher than any of us imagined it would be. Is there a doctor in the house? pic.twitter.com/4awOf8psMs

— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) October 24, 2018

Catch the video of Shaban chasing Moneymaker here.

And with that we conclude this edition of the Gossip Column. Stay tuned and we’ll be back soon with more titbits and knick-knacks from the world of poker!