The Main Event
Day 1a Completed
The Big Event at The Bicycle Casino
The Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
The Big Event at The Bicycle Casino
Buy-in
$4,750
Prize Pool
$1,921,327
Entries
417
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Official End-of-Day Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
213,300 | |
|
|
202,800 | |
|
|
188,100 | 68,100 |
|
179,700 | |
|
|
176,400 | |
|
|
169,100 | |
|
|
165,300 | |
|
|
156,300 | |
|
|
146,400 | |
|
|
128,600 | 42,600 |
|
|
116,200 | |
|
|
114,700 | 65,700 |
|
|
114,200 | |
|
|
110,800 | |
|
|
105,500 | |
|
|
105,100 | |
|
|
102,800 | |
|
|
101,400 | |
|
|
97,200 | |
|
|
95,500 | |
|
|
95,400 | |
|
|
93,900 | |
|
|
93,000 | |
|
|
91,900 | |
|
|
90,000 | 20,000 |
DeMaci Day 1a Chip Leader with 213,300
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
The Big Event Main Event kicked-off at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California with 263 players forking over the $5,000 buy-in on Day 1a. Given the rebranding circumstances surrounding the event, and the concurrent NBC National Heads-Up Championship in Las Vegas, no one was certain just who would show up for the tournament. As it turned out, the pros came out in force to take their shot at The Big Event title. By the end of the day, approximately 130 players remained with Chris DeMaci emerging as the Day 1a chip leader with 213,300. Hot on his heels are Alex Kamberis (202,800) and Jason Wheeler (179,700).
Kamberis got his monster stack after a player on the button raised to 2,000 and the small blind made it 5,000 to go. Kamberis proceeded to pop it to 11,000, with 
, the small blind called, and the flop came down 
. Given the small blind held , all the money, about 90,000 each, went in on the flop and Kamberis’ straight held.
Two former World Series of Poker Main Event Champions were in action today in the form of Tom McEvoy (1983) and Joe Hachem (2005). Both players managed to survive the day, though with quite opposite stacks, as McEvoy bagged up short while Hachem was fairly healthy. Joining them on Day 2 are some other top professionals in Pat Pezzin, Victor Ramdin, Govert Metaal, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Joseph Cheong, James Mackey, Anh Van Nguyen, Greg Debora and Jeff Williams, just to name a few.
Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. Justin “Boosted J” Smith, Bryn Kenney, Dan Heimiller, Chino Rheem, Chris Moorman, and Darryll Fish were among the early eliminations of Day 1a. Also failing to survive were David “Doc” Sands, Bruce Buffer, Adam Levy, Randal Flowers, Maria Ho, Shaun Deeb, and McLean Karr.
Day 1b is set to begin at Noon PST tomorrow where the field is expected to be a bit smaller due to the slate of Sunday online tournaments. Nonetheless, the final field will be determined along with the prize pool. PokerNews will be here to bring you all the latest hands, action, and eliminations, live, from the Big Event at The Bicycle Casino.
Salvation in the Eleventh Hour
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
On a 
flop, David Paredes led out with a bet of 4,200, and the player next to him raised the minimum. That sent the decision to Masa Kagawa, and he moved all in for just over 25,000 total. That folded Paredes, but the monkey in the middle called to put Kagawa at risk, and he was in bad shape:
Kagawa: 
Opponent: 
The 
on the the turn was a blank for both players, and Kagawa was drawing slim for his survival.
River: 
Well that'll do it. In unlikely fashion, Kagawa finds his double to move up close to 60,000 on the final hand of the day.
Three More
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
It's nearing the end of the night and we've only got three more hands to go at each table. Alex Kamberis looks to be leading with Jason Wheeler not too far behind.
185K Wheeler
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
A player in early position raised to 1,800 and Jason Wheeler responded by three-betting to 4,500. Action folded back around to the original raiser and he moved all in for 18,000. Wheeler made the call and the cards were turned up:
Wheeler: 
Opponent: 
The board ran out 
and Wheeler took down the pot, adding to his already massive stack. With 185,000, he is among the chip leaders.
A Pot for Nanonoko
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
From under the gun, Randy Lew raised to 1,800. The big blind three-bet to 4,500 after action folded to him and Lew made the call.
The flop came down 
and the big blind opted to check. Lew fired 7,000. After hemming and hawing over things, the player folded and Lew won the pot. He's up to 49,000 in chips now.
Lind vs. Aguiar
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
George Lind III bet 2,200 on the flop of 
and Jonathan Aguiar called. The turn brought the 
and both players checked to see the 
hit the river. Lind bet 3,500 and Aguiar mucked.
Aguiar dropped to 66,000 and Lind improved to 63,000.
Hey Shaun Deeb, Do You Still Have Chips?
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
No, huh?
Cousineau Loses Some
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
Tony Cousineau bet 3,000 on the flop of 
. His lone opponent in the hand made the call to see the 
fall on the turn. Cousineau slowed down with a check. His opponent took this opportunity to bet and fired 5,500. Cousineau folded and dropped back to 35,000 in chips.