The Bicycle Casino's popular April series America's Poker Classic consisted of 20 events with more than $800,000 in guarantees. Coming on the heels of its very successful Winnin' o' the Green tournament series in March, the annual America's Poker Classic's twenty-one day event included as many as four events running in a single day.
America's Poker Classic opened April 1 with a no-limit hold 'em $50,000 guarantee, immediately followed by a no-limit hold 'em $150,000 guarantee event and a multiple day re-buy tournament. It wasn't all hold 'em all the time either; the Bike changed it up with several mixed games including two HORSE events, 7-stud/8, Omaha/8, along with Chinese poker and Mexican poker too.
Midway through the series, L.A. Lakers Owner, Dr. Jerry Buss, hosted the Smile Train charity event in which participants received Lakers memorabilia and prizes with estimated at over $25,000 in value.
America's Poker Classic concluded with a $250,000 championship guarantee event that was won by Phong Nguyen, who walked away with $84,700 for his first place finish. He overcame a 569-player field and defeated Nikhil Gera heads-up, who went home with $41,720 for his efforts. James Sileo took down $22,145 for finishing third.
Next up on the Bike's ambitious agenda is a seven event, deepstack tournament series that begins May 21 and runs through May 30. It's affordably priced, with buy-ins between $100 and $200. The opening event comes with a $50,000 guarantee, and the main event, which starts May 28, has a $75,000 guarantee. For those looking for a change of pace from hold 'em, a $100 + $20 HORSE event is set for May 24. More information is available on their website, www.thebike.com.
THE BICYCLE CASINO AMERICA'S POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #19 4/16/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $500 + $45
PLAYERS 569
PRIZE POOL$275,965
1. Phong Nguyen . . . . . $84,700
2. Nikhil Gera . . . . . . . $41,720
3. James Sileo . . . . . . . . $22,145
4. Ryan Teves . . . . . . . $14,150
5. Robert Durant . . . . $11,100
6. Tommy San . . . . . . . . $8,520
EVENT #20 4/18/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM BOUNTY
BUY-IN $150 + $20
PLAYERS 321
PRIZE POOL$40,760
1. Raymond Voskanian $13,220
2. Arideep Mukherjee . $6,795
3. Phuoc Nguyen . . . . . . $3,240
EVENT #18 4/13/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 57
PRIZE POOL $11,338
1. Joseph Ochoa . . . . . . . $4,310
2. Brian Tillotson . . . . . $2,543
EVENT #17 4/13/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 78
PRIZE POOL $7,372
1. Ernesto Gonzalez . . . $2,947
2. Michael Guillaume . . $1,695
EVENT #16 4/12/10
H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 90
PRIZE POOL $8,990
1. Lee Fazio . . . . . . . . . . $3,490
2. Thomas Bodnar . . . . $2,000
EVENT #15 4/11/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 623
PRIZE POOL $120,862
1. Manolo Garcia . . . . $35,947
2. Jeff Clayton . . . . . . . $17,425
3. Kamran Katuzian . . $9,200
4. Scott Willoughby . . . $6,045
EVENT #14 4/10/10
CHARITY-NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $250 + $25
PLAYERS 72
RE-BUYS 87
PRIZE POOL $26,530
1. John Hennigan . . . . . $7,725
2. Shannon Fadel . . . . . $4,415
3. Dany Georges . . . . . . . $2,450
EVENT #13 4/9/10
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM DEEPSTACK
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 647
PRIZE POOL $62,759
1. Ben Thien Nguyen . $19,484
2. Qing Yasui . . . . . . . . . $9,480
3. George Wilson . . . . . $5,020
EVENT #12 4/8/10
MEXICAN POKER
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 42
PRIZE POOL $4,224
1. Agustin Becerra . . . . $1,634
2. Salvador Gastelum . . . .$935
EVENT #11 4/8/10
H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 110
PRIZE POOL $10,805
1. Javid Javani . . . . . . . $4,195
2. Winton Lemoine . . . . $2,095
