A three-day start that allowed players to buy back in on subsequent days if they busted out early, along with a $500,000 guarantee, created a unique format that attracted just short of 4,000 players-a record number. Players ponied up $220 each to buy in to Commerce Casino's opening event. In the process they created the largest land-based poker tournament in history outside of the World Series of Poker and the seventh largest poker tournament ever.
The opening event's $164,627 first prize went to local Los Angeles player Moshe Mashiah, with a total prize pool of $753,730 paid finishers. Mason Visman, of Placerville, CA finished second, winning $85,362, while local player Joshua Thai of Rosemead finished third, good for $48,784.
In what must go down as a classic understatement, Tournament Director Matt Savage was quoted as saying, "Commerce was jam packed this past weekend." He added, "It shows that a little creativity and an opportunity for a second chance at hundreds of thousands of dollars can reinvigorate poker. Commerce continues to stay at the cutting edge of the poker world and this remarkable turnout is a fantastic start to the casino's newest series."
The Hold'em Series, as this group of tournaments is known, comprised 16 events that run through the end of September. The main event will be played over three days, and is a $2,580 buy-in no-limit hold 'em tournament.
This series featured a number of innovations, including Event No. 12, a $545 heads-up, double elimination tournament and Event No. 15, dubbed the "Ironman Tournament," with a $1,600 buy-in. This event was unique for what it did not have. There were no scheduled breaks-no dinner breaks, no bathroom breaks, no breaks just to get up and walk around for a few minutes-just hours of concentration and poker with no relief. The one saving grace: three meals were served at the table. But if Mother Nature called, players were on their own and chips were blinded off while they were gone.
Most of the results are in this issue, but the main event results and recap will appear next time.
NO BREAKS: Brett Radin Wins Commerce Casino's "Ironman" Event
After 19 hours and 21 minutes without a break, New Yorker Brett "Ghostdog" Radin was crowned Commerce Casino's first "Ironman" Champion. The Ironman was the first major casino tournament with no scheduled breaks, although three meals were served at the table. The Ironman tested the focus, stamina, and kidneys of 64 players who anted up $1,600 each for a shot at emerging the toughest player on the felt.
Maybe it was for pain and suffering, but Commerce added an extra $10,000 to the payout, and Radin took home $51,560-half the prize pool-for first place.
The Ironman's structure provided players 10,000 chips, and hour-long levels, while only starting at 25-25 blinds. "It was the truest poker tournament I have ever seen or played in," said Radin. "I love the fact that it played all the way down and no deals were allowed!"
"The first Commerce Casino Ironman Tournament was a huge success," said Tournament Director Matt Savage. "We received rave reviews for this unique format that drew the players with the 'right stuff.' There were no wimps in this crowd!"
COMMERCE SERIES
EVENT #15 9/23/09
"IRON MAN" NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,600
PLAYERS 64
PRIZE POOL $103,120
1. Brett Radin . . . . . . . $51,560
2. Christopher Tryba . . $22,686
3. Farzin Akhtar . . . . . $11,859
4. Tyler Patterson . . . . . $7,218
5. Brian Brubaker . . . . . $5,672
6. Eric Baldwin . . . . . . . $4,125
EVENT #14 9/23/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM 6-HANDED
BUY-IN $1,065
PLAYERS 49
PRIZE POOL $47,530
1. Dan Lu . . . . . . . . . . . $20,913 plus... $2,580 Seat
2. Craig Boyd . . . . . . . . $10,457
3. Victor Shalom . . . . . . $5,989
4. Brent Morehouse . . . . $4,515
5. Scott Barrows . . . . . . $3,517
6. Tyler Witteman . . . . . $2,139
EVENT #13 9/22/09
NO LIMIT KNOCKOUT BOUNTY
BUY-IN $335
PLAYERS 463
PRIZE POOL $133,344
1. Chet Soboleske . . . . . $23,017
2. Hoa Quach . . . . . . . . $12,273
3. Jeff Clayton . . . . . . . . $8,704
4. Maria Phan . . . . . . . . $6,006
5. Paul Javier . . . . . . . . . $4,439
6. Jeremy Hamey . . . . . . $3,482
7. Dao Bao . . . . . . . . . . . $2,611
8. John Thomas . . . . . . . $1,915
9. Tomer Daniel . . . . . . . $1,393
EVENT #12 9/22/09
HEADS UP NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $545
PLAYERS 88
PRIZE POOL $41,360
1. Herbie Gelman . . . . $14,477
plus... $2,580 Seat
2. Sumeet Mody . . . . . . . $7,853
3. Tyler Patterson . . . . . $4,963
4. Gabriel Habbaba . . . . $4,136
5. Melvin Weiner . . . . . . $2,895
EVENT #11 9/21/09
POT LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,065
PLAYERS 15
PRIZE POOL $14,550
1. Joseph Bartholdi . . . . $8,002
2. Gabriel Habbaba . . . . $4,365
3. Hiroaki Harada . . . . . $2,183
EVENT #10 9/21/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $335
PLAYERS 152
PRIZE POOL $43,776
1. Vinnie Vinh . . . . . . . $14,006 plus... $2,580 Seat
2. David Lopez . . . . . . . . $7,486
3. Pho Tran . . . . . . . . . . . $4,772
EVENT #9 9/20/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM WITH REBUYS
BUY-IN $120
PLAYERS 425
PRIZE POOL $129,390
1. Brian Brubaker . . . . $34,934
2. Richard Soong . . . . . $18,244
3. Alexandru Masek . . $12,939
4. Mike O'Dell . . . . . . . . $8,928
5. Weilong Xu . . . . . . . . . $6,599
6. Benjamin Chung . . . . $5,176
EVENT #8 9/19/09
LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,065
PLAYERS 17
PRIZE POOL $16,490
1. Susan Millar . . . . . . . . $4,920
2. Haydar Eftekhari . . . $3,890
3. John Brinkman . . . . . $3,100
EVENT #7 9/18/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $335
PLAYERS 1,245
PRIZE POOL $400,000
1. Xuan Nguyen . . . . . $108,385
2. Vincent Duong . . . . . $57,808
3. Neil Ho . . . . . . . . . . . $31,072
4. Sean Riley . . . . . . . . . $23,846
5. Frank Fabregas . . . . $18,065
6. Maksin Uskolovskiy $14,452
EVENT #6 9/17/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM SHOOTOUT
BUY-IN $220
PLAYERS 110
PRIZE POOL $31,680
1. Andrew Malott . . . . $10,454
2. Martin Corpuz Sr. . . . $5,702
3. Harvey Hunnicutt . . . $3,485
EVENT #5 9/16/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $335
PLAYERS 364
PRIZE POOL $104,832
1. Eric Yilmaz . . . . . . . $28,672
2. Sam Dassa . . . . . . . . $15,725
3. Paul Chauderson . . . $10,483
4. Chau Nguyen . . . . . . . $7,443
5. Jun Yan . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,506
EVENT #4 9/15/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $220
PLAYERS 215
PRIZE POOL $40,850
1. Maksim Uskolovsky $13,276 plus... $2,580 Seat
2. Matt Page . . . . . . . . . . $7,108
3. Phillip Penn Sr . . . . . . $4,902
4. Cesar Chavez . . . . . . . $3,268
EVENT #3 9/14/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $220
PLAYERS 353
PRIZE POOL $67,070
1. Larry Vezina . . . . . . $18,346
2. Eugene Tito . . . . . . . $10,061
3. Sung In Oh . . . . . . . . . $6,707
4. Bernard Park . . . . . . . $4,762
EVENT #2 9/13/09
LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $220
PLAYERS 307
PRIZE POOL $58,330
1. Brad Mclaughlin . . . $15,957
2. Guang Zhao . . . . . . . . $8,750
3. Larry Odegard . . . . . $5,833
4. Thanh Luong . . . . . . . $4,141
5. Sy Sundell . . . . . . . . . . $3,091
6. Hiroaki Harada . . . . . $2,450
7. Harold Berger . . . . . . $1,837
8. Duoc Nguyen . . . . . . . $1,371
9. Jason Heiner . . . . . . . . . $992
EVENT #1 9/10/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $220
PLAYERS 3,967
PRIZE POOL $753,730
1. Moshe Mashiah . . . $164,627
2. Mason Visman . . . . . $85,362
3. Joshua Thai . . . . . . . $48,784
4. Kevin Kung . . . . . . . $39,632
5. William Chong . . . . . $30,487
6. Joel Corpus Iii . . . . . $24,389
7. Armando Ramos . . . $18,292
8. Allan Le . . . . . . . . . . $12,195
9. Elliot Lee Miller . . . . $8,536
