Los Angeles resident Tong Le-a tournament only player-earned his first win in a big series. Tong played a very deliberate and aggressive final table, taking his time on big decisions and using the power of the re-raise to shut out his opponents. He controlled the final table and earned the title through his aggressive play.
Event No. 1 of the Bike's Deepstack Mini Series enticed 320 players who received 5,000 in chips and played 30-minute rounds. With almost 1,600,000 chips in play, only the short stacks felt the pressure of the increasing blinds as the final table fell into place at 4 a.m.
When the stakes increased to a 5,000 ante with 10,000-20,000 blinds, the clock struck 6 a.m. Hand No. 49 played out when Hershey Entin raised to 60,000 and Tong Le re-raised. Michael Millard, in the big blind with more than half his chips already in the pot, called his remaining 65,000.
Hershey got out of the way and it was heads-up. Tong showed A-J and Michael 6-2. The flop was good for Michael with a Q-10-6 but nine on the turn gave Tong a straight draw to go along with his over-cards. An eight on the river gave Tong the straight and sent Michael Millard out in fourth place.
The three remaining players made a deal and Tong Le was declared the winner of the opening event of The 2009 Mini Series. This tournament series runs until the end of June, and our coverage continues in the next issue.
BICYCLE CASINO 6/15/09
MINI SERIES OF POKER LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $150 + $20
PLAYERS 104
PRIZE POOL $15,132
1. Estrella Baltazar . . . . $5,727
2. Rami Zagayer . . . . . . $2,775
6/14/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 317
PRIZE POOL $30,749
1. Thai Tran . . . . . . . . . $11,374
2. Paul Javier . . . . . . . . $5,660
3. Tomer Maman . . . . . $2,765
6/13/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 144
RE-BUYS 239
PRIZE POOL $37,151
1. Angelo Perera . . . . . $14,026
2. Michael Chhor . . . . . $6,875
3. Xin Li Ye . . . . . . . . . . $3,530
6/12/09
NO LIMIT OMAHA & 7-CARD STUD HI-LO
BUY-IN $150 + $20
PLAYERS 80
PRIZE POOL $11,990
1. Gerard Felix . . . . . . . $4,660
2. Scott Samarel . . . . . . $2,675
6/11/09
POT LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $150 + $20
PLAYERS 60
PRIZE POOL $8,148
1. Paul Javier . . . . . . . . $3,258
2. Kenneth Kim . . . . . . $1,790
6/10/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $150 + $20
PLAYERS 238
PRIZE POOL $34,629
1. Shen Tien Tsai . . . . $12,819
2. Liok Levi . . . . . . . . . . $6,370
3. Hoang Luu . . . . . . . . $3,115
4. Hoang Ta . . . . . . . . . . $2,075
6/9/09
H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 150
PRIZE POOL $14,770
1. Joe Huang . . . . . . . . . $5,385
2. PD Tran . . . . . . . . . . . $2,690
6/8/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 330
PRIZE POOL $32,235
1. Hovik Azizian . . . . . $11,845
2. Joe Tushnet . . . . . . . . $5,890
3. Fernando De La Luz $2,880
4. Chi Gia Phan . . . . . . $1,920
6/7/09
LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 116
PRIZE POOL $11,392
1. Kevin Newkirk . . . . . $4,252
2. Jesus Herrera . . . . . . $2,080
3. Edward Farley . . . . . $1,070
4. Shunlu Kao . . . . . . . . . .$675
6/6/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM RE-BUY UNLIMITED, ADD-ON
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 172
RE-BUYS 298
PRIZE POOL $45,590
1. Hosni Boudargham $17,205
2. Pho Tran . . . . . . . . . . $8,435
3. Brett Radin . . . . . . . . $4,330
4. Steve Reitzfeld . . . . . $2,730
6/5/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $150 + $20
PLAYERS 192
PRIZE POOL $28,286
1. Donald Walters . . . . $10,546
2. Eric Kim . . . . . . . . . . $5,170
3. Hoang Ta . . . . . . . . . . $2,655
6/4/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 320
PRIZE POOL $31,040
1. Tong Le . . . . . . . . . . $11,490
2. Hershey Entin . . . . . . $5,710
3. Gene Willson . . . . . . . $2,795
4. Michael Milliard . . . . $1,860
