BELL GARDENS, Calif., Aug. 29 CA-TheBicycleCasino
BELL GARDENS, Calif., Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The month of August is
always exciting at the Bicycle Casino as the Legends of Poker tournament
series builds to a crescendo with the World Poker Tour Legends main event. As
was fitting for a series filled with some of the best poker pros in the world,
it was famous poker pro John "The Razor" Phan who fought a long and tough
battle to ultimately claim victory and the title of Legend of Poker.
After 21 preliminary events, two of which were won by local player and
world-renowned Men "The Master" Nguyen and another that was won by a pioneer
of the game Barbara Enright, the Legends of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event
kicked off on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008. After two first days of the biggest
names in the game -- Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and Barry Greenstein to name
a few -- coming through the doors of the Bike, the grand total of 373 players
met on the green felt to fight for their share of the $3,545,738 prize pool.
While notables like Layne Flack, Matt Keikoan, Maria Ho, and Allen
Cunningham went deep into the money portion of the tournament, there were only
six who would find their way to the coveted World Poker Tour final table where
Dan Harrington won his WPT Legends title in 2007. In front of a packed crowd
of spectators and friends, Kyle Wilson, Amit Makhija, Zach Clark, John Phan,
Paul Smith, and Trong Nguyen took their seats on Thursday afternoon, August
28th to follow in the footsteps of so many legends before.
Makhija came to the WPT final table with the chip lead, and throughout the
night, many tried but only one was able to catch up and challenge him for the
title. That player was none other than John Phan, long-time pro and Bike
player who is known for enjoying his time at the table but never giving up.
The heads-up battle between Makhija and Phan continued for nearly three and a
half hours and was eventually dubbed the "greatest heads-up match in WPT
history" by WPT commentator Mike Sexton. Just after 1:30am, it was Phan's
persistence and strong desire for a WPT title that propelled him to victory.
He won the $1,116,428 first prize and the coveted WPT winner's bracelet!
The memorable WPT Legends of Poker main event will be televised on Fox
Sports at a date yet to be announced. "We embrace all of our Legends, but its
all the sweeter when one of our home players takes home the prize," states
Marketing Director, Kelley O'Hara. According to Casino Manager, Zaven Esmaili,
"This was a hard won victory and viewers will be on the edge of their seats
with this episode."
As the Legends of Poker series wraps up, the excitement continues at the
Bicycle Casino with cash games available at all times and weekly poker
tournaments for players at every level of action. The Bike is the premiere
place for poker in the Los Angeles area and is open for business 24-hours a
day, every day of the year. There are numerous table games available at
various limits, including blackjack, pai gow, and three-card poker, in
addition to the wide range of poker games spread to accommodate all of the
Bike's players.
The Bicycle Casino is located at 7301 Eastern Avenue, Bell Gardens, CA
90201, just off the 710 freeway and only minutes from the LAX and downtown Los
Angeles areas.
For more details, see http://www.TheBike.com.
SOURCE The Bicycle Casino
