The Big Event and Bounty Shootout at the Bicycle Casino

by Chad Holloway

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My latest adventure for PokerNews.com was a jaunt back out to Los Angeles for The Big Event at the Bicycle Casino. I wasn’t particularly excited considering I was just in L.A. back in November for the NAPT stop, but the trip ended up being one of my favorites thus far. I stayed at the Millennium Biltmore, the same place as last time, and was joined by members of Team PokerNews Donnie Peters, Eric Ramsey, Kristy Arnett, and Will Thomas, as well as Garry Gates of the NAPT. They’re some great people and it is hard not to have a good time when they’re around.

The Big Event was held at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens and they treated us great. Their tournament structure was the best I’ve covered as far as getting the media out at a decent hour. I managed to have some free time which is a rarity on these trips. In addition, Kelley O’Hara, the Director of Marketing, treated us like VIPs, comping our food (which is fantastic by the way . . . try the chicken kabob) and often arranging for transportation back to our hotel.

The Big Event Main Event was a trip in and of itself. It drew 417-players including some pretty big names. Jennifer Tilly was there, although she busted on Day 1, but unfortunately Phil “The Unabomber” Laak couldn’t attend due to prior commitments in Chicago. Others in attendance included Tom McEvoy, Kathy Liebert, Matt Affleck, Nacho Barbero, Barry Greenstein, Jerry Yang, just to name a few. What was really special was that two poker superstars managed to make it all the way to the final table in former World Poker Tour winner Victor Ramdin and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Joe Hachem.

The final table was broadcast live on the Bicycle Casino’s popular Live at the Bike webcast. The program allowed viewers to see the player’s hole cards, which is quite revolutionary for a live broadcast. In actuality, it aired with a slight delay in order to ensure the security of the game. Nonetheless, the program, which was the brainchild of O’Hara and her crew, was a big success and highly entertaining. Live at the Bike also airs live cash games throughout the week, which you can watch at LiveattheBike.com.

The final table was one of the best I’ve seen and ended with Ramdin defeating Hachem in heads-up play. Here are the results of that final table:

It is also worth noting that during the final table we were all informed of the earthquake that struck Japan as well as the subsequent tsunami. It is rare to see a poker room to grow quiet and come to a halt, but that is exactly what happened. Disbelief, empathy, and shock are words that can be used to describe the atmosphere as all eyes were glued to the television. Ramdin and Hachem even stopped their heads-up match during this time and even discussed breaking until the following day. I thought that even contemplating such a move was an amazingly generous gesture.

On a lighter note, I actually had the opportunity to do some tourist stuff on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 when our tournament ended in the early evening. I really wanted to go down to Hollywood Boulevard and was fortunate enough to have Will volunteer to go with me. He lives in L.A. and it was nice to have a sort of guide show me around. I took my first subway ride ever, saw the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, the Walk of Fame, and all kinds of movie-related things. From there we went to Little Tokyo were I enjoyed my first Mochi balls, which were awesome. If you don’t know what they are, look them up and try them the first chance you get. I was really glad I got the chance to see some of L.A., however limited it turned out to be, and it ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip.

In my next blog, I will talk about the Bounty Shootout event as well as some other fun things that happened in Los Angeles, so be sure to check back in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway.