The WSOP Circuit at the Bicycle Casino hit its midway point on Tuesday afternoon and there was plenty of action. Two rings were awarded and the Casino Championship changed hands.
Stuart Pfeifer Wins $365 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Former Los Angeles Times reporter Stuart Pfeifer (pictured) topped a field of 1,000 players to win his first major tournament and ring in the $365 No Limit Hold’em re-entry event.
Pfeifer came out on top of a final table that featured his own mentor, Nipun Java, and Circuit regular Neil Scott to take home $55,110 for his first major victory.
The official report on Pfeifer’s win can be found here.
Nadim Shabou and Wendy Freedman Heads-Up in $580 No Limit
The fifth event of the series got kicked off at noon on Tuesday and it was the biggest buy-in of the series thus far. The $580 No Limit Hold'em drew 115 players and the top 12 would make the money.
About 10 hours into the day, the money bubble burst and the final 12 earned a payday. At the end of the 21 scheduled levels, it was down to a heads-up battle between Wendy Freedman and Nadim Shabou.They come back on Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m. to play the remainder of their heads-up battle.
Freedman has a slight chip advantage with 793,000 to Shabou's 586,000. The winner earns $17,255 and a Circuit ring, while the runner-up takes home $10,660.
An up-to-date results list can be found here.
Wendy Freedman Takes the Lead in Casino Championship
Coming into Tuesday, it was Alan Myerson who sat atop the Casino Championship leaderboard. Most of his points came from defeating Wendy Freedman to take home a ring in the $365 Bounty No Limit Hold’em.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Freedman earned some redemption by taking the lead in the race. By surviving to her aforementioned heads-up battle, she has secured at least an additional 37.5 points and brings her total to at least 75 points. If she defeats Shabou and earns her second ring, she'll pick up 50 points and bring her total to 87.5 points. Regardless of the outcome, she has taken the lead in the race and the size of it is the only fact left to be sorted out.
Myerson is still in contention and sits in second place with 60 points. Dave Banerjee, Dale Beaudoin and Stuart Pfeifer are all tied for third with 50 points each after winner their respective events.
A look at the complete standings can be found here. (Note: Freedman is still showing up as 37.5 points since her cash has not yet been finalized ).
Nathaniel Tucker and Dan Netzer Leading Day 2 of Omaha 8 or Better
There were 124 players who came out to the Bicycle Casino for the only non-hold’em event of the series, a $365 Omaha 8 or Better. At the completion of the 16 scheduled levels of play, there were only 22 remaining with two players holding a commanding lead on the rest of the field.
Nathaniel Tucker bagged the biggest stack in the room with 219,000 and Dan Netzer wasn’t too far behind with 190,000. There is a big drop off in chip counts after that as those are the only two players with six-figure chip counts.
The 124 player field generated a prizepool of $37,200 and the top 15 players get paid. A min-cash is worth $630, but the top spot takes home $10,400 and a Circuit ring.
Day 2 gets cards in the air at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and plays down to a winner. Complete chip counts for the final 22 can be found here.
Looking Ahead
Along with the Omaha 8 or Better restart, another ring event starts on Wednesday, a two-day $365 No Limit Hold’em event.
A complete schedule of the remaining ring events can be found here.
Non-Ring Action at the Bike
As always, the Bicycle Casino holds daily non-ring events and Wednesday is no exception. They are holding a $345 Deepstack No Limit Hold’em at 5 p.m. and another $150 mega satellite to the main event that starts on Saturday afternoon.
For more details on the non-ring events, check out the detailed schedule on the Bike’s website.