Recent Poker Hall of Fame Inductee, Carlos Mortensen, among the final 12 players in the Bike Main Event
Bell Gardens, Ca. (March 14, 2017) - For the second year in a row, a former World Series of Poker Main Event champion will be competing for a WSOP Circuit main event title at the Bicycle Casino.
Last year, 2006 Main Event champion Jamie Gold finished just shy of winning this event and finishing runner-up to Antoinio Esfandiari. This year, 2001 Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen (pictured) is looking to do one better and earn his second Circuit ring to go with both of his bracelets.
Mortensen comes back to the final day of play right in the middle of the chip counts. There are 12 players still vying for a Circuit title and Mortensen sits in sixth chip position with 1,125,000 in chips. Mortensen’s first Circuit ring came back in 2006 when the buy-ins were much bigger. He won a $3,000 HORSE event in Tunica to earn $53,105.
Mortensen isn’t the only top pro left in the field and won’t have an easy time adding to his extensive tournament resume. Accomplished professionals Matt Stout, Dylan Wilkerson and Iaron Lightbourne will be joining Mortensen on Day 3.
Stout, who founded the Charity Series of Poker and has over $3.5 million in live earnings, is looking to add a second ring to his trophy case. While Wilkerson and Lightbourne would be looking to add to their own seven-figure tournament resume and take home their first. This is the second Circuit main event in a row that Wilkerson has gone deep in. At the end of February, Wilkerson just missed out on making a main event final table at the Rio. He finished 11th for $20,908. Unfortunately for all three, they are in the bottom half of the chip counts and will need to have a little bit of good fortune to make a run at a title.
Everybody will be chasing Douglas Jefferson, who comes into the final day as the chip leader. Jefferson went on a heater during the last level of the day to end with 2,420,000 in chips, just edging out Lance Allred for the overall lead.
Jefferson picked up pocket aces twice in the last 25 minutes of the day to double through Levon Khachatryan and eliminate Larry Quang. Allred, who finished the day with 2,350,000 in chips also had a solid last level of play by winning a massive pot off of Stout. They both hold a massive chip lead over the field, with their nearest competitor, Khachatryan, about a million chips behind them.
Complete chip counts for the final 12 players can be found in the reports tab of the live updates page.
When Day 2 started, registration for the event was closed and the event was finalized with a 705-entry field and a prizepool of over $1 million. There were 145 players who survived one of the two starting flights and another 27 players who opted to buy-in just before Day 2 got underway.
By the end of the scheduled 10, 60-minute levels of play, they were down to the final 12, who will come back on Tuesday at 1 p.m. to play down to a winner. Everybody remaining is guaranteed a cash of at least $16,305, but the eventual winner will earn $216,790, a Circuit ring, and an automatic seat into the Global Casino Championship this August in Cherokee, North Carolina.
The money bubble was reached in the third level of the day with the top 72 players earning a cash. Phil Laak (72nd), Jared Griener (66th), Steve Sung (62nd), Anthony Spinella (60th), Jack Duong (58th), Jesse Yaginuma (50th), actor Bill Fagerbakke (39th), Joe Serock (37th), Nipun Java (27th), Johanssy Joseph (25th), and Mike Leah (20th) were some of the notables that were eliminated before the day’s end, but secured a cash before the left the Bike.
Not everybody was as lucky enough to survive into the money. Kyle Cartwright, Maria Ho, Danny Wong, Robert Kuhn, Danny Illingworth, Bart Hanson, Upeshka De Silva, and Ryan Feldman were some of the notables that were eliminated before the day’s end without a cash.
When play resumes on Tuesday, the final 12 players will start with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and a 5,000 ante.