Wednesday, March 19, 2014 8:24 PM Local Time
Congratulations to Nipun Java, Winner of The Bicycle Casino Circuit Main Event ($226,785)
That's all she wrote from the tournament floor! The total field of 756 players has been whittled down to one champion: Nipun Java. Java was ultimately able to best none other than Shane Schleger during heads up play to claim the gold ring, the seat to the National Championship, and $226,785 in tournament winnings.
The day began with 13 players each vying for Circuit glory. Eventual champion Java came into the day as the top stack and did his best not to relinquish that position. The field was cut down to the official final table quickly as the likes of Piotr Brodzik, James Buckley, ring winner Everett Carlton, and Joshua Thai all fell victim to their remaining opponents. Eventually the final table was set and it was in fact David Chase who led the way.
Javid Javani came into the final table as the shortest stack and was the first player to fall. His ace-eight could not best Jack Duong's pocket tens and he was eliminated in ninth place. From there, the likes of Zewdie Wondimagegnehu and Chris Hyden quickly fell in eighth and seventh place, respectively.
The players engaged in six-handed play for quite some time where the chip lead changed hands several times between Java, Chase, and Shane Schleger. Ultimately, it was Bao Dao who became the sixth place finisher when he lost a race against Java. Java continued his domination of the table soon after, getting it in for Duong's entire stack in a preflop race situation as well. Java once again held through the race and Duong was forced to settle for fifth place.
Danny Illingworth, who had seemingly been nursing a short stack for a majority of the final table, was able to navigate himself all of the way up to a fourth-place finish. As it seemed to be the theme of the day, Illingworth eventually found himself all in before the flop and in a race situation with Java. Illingworth held king-queen but could not catch up to Java's pocket eights.
The final three players picked up the pace during three-handed play and began playing large pots with one another. Schleger pulled ahead of the pack but ended up giving some of that back by doubling up Chase twice. Eventually, Chase found himself all in and at risk for a third time - this time against Java. Java held a dominating ace-king against Chase's ace-nine. Chase failed to improve on the community cards and his elimination thrust Java and Schleger into heads up play.
The heads up match lasted a mere two hands. On the final hand of the tournament, Schleger opened from the button with ace-seven. Java picked up ace-king and three-bet from the big blind. Schleger shipped, Java snapped him off, and 'shaniac' was unable to improve his hand. As the runner-up, Schleger takes home $189,820.
That does it for our coverage of the 2013/14 Bicycle Casino Main Event! Be sure to stay tuned to the rest of our coverage as the WSOP Circuit continues at Lumiere Palace Casino & Hotels in St. Louis, Missouri!
Here are the final table payouts. For a full list, go to the “Results” tab.
1. Nipun Java - $226,785
2. Shane Schleger - $139,820
3. David Chase - $103,080
4. Danny Illingworth - $76,830
5. Jack Duong - $58,025
6. Bao Dao - $44,395
7. Chris Hyden - $34,395
8. Zewdie “Woody” Wondim - $26,980
9. Javad Javani - $21,420