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Thursday, December 8, 2016 6:48 PM Local Time
Bell Gardens, Ca. (December 7, 2016) — On Thursday evening, Maxwell Lineberger proved that winning his first ring last year wasn’t a fluke. He added a second Circuit ring to his trophy case after winning the $365 no-limit hold’em at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino.
Lineberger came out on top of a final table that featured longtime pro Chris Grigorian and WPT runner-up Massoud Eskandari. He defeated Alex Shelton heads-up to secure the victory and defeat a field of 169 entries to win $13,675.
“I guess you could say it’s some validation,” said Linerberger. “Hard work pays off and I’ll stay grinding. Another win always feels good.”
Lineberger’s first Circuit title came at the Bike as well. In March of 2015, Lineberger took down the massive, re-entry event that drew 1,177 entries. He earned $62,685 for the win and that’s the largest score of his career.
The second ring was for less money, but the score puts him in the thick of the Casino Championship race, which is a goal of his.
“I’m hoping to get the Casino [Championship] at this one and qualify for the [Global Casino] Championship,” said the 29-year-old poker pro.
A seat in the Global Casino Championship is a stepping stone to his poker dream; a bracelet.
“I’m always going for the bracelet and if I could get to the [Global Casino] Championship, I could maybe get one there,” said Lineberger. “Every poker player wants a bracelet and it’s most definitely on my bucket list.”
Lineberger is atop a three-way tie for the lead, but he would lose out in a tiebreaker since he hasn’t won the most money of the three.
“I need one more deep run and I should be alright,” he said of his chances of taking down the Casino Champion title.
Lineberger picked up poker during his time as an undergrad at UNLV. He learned the game in the poker epicenter of the world, but moved back to the Southern California area after he was finished with college.
He mostly grinds tournaments in the Los Angeles area. He’ll dabble in cash “every once in a while,” but can mostly be found battling out for a tournament win. With a couple of top notch Southern California pros at the final table with him, Lineberger was forced to stay patient and find good situations to get his chips in.
“I just knew my position at the table,” said Lineberger. “I knew I had Chris [Grigorian] on my left and Massoud [Eskandari] on my right. So I just picked my spots carefully.”
Thursday, December 8, 2016 6:26 PM Local Time
With blinds of 12,000/24,000 and a 4,000 ante, heads-up play begins between Alex Shelton and Maxwell Lineberger. Here is a look at rough chip counts of the two players as heads-up play begins:
Alex Shelton - 900,000
Maxwell Lineberger - 750,000
Thursday, December 8, 2016 6:22 PM Local Time
Chris Grigorian
Chris Grigorian got the last of his chips into the middle from the big blind with against Maxwell Lineberger's from the small blind.
The board ran out and Lineberger's hand held up to eliminate Grigorian in third place. Grigorian took home $6,090 for his finish and Lineberger goes heads-up against Alex Shelton. Shelton holds a slight chip advantage as they start heads-up play.
Thursday, December 8, 2016 5:14 PM Local Time
Alex Pines
On the first hand back from break, Alex Pines got all in preflop with and got action against Alex Shelton's . The flop came nine-high and Shelton flopped top set to leave Pines drawing dead.
Pines hit the rail in fourth place and took home $4,465 while Shelton extended his chip lead.
Alex Shelton - 770,000
Alex Pines - Eliminated
Thursday, December 8, 2016 5:11 PM Local Time
Alex Shelton
Over the first few hours of play, six players have hit the rail and Alex Shelton leads the four players still vying for the title. The final four players just came back from break and the blinds are now 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante. Here are a look at the chip stacks of the final four players:
Alex Shelton - 665,000
Maxwell Lineberger - 500,000
Chris Grigorian - 405,000
Alex Pines - 105,000
Thursday, December 8, 2016 1:04 PM Local Time
Cards are in the air for the second and final day of the $365 no-limit hold'em.
Thursday, December 8, 2016 12:39 AM Local Time
Maxwell Lineberger
Nobody was eliminated in the last 50 minutes of play after they combined to the final 10 players and they all bagged up chips for the night.
Rajesh Jagannadham came into the final table as the chip lead and was able to pretty much maintain his stack for the duration of the night, but Maxwell Lineberger was able to overtake him for the chip lead heading into the day's second and final day. Lineberger and Jagannadham are at the top of the counts, but they won't have an easy time at the final table with local pros Massoud Eskandari and Chris Grigorian still vying for a ring as well.
The final 10 players will return at 1 p.m. on Thursday to play down to a winner. When they return, blinds will be 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante. Complete chip counts can be found in the "Reports" tab above.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 11:34 PM Local Time
The field in the $365 no-limit hold'em are down to the final 10 players and there is a short break in the action as they redraw for seats at the unofficial final table. Everybody is guaranteed a cash of at least $990, but they are all within arms reach of the $13,675 first place prize.
Rajesh Jagannadham leads the final 10 with 310,000 in chips. There is about 10 minutes remaining in level 17 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and a 500 ante. Play will wrap up for the night at the completion of level 18 around midnight.
Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts of the final 10 players:
Seat 1: Ken Coulson - 240,000
Seat 2: Alex Pines - 50,500
Seat 3: Curtis Hamblin - 67,500
Seat 4: Joseph Hilleli - 80,000
Seat 5: Alex Shelton - 229,500
Seat 6: Rajesh Jagannadham - 310,000
Seat 7: Massoud Eskandari - 180,500
Seat 8: Baptiste Chavaillaz - 95,500
Seat 9: Maxwell Lineberger - 238,000
Seat 10: Chris Grigorian - 179,000
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 4:00 PM Local Time
Players are back in their seats after their second break of the day and they are almost done with level 7. Binds are 200/400 with a 50 ante and with the start of that level, late registration and re-entry has closed.
The tournament drew 169 entries, which generated a prizepool of $50,700 and the top 18 spots earn a cash. A min-cash is worth $680, but the top spot earns $13,675 and a Circuit ring. There are 77 players remaining and complete payout information can be found in the "Prizepool" tab above.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 1:43 PM Local Time
Players are back from their first break and there are 117 entries in the field thus far, still with about two hours left before registration closes. Here is a look at the structure for the rest of the day:
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 1:53 AM Local Time
The WSOP Circuit series at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino moves past the halfway point on Wednesday afternoon as the seventh of 12 events of the series gets underway. The $365 no-limit hold'em kicks off at noon and here are the details:
- Players start with 10,000 in tournament chips
- Day 1 is scheduled to play 18 levels
- Late registration and re-entry is open until the start of level 7 (~3:30 p.m.)
- There are 15 minute breaks after levels 3 and 6, 10-minute breaks after levels 9 and 15, and a 45-minute dinner break after level 12
- Levels 1-12 are 30 minutes, before switching to 40-minute levels for the rest of the day.
- The day's survivors will come back on Thursday at 1 p.m. to play down to a winner