This is the central page for information about the ongoing WSOP Circuit series at the Bicycle Casino. Check back here daily for updated schedule and results.
15 March 2022 (Bell Gardens, Calif.) - The WSOP Circuit series at the Bicycle Casino wrapped up Wednesday night, as the last three events of stop concluded. 13 WSOP Circuit gold rings, over $1.4 Million in total prize money and thirteen seats to the Tournament of Champions were handed out throughout the series.
The stars took a backseat at the “The Bike”, as all but one ring were awarded to first-time WSOP Champions. The first winner to be crowned was China’s Xiaochuan Xie, with his win in Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em.The opening event of the series drew a large field of 461 entrants that generated a prizepool of $152,130, and Xie earned $29,940 for the win.
The second event of the series was the largest of them all, with the $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack drawing a field just shy of one thousand players. The 996 entrants generated a prizepool of $407,040, and Chris Unger, out of Lancaster, CA, ended up as the last man standing to earn $76,420 and his first Circuit ring.
The marquee event of the series was the $1,700 No-limit Hold’em MAIN Event. 550 players came out for the MAIN event, including a series of notables. The 2007 WSOP Main Event winner, Jerry Yang, made an appearance, and so did three-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein. Greenstein made it to Day 2, but got eliminated in 28th place to add $4,390 to his $3,306,983 in total WSOP earnings.
Another familiar face at the MAIN Event was poker personality Maria Ho. Ho sat in 26th place when Day 1 concluded but eventually ended up busting in 48th place. After getting eliminated in the MAIN Event, Ho entered the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, in which she made another deep run and finished in 11th place to add $3,495 to her total of $1,793,000 in total WSOP earnings.
However, none of the bracelet winners and poker stars were left when the last card in the MAIN Event was dealt. Instead, it was the 22-year-old, Michael Jozoff who stole the show.
To earn the win, Jozoff had to navigate through 550 players over three days, and eventually found himself heads-up against Eugen Tito, a seasoned poker veteran with almost $1 million in total live earnings. But, in the end, Tito had to settle for the runner-up spot to make way for the tenth first-time ring winner of the series. Michael Jozoff grabbed the grand prize of $161,500, his first gold ring, and a seat in the Tournament of Champions.
The final day of the series featured the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. Poker-Youtuber, Ethan Yau, emerged victorious, outlasting a field of 80 entrants to earn $49,530. Yau has been red hot at the poker table lately, and the win in the High Roller was his third gold ring in less than three months. The Boston native ended 2021 by taking down the $300 No-Limit Hold’em Last Chance event at the WSOP Circuit Series in Aruba and continued by winning the $2,000 Super High Roller in the WSOP Online series two weeks ago.
The 24-year-old finished in third place earlier in the series, in Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold’em, and built on his previous success with a win in the second to last event.
In total, the Circuit stop at the Bicycle Casino attracted 3,140 total entries, 476 players got paid and thirteen rings were handed out over the twelve days of poker action.
All official gold ring winners from Circuit stop qualified for the new invitation-only “Tournament of Champions”. The $1 million freeroll event will be held during the 2022 World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. 2022 online and live bracelet winners will also be eligible to compete in the new signature event.
Completed Events
Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Xiaochuan Xie outlasts 461 entrants to earn $29,940.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack - Chris Unger defeats 996 players to earn $76,420.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack - Oscar Zavala outlasts 138 entrants to earn $12,135.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #4: $300 No-Limit Hold'em - Gabriel Attoun defeats 258 players to earn $13,870.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #5: $400 Omaha 8 Or Better - Clinton Moore outlasts 135 entrants to earn $12,115.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #6: $1,110 No-Limit Hold'em - Peiwen Wang defeats 154 players to earn $39,335.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #7: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo - Huy Nguyen outlasts 254 entrants to earn $11,380.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo - Richard Parizer defeats 131 entrants to earn $11,680.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold'em - Dathan Kuppin outlasts 443 players to earn $45,445.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #10: $250 Ladies Event - Kym Possible defeats 192 entrants to earn $9,380.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #11: $1,700 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN Event - Michael Jozoff outlasts 550 players to earn $160,500
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #12: $2,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller - Ethan Yau defeats 80 entrants to earn $49,530.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #13: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo - Damien Carlisle outlats 209 players to earn $9,920.
Report | Winner Photo | Results
About the Winners
Xiaochuan Xie - Xie won the opening event of the Bicycle Casino World Series of Poker Circuit. Xie outlasted a field of 461 entrants to earn $29,940 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He also earns a seat in the Tournament of Champions, which will be held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
“It feels good. It’s my first win so I’m really happy,” said Xie after taking down his first ever poker tournament.
The opening event of the Bicycle Casino WSOP Circuit drew a massive field that generated a prizepool of $152,130, well over the $60,000 guarantee. The field in the one-day event dwindled down to a Final table after eight hours of play. Among the nine final tabelists was bracelet- and nine-time ring winner, Sean Yu. However, Yu was the first man to hit the rail for a $2,805 payday.
Xie eventually found himself heads-up against Los Angeles native Cody Thanarse. The heads-up battle lasted for less than half an hour before Xie could take it down. With the win, Xie will travel to Las Vegas in the summer to compete in the Tournament of Champions.
“It will be fun to go there to try my luck and see all the professionals. Poker is mostly a hobby for me so it will be fun to compete with all the professionals and see them all in person,” said the happy winner.
Chris Unger - “It feels awesome. This was actually my first real big tournament, because I haven’t been playing much at all. I have been working a lot,” said Unger, who is working as a Grip, building movie sets outside of poker.
“I had eight big blinds, and I shipped ten-five of clubs and got called by queen-five and hit the three-outer against the guy that came in second; otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Unger explained.
Despite the early adversity, the 29-year-old hung around to see the start of Day 3, with only 17 other players remaining. A series of notable names were still in the hunt at the beginning of Day 3, including two-time ring winner Alan Myerson and three-time ring winner Sohale Khalili. However, when the last card was dealt, Chris Unger was the only remaining player.
“I never really thought I had a good shot of winning. I was the short stack for the majority of the tournament, and once it got down to a Final table I was still short. I had a couple of bad beats here and there, but I ended up taking down the W,” said Unger.
Oscar Zavala - “I lost with kings right before the third break, and I was down to nothing. But then I tripled up with kings and tripled up with aces shortly after. From there, I felt like I had a big chance of winning,” said the Champion.
Zavala came close to winning his first ring back in 2013, but ended up losing heads-up to Amir Ghazvinian. Since then, the Los Angeles native has been carrying the loss and still remembers the event like it was yesterday.
“In 2013, I was heads-up for the ring, and I had all the chips. I had two-pair and got him to commit all his chips, but he hit a gutter on the river. When we were four-handed, I had pocket-fives, and all three players went all-in, and I had them covered. A five came on the turn and a five on the river. If I had called, I would have won it right there. I have been chasing this ring for a long time, it’s amazing,” Zavala recalled.
Zavala finally got his long awaited gold ring, and he will now be travelling to Las Vegas to participate in the Tournament of Champions, held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
“I finally got a ring, now I’m going for the bracelet,” said the latest WSOP Circuit Champion.
Gabriel Attoun - “It feels f*cking awesome. I have been close a couple of times. Lately, I have had a couple of tournaments where I went reasonably deep but made some really silly mistakes. So this time, I tried to really stay focused and re-center myself constantly and not get ahead of myself,” said the St. Louis native after capturing his first ring.
The one-day event attracted 258 entrants, including a series of WSOP ring winners, including Herbert Karp, Nancy Matson, and Christina Gollins. Attoun eventually found himself heads-up against veteran player Mark Allen.
“When we were three-handed, I had 1.4 million or so, and at that point, I got a little bit ahead of myself and thought that I probably was going to win. From there, I did get down to the shortest stack again, but not by a wide margin. But from three-handed on, I felt pretty confident, and it would have been pretty devastating to lose from there,” Attoun said.
The heads-up match lasted for less than an hour before Attoun could take it down.
“I’m just extremely happy. I’m over the moon. I can’t believe it finally happened,” said the latest WSOP Circuit Champion.
Clinton Moore - Moore is a retired Air Force veteran not residing in Lakewood, California. His competitive nature played a crucial role in his success at the Final table.
“Thirty years of playing, and I’m just now taking it seriously. Now, I can compete. The sick thing about me is that I’m a sick competitor. I was a stupid basketball player, born on Michael Jordan’s birthday, February 17h. It’s a sickness; I’ve got a competitive streak in me that I can’t put out. Now I’m moving on to bigger and better things,” Moore said.
The 57-year-old eventually found himself heads-up against Frank Inglese, who final-tabled the $400 Omaha WSOP Circuit Event at the Bike in 2017. The tough heads-up battle lasted for over an hour before Moore finally could take it down. Moore is now hoping to continue his run and hope that he will get the respect that he deserves among his peers, now that he got a ring around his finger.
“I have to be dealt with now. I ain’t a joke no more. When they see me they’re like ‘he ain’t no joke no more’, he ain’t that old Clint that you can just run up on and do what you want to and disrespecting, you know what I mean?,” said the latest WSOP Circuit Champion.
Huy Nguyen - In the early morning hours, Huy Nguyen took down the $250 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Bicycle Casino World Series of Poker Circuit. The event attracted a field of 254 entrants that generated a prizepool of 50,800.
The win was Nguyen’s second in 2022, and the Vietnam native has started the year red-hot after also finishing second in the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Commerce Classic to earn $114,050. However, the coveted WSOP ring trumps previous scores, according to the latest ring winner.
“This win is by far the most exciting. The idea that I will be able to come back and compete in the Tournament of Champions and just having a WSOP ring, it means a lot,” said Nguyen.
Outside of poker, Nugyen is working as a Property Manager, but is planning on moving into the poker industry full-time and start a business that helps women in poker. But first, the Champ will travel to Vegas to participate in the Tournament of Champions.
“I love going to Vegas, I go there every year for the bracelet series, but this is exciting. The ring, all my friends are telling me that I need to get the ring and I did not think it was going to happen today, but I am grateful it did. My first ring ever, I’m defiantly going to frame it,” said the latest Circuit champion.
Peiwen Wang - “This was my first tournament title. I have never won a tournament before; this was my first one. It feels fantastic, oh my God I can’t believe it. Now this will be my favorite hand,” Wang said, holding up his winning hand of ace-queen.
Out of the 154 entrants, only 22 of them made it to Day 2 and Wang started the Day with the shortest stack of them all, bagging less than eight big blinds. The win was nothing but a comeback miracle.
“I only had 48,000 so I didn’t even want to come here today. You know, it’s a miracle. I won four all-in in a row to start the day. First I won with king-queen against ace-queen and then with ace-nine against ace-jack. Oh my God, it was unbelievable,” Wang described his road to victory.
Huy Nguyen - “This win is by far the most exciting. The idea that I will be able to come back and compete in the Tournament of Champions and just having a WSOP ring, it means a lot,” said Nguyen.
The event started at 2:00 pm on Thursday afternoon and did not reach a Final table until past midnight. Among the final tablists were Argentina’s Raul Aguero and Ohio native, Michael DeStephen. The Final table lasted for over six hours before Nguyen eventually found himself heads-up against Jorge Leiva, out of Chino Hills.
“I knew that if I make it past 2:00 a.m, I’m going to win this tournament. I told some guy in the bathroom that ‘if you guys don’t end this tournament before 2:00 a.m, I’m going to win this thing’. And it happened! I got lucky at the end, but again, that was because of my belief, I guess,” said Nguyen after scoring his second win in 2022.
Outside of poker, Nugyen is working as a Property Manager, but is planning on moving into the poker industry full-time and start a business that helps women in poker. But first, the Champ will travel to Vegas to participate in the Tournament of Champions.
Richard Parizer - “It feels surreal. I told my friend before this that ‘I feel like I’m due for a ring, I think I’m going to win this thing. I’m probably psyching myself out, like, is there really ‘a day’, but it was pretty cool,” said the Maryland native.
Parizer, who is working in the music industry, is only playing poker recreationally and did not realize that the $400 No-limit Hold’em Turbo was a ring event until he sat down at the table. Six hours later he was one out of nine players still left at the Final Table.
“I have been playing cards since I was five years old. My dad taught us kids and since then we have been grinding poker, playing cash games, home games and online. And this event was 150 entries, and I have beat these types of fields online before, so I felt like I had a chance,” Parizer said.
Dathan Kuppin - “It feels exhausting but, of course, really f*cking good. Today was definitely a grind, especially since it was a one-day tournament. But when tough got hard I buckled down and didn’t make any bad decisions. And obviously, I had a good run of cards, as all champions do. I stuck to my guns and duked it out, and here I am,” said the Los Angeles native.
The one-day event reach a final table after eight hours of play, and Kuppin sat on an impressive chip lead with nine players left. Henguy Sun hit the rail in 8th place, and ring winner Ed Alikhani joined him shortly after. A couple quick eliminations followed, and four players remained when Kuppin won one of the more important pots of the tournament.
“I opened with ten’s and ‘Rampage’ [Ethan Yau] just shipped on the button. I called pretty quickly as I put him on a smaller pair then mine, which was exactly what he had. I held, which no one did against him today, and that got me to 6.5 million, and it was honestly smooth sailing from there, said Kuppin.