Friday, December 4, 2015 7:11 PM Local Time
Over the last several months, Dave Banerjee has been putting a lot of effort into his poker game. It paid off nicely for him on Friday night as he took home his first WSOP Circuit ring along with $24,625, topping a field of 368 in the $365 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em.
“It feels good,” said Banerjee after his win. “I’ve put in a lot of training over the last few months online and I had a score about a week ago and to follow it up makes me feel like my thought processes are kind of running in the right way, you know.”
Banerjee’s win increases his career live tournament earnings to over $265,000, all of which coming in the Los Angeles area over the last 3 years. He doesn’t consider himself a professional player, but the local real estate broker has shown consistent results in the Southern California area over the last few years.
“I basically used to flip houses,” said the 41-year-old Yorba Linda, CA native. “I started playing poker after the divorce and it’s kind of turned into all of this craziness.”
Banerjee came into the day near the top of the chip counts, in sixth position of the final 23 players who returned for the second and final day of the tournament. He seemed to steadily chip up throughout the day and as they began the final table, he was still near the top of the counts.
When the final table got underway, the chips continued to fly. Knockouts piled up fairly quickly and in just a few hours, Banerjee was heads-up with Justin Rackley. Rackley came into the final table with the chip lead, but was at a chip deficit at the beginning of heads-up play.
Just a couple hands into heads-up play, they played a massive pot. On the river, Banerjee moved all in on the river with the board reading and Rackley spent a minute in the tank before calling.
Banerjee stands up from the table and tables , pumping his fist in the process, knowing that the tournament was over with his quad jacks. Rackley mucked his hand, claiming a full house and the two shook hands before Banerjee collected his winnings.
“I think with the blinds going up, there were a couple people that were patient, but people were getting hands to get it all in,” said Banerjee about the pace of the final table. “It was kind of like people were just putting it in and seeing who won. I was just somehow getting the right cards at the right time.”
While he claims he was getting cards at the right time, Banerjee credits the improvement of his mental game to his recent success.
“Anything can happen and [you need to] just be composed,” he said. “You lose the majority of your chips when you take a beat and right afterwards, so when I do lose hands, I know it’s just part of the game and to just move on to the next one.
“Basically, just handling your mindset is the biggest thing. Because online you see so many hands, it’s way easier to go into tilt online. So if you can control it there, you usually can control it [live] pretty good too.”
Along with the hardware and the cash, Banerjee earns 50 points and takes a very early lead in the Casino Championship race. The winner of that title, along with the winner of the main event earns an automatic bid into the Global Casino Championship (previously called the National Championship).
Friday, December 4, 2015 7:00 PM Local Time
With the elimination of Mark Austria in third place, Dave Banerjee (pictured left) is now heads-up with Justin Rackley (pictured right) for the ring and $24,265. Here is a look at the chip counts as heads-up play begins:
Dave Banerjee - 5,300,000
Justin Rackley - 2,000,000
Friday, December 4, 2015 5:13 PM Local Time
The first ring event of WSOP Circuit at the Bicycle Casino is inching closer to a champion, but the tournament area is packed to the brim with alternates lined up all the way into the cash game section for one of the venue's non-ring events.
Their $150 buy-in No Limit Hold'em one-day event has a guaranteed prizepool of $100,000 and already has over 500 alternates in line to take their seat when it's available. The small buy-in with a massive guarantee is running alongside the final table of a ring event, Day 1 of the $365 Black Chip Bounty and the mega satellite to the main event which starts in eight days.
Friday, December 4, 2015 4:39 PM Local Time
Jeremy Yap loses a monster pot to Justin Rackley (pictured above) to hit the rail in 11th place. With Yap's elimination, the clock is paused while the staff does a complete re-draw for the unofficial final table of 10. Rackley takes a big chip lead to the final table and here is a look at the seating arrangements and chip counts for the final 10 players.
Seat 1: Dave Banerjee - 900,000
Seat 2: Vincent Moscati - 600,000
Seat 3: Mike Wood - 509,000
Seat 4: Brett Radin - 1,014,000
Seat 5: Krzysztof Tarapata - 478,000
Seat 6: John Stumfall - 415,000
Seat 7: Justin Rackely - 1,612,000
Seat 8: Jeanne Savage - 322,000
Seat 9: Mark Austria - 985,000
Seat 10: John Kral - 384,000
Cards are back in the air and blinds are currently 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante.
Friday, December 4, 2015 3:18 PM Local Time
Jeremy Yap came into the day with the chip lead and with just 13 players remaining, he still has the lead. He hasn't chipped up too much today, sitting with 850,000, but still has the most chips of anybody remaining and more than 10% of the total chips in play.
Friday, December 4, 2015 2:01 AM Local Time
Play has wrapped up for the day and the original 368 players that started the day has been trimmed down to the final 23 as the $365 Monster Stack No Limit Hold'em moves to Day 2.
Jeremy Yap (pictured above) leads the field with 817,000, which is more than 10% of the total chips in play. He has a massive chip lead over the rest of the field with Kevin French his closest competitor with 504,000 in chips. John Kral, Erich Karle and Jeanne Savage round out the top of the counts with 493,000, 463,000 and 456,000 in chips, respectively. Complete chip counts can be found in the reports tab above.
The remaining players will return to the Bike on Friday afternoon to play down to a winner, with cards getting in the air at 1 p.m. Everybody left is guaranteed a payday of at least $915, but everybody has their sights set on the first place prize of $24,265 and a Circuit ring.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 11:06 PM Local Time
Hand-for-Hand play only lasted a few hands and after an elimination, the final 45 players are now in the money and guaranteed a cash. Everybody is guaranteed a return of at least $500 on their $365 buy-in, but everybody is shooting for the first place prize of $24,265 and a Circuit ring.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 9:58 PM Local Time
According to the clock, there are 65 players remaining and the money bubble is rapidly approaching with the top 45 players earning a cash. Kevin French (pictured above) is leading the field with just 305,000 in chips. Circuit regular Neil Scott Scott is one of his closest competitors with 230,000.
The top 45 players will take home at least a min-cash of $500.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 6:28 PM Local Time
After the first 12 levels of play, the clock reads 144 players remaining from the original 368. The remaining 144 players are taking a 45-minute dinner break and upon returning, the levels will be increased to 40-minutes in length for the rest of the night.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 5:11 PM Local Time
The official field size has been finalized and the prizepool information has been released. 368 players entered the first of 12 ring events, creating a prizepool of $110,400 and a first place prize of $26,265.
The top 45 spots will earn a payday of at least a min-cash worth at least $500. The payouts gradually climb up to $1,860 before reaching the final table. Here is a look at the final table payouts below.
There are 185 players remaining and a complete listing of the payouts can be found in the
prizepool tab above.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 3:25 PM Local Time
Level 7 is underway and late registration has officially closed. According to the clock, there were 358 players who registered for the event which creates a prizepool of $107,400. When the staff releases official numbers, we will confirm the official field size and prizepool along with payouts.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 3:20 PM Local Time
Thursday, December 3, 2015 11:12 AM Local Time
In just under one hour, the first event of the WSOP Circuit Series at the Bicycle Casino gets underway. The $365 No Limit Hold'em Monster stack event kicks off at noon and has a $75,000 guarantee on the prizeool. Here are the details:
- Each player starts with 20,000 in tournament chips.
- The first 12 levels are each 30 minutes long, with 40-minute levels for the rest of the day.
- There are 10-minute breaks after level 3, 6, 9, 15, and 18 with a 45-minute dinner break after level 12.
- Late registration ends at the start of level 7, about 3:20 p.m.
- There are no re-entries in this event.
- Day 1 will come to an end at the end of level 21, which should have players bagging chips around 1:30 a.m.
- Day 2 starts on Friday at 1 p.m. and will have 50-minute levels until a winner is crowned.