The latest World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit stop at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles has wrapped up last weekend after 13 events that awarded coveted gold rings.
The 13 events, which ranged from a No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack to an Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better tournament, attracted hundreds of players to generate $2.2 million in prize money.
The WSOPC stop at the Bike culminated with the $1,700 Main Event, which alone saw 550 entrants and generated an impressive $833,250 prize pool.
The lion’s share of that went to California’s Michael Jozoff, who took down the event to earn his first ring and a career-best $161,500.
Jozoff, a 22-year-old who now has $198,415 in tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, defeated seasoned player Eugene Tito during heads-up play. Tito has accumulated $1.1 million in live earnings and earned one of his biggest cashes of $99,840 for his second-place finish.
Jozoff had quite a bit of run-good during the Main Event. On Day 2, he picked up pocket kings to crack the pocket aces of Maria Ho to send the Women in Poker Hall of Famer out in 48th place for $2,960. It turned out to be a recurring storyline for the 22-year-old.
“I actually cracked aces three times in this tournament,” Jozoff told WSOP after his victory. “In a 550-player field, typically you got to do that. Two of them were all-in pre.”
What’s next for the young tournament grinder? He told WSOP he wants to “try and get out to Vegas” and take his shot at some bigger buy-ins.
“I want to get into the PokerGOs and play the High Rollers,” he said. “And then when I’m not doing that, just play some cash and hang out and do some business stuff on the side.”
Other players who found cashes in the Main Event include Barry Greenstein (28th – $4,390), Victor Paredes (30th – $4,390), David “Bakes” Baker (38th – $3,190) and Jessica Vierling (58th – $2,785).
WSOPC Bicycle Casino Main Event Final Results
RANK | PLAYER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
1 | Michael Jozoff | California | $161,500 | |
2 | Eugene Tito | Los Angeles, CA | $99,840 | |
3 | Iris Angeleri | Kelseyville, CA | $74,480 | |
4 | Steve Hyung | La Palma, CA | $54,740 | |
5 | Marc Robinson | Los Angeles, CA | $41,285 | |
6 | Andrew Ostapchenko | Carlsbad, CA | $31,530 | |
7 | Corey Brass | N/A | $24,385 | |
8 | Lee Ci | N/A | $19,105 | |
9 | Jonathan Williams | Hopkins, MN | $15,160 |
“Rampage Poker” Wins Third Ring
Another big winner at the WSOPC Bicycle Casino stop was popular poker vlogger Ethan “Rampage Poker” Yau, who found a first-place finish in Event #12: $2,200 High Roller worth $49,530.
Yau is on the heater of all heaters that has seen him earn three Circuit rings since December. And a few months before winning his first ring, he took down the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) $1,110 Main Event for $230,379.
Yau navigated through a field of 80 entrants and defeated David Van Reyk during heads-up play, who just last month finished second in the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Jamul Casino Main Event for $31,487.
Other players who cashed in the High Roller include Shan Jing (3rd – $20,895), Vincent Moscati (4th – $14,695), Sohale Khalili (5th – $10,655) and Ho (11th – $3,495).
Other Highlights
Another highlight of the series was all-time WSOP cashes leader Roland Israelashvili increasing his lead by adding four more cashes to his already impeccable poker resume.
Israelashvili, who currently has 329 cashes under his belt, far in front of his closest competitors, Arkadiy Tsinis (234 cashes) and Ari Engel (212 cashes), finished fifth in Event #6: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em for $8,750 for his best finish of the series.
Israelashvili also earned cashes in Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em (61st – $610), Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold’em (21st – $1,980) and the Main Event (65th – $2,660).
Another player who made a few deep runs was Elvis Toomas, who you may remember as the guy who lost a prop bet to girlfriend Christina Gollins that compelled him to move all-in dark on the first hand of the 2022 Wynn Millions Main Event. That happened just a few weeks ago and it saw Toomas dusting a $10,000 buy-in when his jack-eight ran into pocket kings.
The $10,000 buy-in, $10 million GTD #WynnMillions is a special tournament.
— PokerNews (@PokerNews)
Toomas, who has $330,447 in live earnings, saw greater success at WSOPC Bicycle Casino that included a ninth-place finish in Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold’em for $4,235, as well as a 43rd-place finish in the Main Event worth $3,190. Gollins also made a deep run in the Main that saw her finishing in 60th place for $2,785.
A full list of ring winners at WSOPC Bicycle Casino is available in the table below. Next up on the WSOP schedule is a stop at Casino Barriere Le Croisette in France, which will take place from March 14-26.
WSOPC Bicycle Casino Ring Winners
TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE | |
Event #1: $400 NLH | 461 | $152,130 | Xiaochuan Xie | China | $29,940 | |
Event #2: $400 NLH Monster Stack | 996 | $407,040 | Chris Unger | Lancaster, CA | $76,420 | |
Event #3: $400 NLH Double Stack | 138 | $45,540 | Oscar Zavala | Bakersfield, CA | $12,135 | |
Event #4: $300 NLH | 258 | $61,920 | Gabriel Attoun | Joplin, MO | $13,870 | |
Event #5: $400 Omaha 8 or Better | 135 | $44,500 | Clint Moore | Lakewood, CA | $12,115 | |
Event #6: $1,100 NLH | 154 | $150,150 | Peiwen Wang | Irvine, CA | $39,335 | |
Event #7: $250 NLH | 254 | $50,800 | Huy Nguyen | San Jose, CA | $11,380 | |
Event #8: $400 NLH Turbo | 131 | $43,230 | Richard Parizer | California | $11,680 | |
Event #9: $600 NLH | 443 | $224,540 | Dathan Kuppin | Los Angeles, CA | $45,445 | |
Event #10: $250 Ladies NLH | 192 | $38,400 | Kym Possible | Las Vegas, NV | $9,380 | |
Event #11: $1,700 Main Event | 550 | $833,250 | Michael Jozoff | California | $161,500 | |
Event #12: $2,200 High Roller | 80 | $153,849 | Ethan Yau | Quincy, MA | $49,530 | |
Event #13: $250 NLH Turbo | 209 | $41,800 | Damien Carlisle | N/A | $9,920 |
*Images courtesy of WSOP.