The Bicycle Hotel & Casino Tournament Blog: 07/06/19

Saturday, July 6, 2019

What's Coming Up: Sunday, July 7th

The second day of $500,000 Guaranteed qualifying kicks off tomorrow at 11:30 AM, with the first of two $250. Registration for that flight will be open until 3 PM, with the second flight starting up at 4 PM.

The top 10% will be taking home $400, and securing a bag for the Day 2 finals a week from today. First place in this event will be around $100,000, so make sure you don't miss out on this one!

By the Numbers: Opening Flight of the $500,000 Guaranteed Event

We got off to a great start in the $500,000 Guaranteed Event, with a total of 221 players entering the first flight today. That means that the top 22 players will all be taking home $400 tonight, as well as a ticket to the Day 2 finals.

Registration for the afternoon flight will be open until 7:30 PM today, so you still have plenty of time to come join us here today to try to earn one of the very first seats to next week's finals!

1-22nd. Advance to Day 2 + $400

The Final Five Agree to a Chop: Said El Harrak is the Winner

Said El Harrak was on the brink of elimination just two hours ago, but after hitting a two outer on the turn, he soared to the chip lead five handed, where they decided to take a look at the numbers. After some brief hesitation, a deal was struck. El Harrak will take home the lion's share of the prizepool, $17,990, while everyone else will earn over $13,000 for their efforts. You can view a full breakdown of the chop below.

Said El Harrak - $17,990
Dylan Hermann - $15,715
Samy Alirachedi - $14,285
Ahmed Karamali - $13,585
Allison Grippo - $13,340

Congratulations to El Harrak on his victory, and the other four players on their impressive results. Don't forget that the $500,000 Guaranteed Event has just kicked off today, and registration is still available until 7:30 PM in the afternoon flight!

James Bynum Eliminated in 6th Place ($5,725)

James Bynum and Dylan Hermann got all the money in preflop, with Bynum holding [9h][9d], while Hermann had him dominated with [Qh][Qd]. A queen popped right into the window of the [Ah][6s][Qc] flop, and another ace on the turn ended the hand.

The two were virtually even in chips, meaning that Hermann doubled up to about five million.

Brandon Evans Eliminated in 7th Place ($4,555)

Brandon Evans got his short stack in preflop holding [Kh][7d], and he was in rough shape against the [Ac][Qd] of Dylan Hermann. The flop of [8s][3d][2d] changed nothing, nor did the [3s] turn, or [8d] river.

With that, we are down to the final six players. As of yet, there haven't been any talks of a chop.

Updated Counts From the Final Seven

Blinds: 50,000-100,000 Average: 3,200,000

Samy Alirachedi - 5,300,000
Said El Harrak - 4,200,000
Ahemd Karamali - 4,100,000
Allison Grippo - 3,800,000
James Bynum - 1,950,000
Dylan Hermann - 1,900,000
Brandon Evans - 980,000

Cards in the Air: $500,000 Guaranteed Afternoon Session

We are ready to get the second starting session of the day going here in the opening day of $500,000 Guaranteed qualifying. Registration for this flight will be open until 7:30 PM, and the top 10% will be moving on to the Day 2 finals a week from today.

Jon Kono Eliminated in 8th Place ($3,535)

Jon Kono and Said El Harrak were heads up on the turn of a board reading [Jc][2s][5s][6s] when El Harrak called a bet from Kono. The [4s] on the river put four spades out there, and Kono moved all in. El Harrak beat him into the pot and flipped over [As][Qh] for the nut flush. Kono tried to muck his hand, but the dealer flipped over Ace-King no spade.

We will post a fresh round of chip counts for the final seven players shortly.

Evans Doubles Through Alirachedi

Brandon Evans got his final few big blinds in preflop holding [Jh][9h], and he was dominated by the [Ad][Jc] of Samy Alirachedi. However, Evans would vault to the lead after the flop came [10h][9c][3h]. Alirachedi could only shake his head as the board finished out [8d] and [8c].

Evans doubled to just over a million, while Alirachedi is still one of the big stacks with about 3.7 million.

Harvey Alegado Eliminated in 9th Place ($2,640)

We just saw a huge hand that saw Harvey Alegado bust in 9th place, while Said El Harrak scored a virtual triple up. Action started with Alegado moving all in. Next to act, El Harrak moved all in for more. Two seats over, James Bynum reraised all in, having both players covered.

Alegado: [Ac][Qc]
El Harrak: [10h][10d]
Bynum: [Ad][Ah]

The flop of [Jd][3c][4h] missed everyone, but the [10c] turn provided maximum action. It gave El Harrak a set, while also giving Alegado straight and flush outs. Another three completed the board, and El Harrak scored a huge pot to get up to 3.2 million, while Bynum drops to 1.7 million.

Kono Doubles Through Alirachedi

Jon Kono got his final 600,000 and change in the middle preflop holding [Jh][10h], and he was slightly behind the [As][6s] of Samy Alirachedi. The flop of [Qs][3c][7c] changed very little, but the [Jc] on the turn quickly flipped the script. No miracle ace on the river meant that Kono doubled up to over 1.5 million, while Alirachedi took a small hit to his stack.

Chen Li Eliminated in 10th Place ($1,800)

It didn't take long for our first all in and call of the unoffiical final table, as Chen Li found himself all in preflop holding [Qd][Qs]. Unfortunately for him, he was behind the [Ks][Kh] of Allison Grippo. The flop of [10c][9d][7s] kept Grippo in front, and while the [8s] did give Li some straight outs, the [7d] didn't help anymore.

With that pot, Grippo is now challenging for the chip lead with over four million.

Unofficial Final Table Photos and Counts

Seat 1: Allison Grippo - 2,400,000

Seat 2: Jon Kono - 810,000

Seat 3: Dylan Hermann - 1,800,000

Seat 4: Brandon Evans - 860,000

Seat 5: Ahmed Karamali - 4,500,000

Seat 6: Harvey Alegado - 1,650,000

Seat 7: Said El Harrak - 1,150,000

Seat 8: Samy Alirachedi - 3,700,000

Seat 9: James Bynum - 2,750,000

Seat 10: Chen Li - 1,600,000

Highlights From the First Hour

The first level didn't provide much action in the Day 3 finals, but the last ten minutes have brought some fireworks. It started with Samy Alirachedi showing a bluff with fourth pair when he shoved the river against Harvey Alegado. Alegado took a hit there, but was able to double it back up shortly after through Jingchun Zhu.

The two knockouts occurred at the other table. First, Majid Seyfi busted out in 14th place, and then on the very next hand, Paul Serratecortes shoved all in, only to run into the pocket kings of Dylan Hermann.

Said El Harrak still has the chip lead at the moment, but a few players are quickly catching up to him. The next update will be from the unofficial final table of ten!

Big Turnout So Far in the Opening $500k Flight

Switching our focus over to the $500,000 Guaranteed Event for a moment, we are already seeing big numbers there, as 176 players have entered on the first break. You still have plenty of time to join us today, as registration for this flight closes at 3 PM, and we have another flight starting up at 4 PM!

The $100,000 Guaranteed Day 3 Finals Have Started

We are back in action with just 14 players remaining here at the $100,000 Guaranteed Event. Said El Harrak has a nice lead on the field, with a monster stack of 3.64 million. You can check out all of the stacks below, as they are listed by their seating chart.

Once we get down to the unofficial final table of ten players, we will post photos and updated counts of everyone still in.

Table 1

Seat 1: Majid Seyfi - 640,000

Seat 2: Paul Serrate - 935,000

Seat 3: Brandon Evans - 1,615,000

Seat 4: Alison Grippo - 1,250,000

Seat 5: Anarbol Anaya - 1,070,000

Seat 6: Chen Li - 1,955,000

Seat 7: Dylan Hermann - 1,525,000

Table 2

Seat 1: Said El Harrak - 3,640,000

Seat 2: Samy Alirachedi - 2,350,000

Seat 3: Harvel Alegado - 1,770,000

Seat 4: Jon Kono - 1,885,000

Seat 5: Ahmed Karumoli - 1,495,000

Seat 6: Jingchan Zhu - 1,720,000

Seat 7: James Bynum - 960,000

The $500,000 Guaranteed Event is Now Underway

We are ready to get things going here with the final massive guaranteed event of the 2019 Summer Poker Series! This $500,000 Guaranteed Event will see two $250 sessions each day from now until next Friday, with the finals starting at 1 PM on Saturday, the 13th. Registration for this opening flight will be available until 3 PM, with the second session starting today at 4 PM.

Good luck everyone!

Schedule for Today: Saturday, July 6th

11:30 AM - $500,000 Guaranteed Morning Flight $250 buy-in. Registration open until 3:00 PM. Top 10% win $400 and advance to Day 2 finals

1 PM - Day 3 Finals of the $100,000 Guaranteed Event

4 PM - $500,000 Guaranteed Morning Flight $250 buy-in. Registration open until 3:00 PM. Top 10% win $400 and advance to Day 2 finals

Said El Harrak Uses Late Knockout to Bag Chip Lead

After 12 hours of play, and three bustouts in the final five minutes, we have just 14 players remaining in this $100,000 Guaranteed Event. Said El Harrak won a huge pot towards the end of the night to take the chip lead when he knocked out Javid Javani. He has a stack of 3,640,000 chips, which is one million more than his closest competitor, Samy Alirachedi, who has 2,350,000.

You can view the full seating chart below, along with everyone's end of day count. The action will pick back up again tomorrow at 1 PM, when one player will take home over $30,000. Good night everyone!