I think if someone wanted to make a living as a full-time tournament pro, it could be done without leaving Los Angeles County. Since I play primarily cash games, I never realized just how many tournament series happened in this area until I started writing this column.
When I go over their tournament calendars, it’s rare to see more than a couple of days without a new event of a tournament series starting.
In September, the Commerce Casino and the Bicycle Casino held tournament series that ran with one following right on the end of the other. To start the month, the annual Commerce Hold’em Series took place from Aug. 29-Sept. 16. This series consisted of 19 events with buy-ins $65-$2,080.
As is typical with series in the L.A. basin, a number of known pros had noteworthy finishes. Among them were Vinny Vinh, David Pham and Toto Leonidas. Also finishing in the standings were Mary Ann Savage (wife of tournament director Matt Savage) and actor Kirk Acevedo, a regular in Los Angeles tournaments.
With the Commerce Hold’em Series barely finished, Big Poker Oktober kicked off at the Bicycle Casino. It began Sept. 21 and ended Oct. 13 with more than $550K in guarantees. This series had events beginning at 6 every night, additional events at noon on Saturday and Sunday, plus satellites and super satellites at 8:30 p.m.
November looks to be another big month with the L.A. Poker Open at the Commerce Casino beginning Nov. 1.
— Dave Palm is Ante Up’s Los Angeles Ambassador. Email him at LA.AnteUp@gmail.com.
Hold’em Series, Commerce Casino, Aug. 29-Sept. 16
Event 1 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 416 • Pool: $52K
Brian Montanez, $10,470
Event 2 • $225/$115 NLHE
Entries: 825 • Pool: $250K
Phong Nguyen, $40,180
Event 3 • $225 Bounty
Entries: 381 • Pool: $53,340
Sevan Markarian, $9,715
Event 4 • $340 LHE
Entries: 54 • Pool: $15,390
Isaac Crow, $5K
Event 5 • $340 NLHE
Entries: 179 • Pool: $51,015
Duey Duong, $9,728
Event 6 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 221 • Pool: $27,625
Feliz Lapuz, $2,085
Event 7 • $225 6-Max
Entries: 86 • Pool: $16,340
Patrick Choueiri, $3,610
Event 8 • $65 NLHE
Entries: 164 • Pool: $8,200
Fabio De Francesco, $2K
Event 9 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 2,759 • Pool: $344,875
Dennis Wiley, $28,370
Event 10 • $125 w/rbs
Entries: 201 • Pool: $59,090
Yoni Levi, $8,465
Event 11 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 72 • Pool: $10K
Fraser Christie, $1,350
Event 12 • $340 NLHE
Entries: 113 • Pool: $32,205
David Pham, $8,605
Event 13 • $340 PLHE
Entries: 20 • Pool: $5,700
Cuu Hoang, $2,800
Event 14 • $225 NLHE
Entries: 227 • Pool: $50K
Jon Barker, $11,220
Event 15 • $1,100 NLHE
Entries: 63 • Pool: $63K
Daniel Callaghan, $9,300
Event 16 • $225 NLHE
Entries: 138 • Pool: $26,223
Phillip Penn, $6,110
Event 17 • $1,100 NLHE
Entries: 41 • Pool: $41K
Aaron Gustavson, $14,760
$2,080 Main Event
Entries: 269 • Pool: $521,860
Brandon Long, $89,210
Event 19 • $150 AIOF
Entries: 106 • Pool: $25K
Rupesh Pattni, $4,105
