There may not be as many known players around lately because of the World Series, but it’s business as usual as locals showed up for the recent California State Poker Championships at Commerce Casino.
Locals Phong “Turbo” Nguyen and Chris “Armenian Express” Grigorian had multiple cashes. The 18-event series was highlighted by the $2,080 championship. The final table came down to two tournament regulars, Brent Hanks and Gavin Griffin, but it was Hanks who got the trophy and the $117,760 that accompanied it.
Also worth mention in this series is Se Jin Jeon. Of the 4,614 players who participated in the series, she was the only woman to win an event when she took down Event 13, $550 NLHE.
BIKE: The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens this month is running its Stars & Stripes tournament series, which has 18 events, many with multiple starting flights. Much like the WSOP, there’s typically an early event or flight (1 p.m.), and a late event or flight (4 or 6 p.m.) depending on the day and event.
If you’re a typical amateur on a limited bankroll like most people, you should check out this series. Except for Event 17, the $550 entry fee, $150K guarantee deepstack re-entry event, all other events are $235 or cheaper. Excluding that event there is more than $500K guaranteed.
If you like variety, other formats included in the series are Event 2 ($235 stud/8-Omaha/8) and Event 13 ($235 Omaha). There are also multiple NLHE variants, including deepstack re-entry, deepstack bounty and a deepstack bounty re-entry if you want to keep taking shots after your bad beats rather than complain about them.
— Dave Palm is Ante Up’s L.A. Ambassador. Email him at LA.AnteUp@gmail.com.
