With the Los Angeles Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino coming to a close, it just would not be normal in Los Angeles without another event ready to begin. Next up is the World Series of Poker Circuit at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens kicking off March 6.
The schedule this year is just great. It’s almost like two tournament series running concurrently. Over the course of the series, there are 78 flights where you can play a WSOPC event, a non-ring event, one of the multiple starting flights of a re-entry event or a satellite.
Front-loaded on the schedule are the 12 WSOPC events with buy-ins of $365 for eight of them. Most are no-limit hold’em, but there’s a $365 Omaha/8 ring event that starts at 4 p.m. on March 9. There’s also a $1,125 NLHE event March 14. The $1,675, $1 million guarantee, WSOPC main event begins March 15. There are satellites for both beginning March 13.
On top of the WSOPC events, there are 12 tournaments interspersed with the ring events. With smaller buy-ins of $135-$355, and other variants of poker, this may be more for the everyday player. Some of the other formats offered are HORSE, Omaha/8, bounty and a $355 survivor, where the top 10 percent of the field cash for $3K.
After you get through all the ring and side events, what tournament series at the Bike would be complete without the patented Mega Millions? Mega Millions IX kicks off with the first of 22 $160 starting flights at 1 p.m. on March 21. These run at 1 and 6 every day through March 31.
Keeping up with the recent twist on this format, in addition to the multiple starting flights, there are multiple buy-in levels, too. If the $160 entry is too much of a crapshoot for you, there are four flights where you can buy in for $550 and get 25K chips with 10 percent advancing to Day 2. If neither of those options appeals to you, there’s a direct buy-in to Day 2 where $5,300 will get you an average chip stack starting in the money.
To finish, there’s a $300K guarantee with seven $160 starting flights. Much like the Mega Millions, you can buy in with a larger stack and 10 percent advancing for $550, or right into the money on Day 2 and get an average stack for $3K.
So, there you have it: $2.75 million in guarantees, five weeks and 78 starting flights. Just another average month in L.A.
— Email Dave Palm at LA.AnteUp@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @AnteUpLosAngele.
