The Liz Flynt Spring Poker Classic wrapped up at the end of April at the Hustler Casino in Gardena. The highlights of this seven-event series were two tournaments with huge guarantees compared to their relatively nominal buy-ins.
Event 4 had a $160 entry plus one optional $100 add-on, and a $500K guarantee. There were 15 starting flights for this event, which notched a mammoth 3,727 runners. Including rebuys, the guarantee was destroyed, creating a prize pool of nearly $800K. The tournament ended in a five-way chop with Edison Tapiz taking home $100K. All five players cleared more than $50K, which is just phenomenal for such a reasonable buy-in.
The series ended with a $250K guarantee that also had a $160 entry and allowed one $100 add-on. Not to sound like a broken record, but this guarantee was demolished as more than 1,600 players entered the nine starting flights for a $340K-plus prize pool. Six players chopped this one with Ross Villanueva taking the top prize of $29,500, which was just shy of the published second-place award ($29,700).
With the first event of the 2014 World Series of Poker kicking off May 27 and through the main event, which starts July 5, the tournament scene in Los Angeles pretty much hibernates. I’ll be monitoring the WSOP events and try to bring stories of locals who make big waves in Las Vegas.
If you’re from the Los Angeles area and make it deep at the WSOP, feel free to contact me so I can get it in a column. The best ways are my e-mail, which is la.anteup@gmail.com or @AnteUp_LA on Twitter. I will be at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from June 26-July 1, so feel free to look me up.
— Email Dave Palm at LA.AnteUp@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @AnteUp_LA.
