Brad Horner Wins CPPT Bicycle Hotel And Casino Main Event

The 2017 Card Player Poker Tour $400,000 guaranteed main event at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino easily surpassed the guarantee after drawing 1,754 entries, a great turnout that built a final prize pool of $467,928. In the end, there could only be one champion, and that player was Brad Horner.

Horner was the chip leader at the Bell Gardens card room when a seven-handed deal was struck. For the win this summer, Horner earned $49,123 as well as a CPPT trophy. The victory was by far the largest live tournament result of his poker career, but it could be just the start of big things to come.

Horner is a 30-year-old IT professional who lives in Visalia, California. He capitalized on the event’s Quantum Tournament format and deep structure and bought-in directly on day 2 for $1,750 with the dream of winning the title and fulfilling a promise that was dear to his heart. He told his sick mother he would make the cover of the Card Player Magazine for her.

“My mom has cancer, and she probably only has a couple months to live,” Horner said after the win. “Getting on the magazine will mean a lot. She’s proud of how successful I’ve been in my career, poker and the other things I’m into.”

Though Horner’s live results are minimal, he has plenty of poker experience over the internet. “I used to play quite a bit when PokerStars and Full Tilt were legal in the U.S.,” Horner said. “I grinded sit-and-gos for a living for a couple of years. I miss those days all the time.”

While Horner bought in just once for $1,750, there were many players in the event who took advantage of entering at an earlier stage of the tournament for less than $240 with the option of re-entry over five starting days. The event truly allowed players of all bankroll sizes to test their skills.

Twenty-six players returned for the final day of action. Horner was the chip leader coming into day 3, but poker pro Ryan Lenaghan was arguably the most accomplished tournament player in the field at that stage. Lenaghan had just under $900,000 in prior live tournament earnings. His biggest score came when he finished 16th in the 2011 World Series of Poker main event for $378,796.

Lenaghan lost a big pot early in the day and was left quite short. He tried to steal some blinds with an all-in move holding the 6 4 and ran into an opponent’s A-J, which held up to send Lenaghan to the rail in 20th place with $3,155.

Around the same time, Horner won a massive race when his pocket queens held up against an opponent’s A-K. However, the pot that really secured his chip lead heading into the final table came when he and Tigran Abgaryan saw a flop of K Q 9. Abgaryan got all-in holding the K Q for top two pair against Horner’s Kh Jh for top pair, a flush draw, a straight draw and, of course, a one-card draw to make a straight flush. It was pretty close to a coin flip, but Abgaryan was slightly ahead. Horner had a 43 percent chance to win, according to the Poker Odds Calculator available on CardPlayer.com.

The turn brought the 6 and Horner took the lead with the flush. Abgaryan needed to make a full house. The J on the river did pair the board, but it didn’t improve Abgaryan and he was eliminated in 11th place. With that Horner took a sizable lead heading into the unofficial final table.

Negotiations for a deal began while play was still ten-handed, but the talks kept unraveling. It wasn’t until after the elimination of Vanik Matousian in eighth that the remaining seven players all agreed to the numbers when presented with a chip chop.
The main event was one of five events during the series, which had more than $560,000 in guarantees in total.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

1. Bradley Horner — $49,123
2. Anonymous — $43,135
3. David Snobl — $36,065
4. Erich Karle — $31,860
5. Anthony Lopez — $31,540
6. Andrew Cho — $29,680
7. Jesus Gonzalez — $23,610
8. Vanik Matousian — $9,425
9. Benjamin Nguyen — $6,960

CPPT Returns To the Bike October 1-17 For Another Huge Poker Series

Don’t worry if you missed the tour stop in July. The CPPT returns to the Bike in October, with a series running Oct. 1-20. There are more than a dozen events on the schedule, with the highlight of the series being the $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em $400,000 guaranteed main event that will have open registration Oct. 14-17.

The event will give you the option of buying in on day 2 for $4,300. You should expect another huge turnout thanks to the Quantum Tournament format. The Bike will run a full slate of satellites to the event, allowing poker players to qualify for as little as $200. Californian Edwin Pairavi won the 2016 CPPT main event at the Bike last October for more than $120,000.

For a full look at the October stop check out cardplayerpokertour.com.

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino recently unveiled a $50 million hotel expansion to the property, which poker players can continue taking advantage of come this fall. The 117,907-square-foot addition boasts 99 rooms, including 29 suites, as well as a multitude of amenities including the all-new Bike Brewery, full spa and elevated outdoor pool deck with private cabanas.

Card Player had the chance to speak to Bike Tournament Director Mo Fathipour, who has pioneered the Quantum Tournament format, about the upcoming series, including the main event.

Card Player: What are you looking forward to about this tournament?

Mo Fathipour: I think it is going to be much better than last year. Every year the Card Player Poker Tour is getting better and better. That is a $1,100 buy-in with the Quantum concept. You can buy in on day 2 for $4,300. Every day they are going to be playing to 25 percent of the field, and we’ll go from there.

CP: You have been called a “players’ TD.” Your tournaments have great structures.

MF: Players love [the Quantum Tournament] because the prize pool goes up and the tournament draws some professional players. The concept is getting popular. We had it in Canada, we had it in Las Vegas, and we had it in San Diego. It’s going almost everywhere.

CP: Why should poker players from across the country come to L.A. in October for the event? This is of course not factoring in the more pleasant L.A. weather.

MF: I can promise that whoever comes from the east coast, with an east coast ID, I will give them 20 percent off the hotel and free food every day during the tournament. It’s a good deal for them.

CP: How nice is it having a hotel here now?

MF: So good, I gain maybe 20-25 percent in the bigger tournaments because of the hotel. The hotel is already booking for [future events]. It helps cash games too. The hotel is very nice. Every time you come to the Bike you’ll notice things changing and getting better and better. ♠