George Antonakos Wins 2018 CPPT Bicycle Main Event

The 2018 Card Player Poker Tour Bicycle Hotel & Casino main event drew a massive field of 2,180 total entries, with 153 day 2 direct entries. The prize pool swelled to $675,023 as a result of the massive turnout, blowing away the $500,000 guarantee. More than a week after the first hand was dealt in the event, George Antonakos emerged victorious, earning $75,365 after striking a deal with seven players remaining. He was only in for one $245 buy-in in this event.

“It’s a great ROI man! It’s fantastic,” said Antonakos after coming out on top. “If somebody told me three days ago I’d be chopping it for $75,000 I would be ecstatic. It’s unbelievable.”

This was the 42-year-old business owner from Marina Del Rey’s second largest score, behind his second-place finish in an event at the Borgata in 2010 for $110,434.

“I’m a serious amateur, is probably what one would call me. I play in Vegas in some tournaments, and have been playing tournament poker for the last eight years.”

This tournament began with 12 starting flights, which drew 2,027 entries over the span of six days of action. A total of 228 players made it through to day 2, including Antonakos, who bagged up 437,000 to enter the day in fourth chip position. A total of 153 day 2 entries each put up $1,800 to receive an average stack of 150,000 in chips with blinds of 1,000-2,000 and an ante of 300.

Play continued for 13 levels on day 2, and when the dust settled Warwick Mirzikinian led the final 34 remaining players. The accomplished Australian poker player was looking to add to his live earnings of more than $700,000 with a deep run in this event. Once again Antonakos found himself ending the day near the top of the leaderboard, sitting in sixth position with just shy of 2.5 million in chips.

Mirzikinian ultimately succumbed in 19th place, earning $4,545. While his lead had faltered, Antonakos was on the rise. In the span of a few orbits he won gigantic pots to leave Amir Ghazvinian on fumes and eliminate Thi Truong. In the later hand he made the nut flush against Truong’s top two pair to send her to the rail in 11th place ($6,905).

Once the field had been narrowed to the final table, Alex Rapoport went on a spree that helped bring the event to a close. Rapoport won a huge pot against Steve Henning that left the latter with less than a big blind. Rapoport raised to 400,000 from middle position and Henning reraised to 1,200,000 from the cutoff. Rapoport announced that he was all-in for 5,225,000. After a brief moments thought, Henning called with the K K. Rapoport showed him the bad news, revealing the A A. Henning was not able to come from behind and was left with barely any chips after the hand. He was eliminated in ninth place not long after, earning $9,605.

Rapoport claimed another key knockout in 2015 Card Player Poker Tour Hollywood Park main event champion Adam Volen. The Southern Californian poker pro came incredibly close to becoming the first ever two-time CPPT main event champion, but he ran his 8 8 into Rapoport’s Q Q and did not improve on a 10 4 2 7 6 runout. Volen was sent to the rail with $12,615 for his latest deep run.

Seven-handed action continued for over an hour without many hands of note. The remaining players decided to talk over making a deal. Eventually a deal was struck. As the clear chip leader Antonakos secured the largest payout and the title, with the rest of the players locking up at least $34,838. Based on chip counts Alex Beleson was the runner-up finisher, while Rapoport’s late run earned him third place.

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

Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 George Antonakos $75,365
2 Alex Beleson $48,031
3 Alex Rapoport $45,688
4 Kyle Cameron $45,797
5 Dany Georges $43,797
6 Cody Bell $43,925
7 Tom Trang $34,838
8 Adam Volen $12,615
9 Steve Henning $9,605

CPPT Returns To the Bike October 1-21 For Another Exciting Series

If you didn’t make your way to beautiful Bell Gardens this summer, don’t worry. You’ll have another chance to join in on the action when the Card Player Poker Tour returns to the Bicycle Hotel & Casino for Big Poker Oktober, a 17-event series set to run Oct. 1-21. There are a number of fantastic events planned throughout the month, but the centerpiece of the whole affair is the $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em $500,000 guaranteed CPPT no-limit hold’em main event running Oct. 17-21.

The tournament will feature three starting flights, each beginning at 11:30 on Oct. 17-19. Players can also take advantage of the Quantum Tournament format and buy directly into day 2 for $4,300. Day 2 features single re-entry for the first two levels, with players who buy-in that day receiving an average stack of 120,000 with blinds at 1,000-2,000 with an ante of 300. The Bike is offering a full slate of satellites to the event, allowing poker players to qualify for as little as $200.

In 2017 this event drew a field of 550 total entries, creating a $673,180 prize pool. In the end 23-year-old Andrew Wisdom came out on top, securing the title and the $165,025 first-place prize.

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino unveiled a $50 million hotel expansion to the property late in 2015, improving on what was already one of the best places in the world to play poker. 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.

Bike Tournament Director Mo Fathipour, who pioneered the Quantum Tournament format, is excited with the positive effect the expansion has had on poker tournaments.

“The hotel is very nice. Every time you come to the Bike you’ll notice things changing and getting better and better,” he told Card Player. When asked about the Quantum format for this event he said, “Players love it 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.”

In addition to the CPPT main event there will be another eight events with guaranteed prize pools, including two more tournaments with promised pots of at least $500,000. The current schedule has more than $1.7 million in total guarantees.