Victor Ramdin Wins The Big Event at The Bike

The final day of The Big Event at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California saw a dream scenario play out when the two most notable players at the final table survived to the heads-up final. Team PokerStars pro members Joe Hachem and Victor Ramdin dueled for the $500,000 first-place prize in the tournament and the title of The Big Event champion.

The matter was settled a little after midnight and after a spirited battle between the two that saw both players double up to stave off elimination Ramdin emerged as the victor over Hachem. Ramdin claimed his first major tournament title since he won the World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic back in April 2006. The victory took his career earnings to $3,748,402 and it puts him in sixth place in the Card Player Player of the Year race, thanks to the 1,920 POY points he was awarded for the victory.

Hachem took home $300,000 as the runner up in the early minutes of his birthday and he now holds $11,166,622 in career earnings. The 1,600 POY points he took home puts him in a tie for 15th place overall in the POY race. Hachem is tied with another former world champion, Carlos Mortensen.

The two professionals were joined at the final table by a talented group of players, including third-place finisher and the chip leader for much of the final day, Jeremy Ausmus. The action at the final table was schizophrenic, with short periods of multiple eliminations followed by long droughts with little to no action. Read on below to see how the final table played out. Here is a look at the chip counts when the final table began:

1st: Jeremy Ausmus — 4,008,000
2nd: Victor Ramdin — 2,279,000
3rd: Taylor von Kriegenbergh — 1,810,000
4th: Joe Hachem — 1,666,000
5th: Bryan Leskowitz — 1,087,000
6th: Santiago Nadal — 943,000
7th: Jose Noronha — 568,000
8th: Govert Metaal — 149,000

Here is a look at the elimination hands from the final table as featured on Card Player’s live updates:

Santiago Nadal Eliminated in Eighth Place ($35,327)

Santiago Nadal raised preflop and Victor Ramdin reraised to 205,000. Nadal reraised all in for 898,000 and Ramdin made the call. Their cards:

Ramdin: A K
Nadal: J J

Board: 10 6 2 A 7

Nadal was eliminated on the hand in eighth place and he will take home $35,327 in prize money. Ramdin grew his stack to 2.6 million after the hand.

Jose Noronha Eliminated in Seventh Place ($55,000)

Joe Hachem raised to 66,000 from the hi-jack preflop and Jose Noronha reraised all in for 377,000 from the cutoff. Hachem made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Hachem: K J
Noronha: 7 7

Board: K 5 2 9 4

Noronha was eliminated in seventh place and he will take home $55,000 in prize money. Hachem grew his stack above 2 million after the hand.

Govert Metaal Eliminated in Sixth Place ($75,000)

Joe Hachem raised to 65,000 and Govert Metaal reraised all in for 500,000. Hachem made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Hachem: A Q
Metaal: 5 5

Board: Q 7 2 A 2

Metaal was eliminated on the hand and he will take home $75,000 in prize money. Hachem grew his stack to more than 3 million after the hand and he is now second in chips.

Bryan Leskowitz Eliminated in Fifth Place ($100,000)

Jeremy Ausmus raised from the small blind and Bryan Leskowitz moved all in on the big blind for a million. Ausmus made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Ausmus: Q Q
Leskowitz: K J

Board: A 7 5 10 9

Leskowitz was eliminated on the hand in fifth place and he will take home $100,000 in prize money. Ausmus extended his chip lead to 5 million.

Taylor von Kriegenbergh Eliminated in Third Place ($140,000)

Joe Hachem raised preflop and Taylor von Kriegenbergh reraised all in for a million. Hachem quickly made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Hachem: A Q
Kriegenbergh: K 10

The board ran out A 7 5 8 and Kriegenbergh was drawing dead. He was eliminated in fourth place and took home $140,000 in prize money. Hachem grew his stack close to 3 million heading into three-handed play.

Jeremy Ausmus Eliminated in Third Place ($190,000)

Jeremy Ausmus raised to 225,000 from the small blind preflop and Joe Hachem made the call from the big blind. The flop was dealt K J 6 and Ausmus bet 280,000. Hachem raised all in and Ausmus made an all-in call for 1.9 million. Their cards:

Ausmus: J 9
Hachem: K 7

Turn and River: 8 and 4

Ausmus was eliminated in third place and he will take home $190,000 in prize money. Hachem grew his stack to 7,090,000 for the heads-up final, where he will face Victor Ramdin, who holds 5,420,000.

Victor Ramdin Wins The Big Event ($500,000) — Joe Hachem Eliminated in Second Place ($300,000)

Victor Ramdin raised to 250,000 preflop from the button and Joe Hachem then moved all in. Ramdin made the all-in call and they flipped over their cards:

Ramdin: A J
Hachem: A K

Board: A J 8 10 2

Hachem was eliminated from the tournament in second place and he will take home $300,000 in prize money. Ramdin is the champion of The Big Event and he takes home the top prize worth $500,000. That concludes our live coverage from Los Angeles.

Final-Table Results:

1: Victor Ramdin — $500,000
2: Joe Hachem — $300,000
3: Jeremy Ausmus — $190,000
4: Taylor von Kriegenbergh — $140,000
5: Bryan Leskowitz — $100,000
6: Govert Metaal — $75,000
7: Jose Noronha — $55,000
8: Santiago Nadal — $35,327

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