The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California, saw the crowning of yet another poker champion as the WSOP Circuit $580 No-Limit Hold’em Event 4 came to its conclusion. The poker tournament began on March 7 and attracted interest on behalf of 100 entries who contributed to the $50,000 prize pool. Only the top 12 finishers were guaranteed to collect a monetary prize for their efforts, with a minimum payout capped at $1,045.
Following the elimination of Haik Kyurumyan in third place for $6,600 in prize money, it was players John Joshua De La Garza and Kathleen Solowitz who competed heads-up for the top prize and the coveted champion ring. As the two opponents failed to finish before the scheduled amount of play ended on Wednesday, they returned to the table yesterday at noon to commence heads-up play for the top place. The two opponents battled for over four hours until the final outcome of the tournament was decided.
De La Garza Starts Heads-Up Play as Chip Leader
De La Garza succeeded to double up his stack and collected most of the pots that did not make it to a showdown on Wednesday. Thus, the two contenders joined the table at the final day of play with De La Garza as the chip leader with 705,000 in chips as opposed to Solowitz’s 495,000 stack. The heads-up battle started with big and small blinds of 6,000 and 12,000, respectively, while a 2,000 ante was in place.
De La Garza temporarily surrendered this leading position following several bad river cards during some pre-flop shove decisions. At one point, Solowitz managed to establish a 3-to-1 chip lead but De La Garza recuperated from his chip deficit despite his shallow stack and the increasing blinds.
In the end, it was local player De La Garza who prevailed in the heads-up battle. De La Garza defeated his opponent Solowitz with a final hand consisting of King-Four, which secured him the amount of $15,000 in first-place prize money. In addition to this payout, De La Garza was awarded the prestigious WSOP Circuit ring.
His opponent Solowitz, who held Queen-Jack, settled for the runner-up position and secured the prize of $9,270 for her performance in the tournament. This is a second final-table performance for Kathleen Solowitz, who is now a serious contender for the Circuit’s Casino Champion crown.
This is a first WSOP Circuit ring for De La Garza who is no stranger at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino. In fact, De La Garza also does commentary for “Live at the Bike”, which is a popular cash-game show broadcast directly from Bicycle Casino’s famed card room. The winner participates regularly in the No-Limit Hold’em cash games at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino and has accumulated over $128,103 in total live earnings, with his best live-cash result to date amounting to $53,130.
