Will "The Thrill" Failla Is the World Poker Tour® Legends of Poker Champion

BELL GARDENS, Calif., Sept. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bicycle Casino's prestigious Legends of Poker tournament series has come to a conclusion. Throughout the month of August, thousands of poker players passed through  the Bicycle Casino's doors in what can best be described as the winningest month of the year.

This year's Legends of Poker kicked off with the $1,000,000 Guaranteed No Limit Hold'em re-entry  event.  Many may have thought it was sheer madness to guarantee a million dollar prize pool for the ridiculously low buy-in of $125; however not only did the Bicycle Casino draw over 7,239 players to its inaugural Legends of Poker event, the optional $100 add-on/rebuy catapulted the prize pool to a mind-blowing $1,453,811. The keystone to the success of the Legends of Poker Mega Millions event was Tournament Director, Mo Fathipour's reasoning that if thousands of bankrolled poker professionals were willing to journey to Las Vegas to pay tens of thousands of dollars to play a ten-day event during the month of July for a shot of winning millions of dollars, the average poker aficionado would appreciate having the same opportunity for what amounts to be the expense of a couple of tanks of gas. Turns out he was right. On August 9, 2011, thousands watched the Mega Millions final table via live webcast on liveatthebike.com, as Fausto Saucedo won $340,191

New for 2011 was the Legends of Poker special event,  "Legends of Legends." The pre-championship event was a semi-invitational $500 No Limit Hold'em poker tournament held on August 24, 2011 at 1:00 p.m., and gave poker enthusiasts an opportunity to win one of ten guaranteed seats into the televised WPT® Legends of Poker Championship, fatten up their bankrolls with cold-hard cash and play poker with Legends from years past. In attendance were last year's Legends of Poker WPT Champion Andrew Frankenberger, the first Legends of Poker WPT Champion Chris Karagulleyan, and several other past Legends of Poker event winners including Mark Seif, Allen Cunningham, Jeff Madsen, Scott Clements, and Jennifer Tilly. In the end, Jason Koon beat out friend and roommate Nicholas Rampone for the top cash prize of $16,800.00.

The Legends of Poker tournament series culminated in the World Poker Tour® Season X Legends of Poker No Limit Hold'em Championship on Thursday, August 25th. This year, the Bicycle Casino chose to take a chance and break from convention. While the Legends of Poker Championship was among the most affordable buy-ins on the tour, the Bicycle Casino took the risky approach of offering two starting days with the option for players to re-enter on the final start day. The gamble paid off. The Event Center was filled to the brim on each start day with some of poker's most notable personalities and enthusiastic poker players from all over the world.

The 2011 Legends of Poker WPT Championship prize pool overshadowed last year's event by over a quarter million dollars. A total of 757 entrants competed for the $2,570,015 prize pool, and each day leading up to the final table of the main event was webcast live on the Bicycle Casino's world famous LiveattheBike.com. Commentators Bart Hanson, Dave Tuchman, and Nichoel Jurgens were in the booth from beginning to end calling the action, interacting with the internet audience, and conversing with special guests, the likes of which included Barry Greenstein, Maria Ho, and Scott Clements. Also on hand were poker's go-to-guy Kevin Mathers twittering the daily happenings and the QuadJack.com team Marco Valerio, Thomas Keeling and Zac Hart, who broadcasted their popular internet radio show live from the Bicycle Casino Event Center.

After five days of continuous play, the final table was set in the early morning hours of Tuesday, August 30, 2011, following the elimination of Ray Henson in 7th place. Owais Ahmed, Adam Aronson, Ken "Teach" Aldridge, Jeffrey Vertes, Jeffrey Vertes, Josh Pollock, and Will "The Thrill" Failla returned later that day to determine the ultimate winner. The Legends of Poker Championship final table was filmed before a live audience on the innovatively redesigned WPT set for broadcast on Fox Sports Net in early 2012 as the second stop on Season X of the World Poker Tour television series.

Will "The Thrill" Failla was all smiles as he shook hands and posed for the photographers In addition to the title of World Poker Tour Champion, Failla took home the newly designed WPT Championship trophy, the Tiffany's custom card protector, the Legends of Poker Wild Bill Hickok trophy and $758,085.00 in cash. Failla's triumph will also be commemorated on the WPT Championship Cup for aspiring champions to admire for many years to come.

For details on all upcoming events, call the Welcome Center at (562) 806-4646 ext 545, or check out the website at www.thebike.com. Online registration for scheduled tournament events is now open.

About the Bicycle Casino

The Bicycle Casino,  hosts one of country's largest poker rooms and is THE place to play in the Los Angeles area. We offer a large selection of poker games and Asian games, as well as a wide range of limits to suit everyone's needs. Our desire is to make every player, from the novice to the professional, feel like they have experienced the best in service and gaming action, every time they come to play.

We feature a myriad of games including: BlackJack, Texas Hold 'Em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, Mexican Poker, Pan, Pai Gow Poker, Pai Gow Tiles, Pan-9, Three Card Poker and Baccarat.

The poker room is a pleasantly smoke-free environment and provides players with their choice of 175 tables within its 100,000+ square feet of spacious floor space. (For those that love to smoke and play, we have created an atrium-like room to smoke, drink and play in our Freedom Court). The poker room is surrounded by state-of-the-art HD digital televisions and guests are seated in comfortable chairs within a spacious and elegant atmosphere. Our newest addition, the Bicycle Casino Event Center allows tournament players to play their favorite events in comfortable elegance. Dine in either of our two restaurants, The Jade Dragon or the Bike Deli, or enjoy food and beverage service tableside while you play your favorite game!

SOURCE The Bicycle Casino