The Parkwest Bicycle Casino in California recently hosted the Winning' O' The Green festival. It was a big poker series that occurred between February 28 and April 18. Still, it encompassed the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Parkwest Bicycle Casino stop.
Winnin' O' The Green comprised a $1.5 million guaranteed Mega Millions XXIV tournament with more than 30 starting flights. It had a Day 2 direct entry and lasted for 13 days.
Records show that the event had 4,817 entrants when its registration period lapsed and a $2,147,490 prize pool. The $275 buy-in price level attracted 2,560 entries, while the $560 level had 2,078 entries. Moreover, the $3,350 level had 179 entries on Day 2.
The casino paid out almost $500,000 through the Day 1 in-the-money finishes and to entrants who advanced to Day 2 several times in the event's starting flights. Esa Homayun, a West Hills resident, bagged the $266,470 top prize, almost two weeks after the huge tournament kicked off. He won his last pot, and it was the biggest live poker tournament score he has made in his career.
It exceeded the $8,847 prize he won after finishing fifth in the 2021 Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza 1 $400 buy-in tournament.
The Top Finalists' Prizes
- Esa Homayun – $266,470
- Jason Wasser – $174.360
- James Millard – $188,405
- Steven Kim – $162,070
- Michael Tabriz – $75,495
- Manas Gandhi – $58,300
- Sean Swingruber – $45,765
- David Uvaydov – $35,885
- Larry Quang – $27,520
How Things Unfolded on the Final Day
The tournament's last day kicked off with only seven players remaining. David Uvaydov's A-K lost to Steven Kim's pocket nines. The former decided to play in 32 of the series' 33 starting flights and to compete in this event to make a profit.
Unfortunately, he finished eighth with $35,885. Uvaydov made $1,000 net losses in the competition and made almost $35,000 profit.
Homayun got the stack lead as seven players sat at the table. Jason Wasser had the shortest stack.
Surprisingly, he extended his run as Sean Wingruber, Manas Gandhi, and Michael Tabriz finished in seventh, sixth, and fifth places, respectively. The four remaining finalists made a deal which redistributed the rest of the prize pool according to each player's stack size when they agreed.
Almost $80,000 was left in the prize pool at that time, and each finalist strived to clinch the title. Yet, Homayun sent Kim packing in fourth place with $162,070 and Millard in third position with $188,405.
The two eliminations gave Homayun an over 3:1 chip advantage over Wasser before their heads-up action began. Wasser used KClub Suit4Club Suit to face Homayun's QDiamond Suit in the final hand after all the remaining chips went in preflop.
KSpade SuitJDiamond Suit10Diamond Suit3Spade Suit landed on the board by the turn. It left Wasser in a tricky spot as Homayun got a king-high straight. The former finished second with $174,360.
