Congratulations to Victor Ramdin, The Big Event Main Event Champion ($500,000)
The Big Event at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California began this past weekend with a 417-player field. Today, Victor Ramdin emerged the victor over a stacked final table to claim the $500,000 first-place prize. At the start of the day, eight men had dreams of capturing The Big Event title including two superstars of the game: Ramdin and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Joe Hachem. Needless to say, all eyes were on them as action got underway. It was a long and treacherous final table, one that was aired on the Bicycle Casino’s popular Live at the Bike webcast.
It didn’t take long for the first elimination of the day. It happened when Santiago Nadal put in a standard raise only to be reraised to 205,000 from Victor Ramdin in the small blind. When the big blind folded, Nadal moved all in for 898,000 and Ramdin called.
Showdown
Ramdin: 
Nadal: 
It was a classic race for Nadal's tournament life, but when the board ran out 
, Nadal was eliminated from The Big Event in eighth place. A short time later, Hachem raised to 66,000 from the hijack only to have Jose De Noronha move all in from the cutoff for 377,000 more. Action folded back to Hachem and he thought long and hard before making the call:
Showdown
De Noronha: 
Hachem: 
De Noronha was the one at risk as the flop came out 
. Hachem had vaulted to the lead and left his opponent in bad shape. The 
turn and 
river changed nothing and De Noronha followed Nadal out the door in seventh place.
The next to go was Govert Metaal who three-bet shoved preflop for around 500,000 with 
and was called by the 
of Hachem. A queen on the flop was all it took and Metaal hit the rail in sixth place. It took a couple hours for the next elimination, but it finally came in the form of Bryan Leskowitz, who failed to crack Jeremy Ausmus’ 
with his 
.
Four-handed action continued for a long time before Taylor von Kriegenbergh three-bet shoved for just about a million chips and was called by Hachem:
Showdown
Hachem: 
Von Kriegenbergh: 
The board ran out 
flop left von Kriegenbergh drawing thin, but it was the 
turn that left him drawing dead. Von Kriegenbergh became the fourth-place finisher, prompting him to say of his $140,000 haul, "It's a good chunk of money. It's about $100,000 more than I've made in any tourney."
Three-handed play was a marathon as well and didn’t conclude until Ausmus opened to 225,000 from the small blind and Hachem defended his big. When the flop came down , Ausmus bet 280,000, Hachem shoved all in, and Ausmus called for his tournament life, committing his final ~1.3 million to the pot.
Showdown
Ausmus: 
Hachem:
Hachem's top pair was in the front, and he was two cards away from sending this match into heads-up play. The 
turn and
river sent Ausmus to the rail in third place and ensured a heads-up match between two of the game’s top pros. Hachem entered with 7,090,000 to Ramdin’s 5,420,000 and it took about ninety minutes of back-and-forth action before things came to a head. The rest, as you’ve certainly read below, was history.
Congratulations to Victor Ramdin for taking down The Big Event Main Event title and laying claim to the $500,000 first-place prize.
The Big Event Final Table Results
| Finish | Player | Winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Victor Ramdin | $500,000 |
| 2nd | Joe Hachem | $300,000 |
| 3rd | Jeremy Ausmas | $190,000 |
| 4th | Taylor von Kriegenbergh | $140,000 |
| 5th | Bryan Leskowitz | $100,000 |
| 6th | Govert Metaal | $75,000 |
| 7th | Jose De Noronha | $55,000 |
| 8th | Santiago Nadal | $35,327 |
That doesn't conclude our coverage from the Bicycle Casino as we'll be back tomorrow and Saturday to bring you all the action from the Bounty Shootout.