The Chicago Poker Classic (CPC) has fallen short of their guarantees in the first two competitions, as the free money goes the way of Sachin Bhargava in Event #2.
The CPC is turning out to be a little expensive for the Hammond Casino.
Event #1 missed its $1m guarantee by $50,400, and Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) has missed its $500,000 guarantee by $145,360, after only 806 entrants climbed through the ropes and took their seats in the thick of the action.
One man who benefited most from all of the free money was the eventual winner Sachin Bhargava who pocketed $104,263 after defeating the highly capable Mike Mustafa in the three-day event.
Bhargava may have been the chip leader, as he entered the final table, but it was Mustafa who had all of the experience and was the betting man’s choice to take the title.
Mustafa once finished fifth in a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Six-Max event that contained the likes of John Beauprez, Manig Loeser, Eric Blair, Joe Cada and Keven Stammen, and also came second to Carlos Mortenson in the 2010 World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championships.
Bhargava, by stark contrast, had no more than $7,000 in live tournament earnings to his name, and a decision to make, going in to Day 2, because he had 28 big blinds and was due in work for his employer Innova Financial based in downtown Chicago.
“I just told them I needed a personal day and it was fine. I never expected I’d end up winning $104,000. I did not call in sick. I didn’t lie – a personal day.”
What a nice employer…
Other notables players who cashed included Shawn Reed (74th), Paul Bianchi (54th), Dan Heimiller (27th), Ben Keeline (10th) and Pavlin Karakikov (sixth).
Final Table Standings
1st: Sachin Bhargava – $104,263
2nd: Mike Mustafa – $64,452
3rd: Brad Sailor – $42,219
4th: Richard Frye – $29,226
5th: Matthew Rosen – $21,316
6th: Pavlin Karakikov – $16,335
7th: Musa Taher – $13,124
8th: Marc Bernal – $11,034
9th: Michael Giorango – $9,685
