Trisha Shetty (Editor)

The Bicycle Hotel and Casino

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Opening date
  
November 30, 1984

Previous names
  
The Bicycle Casino

Casino type
  
Land

Renovated in
  
2015 (Hotel Addition)

Address
  
888 Bicycle Casino Drive Bell Gardens, CA 90201

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino is a poker cardroom in California.

Contents

Founded by George Hardie Sr. in 1984, located in Bell Gardens, California, The Bicycle Casino offers a selection of poker games and Asian games, with a wide range of limits. The casino features games including: Blackjack, Texas Hold 'Em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha hold 'em, Mexican Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker and Baccarat (card game).

Financing to build the original Bicycle Club casino was provided by Sam Gilbert, who allegedly used money partially obtained from laundering drug money. The casino is home to the Legends of Poker, a tournament series established in 1995 that now includes a stop on the World Poker Tour. Prior to the Legends, the casino's main tournament series was called the Diamond Jim Brady.

Seizure and indictment

In 1987, Sam Gilbert was the subject of a federal investigation into money laundering and racketeering charges. According to the investigation, a scheme to launder the money received from smuggling marijuana was put together to finance the construction of the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. According to one criminal complaint,

Gilbert was indicted in Miami 4 days after his death. His son Michael also was indicted.

The U.S. Government seized the casino in April, 1990, after a jury found that $12 million of the $22 million used in its construction came from Florida drug smugglers. The club's profits were frozen and placed in a special U.S. marshal account until the court held civil hearing to determine which partners knew that the club was built with drug money.

George Hardie and The Park Place Associates ownership were exonerated in 1990, and they regained their 35% stake.

In July 1991 a Florida federal judge ruled that at least one of the partners, former Los Angeles Westside banker M. Dale Lyon, knew about the club's financing. Eight other partners in the LCP Associates, the partnership named for Lyon, Coyne and Pierson, agreed to forfeit portions of their interest in the club before the civil hearing began. LCP partners Julianne Coyne and former California Assemblyman David C. Pierson settled before the civil hearing. In 1991, they agreed to give up about half of their interest in LCP, which had a 65% stake in the casino.

By the time it sold its share of the casino in 1996, the US government had made tens of millions of dollars in profit from its share of the casino. As a partner in the club, the government also contributed to political campaigns to defeat the proposal to build a rival card club in Orange County.

Live at the Bike

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino was the first brick and mortar casino to broadcast live poker games over the Internet. Live at The Bike. It ran five nights a week, and was accessible via the casino's website. The show sometimes featured guest commentary from professional players like Barry Greenstein and Kenna James.

Live at the Bike became a subscription service in mid-2006. The live broadcast was canceled in March 2007, but returned in January 2011 on PokerNetcast.com.

Expansion

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino underwent a major hotel expansion in the Fall of 2015. The new seven-story, 117,907 square-foot complex now includes live entertainment, gaming, cocktail lounge, brewery, fitness center, sundeck with an outdoor bar, and a number of places to dine.

The Bicycle Casino was featured in an episode of the TV series Numb3rs dealing with the murder of a successful card-counter, who coincidentally was also heavily into bicycle home repair.

References

The Bicycle Hotel & Casino Wikipedia