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Isaac Haxton Wins PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100k 7-Handed High Roller Event

Haxton Takes Home $1,555,360 At A Loaded Final Table In The Bahamas

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There were a total of 46 entries in the $100,000 buy-in 7-handed high roller tournament at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure hosted at Baha Mar Resort in the Bahamas, and at the end of the 2-day event Isaac Haxton was the champion. He took home the largest piece of the $4,508,460 to add another $1,555,360 to his career earnings that now stand at $35,563,165. Haxton leapfrogged his friend and fourth-place finisher Steve O’Dwyer for 14th place on the all-time money list with the victory.

This win continues an impressive start of the year for Haxton. This was his fourth cash and second tournament win at the PCA after he won another $100,000 high roller event to pocket $1,082,230. Haxton also won the $50,000 high roller that brought the PokerGO Cup to a close a few weeks ago.

Haxton is now in fifth place in the Card Player Player of the Year race thanks to his scorching hot start to 2023. He holds 2,178 points, and is 1,182 points behind current leader Aliaksandr Shylko.

There were 12 players that returned for Day 2 from 21 entries on the first day of play, but registration was still open to start the second day of the tournament and the field size more than doubled. Notables that busted along the way to the money and final table bubble included Stephen Chidwick, Justin Bonomo, Bryn Kenney, Cary Katz, Seth Davies, and Adrian Mateos, who fell at the hands of Haxton when his A-K was cracked by Haxton’s 10-3 that turned a wheel.

The first elimination at the final table came when David Peters held A-K against the pocket nines of Fedor Holz. The nines improved to a set on the flop, and Peters was eliminated in sixth place with $315,600 to add to his impressive career earnings.

Less than 30 minutes later, Nick Petrangelo was all in short preflop holding J-10, and he needed to improve to defeat the K-7 held by Haxton. The board brought no help, and Petrangelo was awarded $405,800 for the fifth-place finish.

The quick eliminations continued when O’Dwyer put his stack at risk with KSpade SuitQSpade Suit in the hole with a flop reading QHeart Suit10Heart Suit9Heart Suit against the AHeart SuitAClub Suit of Holz. The turn and river fell 4Spade Suit4Heart Suit to give Holz the flush. O’Dwyer busted in fourth place, good for $518,500.

Aleksejs Ponakovs was out next in third place to take the final table down to a heads-up final in just over an hour. Ponakovz took home $698,800 after a series of unfortunate events forced him to shove short with A-7, and although he found a second seven on the flop, it was not enough to catch the pocket eights held by Haxton.

The chip counts at the start of final match saw Haxton with 3,955,000 to give him an edge of just over a million against Holz’s stack of 2,940,000. Heads-up play lasted just over an hour with the final two players trading chips while Haxton steadily increased his lead. Holz shoved once, but received no call before the final hand transpired.

Holz had less than 10 big blinds when he limp-shoved after Haxton opened the pot with a raise. Holz held KClub Suit9Club Suit, and he was looking good to survive against the 10Club Suit8Club Suit of Haxton. The board had other ideas however, as 8Heart Suit7Spade Suit4Spade Suit7Diamond Suit8Spade Suit hit the table.

Holz was the runner-up, but he did take home a nice seven-figure score worth $1,014,400. The German poker professional now holds career tournament earnings worth $39,091,905. That puts him a few spots ahead of the winner Haxton on the all-time money list in 10th place overall. Haxton picked up his third tournament title of the year at his fourth final table to go along with the top prize money. Haxton summed it up well after the last hand occurred by saying, “Wow, what a week, can’t complain.”

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Place Player Earnings POY Points
1 Isaac Haxton $1,555,360 600
2 Fedor Holz $1,014,400 500
3 Aleksejs Ponakovs $698,800 400
4 Steve O’Dwyer $518,500 300
5 Nick Petrangelo $405,800 250
6 David Peters $315,600 200

Photo credits: Thomas Stacha / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.