One of the largest events of the year will kick off major tournament poker in 2009 when the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event begins on Monday, Jan. 5 at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. This will be the fifth year for this destination tournament, and it also marks the second time it is featured as part of the European Poker Tour schedule (it is the sixth stop on the EPT season five schedule). This is the first year the event will feature a $10,000 buy-in, and the “festival of poker” will also feature a $25,000 High Roller Event as part of the PCA schedule for the first time. Card Player’s live coverage team will be at the Atlantis Resort to bring you all of the action in live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos will be produced by CardPlayer TV. A large number of professionals are sure to be in attendance, as well as a large contingent from the online world at their largest live tournament of the year (650 players in the 2008 PCA field won their seats online at PokerStars). Many Team PokerStars Pros will also be at the Atlantis Resort, including 2008 PCA Champion Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. This tournament field should easily be the second largest in North America in 2009, as last year 1,136 players stormed the shores of Nassau to create a $2 million first-place prize.
Here is the full schedule for the 2009 PCA:
$10,000 EPT Main Event
Monday, Jan. 5: Day 1A — Levels 1-8 (each day begins at noon)
Tuesday, Jan. 6: Day 1B
Wednesday, Jan. 7: Day 2 — Levels 9-14
Thursday, Jan. 8: Day 3 – Play down to 32 players
Friday, Jan. 9: Day 4 – Play down to 8 players
Saturday, Jan. 10: Final Table
Notes for Main Event: Players begin with 20,000 in chips and the blinds begin at 50-100. Tournament levels will last for 75 minutes with a 15-minute break after each level. There will be a 90-minute dinner break on day 1A and 1B that will take place after level 5. There will be no dinner breaks on days 2-5.
$25,000 High Roller Event
Wednesday, Jan. 7: Day 1 – Down to 8 players or end of level 12 (both days begin at noon)
Thursday, Jan. 8: Final Table
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event
Thursday, Jan. 8: Day 1 (begins at 2 p.m.)
Friday, Jan. 9: Final Table (begins at 3 p.m.)
$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event
Friday, Jan. 9: Day 1 (begins at 1 p.m.)
Saturday, Jan. 10: Final Table (begins at 3 p.m.)
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event
Saturday, Jan. 10: Day 1 (begins at 2 p.m.)
Sunday, Jan. 11: Final Table (begins at 3 p.m.)
* All times are in EST
2008 PCA
Buy-in: $8,000
Number of Entries: 1,136
Total Prize Pool: $8,594,876
First-Place Prize: $2,000,000
Places Paid: 120
Final-Table Results:
1st: Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier — $2,000,000
2nd: Hafiz Khan — $1,094,976
3rd: Kris Kuykendall — $800,000
4th: David “The Dragon” Pham — $600,000
5th: Craig Hopkins — $450,000
6th: Joe Elpayaa — $300,000
7th: Christian Harder — $200,000
8th: Richard Fohrenbach — $150,000
Notable Cashes: William Thorsson (ninth), Glen Chorny (13th), Victor Ramdin (25th), Eric Lynch (26th), Thierry Van Den Berg (28th), Peter Jetten (42nd), Jon Friedberg (43rd), Hevad “Rain” Khan (44th)
Be sure to tune in and catch all of the action live from Paradise Island in the Bahamas starting on Monday.
