The 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure went off without a hitch and is yet another feather in the cap of a company that proves time and again why they are the leader in the industry. PokerStars teamed up with the European Poker Tour to host one of the largest ever fields in a major buy in tournament , and were able to do so with almost no visible glitches.For tournament with a buyin of over $5,000, only the World Series of Poker Main Events from the last few years can boast of fields larger than the 2008 PCA. <READMORE> With a whopping 1,135 players signed up, the field almost reached the cap of 1,200 players (though alternates were most likely going to be allowed if necessary).
Lee Jones, now the Executive Host of the EPT after being the face of PokerStars during the online poker boom, called the PCA “the biggest party in poker.” Many players qualified through satellites and were in for significantly less than the $8,000 buy in. A handful of players were even in for absolutely nothing out of their pockets, freerolling both into the event and into a week's stay at the beautiful Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier (pictured at top) is one of the most known names on PokerStars and one of the top ranked online players from France, and he came out as the top dog at the PCA. Grospellier was able to outlast the other 1,134 players to take the title, defeating Haffa “hafizzle” Khan in heads up play. Grospellier was able to earn an even $2,000,000 for his victory while Khan’s runner up finish was worth over a million at $1,094,976.
EPT final tables are eight handed, and going into the final table Grospellier was near the top, along with Joe “pokerjoe9” Elpayaa, but both had less than half the chips of David “The Dragon” Pham. Coming off another amazing year, Pham wasted no time getting 2008 off to a good start, going into the final table with a sizeable chip lead and ending up with an impressive 4th place finish to take home $600,000.
Once play was down to only 4 remaining players, Grospellier had established himself as the dominant chip leader, and commentator Barry Greenstein commented that Pham was unlikely to finish third. His aggressive, play for the win style was likely to see him out in 4th place or chipping up to be a contender heads up. Barry was correct, and Pham ended up going to the rail when his 2 pair went down to Grospellier’s flush on the river.
Elpayaa (left) ended up in 6th place, eliminated by Grospellier who did most of the dirty work at the table. Elpayaa’s finish was worth $450,000. Other PocketFivers at the final table were Richard "Lee Nickel" Fohrenbach and Christian "charder" Harder.
Fohrenbach was a short stack for a large portion of the tournament, especially from the money bubble on, and even though he was all in on numerous occasions, he was able to win the pots he needed to stay alive in the tournament all the way up to his elimination in 8th place. Richard’s finish brought him a payday of $150,000, while Harder's 7th place finish was worth $200,000. Grospellier knocked out both players, eliminating Fohrenbach in a race situation and having his larger pair hold up against a short stacked Harder.
Eric “Rizen” Lynch (right) was the talk of the tournament for a while, amassing a large chip lead as players neared the money. Lynch ended up being eliminated in 26th place for $40,000.
Mike “bigcoop23” Cooper finished in 20th, picking up $48,000 for his effort. Cooper had a string of bad beats on day 2 that took a large chunk out of his stack, but he was able to hold on and recover for a solid showing.
Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg was able to follow up his 9th place finish in the PCA last year with another cash, coming in 43rd in the 2008 PCA.
Many other PocketFivers made the money, and an even larger number were able to have a great time enjoying the Bahamas and getting to meet many of their online friends in real life. The atmosphere around the PCA is one of the best in poker, and the tournament is always an astounding success. 2008 was no different in that regard than the four previous PCA’s. If anything, the tournament only continues to get bigger and better each year, so start making plans now to be at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
For more information on the tournament go to www.PocketFivesLive.com to read the full coverage from the event.
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