After a one-year hiatus, PCA returned in the form we always knew it. The exotic venue and the huge prize pools made sure everyone kept on eye on what’s happening there.
Several champions have been crowned during the one-week long poker festival, with 4 of them cashing for $500,000+.
The PCA started out pretty strong as the first event was the $100k Super-High-Roller. The event attracted the top of the poker world who were all aiming for the seven-figure first prize. However, this time it was businessman and poker enthusiast Cary Katz who got the best of it. Cary managed to outlast a field of 48 and took down the title as well as the whopping $1,492,340 coming with it.
The name Maria Konnikova might ring a bell for some of you but event
those can be surprised to see her showing up in an article covering a poker event. Well, the accomplished therapist and author also fell in love with the game. After last year’s PokerStars festival in Monte Carlo, Maria decided to learn the game. She even reached out to the living legend, Erik Seidel, who agreed on coaching her. It looks like Eric is not only a great player but an outstanding teacher as well since Konnikova took down this year’s $1,650 PCA National Championship for $84,600.
The second biggest event of the series was the $50,000 High Roller. Top notch pro, Steve O’Dwyer was the one to ship the tourney, earning $769,500 and some bragging rights which come with it.
The $25K Single-Day High Roller satisfies the player’s need for a quick and action-heavy tournament. Last year’s $100k SHR champion, Jason Koon managed to took down the tournament this year. Jason earned $421,080 for his win. He now has more than $11 million in live tournament earnings.
Christopher Kruk won the $25K High Roller event for $836,350 – outlasting a huge field of 144. This score is his biggest ever by far since his best cash was $295,830 at Barcelona last year.
It only took six hours for Almedin Imsirovic to make $160,050 – certainly a decent hourly for the young American. He did so by winning the $10,000 Single-Day High Roller, an even that generated 55 entries in total.
The returning PCA made history this year as the first-ever female champion has been crowned. 36-year-old Maria Lampropulos won the Main Event and the $1,081,100 first prize. Maria and her boyfriend – Ivan Luca – can be pretty proud of their achievements as the two accumulated more than $1.5 million at the Bamahas. The power-couple has more than $8.5 million in total live tournament earnings.
The PCA gave the thrills for the fans for a week but its end doesn’t mean we have to be bored for too long as the 2018 Aussie Millions kicks off on January 17th.
Rumour has it that after a year off the Australian poker festival, Phil Ivey is now planning on returning. His memories of Melbourne are certainly pretty delightful as the “Tiger Woods of Poker” managed to take down the $250k SHR event three times in the past.
Stay tuned for the updates from Melbourne.