The 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure featured a number of milestones, big wins, and goings-on, and they all happened within the space of a week or so!
Therefore, a number of stories may have slipped through the cracks or gone unnoticed by the vast majority of poker fans, so here is a look back at the major headlines from the 2011 PCA.
#6 - PCA Main Event Attracts Record 1,560 Entrants
The 1,560 entrants for the PCA Main Event barely eclipsed last year’s field of 1,529, but growth is growth right! The PCA main Event is quickly turning into a contender for the second most prestigious poker tournament in the world behind the World Series of poker Main Event.
#7 – Katchalov Wins Super-High-Roller and 2nd in $10k Turbo
Eugene Katchalov is widely known to be one of the best all-around poker players in the world by his peers, but Katchalov’s success has gone widely unnoticed amongst the general population. Expect that all to change after his win in the $100k Super-High-Roller tournament. Katchalov has now quietly amassed an amazing $6 million in career tournament earnings, and he is just as feared as a cash-game player.
#8 - Isildur1 Revealed to be Viktor Blom
Well, now it’s official, and as Tony G stated on his blog: Here is Isildur1, the person we all knew him to be! PokerStars revealed Isildur1’s identity at the PCA in a heads-up match against Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier, and through the curtain walked Viktor Blom –the man we all knew Isildur1 to be!
#9 – ESPN Airs Final Table on 1-Hour Delay
A first in tournament poker coverage, ESPN decided to show the event in its entirety on a 1-hour delay to protect the integrity of the game as the hole-cards would be visible. I’m still up in the air on ESPN’s execution of this event, but all-in-all I like any type of innovation in televised poker –especially when it comes from ESPN, a network that seems to hate change.
#10 – Six Players Take Home $1M+
Just how big has the PCA tournament series become? Well, three tournaments awarded over $1 million to the winner of the event, and in all six players took home at least $1 million – two in the Super-High-Roller tournament, one in the High-Roller tournament, and three from the PCA Main Event. This is an impressive number considering very few tournament series can surpass $1 million for their Championship Event’s first-place finisher, never mind for preliminary events!
I want to end this post by thanking OnlinePokerLowdown.com for listing us last week as one of the top 30 poker blogs on the Internet. Thanks guys!
Related Posts
- A Look Back at the 2011 PokerStars PCA (Part 1) - January 20, 2011
- PokerStars’ PCA Schedule Includes $100,000 Buy-In Tournament - October 6, 2010
- PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Eclipses Last Year’s Attendance - January 10, 2011
Written by Steve Ruddock on January 22nd, 2011