We have reached the penultimate day at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas as the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event has determined its final table. Jerry Wong will head the field as the final eight men step to the felt this afternoon to determine the champion of the event.
21 men came back on Saturday looking to be the one who would claim the crown. With European pro Dimitar Danchev leading, there were dreams of a powerful final table for the railbirds at the Atlantis and online. European pros Eddy Sabat, Manig Loeser and Guillaume Rivet were joined by Olivier Busquet, Robert Mizrachi and Owen Crowe in pursuit of Danchev, but only one of those men would actually make the final table.
Rivet would be the first departure after a fight against Jonathan Roy. After Roy opened up the action, Rivet pushed all in from the hijack seat for around 350K. Roy calmly made the call, tabling pocket Queens, while Rivet could only muster pocket tens for the fight. A double paired board (K-7-4-7-4) brought no aid for Rivet and he left the tournament in 21st place.
After Rivet’s departure, there was a bit of a rush towards the payout window. Wong would get extremely healthy in a three way hand that started with Mohsin Charania pushing all in under the gun. Michael Lipman made the call, only to see Wong push out a 300K bet. Lipman made the call and, with Charania’s tournament at stake, the threesome saw the flop.
While it looked innocuous, the 10-7-3 flop would bring more action from Lipman and Wong. Wong pushed out a 200K bet and Lipman reraised all in. Wong called off the remainder of his stack (around 900K) and revealed an A-10 for the top pair; Lipman could only muster a Q-J off suit (Queen high) while Charania’s pocket deuces were run down. After a six on the turn and an eight on the river, Wong took out Charania and captured a huge stack of Lipman’s chips to move to the 2.6 million mark; Lipman, knocked down to only 300K, would depart moments later.
Ryan Fair came to the felt on Saturday in the third place slot and he kept his place there early in Saturday’s play. By knocking out both Anthony Borde and Busquet when he held pocket Aces, Fair moved up to 3.6 million in chips. Darren Elias also improved his standing in the field when he showed Sabat the door in 17th place after Sabat’s Big Slick failed to improve against Elias’ pocket Jacks.
Down to two tables, the players continued to march out of the Atlantis tournament room. Over the next three hours, Loeser, Lipman (the victim of a runner-runner straight by Yann Dion), Matthew Reed, Elias and Mizrachi would depart the arena. Over the next two hours, George Clyde-Smith and Mikal Blomlie were knocked off as Fair continued to head the pack with over six million in chips.
With Blomlie’s elimination, the final nine players came together on one table. Fair held an approximate 1.5 million chip lead over Wong and Roy was on the short stack with 880K. Also striving for the “official” final table were Joao Nogueira, Andrey Shatilov, Joel Micka, Dion, Danchev and Crowe.
On the first hand following the break to set the final table, Wong would five bet Fair out of a pot pre-flop to take over the lead. Although Crowe would clip him for some chips, Wong would continue to add to that stack, taking pots off of Danchev and Dion before Roy doubled through him. Even with that Roy double, Wong held over a million chip lead over Micka heading into the evening in the Bahamas.
Fair, on the other hand unfortunately, went in the opposite direction. He would lose a 2.6 million pot to Wong after Wong hit a flush on the river against him and it would only get worse. After coming to the unofficial final table as the chip leader, Fair would be eliminated in ninth place when Micka, holding a dominant A-10 over Fair’s A-6, caught an unnecessary ten on the flop to set today’s final table.
1. Jerry Wong, 7.4 million
2. Joel Micka, 6.475 million
3. Andrey Shatilov, 3.22 million
4. Owen Crowe, 2.9 million
5. Joao Nogueira, 2.89 million
6. Yann Dion, 2.535 million
7. Dimitar Danchev, 1.995 million
8. Jonathan Roy, 1.525 million
(Chip counts unofficial as of press time)
Wong and Micka hold a huge advantage over the remainder of the field, so it might be expected that they will be the overwhelming favorites. Crowe, Dion and Danchev, however, have a wealth of experience in their pockets; if one of these men can get an early roll going at the final table, they may have something to say as to who the champion will be.
The final table will resume play at 2PM (EST) this afternoon and will be live streamed on PokerStars.tv. By the end of today, the first major champion of 2013 will be crowned, with that player taking down the massive $1.859 million payday that comes with the 2013 PCA Main Event championship.
