On Tuesday, PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, released the schedule for its 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which will once again play out at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
Over 50 tournaments will take place, with $25 million expected to be on the line. The 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will run from January 5th to 16th and include a variety of high-stakes events including a $100,000 Super High Roller tournament, a $25,000 High Roller tournament, a $10,000 Turbo Six-Max contest, and the $10,300 Main Event. Satellites are already available on PokerStars, which will qualify players in droves for the tournament series in the tropics.
Preliminary event buy-ins start at $300 and will feature poker games like No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better, HOE, Fiple Draw (A-5, 2-7, Badugi, Baduci, and Badacey), Eight Game, Stud Eight or Better, and Chinese Poker. Turbo, heads-up, full ring, and six-max contests will play out in what can truly be deemed a festival of poker.
PokerStars officials are already fired up for the annual tournament, whose timing in January is perfect for players from North America to escape the cold in sunny Nassau. Michael Ward, Tournament Director for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, boasted in a press release distributed on Tuesday, “The PCA is truly a poker player’s paradise. Each January, thousands of players descend upon Atlantis to take part in the first major tournament of the year. Last year’s event produced over $24 million in total prize money and, without a doubt, the PCA 2011 is going to be richer than ever. The PCA is a must-play event for both the recreational and the professional player.”
The $10,300 Main Event kicks off on January 8th with the first of two starting days and will crown a champion six days later. In its last running, American Harrison Gimbel banked $2.2 million for taking down the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, besting Ty Reiman heads-up in a clash of the young guns. 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman nearly took down the title in the Bahamas, but finished in fourth place and earned $1.3 million.
Last year’s feature tournament drew a starting grid of 1,529 players and the top 224 finished in the money. Despite players flocking from around the world to enter, the final table featured eight Americans and one Norwegian. This year, PokerStars is doling out $15,780 prize packages that include the Main Event’s buy-in, nine nights at Atlantis, and $1,000 in spending money. The Main Event’s prize pool is estimated to weigh in around $20 million, which would make it one of the largest tournaments ever held outside of the United States.
Players will start with 30,000 in chips in this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. The blind levels will last for an hour on Day 1 and 75 minutes thereafter; the price of poker starts at 50-100. An ante of 25 kicks in at Level 5, when the blinds will be 150-300. Players inquiring about the event’s logo policy can refer to PokerStars’ tournament rules, which state, “No player will be permitted to wear at any event held during the PCA any logo or branding of any gambling operator which is not permitted to legally advertise in the U.K.”
PokerStars has already 170 qualified for the Main Event in the Bahamas. Here’s a look back at some of the past PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event winners:
2004: Gus Hansen
2005: John Gale
2006: Steven Paul-Ambrose
2007: Ryan “Daut44” Daut
2008: Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
2009: Poorya Nazari
2010: Harrison Gimbel
Visit PokerStarsCaribbeanAdventure.com to view the full slate of events.
