What started with 865 is now down to just six as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event has reached the final table stage. Chino Rheem is the chip leader going into Wednesday’s action, holding 7.550 million chips.
After Rheem is Scott Wellenbach with 6.015 million chips; the Canadian qualified for the $10,300 Main Event online, so with about $300,000 minimum waiting for him, his return on his investment is going to be quite serious. Following Wellenbach in third place is Brian Altman with 4.995 million.
The bottom half of the final table is bunched up, all in the 2 million chip range: Vicent Bosca (2.875 million), who is trying to follow fellow Spaniard, Ramon Colillas’s, lead in winning one of the major PCA events, Daniel Strelitz (2.355 million), and Pavel Veksler (2.035 million). Though all three are about 5 million chips off the lead, it only takes one hand to change the face of the final table. Nobody is out of it yet.
Day 4 began with 20 players and Rheem held 1.425 million chips. He got off to a rocky start, falling to below 600,000, but since we know what he ended with, he obviously recovered. He grew his stack to more than 2 million, sitting around there for a while before achieving a huge double-up.
Rheem raised pre-flop to 60,000 and Matthias Eibinger called. The flop was 7-7-3 and Eibinger check-raised Rheem’s 100,000 bet to 275,000. Rheem took the entirety of his play clock to make the call and a 6 was dealt on the turn. Eibinger bet 220,000 and Rheem again called. With a 9 on the river, Eibinger led out for 300,000 chips and after using a time extension, finally moved all-in for 1.485 million chips. Eibinger tanked, finally calling with Q-7, flopped trips. Rheem showed pocket 6’s, good for a turned full house. That made Rheem’s stack soar to 4.125 million.
He later eliminated Eibinger in 14th place when they got all-in after a T-6-3, double club flop. Rheem had 7-6 of clubs, while Eibinger had pocket Queens. Rheem ended up hitting runner-runner 8-9 for a straight, knocking out Eibinger and increasing his stack to 5.5 million.
It was up and down from there, but mostly up as Rheem used his dominant position to collect chips and continue to build his stack. He had actually gotten up to about 8.6 million before giving some back.
The final table is currently underway in the Bahamas, with the final six players vying for the $1,567,100 first prize. Second place is also nearly a million bucks, while sixth place is still a healthy $297,020.
2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event – Final Table Chip Counts
1. Chino Rheem – 7,550,000
2. Scott Wellenbach – 6,015,000
3. Brian Altman – 4,995,000
4. Vicent Bosca – 2,875,000
5. Daniel Strelitz – 2,355,000
6. Pavel Veksler – 2,035,000
