With the excitement of the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event going on in London, it’s easy to forget about a poker tournament going on thousands of miles west, the Aruba Poker Classic. The flagship event for online poker site Ultimate Bet is a popular destination for players from around the world, who travel to the sunny isle in search of their share of poker riches. Tuesday marked the conclusion of Day 1B.
The combined Day 2 field entered the tournament area this afternoon with the remaining players scheduled to complete five blind levels with no dinner break. Ultimate Bet claims that the schedule for the day was developed in order to give “players a chance to get out of work early and enjoy the island a bit, which might make the Aruba Poker Classic the most civilized tournament in the world.” Each blind level is 90 minutes, which means play today will be for 7 ½ hours straight with 10 minutes given in between each level.
There were 551 entrants who began the $5,500 buy-in event today and the tournament will pay out as follows:
1st Place: $1,000,000
2nd Place: $486,000
3rd Place: $250,000
4th Place: $150,000
5th Place: $116,400
6th Place: $83,120
7-8th Places: $58,500
9th-10th Places: $33,400
11th-12th Places: $16,700
13th-18th Places: $13,340
19th-24th Places: $11,670
25th-30th Places: $10,000
31st-36th Places: $8,340
37th-45th Places: $6,670
46th-54th Places: $5,500
At the time of writing, here were the top 10 chip stacks in the room, according to coverage found on CardPlayer:
1. Cody Slaubaugh, 187,000
2. Jason Smith, 160,000
3. Boris Kravets, 128,000
4. Matt Brady, 118,000
5. Joe Cutler, 102,000
6. Joseph Serock, 98,000
7. Jason Gray, 96,000
8. Keith Donovan, 95,000
8. Mark Kroon, 95,000
10. Robert Cunningham, 89,000
10. Steven Jacobs, 89,000
Besides the Main Event in Aruba, there are a bevy of side tournaments going on including a new $2,100 buy-in event. Tournament officials also promote the event’s proximity to the beach, meaning that after a player busts out, they can spend the rest of the day lounging in the sun. Here is a look at the rest of the week’s events at the Radisson Hotel and Casino in Aruba:
Thursday, October 2nd
$5000 +500 Aruba Poker Classic Championship Event – Day 3: 12:00 noon
$225 Continuous Single Table Satellites for the $1,000+60 Event: 11:00am
$120 Cash Sit and Gos: 12:00 noon
$1,000+60 No Limit Hold’em Tournament: 3:00pm
$2,000+100 Two Day No Limit Hold’em Tournament (Day 2): 3:00pm
$200 Re-buy Ante up for Africa Charity Poker Event: 7:00pm
Friday, October 3rd
$5,000 +500 Aruba Poker Classic Championship Event – Day 4: 12:00 noon
$120 Continuous Single Table Satellites for the $500+40 Event: 11:00am
$120 Cash Sit and Gos: 11:00am
$500+40 No Limit Hold’em Poker Tournament: 3:00pm
Saturday, October 4th
$5,000+500 Aruba Poker Classic Championship Final Table: 12:00 noon
Awards Banquet: 7:30pm
Last year’s Aruba Poker Classic was won by Travis Rice, who plays on Ultimate Bet under the screen name “TravestyFund.” There were 548 entrants in 2007, meaning that attendance remained constant from last year to this year. Past winners of the Aruba Poker Classic include Devon Miller (2006), Freddie Deeb (2005), Eric Brenes (2004), Erick Lindgren (2003), and Juha Helppi (2002). For the first four seasons of the World Poker Tour, the Aruba Poker Classic was a regular stop. The last tournament to air as a WPT event was in 2005.
The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which is held at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on Paradise Island in The Bahamas, is currently a stop on the European Poker Tour. It too is a former WPT event. The tournament takes place every January.
