The plan at the European Poker Tour (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) on Tuesday was to start with the 184 remaining competitors, play six levels, and call it a night. That’s seven and a half hours of poker not counting breaks. It would be made up for on Wednesday, as it was anticipated to be a shorter day as the field would be narrowed to 24 players. But as they say, “the best laid plans…”
Just 24 eliminations were needed heading into Tuesday’s Day 3 in order for the money bubble to burst. This proximity to the money line combined with a slew of all-ins during hand-for-hand play resulted in the cash threshold being crossed quickly. After that, the shorter stacked players fell like so many dominoes. After just over four levels of action, the field had already been whittled down to 64 players, so tournament officials had everyone bag their chips and get rested up for Wednesday.
Topping all at the end of Day 3 is French-Canadian Phil D’Auteuil with 1.472 million chips. Sam Greenwood is nipping at his heels with 1.401 million, while four other players – Day 2 chip leader Faraz Jaka, Alex Fitzgerald, Anthony Gregg, and Kyle Julius – had all eclipsed the seven-figure mark.
Some might find it interesting that despite the PCA being a stop on the European Poker Tour, the top of the current leader board has a distinctly North American flavor. D’Auteuil, Greenwood, and Julius are all Canadian, while Jaka, Fitzgerald, and Gregg are from the United States. The highest ranking European is Germany’s Peter Draexl, sitting in 7th place. Of the top 20 players, 16 are from North America.
Phil D’Auteuil does not have much of a live tournament history (or any at all, really, as he is not listed in the TheHendonMob.com tournament database), but he is very well-known online, playing under the screenname “takechip” at PokerStars. He has won hundreds of thousands of dollars in Sit-and-Go tournaments and according to PokerTableRatings.com, has earned over $1.8 million in cash games at PokerStars since February 2008. Auteuil tends to focus on $10/$20, $25/$50, and $50/$100 No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash games, but has played as high as $200/$400.
Apart from those already mentioned, several notable players are still alive in the tournament. Team PokerStars pro Luca Pagano is currently sitting in 9th place with 863,000 chips, putting him in position to possibly overtake Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier for the top spot on the all-time EPT points list. There are currently about 400 points separating the two. Galen Hall, last year’s PCA Main Event champ, is still fighting, though he’s one of the short stacks, so he has some work to do if he is going to repeat. Hall also placed 3rd in this year’s PCA High Roller event. Other “name” players remaining include Bill Chen, Barry Greenstein, Erik Cajelais, Chris Klodnicki, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, and Arnaud Mattern.
The 2012 EPT PCA will resume on Wednesday at noon local time as the players make their charges toward the final table. The plan is to play down to 24 before breaking for the night.
2012 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – End of Day 3 Chip Leaders
Phil D’Auteuil – 1,472,000
Sam Greenwood – 1,401,000
Faraz Jaka – 1,220,000
Alex Fitzgerald – 1,154,000
Anthony Gregg – 1,129,000
Kyle Julius – 1,019,000
Peter Draexl – 951,000
David Bernstein – 876,000
Luca Pagano – 863,000
David Peters – 857,000