For another year, poker enthusiasts from near and far gathered at Atlantis Resort & Casino on Paradise Island in the sunny Bahamas for the PCA poker festival and its plethora of thrilling events. The first-ever edition of the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship definitely stole the show and broke records that few believed could be broken.
But while the PSPC with its 1039-strong field and $26,455,500 prize pool was the highlight tournament of this year’s PCA, the Main Event created quite some buzz itself. Chino Rheem topped the field of the prestigious tournament for a first-place prize of $1,567,100 and the shiny PokerStars trophy.
With 865 entries, this year’s PCA Main Event was a big tournament. However, it was not the biggest one ever. To celebrate one of the hottest events on the poker calendar, Casino News Daily has looked back to previous editions to list the largest PCA Main Events to have taken place in the history of the popular series. Here they are!
2011 PCA Main Event – 1,560 Entries
The 2011 edition of the prestigious tournament was the largest-ever Main Event in the history of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure series. The event featured a $10,300 buy-in fee that year and drew a massive field of 1,560 entries who generated a prize pool of $15,132,000.
The players who occupied the top 232 positions scooped a payout from the tournament, but it was Galen Hall who collected the largest one. The player received $2.3 million for his efforts and for being the last man standing in a record-breaking PCA Main Event, which is yet to be beaten in attendance numbers.
Christopher Oliver finished 2nd in the tournament, good for $1.8 million in prize money. Ionel Anton rounded out top three with a cash prize of $1.35 million.
2010 PCA Main Event – 1,529 Entries
The field of the 2010 PCA Main Event was almost as large as the one that took place the following year. It drew 1,529 entries from all nooks and corners of the world to eventually generate a prize pool of $14,826,800. There were prizes for the top 224 finishers of all players who paid the $10,300 buy-in to enter that year’s edition of the tournament.
Harrison Gimbel was the player to outwit and outlast the massive field of the 2010 PCA Main Event. The player took home $2.2 million for his performance in the major tournament. Gimbel beat Tyler Reiman heads-up to get his hands on the top prize and the tournament trophy. As for Reiman, he collected not a bad payday of $1.75 million. Barry Shulman finished third for $1.35 million.
2009 PCA Main Event – 1,347 Entries
The third largest PCA Main Event to have ever taken place attracted 1,347 entrants who created a prize pool of $12,674,000. The top 199 finishers claimed payouts from the $10,000 buy-in tournament, minimum cashes starting from $12,500.
The 2009 edition of the PCA Main Event was a special one and remained in history as the one to award the largest first-place prize. Canadian player Poorya Nazari topped the tournament’s field to go home with $3 million in prize money. The player emerged as the winner after battling out for the title with Anthony Gregg. Gregg eventually received a consolation prize of $1.7 million for his second-place finish.
2008 PCA Main Event – 1,136 Entries
The 2008 PCA Main Event saw 1,136 entries pay the $8,000 buy-in to enter the race for the title and the first-place prize. The tournament’s prize pool amounted to $8,562,976 and the top 118 players were treated to a share of the money, min-cashes were worth $16,000.
Popular French poker pro Bertrand Grospellier was the star of that event. The Frenchman was the last man standing by the final table to lift the tournament trophy and head home $2 million richer. Hafiz Khan was Grospellier’s heads-up opponent. Khan collected $1,094,976. Kristopher Kuykendall walked away in third place for $800,000.
2012 PCA Main Event – 1,031 Entries
The fifth largest PCA Main Event happened in 2012. It drew as many as 1,072 entries for an overall prize pool of $10,070,000. That year’s edition of the tournament had a $10,300 buy-in fee. The top 160 players in the final leaderboard received a share of the prize pool, the lowest payouts totaling $15,000.
John Dibella was crowned the champion of the 2011 Main Event. The player ended up as the one to pose with the trophy for a celebratory picture and to collect the largest payout of $1.775 million. Kyle Julius presented the final challenge in Dibella’s march to victory. The player scooped a $1.5 million payout for his runner-up finish. Faraz Jaka rounded out the podium for $755,000.
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