The prestigious PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) is well upon us. Yesterday, Maria Konnikova from the United States snared the gold after defeating a packed field of 290 players in the $1,650 PCA National. After three days of heavy battle, the charming lady has emerged victorious in the prestigious tournament that took place in the Caribbean’s most preferred vacation resort Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. Konnikova earned the top prize of $84,600 along with her first PokerStars trophy.
The tournament offered three days of qualitative poker action. Although some of the poker’s most familiar names, including PokerStars Team Pros Barry Greenstein and Jake Cody, Mike Leah, Kevin MacPhee, and Joseph Cheong all took chips out of the bag at the start of Day 1, all of them could not make it to the final table.
By the time the clock announced the end of Day 1, the field was whittled down to 62 players. Only the top 39 players celebrated an in-the-money finish. The money bubble burst sometime during Day 2 of the tournament. One by one the players started to make a sorry walk out of the tournament arena. Eventually, the number of players was melted to just 10. Thomas Taylor was the unfortunate soul to leave the poker table just before the official table was set.
The Official Final Table is Sizzling with Poker Action
Day 2 of the tournament can be described as a pivotal day for the tournament as the money bubble burst and the official nine-handed final table was set. Sharman Olshan was the last elimination of the day, hitting the rail in 9th place. Day 3 of the event welcomed all the remaining poker hopefuls.
The WSOP bracelet winner Chris Moorman was among the 8 survivors. However, he was drawing his last breaths in the tournament. Moorman was knocked out in 8th place for $10,640. He was followed by Marcos Carneiro Antunes in 7th place for $14,480 and the Canadian poker pro Ryan Smith, who exited the game in 6th place for $19,710.
Harrison Gimbel and Loek van Wely were eliminated in 5th and 4th place, respectively. The tumultuous three-handed battle saw Kevin MacDonald battling valiantly for his life. MacDonald, who was playing under the Canadian flag, ducked out in 3rd place for $41,140. Maria Konnikova and Alexander Ziskin crossed swords in a heads-up grudge duel. Eventually, the poker newbie Maria Konnikova rode the wave of the big stack to victory. Ziskin pocketed $56,250 for his runner-up finish.
It is interesting to note that Konnikova is a journalist and her appearance on the poker tables is associated with her latest book project. The lady refined her poker skills thanks to the poker master Erik Seidel, who should be very proud of his student. She is to spend a whole year playing in the most prestigious games.
