Bon bini!
Welcome to PokerNews' live reporting coverage of the 2013 PPC Aruba World Championship Main Event. The second installment of this event has returned once again to the beautiful island of Aruba off the north coast of Venezuela.
Last year, Joe Serock earned the title in this event after defeating Jesse Chinni heads up to walk away with $40,574 in first-place prize money. Dave Poces finished third, and Steve Karp took fourth.
Although the event only attracted 31 entries last year, it is important to note that this was the first time a true poker event returned to Aruba since 2009. The PPC deserves much credit for their quest to put poker in Aruba back on the map, as it is one of the best destinations for a stop on the circuit.
This year, things are already planned to be much bigger and better. The buy-in has been dropped from $3,300 to a more affordable $2,500. The Main Event has a juicy $200,000 guarantee slapped on its head, with reentries allowed over the course of the two starting days. Beyond the Main Event, the series has eight other tournaments ranging in buy-ins of $220-$550. The first event of the series, a $550 buy-in no-limit hold'em event with a $40,000 guarantee, attracted 94 entries, breaking the guarantee and generating a prize pool of $45,590. Fort Lauderdale, FL's Amir Baron won the event for $15,500.00.
Rumors swirling around the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa are that approximately 60 players have already been satellited into the $200,000 guarantee Main Event through PPC's various other events held leading up to Aruba. Others confirmed to be playing are defending champion Serock, World Series of Poker gold bracelet winners Ronnie Bardah and Joe Ebanks, 2013 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open third-place finisher Mukul Pahuja, and 2013 Isle Poker Classic champion Chris Bolek.
The structure is player-friendly, with 25,000-chip starting stacks and levels beginning at 45 minutes for Day 1 before increasing to 60 minutes from Day 2 forward. The blinds begin at 50/100 with a break every three levels. Following the completion of the sixth level, there will be a 60-minute dinner break.
Action in the Main Event is scheduled to begin later this afternoon at 3 p.m. local time, which gives everyone (PokerNews included!) plenty of time to hit the beach and explore Aruba. We'll see you back here in a bit for the kickoff of the event. Hopefully by then everyone isn't too many Aruba Aribas deep!
