It wasn't a long day for the players of Day 1a of the Main Event, but eight levels are already in the books. So far, 178 players have come out to play and of them, 101 made it through the day. The leader through the first day of play is Affif Prado. Prado was awarded a seat to this event by earning the title of Brazilian Player of the Year for his results at the Brazilian Series of Poker. Prado had a mostly quiet day but was able to bag up 137,500 by the end of the night, making the chip leader so far.
Monday saw several well-known players enter the event. Some of them managed to make it through the day including Barry Greenstein (62,700), Ryan Riess (38,300), Lucas Greenwood (88,700), Mike Leah (58,500), Kevin Martin (39,900), and Christian Harder (18,300). But for every one who made it through, there was also one who didn't make it. Take for example Felipe Ramos. Ramos had a rough day, starting by off having to fold his pocket kings to Kinson Cheung. He was eliminated shortly after that when he shoved jack-nine into pocket aces.
Other who joined Ramos on the rail included Fatima Moreira de Melo, Cliff Josephy, Jennifer Shahade, Faraz Jaka, Jamie Staples, Dan Shak, Joseph Cheong, and Jonathan Concepcion to name a few. Staples and Concepcion were both eliminated on the same hand by Hank Sitton in a massive pot. In the hand, Sitton woke up with pocket aces while Staples was holding ace-king, and Concepcion held pocket queens. Sitton held up and he was able to rake in the massive pot, sending both men to the rail.
Many players can be expected to join the field tomorrow, as the Main Event is one of the only events starting up tomorrow until the evening. Players who have already made it through to Day 2 will return on Wednesday. Action will kick back off at 12 p.m. on Tuesday where PokerNews will continue with our live coverage of the Main Event. Make sure to stay tuned so you don't miss a thing.
We caught up to the action after all the money had gone in preflop. Jamie Staples and Jonathan Concepcion were both all in and at risk, Staples with the shortest of the three stacks for right around 24,000. Hank Sitton called both all-ins and had both players covered.
Sitton:
Concepcion:
Staples:
The board ran out which gave Sitton the winning full house and allowed him to take down the monster pot while Concepion and Staples both hit the rail here on the first day of the Main Event.
Cliff Josephy said he just didn't have the patience today. He tweeted about his bustout from the PCA Main Event after a rough first few levels.
In Bahamas for PCA. Semi-bluffed off all my chips in level 4 for absolutely no reason in the 10k Main Event today,… https://t.co/Hlc0xJKh8o
— Cliff Josephy (@JohnnyBaxPoker)
A few tables over Joseph Cheong, fresh off his victory in PokerStars Sunday Supersonic for $30,939, also busted from the tournament as well. Cheong had lost most of his stack before the first break and proceeded to get rid of the rest of it before the second.
While many here know Team Pokerstars Pros Kevin Martin and Fatima Moreira de Melo for their poker prowess, they are also known for both having competed and won reality television show competitions.
Last year, Martin took down Big Brother Canada - Season 5, taking home the $100,000 first place prize. Moreira de Melo won Expeditie Robinson, the Dutch version of Survivor, in 2012. Christophe De Meulder, another poker player, also competed in that season along with Moreira de Melo, finishing as the runner-up.
Today the two are seated at the same table and must battle it out in a different type of competition. They will have to put to work not only the skills they used to win on reality television but their poker skills as well.
At the table, the two bantered over different strategies that they used to win, Martin discussing how he used romance as a tactic to earn his victory in Big Brother. Moreira de Melo mentioned that she was never at risk of being voted off her island, and when she was, she had earned her self-immunity.
Welcome to Day 1a of the $10,300 Main Event at the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure held at the posh Atlantis Resort in Paraside Island, Bahamas. This highly anticipated event is scheduled to play out over six days with two starting flights; Day 1a play begins Monday at noon, and Day 1b begins at the same time on Tuesday.
Last year, Christian Harder took the top prize in this event (held as the PokerStars Championship Bahamas with a $5,000 buy-in) after he reached heads-up play with his former backer, Cliff Josephy, and the two players agreed on a chop. Here's a look back at the previous winners of this prestigious event:
Year
Entrants
Prize Pool
Champion
Prize
2004
221
$1,657,500
Gus Hansen
$455,780
2005
461
$3,487,200
John Gale
$890,600
2006
724
$5,647,200
Steve Paul-Ambrose
$1,388,600
2007
937
$7,063,842
Ryan Daut
$1,535,255
2008
1,136
$8,562,976
Bertrand Grospellier
$2,000,000
2009
1,347
$12,674,000
Poorya Nazari
$3,000,000
2010
1,529
$14,831,300
Harrison Gimbel
$2,200,000
2011
1,560
$15,132,000
Galen Hall
$2,300,000
2012
1,072
$10,398,400
John Dibella
$1,775,000
2013
987
$9,573,900
Dimitar Danchev
$1,859,000
2014
1,031
$10,070,000
Dominik Panka
$1,423,096
2015
816
$7,915,200
Kevin Schulz
$1,491,580
2016
928
$4,500,800
Mike Watson
$728,325
2017
738
$3,376,712
Christian Harder
$429,664
Day 1 play in both flights will consist of eight one-hour levels and there will be a 20-minute break every two levels. Late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, and thereafter, all levels will be 90 minutes long. Players will begin with 30,000 starting chips and blinds will start at 50/100.
Keep it here to follow the action in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, proudly presented by the PokerNews Live Reporting Team.
which gave Sitton the winning full house and allowed him to take down the monster pot while Concepion and Staples both hit the rail here on the first day of the Main Event.
