PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - PCA

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) is a major poker festival that takes place in the Bahamas. First taking place in 2004, it was held annually until 2019, where it also played host to the inaugural PokerStars Players Championship.

It will return in 2023, with the PokerStars Players Championship remaining on its schedule.

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Finished Tournaments

Winner Winning Hand Prize Runner-up Losing Hand
2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Michel Dattani Michel Dattani a5 $1,316,963 Pedro Neves aj

The Early Years

2004 PCA Main Event

The first PCA was held in 2004 aboard a cruise ship. A total of 221 players entered the $7,500 buy-in Main Event, with Gus Hansen emerging victorious after defeating Hoyt Corkins heads-up — with Corkins allegedly playing the final table with the flu! The final table also featured Daniel Negreanu, with famous poker names such as Andy Bloch and Chris Ferguson also finishing in the money.

2004 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stGus Hansen$455,780
2ndHoyt Corkins$290,065
3rdDaniel Negreanu$192,270
4thMichael Benedetto$132,600
5thJohn D’Agostino$99,450
6thRemco Schrijvers$74,590

2005 PCA Main Event

The following year, the field more than doubled to 461 players, with Englishman John Gale taking the top prize of $890,600. Gale would of course go on to win two WSOP bracelets before tragically dying in 2019 aged just 65.

2005 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stJohn Gale$890,600
2ndAlex Balandin$484,700
3rdMichael Westerlund$306,400
4thPatrick Hocking$207,700
5th“Miami” John Cernuto$155,800
6thNenad Medic$112,500

2006 PCA Main Event

In 2006, the PCA Main Event awarded more than $1 million in prize money to the winner for the first time. Canada's Steve Paul-Ambrose took home top prize of $1,388,600 after defeating a field of 724 players.

Ambrose has gone on to make two more deep runs in the PCA Main Event, finishing 20th in 2007 ($36,026) and 72nd in 2010 ($33,000)

2006 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stSteve Paul-Ambrose$1,388,600
2ndBrook Lyter$681,500
3rdDavid Singer$436,200
4thMichael Higgins$327,100
5thAnders Henriksson$239,900
6thAurangzeb Sheikh$177,200

2007 PCA Main Event

The PCA held in 2007 was the last year the event was part of the World Poker Tour. The event had grown to 937 players, with a buy-in of $7,800. American Ryan Daut defeated Isaac Haxton heads-up to win $1,535,255.


Where Are They Now: 2007 PCA Champion, Ryan Daut


2007 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stRyan Daut$1,535,255
2ndIsaac Haxton$861,789
3rdRobert Ford$550,980
4thRobert Mizrachi$409,703
5thJonathan Little$317,873
6thFrank Rusnak$247,234

The Boom Years

2008 PCA Main Event

With the PCA now finding a home on the European Poker Tour, 2008 was the first time the field broke 1,000 entrants. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier defeated a field of 1,136 players to win a cool $2,000,000.

2008 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stBertrand “ElkY” Grospellier$2,000,000
2ndHafiz Khan$1,094,976
3rdKristopher Kuykendall$800,000
4thDavid Pham$600,000
5thCraig Hopkins$450,000
6thJoe Elpayaa$300,000
7thChristian Harder$200,000
8thRich Fohrenbach$150,000

2009 PCA Main Event

2009 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stPoorya Nazari$3,000,000
2ndAnthony Gregg$1,700,000
3rdBenjamin Spindler$1,100,000
4thAlexandre Gomes$750,000
5thPieter Tielen$550,000
6thDustin Dirksen$400,000
7thDan Heimiller$300,000
8thKevin Saul$234,000

2010 PCA Main Event

2010 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stHarrison Gimbel$2,200,000
2ndTyler Reiman$1,750,000
3rdBarry Shulman$1,350,000
4thBenjamin Zamani$1,000,000
5thRyan D’Angelo$700,000
6thAage Ravn$450,000
7thZachary Goldberg$300,000
8thThomas Koral$201,300

2011 PCA Main Event

2011 PCA Main Event Results

PLACEPLAYERPRIZE
1stGalen Hall$2,300,000
2ndChris Oliver$1,800,000
3rdAnton Ionel$1,350,000
4thSam Stein$1,000,000
5thMike Sowers$700,000
6thBolivar Palacios$450,000
7thMax Weinberg$300,000
8thPhilippe Plouffe$202,000

Decline

2012 PCA Main Event

2012 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stJohn Dibella$1,775,000
2ndKyle Julius$1,500,000
3rdFaraz Jaka$755,000
4thXuan Liu$600,000
5thMark Drover$468,000
6thAnthony Gregg$364,000
7thDavid Bernstein$260,000
8thRuben Visser$156,400

2013 PCA Main Event

2013 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stDimitar Danchev$1,859,000
2ndJoel Micka$1,190,000
3rdJerry Wong$725,000
4thJonathan Roy$560,000
5thOwen Crowe$435,000
6thAndrey Shatilov$325,000
7thYann Dion$230,000
8thJoao Nogueira$165,900

2014 PCA Main Event

2014 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stDominik Panka$1,423,096
2ndMike McDonald$1,064,865
3rdIsaac Baron$1,207,599
4thMadis Muur$581,040
5thDaniel Gamez$447,040
6thShyam Srinivasan$328,020
7thPascal Lefrancois$242,020
8thFabian Ortiz$173,220

2015 PCA Main Event

2015 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stKevin Schulz$1,491,580
2ndDiego Ventura$907,080
3rdChance Kornuth$641,140
4thNiklas Hambitzer$482,820
5thJuan Pastor$380,720
6thRami Boukai$285,740
7thPratyush Buddiga$203,420
8thDylan Linde$140,900

2016 PCA Main Event

2016 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stMike Watson$728,325
2ndAnthony Gregg$612,175
3rdPhillip McAllister$356,020
4thToby Lewis$267,340
5thVladimir Troyanovskiy$207,940
6thRandy Kritzer$153,920
7thKen Demlakian$110,220
8thTimothy Ulmer$78,540

2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas Main Event

2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stChristian Harder$429,664
2ndCliff Josephy$403,445
3rdMichael Vela$259,980
4thAleksei Opalikhin$191,420
5thMichael Gentili$140,940
6thRasmus Glaesel$103,780
7thAllon Allison$76,400
8thJohn Dibella$53,260

Final Years

2018 PCA Main Event

2018 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stMaria Lampropulos$1,081,100
2ndShawn Buchanan$672,960
3rdKoray Aldemir$481,560
4thAdrian Mateos$372,600
5thDan Coupal$293,560
6thChristian Rudolph$229,760
7thOleg Titov$169,920
8thAdalfer Gamarra$116,860

2019 PCA Main Event

2019 PCA Main Event Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1stDavid "Chino" Rheem$1,567,100
2ndDaniel Strelitz$951,480
3rdScott Wellenbach$671,240
4thPavel Veksler$503,440
5thVicent Ramon$396,880
6thBrian Altman$297,020
7thMihai Manole$208,920
8thMarc-Andre Ladouceur$146,840

2019 PokerStars No Limit Hold'em Players Championship

2019 PSPC Main Event Final Table Results

PLACEPLAYERCOUNTRYPRIZE (USD)
1Ramon ColillasSpain$5,100,000
2Julien MartiniFrance$2,974,000
3Marc RiveraPhilipines$2,168,000
4Scott BaumsteinUnited States$1,657,000
5Jason KoonceUnited States$1,304,000
6Marc PerraultCanada$1,012,000
7Farid JattinColombia$746,000
8Talal ShakerchiUnited Kingdom$509,000

Return of the PCA

2023 PCA Main Event

2023 PokerStars No Limit Hold'em Players Championship

List of PCA Main Event Winners

YEARBUY-INENTRIESTOTAL PRIZE POOLWINNERFIRST PRIZE
2004$7,500221$1,657,500Gus Hansen$455,780
2005$8,000461$3,487,200John Gale$890,600
2006$8,000724$5,647,200Steve Paul-Ambrose$1,388,600
2007$8,000937$7,063,842Ryan Daut$1,535,255
2008$8,0001,136$8,562,976Bertrand Grospellier$2,000,000
2009$10,0001,347$12,674,000Poorya Nazari$3,000,000
2010$10,3001,529$14,831,300Harrison Gimbel$2,200,000
2011$10,3001,560$15,132,000Galen Hall$2,300,000
2012$10,3001,072$10,398,400John Dibella$1,775,000
2013$10,300987$9,573,900Dimitar Danchev$1,859,000
2014$10,3001,031$10,070,000Dominik Panka$1,423,096
2015$10,300816$7,915,200Kevin Schulz$1,491,580
2016$5,300928$4,500,800Mike Watson$728,325
2017$5,000738$3,376,712Christian Harder$429,664
2018$10,300582$5,645,400Maria Lampropulos$1,081,100
2019$10,300865$8,390,500Chino Rheem$1,567,100