Dylan Smith secured his biggest ever live tournament cash as he took down a field of 44 runners to win his first PokerStars Trophy and the $364,440 first-place prize in the $25,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Pot Limit Omaha High Roller at the gorgeous Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas.

It was a long bubble as seven players fought for six payouts but play quickened after the bursting of the bubble. Shaun Deeb (4th- $121,500) and Jeremy Ausmus (3rd- $163,750) fell in back-to-back hands to get the tournament to heads-up.

German Oliver Weis was Smith’s final opponent, but it was a quick heads-up affair as Smith went into the battle with a two-to-one chip lead. Weis would not double up, as Smith would win and take down the trophy in less than ten hands.

$25,000 PCA PLO High Roller Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

Smith started 2023 on a heater, having taken down another PLO High Roller trophy just two weeks ago in Florida for $ 91,960. Smith is mainly a PLO player, with his last four recorded cashes on the Hendon Mob database all being in PLO tournaments. With this win, Smith has achieved his first-ever six-figure tournament score.

Despite his recent tournament success, Smith told PokerNews that he is primarily a PLO cash game player where he plays high stakes PLO online for stakes as high as $200/$400. Smith said when he first started playing poker, he focused on No Limit Hold’em but moved in with a really good PLO player which encouraged him to switch his focus to the PLO streets.

Smith was joined on his rail by Jake Schwartz, who himself has nearly $4,000,000 in live tournament earnings, as he rode his way to victory. Smith said he will be playing the $25,000 PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship on Monday, as well as other events on the schedule, as he hopes to continue his 2023 run good.

Action of the Day

The day started with Ausmus as the chip leader and two tables as ten players returned for Day 2. The final table bubble didn’t last long as Andrew Pantling was taken out by Andriy Lyubovetskiy as Pantling called off for his tournament life when Lyubovetskiy check raised all in on the turn.

Lyubovetskiy was propelled into the chip lead when he took out Adam Hendrix as his pocket kings couldn’t hold against the Ukrainian.

Seven-handed play lasted for several hours as play slowed on a huge $73,950 money bubble. Deeb was short but managed to survive to avoid being the bubble boy. Eventually, John Zable was the unfortunate bubble boy as his queens couldn’t hold against Joni Jouhkimainen.

Action dramatically quicken after the bubble burst and Jouhkimainen soon followed Zable in hitting the rail as he got involved in a three-way all-in against Deeb and Ausmus. Deeb managed to triple up, which put him in the chip lead as four-handed play commenced.

Smith managed to become chip leader for the first time in the day when he moved all in on the flop in a three-bet pot against Deeb. Deeb called, but Smith was the one able to double up. Deeb would then be eliminated as Deeb got all in with kings against Smith’s aces to be eliminated from the tournament. Ausmus followed suit the very next hand as Smith took out another victim which put him in good stead for victory as he started his heads-up battle against Oliver Weis.

Smith went into heads-up in a dominant position and managed to secure the victory quickly as Smith called Weis’s four-bet all-in to take the tournament victory as the American rivered a flush to secure his first six-figure live tournament score.

That concluded the PokerNews live reporting team’s coverage of the $25,000 PCA PLO High Roller. Be sure to check out the team’s coverage of other events here in The Bahamas, including the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship, which kicks off Monday at 12 p.m. local time.

After just more than 4 hours of play on Day 6 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,300 Main Event, Portugal’s Michel Dattani was crowned the champion after defeating compatriot Pedro Neves in heads-up play.

Following the elimination of Artur Martirosian, the two players agreed to an ICM deal which saw Dattani lock up $1,316,963 while Neves banked $1,183,037. Upon the agreement of the deal, it was confirmed that the Portuguese pair were playing for $50,000 and the title.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) festival marks the first time that PokerStars has returned to The Bahamas in four years, and it was all worth the wait as what followed was a week’s worth of epic poker action inside the Baha Mar Resort.

The tournament saw a total of 889 entries and attracted a host of the world’s best players, who battled it out for the lion’s share of the $8,623,300 prize pool.

Dattani fired two bullets into the PCA Main Event as he busted late on in Day 1b. He experienced death by quads courtesy of Manuel Ruivo, but that would be the last time Dattani spent any time on the rail over the last few days.

Play in the PCA From Home With the PokerStars Online Mini PCA

Dattani, who likes to keep a low profile, has been playing poker professionally for just over 13 years and has been a regular on the PokerStars European Poker Tour since 2010. He is one of the best and most respected players in Portugal and has had huge success on the virtual felt where he plays under the “FreelancerZZ” alias on PokerStars.

PCA Main Event Final Table Results

_{*Denotes Heads-up deal}

Action of the Day

Coming into the final day of play, just six players returned following the departure of Jonathan Little, Taylor Paur and Alexandros Kolonias towards the tail end of Day 5.

On the very first hand of the final day, short-stack Jamil Wakil was all in and at risk. He was immediately drawing dead after Christoph Csik flopped a flush despite being dominated. Wakil, who had $444,870 in live tournament earnings, picked up the biggest cash of his career and collected $307,500 for his deep run.

The second casualty then took place during the last hand of the first level of the day. Csik was the next player to fall on the wrong side of lady luck. Csik opened the action with pocket kings. Martirosian three-bet with ace-deuce before online qualifier Alexandre Raymond four-bet jammed with ace-jack. Csik called off his slightly shorter stack but was immediately drawing to two outs as Raymond found one of the two remaining aces on the flop. Csik could not find his own two-outer and he departed in fourth place for $399,800.

The players then went on a brief break and when they returned the action refused to slow down. Raymond was the next player to hit the rail after his pocket queens ran into pocket kings held by Neves. It was the biggest pot of the tournament at that stage and Neves was the recipient of it as no queen appeared on the runout.

Neves was the clear chip leader for a brief period of time until he doubled up Dattani following another preflop cooler. Neves had pocket kings again and his compatriot had him pipped with pocket aces and he flopped a full house to become the new big stack.

PN Podcast: Chopped-Pot Elimination, Guests Ike Haxton & Vanessa Kade from PCA

The next elimination took place during the following level and it was Martirosian who took bronze. Martirosian was looking to make poker history, as he had the opportunity to become the first player to win an EPT and PCA Main Event but fell short by two places. Martirosian took down the 2021 EPT Sochi Main Event for $325,000 and has won numerous online titles under his “mararthur1” screen name.

When heads-up play was confirmed, Dattani and Neves then agreed to the aforementioned ICM deal. Heads-up lasted less than twenty minutes and the final hand of the PCA Main Event saw Neves call off his stack with top pair while Dattani had the nut flush.

The win meant Dattani passed the $2 million mark in live tournament earnings, while Neves eclipsed the $1 million mark.

Editor & Live Reporter

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.

Back in 2018, Australian poker legend Jackie Glazier appeared on Survivor Australia: Champions vs. Contenders, which saw 12 average Joes (the Contenders) square off against 12 extraordinary players (the Champions). While she was ultimately voted off midway through the game that season, Glazier is getting a second chance as a part of the new Heroes vs. Villains season premiering on January 30.

With more than$1.4 million in lifetime earnings, Glazier currently sits 30th on Australia’s all-time money list. In 2012, she finished runner-up in the World Series of Poker Event #41: $3,000 NLHE for a career-best $458,996, and the following year she took 31st in the Main Event for $229,281. She also captured a gold bracelet when she won the 2013 WSOP Europe Ladies Championship.

Unlike its American counterpart, which traditionally has 18-20 castaways battling for $1 million over 26 days (it used to be 39 days), the Australian version has featured 24 contestants competing for $500,000 over 50 days.

Q&A with Jackie Glazier

PokerNews had the opportunity to chat with Glazier leading up to the debut of the new season.

PokerNews: When and how did the opportunity to be a part of Heroes vs. Villains come about?

Jackie Glazier: The opportunity came about around mid-last year. It was an unexpected phone call but a very welcome one! I was playing a poker tournament in Adelaide at the time and happened to be on break when the call came through otherwise I would have missed it. I was shaking with excitement when I returned to the tables and found it impossible to concentrate for the rest of the day.

How does it feel to get another chance to play the game? Did you have any regrets or unfinished business from the first go?

To be asked to play Australian Survivor once was a dream come true for me so to be asked back again was an enormous privilege. I don’t have many regrets from the first season, but probably my one regret is not taking the opportunity to make a move when the tribe swap occurred. I think the tribe I was placed in made it difficult to play all aspects of the game so I definitely had unfinished business.

“Heroes vs Villains is such an iconic theme for Survivor and to be asked back for a HvV season was a massive highlight for me.”

How do you feel about being cast on the villain’s tribe?

Heroes vs Villains is such an iconic theme for Survivor and to be asked back for a HvV season was a massive highlight for me. I knew that being placed on the Villains tribe meant that a lot of the tribe would be playing a more strategic game with less emphasis on physical strengths so I was really excited about that, a complete difference to my experience on Champions vs Contenders.

I don’t consider myself to really be a villain but I suppose similar to a poker tournament I play to win and if that means I need to be ruthless then so be it. I also think being on the heroes tribe would have been a bit boring

During your first game you got to play with/against Russel Hantz and you actually came out on top. How did that feel?

I was so excited to see Russel on my first season and I was kind of shocked no one else on the tribe knew who he was! I have been a massive fan of Survivor forever so to get to actually play with such an icon of the game was a highlight for me that season. At that first tribal council I had convinced Russel not to vote for me and to draw a star on his vote so that I knew I could trust him. If we both survived the vote that night we were going to form an alliance and work together.

If I hadn’t convinced him to agree, and he had of voted for me, I would have gone home that night instead of him. I had a lot of mixed emotions heading back to camp afterwards. Disappointment that we didn’t have that chance to play together longer but also sheer relief that he went home instead of me.

Russel is largely considered one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, villain in Survivor history. Did you learn anything from him that you can take into your role as a villain?

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to play together for long but when we got to our camp area that very first day of Champions vs Contenders, I noticed that while everyone else was fixated on building shelters and preoccupied with collecting wood, Russel was off working hard on finding idols and building relationships early instead. I took that into this season of HvV.

In your first season you hid the fact that you’re a poker champ. Do you plan to be more upfront and honest about it this go around?

Hiding such a big part of my life in my first season really hindered my ability to make connections with people. I felt like I had even more of a guard up and I was always needing to think carefully before speaking about everyday experiences in my life. I’m obviously not a stranger to bluffing but it was tiring trying to carry out the bluff to be a speed cuber for nearly a month. I’m definitely going into Heroes vs Villains being more upfront about who I am as a person.

What do you like best about the game of Survivor?

I really love all aspects of Survivor but probably my favorite part is the strategic components of the game. I know you didn’t ask but the part I like least is how tough it is to live in such rough conditions. I really miss having a hot shower and a comfortable bed to sleep in. I kind of like brushing my teeth daily as well!

Do you see any parallels between Survivor and poker?

So many! When you are card dead and really have to find spots even when you don’t have a lot to work with. The risk vs reward when making moves. Understanding your opposition and what motivates them. Reading players and situations. There is only one trophy/1st prize up for grabs so I’m playing for the win. Table/Tribe dynamics are so important, and you need to adjust and change gears as needed based on this.

How’d She Do the First Time?

Glazier made early headlines on her first season when she went toe to toe with Russell Hantz, the most notorious villains in Survivor history. In just the second episode, Glazier led the charge on getting Hantz out, though by doing so she put her neck on the line. Glazier received votes at that tribal council, but she was saved as Hantz, who did not use a Hidden Immunity Idol, became the game’s second casualty.

Over the next several weeks Glazier found her groove, thanks in no small part to a string of immunity wins by the Champions Tribe. She often struggled with the physical aspect of challenges but was the tribe’s go-to puzzle solver. Then a tribe swap took place, but despite staying on the Champions Tribe with majority numbers, it ultimately led to Glazier’s elimination as she found herself outside an alliance led by rugby league footballer Mat Rogers, who claimed he just couldn’t trust Jackie.

Ultimately, the poker pro exited the game on Day 26 as the 11th contestant voted out.

After host Jonathan LaPaglia snuffed her torch, Glazier was gracious in defeat. As if they were opponents at the poker table, she turned back one last time and wished her former tribemates good luck before exiting the game.

“There’s the perception of a poker player, I feel the negative connotations of the game would have put a target on my back,” Glazier told Ten Daily in a post-elimination interview. “The way it was edited made it out to be that’s what I did, but a grown woman traveling around the Rubik’s cube circuit… I don’t know how you’d make a living.”

When and Where to Watch

Glazier isn’t the first poker pro to tackle Survivor. Online legend Ilari Sahamies competed in the Finnish version of the show, and back in 2015, Anna Khait was a part of the USA’s 32nd season. Others to play in the past include bracelet winner Jean-Robert Bellande, Ronnie Bardah, and cash game specialist Garrett Adelstein.

Filming is already finished for Australian Survivor: Heroes vs Villains, and episodes will begin airing in Australia on Monday January 30 on 10 and 10 Play.

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

It was a case of so near yet so far for Portugal’s Pedro Neves who fell just short of winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event title, falling heads-up to compatriot Michel Dattani.

However, a seven-figure score — almost ten times his previous highest cash — is not a bad result, and he’s attracted his fair share of admirers for the way he’s played over the last six days.

One of the loudest voices came from Portugal’s Joao Vieira. The Winamax Pro counts Neves among his students, and was quick to highlight the 25 year old’s poise under the lights of the feature table, his passion and drive and how this result will not be a flash in the pan.

Instead, he explains how this result could be the start of something extra special for the young Portuguese pro.

Neves “Plays Like a Veteran”

“He’s 25 years old but he plays like a veteran”

The two-time WSOP bracelet winner was unequivocal with praise for his student, with Vieira (pictured below) predicting a bright future for the youngster.

“He’s the best student I’ve ever had,” Vieira told PokerNews. “If he keeps working hard, which he is, he’s destined to be playing in High Rollers and Super High Rollers.

“He’s 25 years old but he plays like a veteran. He’s composed like a veteran and he acts like a veteran at the final table — you’d think this was his 10th final table!”

Neves has smashed his previous biggest score of $120,000 — in the 2022 UKIPT London £2,200 High Roller — but Vieira says Neves rises to occasions like this with aplomb.

“He’s always been like this,” said Vieira. “Whenever he gets to the big moments he’s so prepared, he’s so ready. He plays like he’s been there forever. He watches so many of these streams, he’s mentally played so many of these final tables – he just loves poker.

“He just goes out there and plays — like he’s already been here before.”

PN Podcast: Chopped-Pot Elimination, Guests Ike Haxton & Vanessa Kade from PCA

Nerves? What Nerves

With $1,500,000 awaiting the winner of his heads-up match with eventual winner Michel Dattani, you could be forgiven that thinking Neves was a nervous wreck. However, Vieira said Neves rarely showed nerves in the leadup to the biggest final table of his life.

“I would talk to him in the breaks, and the first time I could sense any sort of anxiety or nervousness was when we were down to four players. He would look at me and say to me ‘Did any of them study more than me? Did any of them play more hands than me?’

“He’s a kid! That’s confidence. He just knows. He’s really good.”

A Stepping Stone for the Future

Neves’ performance at the final table had Vieira drawing comparisons to fellow Winamax Ambassador and one of the best young poker players in history — Adrian Mateos.

“This is just a stepping stone for him”

“In a few years time, we could be looking back at this the same way we look at Adrian Mateos’ WSOP Europe Main Event winner. Or his EPT Barcelona win. If you ask [Neves] what his goal is, he says that his goal is to make this a milestone [in his poker career].

Play in the PCA From Home With the PokerStars Online Mini PCA

“He’s not thinking about the $1,500,000, he’s thinking about playing his best and for this to be a milestone so he can create more scores, more performances and win more titles. He’s thinking ahead — which is weird when you’re 25 years old!

“He wants to do this for a living and reach the highest stakes in the world. That’s his main goal. And this? This is just a stepping stone for him.”

Executive Editor E.U.

Will Shillibier is based in the United Kingdom. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German, and then studied for a NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism at Sportsbeat in Manchester. He previously worked as a freelance live reporter, and video presenter for the World Poker Tour.

The 30th Anniversary Los Angeles Poker Classic (LAPC) kicked off at The Commerce back on January 13 and is slated to run through March 5. This past week, the $400 Mixed Omaha tournament attracted 91 runners who competed for a $30,030 prize pool. Coming out on top of that tournament was poker legend Perry Green, 86, a three-time bracelet winner from the early days of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

It marked Green’s first tournament victory in 35 years with his last victory coming back in the 1987 Pot of Gold $225 NLH for $14,130.

$400 Mixed Omaha Final Table Results

_{*Denotes heads-up deal.}
 
Others to cash the tournament but fall short of the final table were Eric Hamilton (9th – $840), Emiliano Figueroa (10th – $840), Lisa Clay (11th – $760), Joseph Deluca (12th – $760), and Sirous Baghchehsaraie (13th – $720).

Three Bracelets & Battling Ungar

Born in Seattle in 1936, Green worked as a successful fur trader in Alaska for the vast majority of his life. In 1976, he ventured to the WSOP where he took down Event #4: $1,000 Limit Ace to Five Draw for $68,300 and his first gold bracelet. The next year, Green won Event #6 $5,000 Limit Ace to Five Draw and then returned two years later to win Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Non-Pro for $76,500.

With three bracelets under his belt, Green made a go at the 1981 $10,000 Main Event, which attracted 75 players including Johnny Moss, Hal Fowler, Betty Carey, “Amarillo Slim” Preston and Jesse Alto. The field was reduced to just 38 players by the end of Day 1, and those 38 were reduced to 17 on Day 2. On Day 3, Doyle Brunson was eliminated, leaving Bobby Baldwin and Ungar, the defending champ, as the only former winners remaining. Both went on to make the final table. Green ultimately finished runner-up to Ungar.

Old School: Perry Green Celebrates Decades of Poker With Big Bet Cash

Green Still Passionate About Poker

Over the past decade, Green has made periodic appearances at the WSOP in Las Vegas. Back in 2015, he made the final table of Event #43: $1,000 Super Seniors, ultimately finishing in eighth place for $24,034, and more recently placed 71st in the 2021 WSOP Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better.

“Oh, I think more so,” Perry expressed when asked last summer if he’s still as passionate about poker as he was in his younger days. “This might be nostalgia coming here to play, but I just like to play against the younger fellas. I don’t play golf anymore, I don’t do the physical things. But poker is a good stimulus for my brain. When you get to be over 85, you’ve got to do something to keep abreast of what’s going on, especially in this changing world that we have.”

Coincidentally, Green finished runner-up to Gabe Kaplan back in the 1980 Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl of Poker $10,000 Main Event, good for $62,500. Kaplan recently made headlines for retiring from his long-time commentary gig on High Stakes Poker.

Perry Green’s Top 10 Poker Cashes

My First WSOP: Perry Green Talks About the Camaraderie and Staff from the Old Days

_{*Images courtesy of LAPC.}

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

The 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event has reached boiling point with only six of the original 889 players still in the hunt for the $1,500,000 top prize and the all-important winner’s trophy. The final six Main Event hopefuls return to their seats at the Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas at 12:30 p.m. local time on January 29, with Portugal’s Pedro Neves leading the way.

Day 5 saw the field of 16 players whittled to only six. The final day should be an amazing spectacle because Jamil Wakil (755,000) aside, the finalists have at least 39 big blinds in their stacks, so have some wiggle room when play resumes.

$10,300 PCA Main Event Final Day Seat Draw

Mario Ferreria Pais was the penultimate day’s first casualty. Pais was joined on the rail first by Giuseppe Iadisernia, then Clint Tolbert, Ian Matakis, and Spanish superstar Sergi Reixach.

Neves received a significant boost to his stack when his pocket kings prevailed against Mitchell Halverson‘s queens, resulting in Halverson crashing out in 11th. The elimination of Brazil’s Allan Mello reduced the field to nine, and those nine took their seats at the unofficial final table.

Jonathan Little busted on the first hand after the players sat down on a table of nine. Little’s ace-nine couldn’t get there against the dominating ace-queen of Alexandre Raymond. Raymond would later, correctly, fold a full house against Neves, showing his opponents that he is on top of his game.

Eighth place went to Taylor Paur after he lost a flip against Artur Martirosian before a short-stacked Alexandros Kolonias‘ ace-jack was outdrawn by the ace-seven of Neves to conclude Day 5.

Joining Neves under the spotlight on the PCA Main Event’s final day are the aforementioned Raymond (5,995,000), Martirosian (5,855,000), and Wakil (755,000), in addition to Michel Dattani (4,000,000) and Christoph Csik (3,905,000).

Fire up the PokerNews live reporting pages from 12:30 p.m. local time to discover who becomes the 2023 PCA Main Event champion.

Jeremy Ausmus Leads the Final 10 in the $25,000 PLO High Roller

Ten of the original 44 players are in the hunt for the title of 2023 PCA $25,000 PLO High Roller champion. Jeremy Ausmus (385,000) is the man taking the chip lead into the second and final day’s play, although he is flanked by some supremely talented pot-limit Omaha players.

Ausmus has form in high-stakes PLO tournaments, having won the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller at the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP). He’s also fresh off the back of winning the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack in The Bahamas, so is high on confidence; not that Ausmus lacks any in his game.

Finnish PLO specialist Joni Jouhkimainen (336,000) is Ausmus’ closest rival when play resumes at 2:00 p.m. local time on January 29. Others still in the mix to secure the $364,440 top prize from the $1,056,440 prize pool include Ukraine’s Andriy Lyubovetsky (274,000), Oliver Weis (246,000), Andrew Pantling (206,000), five-time WSOP champion Shaun Deeb (200,000), and short stack Adam Hendrix (41,000).

$25,000 PLO High Roller Top 10 Chip Counts

Bonomo and Cobian Capture PCA Titles

Two players became 2023 PCA champions while the Main Event and $25,000 PLO High Roller were taking place. Justin Bonomo won the $25,000 8-Handed for $574,529, which took his lifetime live poker tournament winnings to $59.5 million, extending his lead in the all-time money listings.

Samuel Cobian of Indianapolis took down the $3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty for $239,658 plus at least $15,000 worth of bounties along the way. Cobian defeated Andy “BowieEffect” Wilson heads-up and reeled in the largest live score of his career.

It was another beautiful day for poker at the luxurious Baha Mar Resort in the Bahamas and after just under six levels of play on Day 2 of PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Event #25: $50,000 8-Handed, Jonathan Jaffe of the United States emerged victorious for a payout of $194,814.

This event attracted six runners with two needing a reentry on Day 1 to create a prize pool of $389,664, with the top three players paid. Jaffe came into the day as the chip leader and kept his foot on the pedal throughout.

When asked how it felt to win his first PCA title, he replied, “It feels really good to finally get a trophy, although I did win a Heads-Up Battleship Tournament back in the day when we put our laptops together.”

Jaffe isn’t really seen much these days in the live scene, and he explained why…

“Yeah, I really haven’t been playing much lately; I’ve just been focusing mainly on private coaching.”

$50,000 8-Handed Results

Day 2 Action

Only six players returned for Day 2 play, and although more entrants were expected, registration ended up closing early due to the bustout of Stephen Chidwick. After losing the majority of his stack the previous hand to Kisacikoglu, Chidwick got it in with king-three against Davies’ king-ten and was sent to the rail after failing to connect.

Mikita Badziakouski was next to exit in fifth as he ran his ace-three suited into Davies’ ace-king and failed to improve.

After a couple of big hands, Jaffe regained the chip lead and began taking control of the table, putting pressure on the smaller stacks. He then eliminated Daniel Dvoress on the money bubble when he turned trips with his king-nine against Dvoress’ ace-seven.

Jaffe’s next victim was Davies, who decided to get it in with his pocket sevens after being faced with an open-jam from Jaffe. Jaffe was behind with his king-five, but a king appeared on the flop to give him the lead. The board bricked out for Davies and he was eliminated in third.

Heads-up play between Jaffe and Kisacikoglu only lasted for half a level before Kisacikoglu check-raised all in on the turn with a straight and flush draw while Jaffe had a pair of queens. Another queen on the river was the nail in the coffin for Kisacikoglu, and he was eliminated in second as Jaffe was announced the winner.

“The $25,000 should be starting soon, right?” the players asked, eager to get back in the mix.

That wraps up coverage of the $50,000 8-Handed, but be sure to check out the PokerNews live reporting team’s coverage of Day 4 of the $10,300 PCA Main Event and other events here at the 2023 PCA.

Poker’s all-time money leader Justin Bonomo extended his lead early this morning when he took down $25,000 8-Handed at the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) for $574,529 after a three-handed ICM chop with chip leader Rui Ferreira (2nd -$664,820) and Isaac Haxton (3rd – $491,550), who was a few runouts away from winning his second trophy of the series after a victory in $100,000 PCA Super High Roller for $1,082,230.

Bonomo had $58.9 million in Hendon Mob-reported earnings before the six-figure haul that puts him at a historic $59.5 million. It will take a multi-million dollar score for anyone to pass the American as he sits comfortably ahead of Bryn Kenney ($57.2 million) and Erik Seidel ($42.4 million).

The victory marks Bonomo’s first tournament win outside of Las Vegas since 2019 and just his second cash out of Vegas since that time. The first came earlier this week when he finished 44th in the $10,000 PCA Main Event for $29,400.

“Just like any other tournament, you have to play your best, you have to get lucky, catch the right cards at the right time,” Bonomo said when asked what propelled him to his latest victory. “Just a combination of things coming together, really.”

While many of the high rollers so far at PCA have attracted intimate fields with just a few dozen runners, the $25,000 8-Handed ballooned into a massive field of 140 players, an astonishing number for an event at this buy-in, to generate $3,361,400 in prize money.

“It was a great field,” Bonomo told PokerNews in a winner’s interview. “I’m used to playing these high-roller tournaments against a lot of the best players in the world, a lot of the same people over and over. So it’s definitely exciting when I get to play with new people, people I don’t recognize.”

Other players who made deep runs in the event include Alex Kulev (9th – $108,450), Seth Davies (7th – $130,600) and Jean-Noel Thorel (5th – $220,700), who received a round of applause from Steve O’Dwyer and several others as he exited the final table.

2023 PCA $25,000 8-Handed Final Table Results

A Massive Field Dwindles

The tournament was already shaping to be a big one when 78 players registered on Day 1, but another 62 joined during the late-reg period on Day 2 to turn the high roller into the biggest of the series so far.

The field included all the normal high-stakes pros, including Stephen Chidwick, Michael Addamo, Mike Watson and Ben Heath, as well as some players who aren’t seen in any many PCA high rollers like Ethan “RampagePoker” Yau.

Only 20 places paid in the event and Tauan Naves bowed out on the money bubble in a three-way pot between himself, Bonomo and Dan Shak, who himself went out in 18th place when he moved in with ace-nine only to find himself dominated by the ace-queen of Haxton.

Several familiar faces fell after that, including Timothy Adams (17th – $43,050), Dan Smith (15th – $56,950) and Chad Eveslage (14th – $56,950) before Daniel Dvoress went out in tenth on the final table bubble.

Battle of Poker’s Greatest Minds

Kulev went out in eighth place when he open-jammed with pocket threes in the small blind, and Bonomo woke up with pocket queens in the big blind. Mario Mosboeck managed to double up through the Bonomo before Ferreira picked up jacks, and the Austrian couldn’t get ahead with his king-ten.

Bonomo and Ferreira, who took down €10,300 EPT High Roller at EPT Barcelona for €767,750 in August 2022, exchanged chip leads at the final table and both did their part to apply pressure on their shorter-stacked opponents.

“What you want to look for are spots where you can pressure them using only a small amount of chips and make them afraid that they’re going to lose their whole stack,” Bonomo explained. “Because you don’t just want to go all-in for heaps every hand, because then you can actually lose a bunch. But just by putting in small bets (or) small raises, every hand they’re afraid that they might go bust. They might end up in sixth instead of third place, or whatever.”

After Carlos Chadha went out in fourth as his pocket eights were pipped by the pocket nines of Haxton, the three high-stakes crushers agreed to chop and flip for the trophy.

Bonomo, who celebrated the victory with his girlfriend, told PokerNews he agreed to chop in part because he was playing against “playing against two great players.”

“Isaac and I go way back,” he said. “I think he’s one of the best players in the world, possibly the greatest poker mind in the world. And Rui is a tough player as well.”

That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team’s coverage of the larger-than-anticipated $25,000 8-Handed. Be sure to check out the team’s coverage of other events here in The Bahamas.

There were 22 players who returned to the felt for the third and final day of the $3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty and it was Samuel Cobian who topped them all to take home the first-place prize of $239,658.

Cobian overcame a star-studded field of 763 entries to record his largest career poker score after defeating Andy Wilson in a heads-up match. He will also add 15 bounties to his total, all of which were of the $1,000 minimum variety, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face after capturing the illustrious PokerStars trophy.

$3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

“This feels great man,” Cobian told PokerNews in his post-win interview. “I never thought this could happen. But it does, and it did.”

The recreational poker player from Indianapolis said this isn’t often where he and his wife travel in the winter, but his wife convinced him to come to the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

“We usually go to Florida in the winter but my wife convinced me to come to The Bahamas and play some poker this year.”

Cobian can often be seen at the WSOP in Las Vegas where he’s cashed the Main Event on multiple occasions. He’s already won a seat for this upcoming summer trip.

Cobian was off to get his winner’s photo taken but said the chances of playing in the PSPC later this week is definitely a possibility.

“You’ll just have to buy in!” his wife shouted with exuberance on their way out of the tournament room.

Cobian has guaranteed this will be the most successful winter getaway that he’s experienced, and he plans to keep the run-good going.

Day 3 Action

With 22 players returning for Day 3, there was no shortage of action in the opening levels of the day. There were 10 eliminations in the first two hours of the day that included PokerStars ambassador Rafael Moraes, David Stamm and Kitty Kuo. During the rush of eliminations, Kayhan Mokri was busy at the “tickle trunk” redeeming his bounty tickets. A burst of excitement was overheard as Mokri managed to find the last $100,000 bounty prize, going along with Sebastien Aube, who pulled his six-figure prize last night.

When the field finally reached the final table, Wilson came in as the chip leader and extended his lead with the quick eliminations of Michael Uguccioni and David Peters. With seven players still remaining, Wilson had accumulated over one-third of the chips in play. The talkative Mokri was next on the chopping block as one of the short stacks and was forced to settle for just over $37,000 and seventh place. However, the $100,000 and change in bounties will no doubt keep his spirits high.

Justin Steinbrenner was down to less than four big blinds but managed to double up and then go on to eliminate the next two players in Rui Bouquet and Matthew Lambrecht. Steinbrenner went from 600,000 to 6,000,000 chips in the blink of an eye and was all of a sudden in the running. Yuliyan Kolev bowed out in fourth place which set up a dynamic three-handed battle.

Wilson started three-handed play with a huge chip lead and over half of the chips in play. He continued to grow his lead and looked poised to capture his first PokerStars title. However, the tide turned and not just once, but on multiple occasions. The three remaining players exchanged chip leads over the course of nearly two hours, with Cobian finding himself with just four big blinds after a failed bluff attempt. Cobian managed to double-up on three straight attempts and was right back in the match.

Steinbrenner also held the chip lead at one point but it didn’t last very long much to the dismay of the German rail cheering him on. Steinbrenner eventually shoved all in from the small blind and was called by Cobian’s ace-high in the big blind. An Ace on the flop spelled disaster for Steinbrenner who was kicked to the rail in third place.

Cobian took a healthy lead into the heads-up duel with Wilson and never looked back as he managed to finish the match in just a few hands. On the final hand of the day, Cobian’s king-high was ahead of Wilson’s jack-high with all of the chips getting in the middle preflop. Wilson was unable to find any help on the board and fell just short of the PCA title.

Click here for more on the 2023 PCA Live reporting hub