Player of the Year

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Awards Six Players at Least 1,000 Player of the Year Points
The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event concluded recently in the Bahamas, and it awarded thousands of Card Player 2010 Player of the Year (POY) points to start the year. The large size of the field (1,529 players) ensured that those making the final table would be handsomely rewarded.

The winner of the event was 19-year-old Harrison Gimbel, who bagged 3,000 POY points to go along with the $2.2 million in prize money. Last year, Poorya Nazari received 3,000 points for his victory, and as a result, he led the POY race for the first few months of the year. Tyler Reiman captured 2,500 points for his runner-up finish, along with $1,750,000.

Card Player Publisher Barry Shulman also made a big score in the Bahamas. He took third place in the tournament to win $1,350,000 and 2,000 points. Those amounts topped the prize money ($1,266,852) and points (1,980) that Shulman received for his World Series of Poker Europe main-event win in October 2009. He finished 2009 with 2,535 points, which was good for a 42nd-place finish in the standings.

The other final-table members who earned at least 1,000 points at the PCA were Benjamin Zamani (1,500), Ryan D’Angelo (1,250), and Aage Ravn (1,000). Another player who prospered in the Bahamas was Mike “Timex” McDonald. He won a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event, for $146,804 and 960 points, and is currently in eighth place in the POY standings. McDonald looks like he could be a threat to accumulate more than 2,000 points for the third year in a row. He finished 2008 in 45th place with 2,920 points, and in 2009, he placed 48th with 2,440 points.

Look Out: Jan Skampa
Jan Skampa finished 2009 on a very strong run. He made the final table of the European Poker Tour Vilamoura €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event in November, and finished fourth for €117,128. The next EPT event took place in his hometown of Prague in December, and he capitalized on the home-field advantage to win his first major title. He topped a field of 584 players and a final table that included Stefan Matsson and Team PokerStars pro Luca Pagano to win the EPT Prague €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event and €682,000 in prize money. “It feels great to win. It was my fourth EPT event, and I won it in my hometown, which must be one of the greatest accomplishments you can have in poker,” said Skampa after the final table concluded.

The young EPT champion is the first Czech champion in the history of the tour. He is 23 years old and is currently studying economics at St. Charles University in Prague, in addition to playing poker. He now has $1,239,763 in career tournament winnings, thanks to other cashes at the World Poker Tour events in Slovakia and Cyprus, and a 12th-place finish in event No. 22 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout) of the 2009 World Series of Poker.

Skampa has a seat waiting for him at the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final in April, and if he is able to repeat his tournament success from late 2009, he could be a factor in the Card Player 2010 Player of the Year race. He finished 2009 with 2,768 points, which was good for 30th place overall.